My heart beat once, hard.
“What documents?”
“Just authorizations. Nothing serious. The accountant has copies.”
Miriam’s warning echoed in my mind.
“Can you send them to me?”
A faint laugh. “Right now? I’m traveling.”
“When you can.”
“Of course.”
Another pause.
“Is something wrong?”
I looked at my reflection in the window. Pale face. Dark eyes. A woman learning, in real time, how not to reveal herself.
“No,” I said. “I’m just tired.”
His voice warmed again. “Sleep tonight. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“I love you.”
I forced the words out.
“I love you too.”
When the call ended, I did not cry.
Instead, I opened my notes app and wrote down everything he had said.
Then I emailed it to myself.
Then to Miriam.
By seven o’clock, the bank confirmed the pending transfer had been placed under review.
At seven-thirty, Grace texted again.
“Melanie is missing.”
I stood in the kitchen holding a bowl of soup I had microwaved but not eaten.
“What do you mean missing?” I typed.
“She left her apartment this afternoon. Phone off. Car gone. Her neighbor says she had a suitcase.”
My first reaction was not sympathy.
I am not proud of that.
