Where is Lily?
Then:
Call me immediately.
Then:
I know you’re in Houston.
Then:
We need to talk before you do something you’ll regret.
Then:
Elena, please. This is important.
And finally:
Do not go to Marisol’s house.
I stopped breathing.
Adrian noticed.
“What?”
I showed him.
His eyes moved quickly down the screen.
“Who is Marisol?”
“My cousin.”
“The one you’re staying with?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Does Mr. Walker know her address?”
“He’s never been there.”
“But could he find it?”
“Probably.”
Adrian looked at me.
“Call your cousin.”
My hands were trembling.
I pressed Marisol’s name.
She answered on the second ring.
“Elena?”
Her voice came through beneath loud kitchen noises.
Relief nearly buckled my knees.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m making enchiladas. Why are you whispering like you’ve robbed a bank?”
“Is anyone there?”
A pause.
“My husband is working late and Mateo is doing homework. Why?”
“Has Ethan contacted you?”
“No.”
“Has anyone?”
“No. Elena, you’re scaring me.”
I closed my eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“Where are you?”
“At the airport.”
“Well, come here. I changed the sheets and everything.”
My throat tightened.
Marisol and I had not been close growing up.
We exchanged Christmas messages and occasional birthday wishes.
Yet when I called her four days earlier and asked whether Lily and I could stay with her, she hadn’t hesitated.
Now the idea of bringing whatever this was to her front door made me feel sick.
“I might not come tonight.”
“Why not?”
I glanced at Adrian.
He stepped away deliberately, giving me privacy.
“I’ll explain,” I said. “I just need to figure something out.”
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“If Ethan is involved in whatever you’re not telling me, you are not inconveniencing me.”
My eyes stung.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t. That’s why I’m saying it.”
I looked down.
“When did you get so wise?”
“Three children and a mortgage.”
Despite myself, I smiled.
“I’ll call you soon.”
“You’d better.”
The line went quiet.
For a moment, I stared at my phone.
There was a seventh message from Ethan now.
Please answer. There are things you don’t understand.
I had spent years answering him.
Explaining.
Defending.
Apologizing.
I wasn’t ready to do it again.
I locked the screen.
“I’m not going to Marisol’s.”
Adrian turned.
“You’re sure?”
“No. But I don’t want Ethan showing up there if he’s looking for me.”
Daniel said, “There are hotels close to the airport.”
I gave him a tired smile.
“I have seventy-three dollars available on my debit card.”
Silence.
I immediately regretted saying it.
Adrian didn’t react with pity.
That somehow made it easier.
“I have rooms reserved for staff at the Lancaster downtown,” he said. “One is unused.”
I shook my head immediately.
“No.”
“Elena—”
“I appreciate what you’ve done. I really do. But I can’t keep accepting things from you.”
“Why?”
The question stopped me.
“Because I met you three hours ago.”
“That’s a reason to be cautious. It isn’t a reason to refuse a safe room.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
I looked at him.
There was no irritation in his voice.
No challenge.
He genuinely wanted to know.
So I told him the truth.
“Because every generous thing Ethan ever did eventually appeared on an invisible list.”
Adrian said nothing.
I continued.
“He paid my student loans after we got married. Whenever we argued, it became proof I should be grateful.”
My voice shook slightly.
“He helped my mother replace her roof. Three years later, when I wanted to go back to work full-time, he reminded me that he had supported my family.”
