I cleared my throat. “The dot is moving. It’s moving toward us. Does that mean that you guys found my daughter? And Chloe?”
“Here,” Diego said, “why don’t you ask the man of the hour? Hey! Frost!”
My heart leapt into my throat as phones started shuffling around. But, the second I heard his clear-cut voice, tears wafted down my cheeks.
“Hey there, beautiful,” he said.
I sniffled. “Please tell me you have Natty.”
“I do. I found her. She was in the woods trying to run away.”
I let out a soft sob. “Jesus Christ, thank God.”
“What about the other woman?” Hayley asked over my shoulder.
I blinked as my mind snapped back into gear. “Yes, where’s Chloe? Did you find her?”
And when Dean sighed, I knew it wasn’t good. “Natty said that they were ambushed. We’re still looking for West, but Natty was insistent on the fact that some guys took her. I don’t think we’re going to find her out here.”
“Oh, no,” Ruby murmured.
“Chloe,” I whispered.
Hayley started rubbing my back. “Can we talk to the little girl? I think it would help to hear her voice right now.”
And without another word spoken, my daughter’s voice filtered through the phone. “Mommy?”
I swallowed down my crying. “Hey—hey there, princess. How are you? You doing okay for me?”
The sound of her voice was so broken, and it shattered my heart. “They took Auntie Chloe, Mommy. Why did they take her? I don’t understand.”
Another tear escaped down my neck as I tried to process the fact that the cartel had my best friend. “I love you, honey. The men you’re with? They’re going to bring you safely back to me, okay? I want you to do what they say and hang on to the man that found you very, very tightly. Can you do that for me?”
She drew in a broken breath. “Uh-huh.”
“Good. That’s good. And when you get here? I’ll have a new friend of mine, Hayley, make you the best smoothie you’ve ever had.”
She patted my back softly. “On it. What are your favorite flavors?”
Natty sniffled. “Mango and pineapple?”
I peeked over my shoulder. “Did you get that?”
Hayley giggled as she started pulling everything out. “Loud and clear. One mango pineapple smoothie coming up for the very big, very brave girl.”
And as my daughter’s voice faded away, Dean’s came back to my ear. “We’re headed back to the warehouse. We’re maybe fifteen minutes out. We’ll see you soon, okay?”
I swallowed hard. “We’re going to find Chloe, right? Tell me we’re going to find her.”
“You have my word on everything that I am that we’re going to find her.”
I drew in a deep, stable breath, because I knew I’d have to be strong for Natty once they got back. “Get back here with our daughter. I want to hug her neck.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Then, reluctantly, I handed the phone back to Ruby.
Before I stumbled into my chair at the kitchen table and waited.
