Political Science 101

Chapter Sixty-Six

"I JUST GOT off the phone with someone who can help," Ray said gripping his cell phone tightly. As a politician, he'd learned to keep his cool in pressure situations, and this certainly qualified. He also knew that if he panicked, Will would panic, so it was incumbent upon him to remain calm, for his son's sake.

"Who?" Will Doyle asked, still somewhat in shock but perplexed nonetheless.

"Not important," Ray said, combining a tone of subtle mysteriousness with a vocal all-about-business demeanor. "I'm going to text you a phone number to call. He's expecting to hear from you very soon. You will tell him where to take you home, and that's it. Discuss nothing else with him. Do you understand? He won't talk to you, you won't talk to him; tell him nothing except your address and he will get you home discretely. No small talk."

"Okay?" Will replied, fighting an odd sense of surreal confusion, wondering why his dad was talking like James Bond in a Midwest accent.

"But first," Ray interjected, "what the hell were you doing in a car with Ashlynn Bradley? I didn't even know you guys still talked. And who was the other girl? Tell me everything."

"No," Will replied sternly, "I want to know if Ashlynn is okay. Find out and I'll tell you everything."

Ray sat silently for a moment, listening to the buzzing hum of anticipatory silence on the other end of the line. He knew he was walking a fine line and he did not want to upset his son, especially since the situation was tense and he didn't want Will to regret calling. "Okay," he said with resignation in his voice, "call the number I texted you and get him on his way. I'll make a call and find out and call you back. Just stay out of sight and, please, be safe. It's late."

"Okay," Will said and hung-up without saying anything.

Ray took his iPhone away from his face and saw CALL ENDED blink on the screen. He sighed a deep sigh. Who would he call? The hospital wouldn't tell him anything. Lenore would tell him not to get involved and to follow whatever overly-specific instructions she barked at him. The only other person he thought he could call was Mitch. But how the hell would he even explain his knowledge of the accident? Did Mitch know Will was in the car? Doubtful. Ray needed information from Mitch about Ashlynn, but wouldn't get it by giving information about Will.

Sometimes, the truth simply isn't an option.

But on some levels, Ray had wanted an excuse to call Mitch for quite some time — sometimes sentimentality got the best of him. He'd kept a subtle eye out for any legitimate excuse which would prompt the reopening of dialogue between the two former life-long friends. Could this be it? Maybe the truth was an option. But was it really worth the risk? Perhaps; perhaps not. But it was nearing 3AM and rational decisions are rarely made at this hour — this sounded like a good enough excuse to chance it. He quickly scrolled to Mitch's name in his iPhone and pressed the CALL button.

The phone rang.

The phone rang again.

The phone rang a third time.

Ray removed the phone from his ear, hoping to quickly end the call before he woke anyone up (or pissed anyone off). He immediately regretted making the call.

"Ray," a woman's voice said before he could hang up, answering without saying Hello, "this is Ana."

Ray understood the woman's voice clearly, even with the phone a foot away from his face. Ray was confused that Ana was answering Mitch's phone, but relieved that she knew it was him when answering, indicating that Ray's contact information was still saved in Mitch's cell phone. "Hi, Ana," Ray said with a slight delay in his words, quickly pressing the phone back to his ear. "Is Mitch around?"