Vinnie nods and winces. “I’ll go back over everything, but we should be fine.”
“Make sure we are.”
Vinnie ducks his head and drags his hand through his hair, then he makes a hasty exit. Keira claps her little hands together and gurgles around her bottle, staring up at me with the widest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.
“Mommy’s work might be in trouble,” I coo softly. “Yes it might, yes it…” Suddenly, Vinnie’s message from last night sparks in mymind and I spend the next twenty minutes tearing my bed apart in search of that tiny bit of paper with a phone number on it.
Bullet’s number.
When Keira’s down for her afternoon nap, I call it.
It rings twice.
“Hello?”
Warmth curls in my gut as Bullet’s family voice fills my ear. “Bullet.”
“Who is this?”
“It’s Aerin. You don’t recognize my voice?”
“Holy shit, no,” Bullet snorts. “You sound different.”
I glance down at my sleeping baby. “I guess I am different.”
“I was told we can’t talk.”
“I know. This won’t take long but I…I was wondering if you had a way to contact Falco.”
“Falco?” Bullet sounds surprised. There’s rustling against the phone, and when Bullet’s voice returns he sounds slightly stressed. “I’m sorry, I can’t talk right now. Can I call you later?”
“Bullet please. I’ve been trying to find Falco for months, but it’s like he’s dropped off the face of the earth. Is there anything you can give me?”
“Later,” Bullet says hurriedly. “Bye.”
“I—”
He hangs up before I can say anything else and my heart sinks.
Asshole.
I spend the rest of the day on long calls with men in the organization who swear up and down that my mom has vanished off the face of the earth. No one is claiming her, no one has a ransom demand, and no body has turned up.
After putting Aerin to bed in my office, I sink back into my seat and slowly pour myself a Scotch.
I told myself I could do this. When Falco left, I swore I could do this.
But now I’m alone.
And it hurts.
Before I can give in to the tears welling in my eyes, the door suddenly crashes open and Vinnie stumbles inside.
“Vinnie!” I snap in a hushed yell. “I just put Keira down!”
“I’m sorry, but you have a visitor!”
“What?”
