“I stole them from Javi.”
“You’re on trial for larceny, Vero! Do you have any idea how bad this will look if you get caught with them?”
“If we get caught, we’ll say we were worried about Theo when he didn’t return my calls. We were just concerned citizens, here to check on an old friend, and the door happened to be unlocked when we got here.”
“How are you going to explain that?” I asked, pointing to the lumps in her waistline.
“Easter candy and stress. All this house-arrest stuff is bad for my cortisol levels.” She turned the knob. It opened with a softclick.
I jumped out of my skin, ducking behind Theo’s trash can, as a set of headlights rolled past the driveway. I darted into the house onVero’s heels and slammed the door behind me. I stood in the small, dimly lit kitchen, waiting for my heart rate to slow.
“Hurry up and find the bathroom, and don’t touch anything!” I said as Vero began exploring. I pulled a pocket-sized pack of baby wipes from my purse and passed one to Vero. She took a small flashlight from her pocket and disappeared down the hall.
I looked around the kitchen while I waited for her. The vinyl floors were sticky where I walked, but for the most part, the place seemed tidy. The faucet dripped into the empty sink. The counters were clear of dishes and food, and the small melamine dining table had been wiped free of crumbs.
A toilet flushed down the hall and Vero returned from the bathroom. We both paused at a soft thump outside.
“Did you hear that?” I whispered.
Vero tipped an ear toward the front of the house. “It sounded like a car door.”
A low male voice came from somewhere outside. No… two male voices. Vero turned off her flashlight, and we pressed our backs against the wall, making ourselves as flat as possible. Or at least as flat as Vero’s bulky belt would allow.
A shadow passed in front of the window. Vero lunged quietly for the doorknob and quickly turned the lock.
The knob rattled as someone on the other side tried to open it.
“Theo must be home,” I whispered.
“There’s no way he could have made it here so fast. He was just at the mall!” she whispered back.
“Whoever it is, we can’t let them see us. We need to find another way out.” I scanned the adjacent rooms for another door, or a window we could climb out of without drawing any attention. I wasn’t sure Vero would be able to fit through any of them with her transmitter belt on. Vero and I tensed at the rasp of a key beinginserted into the lock. We held our breaths through a series of soft scrapes and metallic clicks.
“What’s taking so long?” asked a hushed voice outside.
“I’m going as fast as I can, asshole. The lock’s rusty, and I’m missing two of my picks.”
Vero’s shoulders sagged. She whipped around, flipped the lock, and yanked open the door. Javi fell through it into the kitchen. Ramón took a shocked step back, nearly falling off the stoop.
Vero shielded her eyes against the glare of his flashlight. “What are you two idiots doing here?” She grabbed her cousin by his collar, dragged him inside, and locked the door.
Ramón gaped at us. “We came here looking for Theo! How did you figure out where he lives?”
“She AirTagged his BMW,” I said. “Tell me you didn’t follow it here.” I prayed that his car wasn’t parked outside. That they hadn’t jumped Theo in his driveway and locked him in his own damn trunk.
Ramón’s eyes narrowed on his cousin. “Wecouldn’tfollow Theo home from the bar because he wasn’t there. We sat in the parking lot all night, waiting for his M Series to show up. After a couple of hours, Javi flagged down one of the servers on her way to her car. She told him Theo missed his shift—he never made it in to work.”
Vero raised an eyebrow. “If he never showed up, how’d you know to come here?”
“Javi sweet-talked her into checking the employment files in the back office and copying Theo’s address.”
Vero shot Javi a scathing look. “Oh, he did, did he? Apparently, myboyfriendhas no trouble chatting up women in bars. He seems to be making quite the impression at Theo’s place of employment. Is that where he happened to bump into Sophia?”
“It’s not like that!” Javi said defensively. “There is nothing between me and Sophia. It was one stupid mistake! She came to your mom’shouse while I was there doing a few odd jobs as a favor for Gloria. Sophia must have seen my car in the driveway. The door was unlocked, and she let herself in.” Javi rubbed his eyes as if he wanted nothing more than to forget the whole thing. “She kept asking about you. If you and I ever hung out anymore, and if you had any plans to come back to the neighborhood. When I told her you weren’t speaking to me and I hadn’t seen you since you’d left for college, she suggested we go out sometime. And then she kissed me.” Javi looked away.
“And then what?”
Javi winced. “It was one time, Vero. It didn’t mean anything. I would take back every second of it if I could.”
