“Yes,” he says firmly. “Trust me, you don’t want to see it. And don’t try asking anyone else. Only Drew and I have seen it. Drew is studying the photo, trying to figure out where Mateo is from the background, and we’re also trying to track Lorenzo’s phone. We haven’t gotten anything yet, but we’re not giving up.”
I nod. “You promise you’ll tell me anything you hear?”
“I promise.”
He grips my arm, pulls me to my feet, and wraps me in a hug.
Even though we haven’t known each other long, it feels like I’ve had a brother my whole life, someone I can tell anything to.
TWENTY-EIGHT
VANESSA
This isn’t how I imagined today going. I’m eight months pregnant, and I was really hoping I’d have more time to figure out how to be a mom. For months now, I’ve been preparing myself to raise two kids on my own if Mateo never comes back, thinking about how I’d tell them who their father is and how much he loved them, even if he isn’t here. I guess today is when all of that becomes real.
I’m in Dr. Ryan’s office for my thirty-five-week checkup. With twins, I probably won’t make it to full term, but I was still hoping for a little more time. She walks in just a few minutes after the ultrasound tech leaves.
“How are you feeling?” she asks.
“I’m doing okay. It’s really starting to feel real.”
She gives me a gentle smile. “You’re getting close. Have you noticed any contractions?”
“Maybe a little, but nothing that feels serious. Just some tightness here and there.”
“Okay, let’s take a look at these two.”
She applies gel and moves the ultrasound wand across my stomach.
“So, it looks like Baby A has turned, but Baby B hasn’t yet.”
She shifts the wand, and the steady thump of two heartbeats fills the room. I glance at the screen and see them both moving, which is a relief.
“They both look healthy. Let’s check for any signs of dilation.”
She grows quiet again.
“Are you sure you haven’t had any contractions?” she asks.
“I don’t think so. I had a few this morning, but they didn’t last long. They were probably just Braxton Hicks.”
“Well, you’re seven centimeters dilated, so you’re definitely in labor. Sometimes the contractions feel like Braxton Hicks when they’re actually the real thing. I think we need to get you to the hospital. It looks like these two are coming today.”
As soon as she says it, a contraction hits me so hard it makes me nauseous.
I guess these two really are coming today.
TWENTY-NINE
MATEO
It’s been months of this torture. That’s what it is—torture. At this point, I don’t know why they haven’t killed me yet. I have no idea how I have survived this long. It’s been 212 days of this, and now it feels like they’re dragging it out, stretching the suffering for everyone involved. At this point, they need to put everyone out of their misery.
I can tell Lorenzo is getting tired of it. The physical torture has slowed, but the psychological games have only gotten worse. He doesn’t hit me the way he used to. Now he just waits, watches, lets the silence eat at me.
I know for a fact he doesn’t know I’m married. He hasn’t said Vanessa’s name once. I don’t think he even knows she exists, and honestly, that might be the only thing keeping her safe. Because the second he mentions her—the second he even hints that he knows about her—I will find a way to kill him.
Every morning, I wake with the sun spilling through the window and force myself through a routine of pushups, sit-ups—anything I can do to keep my strength from slipping away. My body is the only thing I still have control over in this place.
