Seventy-two

It was almost nine o’clock at night and she’d heard nothing from Croft.

Let’s be honest, darlin’. You sent that boy on a fool’s errand to get him out of the way.

It was a four-hour drive from Yuma to the tiny beach town of San Felipe. Even if Croft did manage to make it there, there was no real guarantee he was going to be able to get her the information she needed.

We both know he ain’t comin’ through. At least not in time to save poor Ellie. That’s why we’re here.

Running a reverse trace on Ellie’s phone number had taken about two minutes and provided her with the address to a neat tract home in a quiet subdivision on the other side of town. Driving there had taken less than twenty minutes. She’d been sitting in her car across the street from it for another ten, waiting for Croft to call so she wouldn’t have to do what she knew had to be done.

Ellie can’t hold out much longer, darlin’. Time to put on your big girl panties and get the job done.

“Who lives here?”

Sabrina cast a sidelong glance at the passenger seat. Paul Vega sat beside her, studying the house across the street with a mixture of curiosity and dread. She followed his gaze, letting hers land on the large front window. The curtains that covered it twitched quickly at their center, so fast she’d almost been able to convince herself that it’d been the air conditioner kicking on inside the house that moved them and not something else.

Almost.

She forced herself to open the car door and get out. Vega didn’t move. “Do you need me to help you out of the car?” she said, leaning down to glare at him through the open door. “Because I’d be happy to.”

“I’d like to see you try,” he muttered as he reached for the door handle.

“I seriously doubt that,” she answered, watching him pop the door and reluctantly pull himself from the car. Vega rounded the front of the car, falling into step beside her as they crossed the street and walked up the driveway.

“I’ve told you everything I know,” he said to her, eyes glued to the front of the house. “I don’t know what else I can do to help you.”

“You can call Graciella and ask her to tell you what your brother’s real name is,” she said, raising her knuckles to knock on the front door.

“I told you,” he said, irritated by her refusal to let it go, “there’s no phone service.”

Sabrina wasn’t sure she believed him but she didn’t push it. He was standing here willingly instead of threatening to call his brother and have her arrested for kidnapping him. At this point, she had to take what she could get.

“Just relax, Vega,” she told him. “We’re here to see an old friend of your mother’s.”

Almost immediately, there was a shuffling inside the house, followed by the scrape of the dead bolt being turned inside the door. It opened and Amelia Hernandez’s face appeared in the crack between it and its frame. “Mija,” she said, beaming widely at her for a second before casting her gaze toward the stoop behind her, her smile fading. “Where are my babies? You didn’t bring them?”

Jason and Riley. Amelia was talking about Sabrina’s siblings like they were still toddlers and not the young adults they’d become in her absence. Sabrina shook her head, forcing a smile onto her face. “They’re at home with Ellie,” she said, thinking fast on her feet. “She’s sitting for me today, remember?”

The smile returned and she looked relieved. “That’s where she is,” she said, reaching out to take her hand. “I can never keep track of that girl’s schedule.” She tugged on her hand, pulling her inside. “Come in, come in …”

Sabrina cast Vega a look over her shoulder—stay close—before she allowed herself to be led into the house. Beyond the door was a tidy living room and an open archway that led into what looked like an eat-in kitchen. The warm smells of tortillas and coffee wafted toward her, opening an aching hole inside her chest. “It smells like you’ve been busy,” she said and Amelia laughed.

“Busy is good, mija,” Amelia said, pulling her through the open doorway. “Busy keeps us fed.” She left Sabrina standing at the kitchen table, staring at its occupants while trying to remember how to breathe.

Well, hells bells, darlin’—we really walked into it this time, didn’t we?

“Sit down, sit down …” Amelia said, before looking at Vega as if seeing him for the first time. “Valerie, you didn’t tell me Melissa had a boyfriend,” she said, her tone teasing while she retied her apron around her waist. She’d hoped that seeing Vega would trigger a memory for Amelia, but she was looking straight at Vega with no sign of recognition. But none of that mattered. Not anymore.

Valerie sat at the kitchen table, hands wrapped around a glass of water, staring at her as if she were seeing a ghost, her face washed white with shock.

Across from her sat Mark Alvarez.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know, Mamá,” Val finally said, her voice sounding faint and far away. “Melissa likes her secrets, you know that.”

Amelia laughed. “You both do. Secrets are what teenage girls do best,” she said before turning her attention toward the stove. Humming softly, she placed a flatted round of tortilla dough on the griddle to cook. “Val, Melissa solved our mystery. Ellie is at her house, watching the twins.” She shot her a relieved smile. “We’ve been a little worried she’d gotten into some sort of trouble.”

“She’s fine, Mrs. Hernandez,” Sabrina lied, her attention focused on Alvarez. He was focused on Vega. He looked angry, hands pressed flat against the table, glaring up at him. “Who’s your friend?”

Amelia glanced up, aimed her gaze at Alvarez for a moment. “Oh, this is Ellie’s friend from school. He stopped by to visit. He’s a nice boy but he’s always been a bit shy,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile. “It’s okay, Nulo. Say hello.”