Twenty-One

Sharon’s cell phone rang while she was enjoying a soothing, warm bubble bath while listening to Chanté Moore and Kenny Lattimore. She jumped out of the tub dripping wet and snatched her cell phone from the sink counter. Seeing it was Domenic calling, she immediately answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, did I call you at a bad time?”

“Oh, no, I’m just home, trying to relax,” she said.

“I looked into the case and found out something major.”

Sharon was listening intently, ready to hear what he had to say. She quickly toweled off with the cell phone to her ear. As she wrapped the towel around her wet, naked frame and knotted it near her chest, Domenic said to her, “Are you ready for this?”

“I’m more ready than ever.”

“Your friend Cristal, she’s alive.”

Sharon thought she’d misheard him. Did he just say Cristal is alive? She was truly taken aback by the news. She took a seat in her bedroom to keep from passing out.

“Alive?” she said in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, alive. Your friend is, or was in the WITSEC Program. She was the lone survivor of the home invasion.”

The pill he was giving her was so big, it was almost too hard to swallow.

“The feds were ready to prosecute a Mexican drug kingpin named Hector Guzman. Mr. Guzman had been supplying her boyfriend for years. His name was Hugo, a top guy on the food chain. The agency suspected that things went sour between Hugo and Mr. Guzman, and they decided to massacre the entire family. Somehow, your friend became tied up in their mess. Now Cristal was supposed to testify against the Mexican Cartel, but right before the trial, she disappeared. It’s believed she left on her own free will, slipped away from the WITSEC Program in the middle of the night. And, get this, they found Hector Guzman dead in New Mexico a few nights ago—someone fed him to some hungry tigers. He was torn apart.”

“Ohmygod!”

“To my knowledge, the agency isn’t using any more resources to find and keep her safe. They can’t force her to live under their umbrella. Hector Guzman was the least of your friend’s problems. If the cartel catches up to her, they will most certainly finish what they started. The only good news is, no one knows where she is. She just vanished into thin air.”

Sharon’s mouth was wide open. Cristal was alive. She still couldn’t believe it. It was great news, but weird news.

“Whatever your friend was into, Sharon, it turned into a shitstorm, and people are dying left and right.”

Sharon sighed heavily. It felt like a ton of bricks had landed on her shoulders. Maybe Tamar was right. She really didn’t know Cristal. The information her friend had given her screamed drug-related for sure.

“Thanks, Domenic. I appreciate what you did for me.”

“No problem. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

“I won’t.”

After they both hung up, Sharon lingered on her bed for a moment, thinking and worrying. Cristal was all she could think about. If she’s alive, then where would she go? She had to find her. And she had to reach Tamar again, to tell her the good news that Cristal was alive.