October 2019
Minneapolis
For a few seconds after waking, Sofia considered buying a plane ticket, wondering if she should confront her father in person so she could see his eyes and tell if he were lying. But then she decided she didn’t have the patience to wait that long.
She needed answers now.
“I hope you did something nice for yourself on your birthday,” her father said as soon as he got on the line.
“Where is my mother?”
“What?” He sounded surprised, which startled her.
“God damn it, you owe me this. You’ve destroyed my life. You owe me. Where is she? I traced her to New Mexico where she was Nina Castle. After that she disappeared. I need to know where she is.”
Sofia waited, hardly daring to breathe.
“She’s dead, Sofia. Your mother is dead. She died in May.”
Instead of feeling sad, Sofia was filled with blind rage. “I hope she rots in hell. She tried to turn my own daughter against me.”
“But it didn’t work, did it?” Her father’s voice was calm.
Sofia shook her head knowing he couldn’t see her. Then the tears came. She tried not to make a sound, but a few loud sobs escaped.
“Sofia, she can never hurt you again.”
“It doesn’t matter, Daddy. No one can ever hurt me again.”