Chapter 54: garry

As the warmth of their recent conversation settled, a faint ring echoed in the quiet car. Jimmy glanced toward Lucian, raising an eyebrow as Lucian reached into his pocket to retrieve the phone. Lucian assumed it would be Garry, since he'd just received this new phone and had only shared his number with Garry and Jimmy.

Looking at the caller ID, his suspicion was confirmed it was Garry's number.

Lucian answered, a relaxed smile playing on his face. "Hey, Garry, where are you?" he asked, his tone light. But on the other end, there was silence.

"Garry?" Lucian repeated, feeling a slight twinge of unease as he strained to hear.

Finally, a muffled, almost strangled, "sobb…" escaped through the receiver. The faint sound was uncharacteristic of Garry, usually so lively and full of humor. The unexpected silence and the stifled sound of a sob made Lucian's heart lurch.