Page 74 of Savage Heart

“You can keep lying to yourself if you want. But don’t insult me by pretending you don’t care.”

I have nothing to say to that.

“I’ll call you when I find the one.”

“Thanks, Otis,” I say.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Maverick.”

The line goes dead.

I stand there longer than necessary, hands still wrapped around the post.

I tell myself this is about Linc and doing the right thing by Lincoln.

I can’t think about the rest.

Because the truth is painful, and I’ve been trying not to hear it for years.

I stare at Brandon’s name on my phone longer than I should.

It’s been years since I’ve called him. It rings four times before he answers.

“Maverick?” he says.

“Yeah,” I say. “It’s me.”

“What’s going on? Everyone okay?”

“I’ve got questions,” I say. “About that night.”

Silence.

“Why now?” he asks finally. “It’s been years.”

“Yeah, I should’ve called a long time ago. Because some things never sat right, but I was too messed up to get to the bottom of it. And I knew it would be painful for you too.”

He exhales slowly, like he’s steadying himself.

“You were first on the scene,” I say.

“Maverick,” he says, warning creeping into his voice, “what is this really about?”

“I want to hear everything that happened,” I say.

He laughs softly, humorlessly. “You think after all this time, the story’s changed?”

“Has it?”

The line crackles softly between us. I just wait.

Finally he responds. “I’ve been expecting this phone call for a long time.”

I open my mouth to reply, but he cuts me off.

“I’ll be there in a few hours,” Brandon says. “We can talk face-to-face.”

The line goes dead.