Chapter 33
Nick
AFTER I MADE UP MYmind about keeping Nadya for good, a weight lifted off me.Well, metaphorically it did.In reality, Nadya lay draped over me after another round of mind-blowing sex.
Nadya shifted, curling herself tighter around me, and her breath hitched in a way that was almost a laugh.
“You okay?”she asked, voice muffled in the crook of my arm.
“Not sure,” I answered.“Either you fucked my brains out or I always had a one-track mind, because the only thing I can think about right now is investing in condoms.Lots of them.”
She hummed in agreement, then rolled to the side, dragging the sheet with her, but keeping a foot hooked behind my calf.
I was about to close my eyes and drift when my phone vibrated on the nightstand.Really didn't want to pop this bubble, but after checking the caller ID: Supervisor Special Agent John Keller.Fuck.
Nadya caught the flicker of hesitation.“If it’s not the end of the world, let it ring.”
It rang again.I picked it up, thumbing it to speaker.“Santana.”
“We found eleven bodies buried on the property of the perp you bagged.”His voice sounded older than usual, rough and chewed up by coffee and nicotine.
I glanced at Nadya, who was already sitting up, sheets bunched around her knees.
“Kids?”I guessed.
“Yeah.We’ve already ID’d two, and...”Keller paused, and in that second, I knew I wouldn't like whatever he said next.“We found your sister.”
Isabella.
I pressed my thumb so hard into the phone’s casing I could feel the plastic flex.My sweet, mischievous baby sister.I could still remember her laughter as I tickled her into submission after she tried to steal my favorite pen right out of my hand to get me to play with her.
“I’m sorry, Nick.We’ll have counselors ready.You can come in tomorrow, or take as long as you need.You want us to call your folks?”
“No,” I said.My jaw felt welded shut.“I’ll do it.”
Keller’s voice softened.“Let me know what you need.”
I needed my sister back.Alive.
Of course, I’d known the chances of ever finding her alive had been slim to none and told myself I’d be fine just knowing what had happened to her, but now...
I hung up the phone and just sat there still as a statue, wondering how I could tell my parents.
Nadya put her arms around me, chest to my back, cheek pressed between my shoulder blades.
“She’s dead,” I whispered, testing the words, readjusting my heart to the knowledge.
Nadya didn’t say she was sorry or ask for details.She just held me, her hand flat against my ribs, her breathing syncing with mine, keeping me from flying apart.
I stared at the window, the city lights stuttering in the breeze, and tried to put together what was supposed to happen next.There was no script for this.No field manual for how to bury a ghost you’d been chasing for years.
“I need to go home,” I said, because even though I still had no idea how to tell my parents, I knew I wouldn't do it over the phone.
