“Emily, please. You have to call my mom to the phone. Now.”
She replies in a high-pitched tone. “Your, um, mom is not available right now. Why don’t you tell me where you are, and I’ll get Dante to fetch you?”
“Tell him to hurry.” I’m close to tears, looking over my shoulder without knowing what I expect to see. “Please, Emily.”
“Where are you? Is there someone with you?”
“I—A saleslady. I’m using her phone.”
Emily speaks slowly like when addressing a child. “Give the phone back to her, honey.”
I hand the lady her phone.
She listens to something Emily says before reciting a number and an address. “Yes, sure. I’ll keep her here. Do you want me to call an ambulance?” She glances at me. “Fine. Sure. I get that.”
When she hangs up, she gives me a compassionate look. “Don’t worry. Your husband is on his way to get you.” She grips my shoulders and leads me to a chair. “Come. Sit down. Can I get you something to drink?”
Thirsty. I’m thirsty.
My answer is so greedy, my tongue trips over the word. “Water.”
Patting my shoulder, she goes to the counter and fetches a reusable water bottle that she carries back to me.
I’m shaking too much to unscrew the cap, so she does it for me.
I drink until my stomach aches and the water pushes up in my throat, until there’s nothing left in the bottle.
“Sorry.” I return her bottle. “I finished it.”
“That’s all right,” she says with an uncertain smile.
Then it hits me.
Wait.
When did Dante and I get married?
Chapter
Nine
Dante
* * *
Reino walks into my study with two mugs in his hands as I round up my morning video call. He’s wearing his favorite leather jacket over a roll-neck T-shirt. Ripped jeans are tucked into his Mexican boots.
I shut the laptop and push my chair back from the desk. The despondency bearing down on me is like a ten-ton weight plate that crushes my chest.
Reino places one of the steaming mugs at my elbow. “Was that Sav?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing?”
I take the mug and sip the coffee without tasting it. At this point, I’m only drinking the strong brew because I need the caffeine to stay awake.
I grit my teeth. “Sav’s informants came up as empty-handed as ours.”
