16
DANIELA
I hate crying.I fucking hate it.
It starts as a sting at the bridge of my nose and then a hot blur, and before I can look away from the monitor, the first tear sneaks over my lower lid and drops onto my knuckle.Another follows.And another.By the time I swallow, I can taste salt.
“Dani?”Raven’s voice is soft at my shoulder.“Hey.Hey, what is it?”
I don’t answer.I don’t have to.She’ll think it’s Belinda.And it is.
But it’s also those girls in my father’s office.
I never let myself think about them.Why now, of all times, did they edge themselves into my head?
A door I keep nailed shut has blown open.Five little girls lined up in the doorway, bows in their hair, shoes polished.Their hands clasped like they’re about to say a prayer.And I’m sixteen again, humiliated and terrified and forced to choose which one my father will hurt next.
I press my fingertips into my eyelids until stars burst.I breathe in through my nose, out through my mouth, count to four, to six, to eight.
“Hey,” Raven says.“It’s okay.Let it out.”
Belinda.
If it is Diego Vega, and if he does have Belinda…
Those girls in the office.They weren’t much older than she is now.
And Diego Vega has no morals.No scruples.He’ll do worse than Declan McAllister could have done to her.
Raven squeezes my shoulder.“We don’t know that she’s been taken.It’s possible she ran away looking for answers.I know you don’t want to hear that, but?—”
“No.”I say it too fast, too hard.I force myself to moderate.“No.Even if she was curious about her father, he wouldn’t do it this way.Not after what he did to her.”
Vinnie nods once, opens his mouth, but then jolts when his phone buzzes.He looks at it.“It’s security at the front gate.”
“At this hour?”Raven says.
Vinnie answers.“This is Gallo.”
Pause.
“Yes, of course.Let him in.”He ends the call.“It’s Chef Charleston.He says he thought of something.”
My stomach twists.
A moment later the doorbell rings.Vinnie leaves the family room and returns a few minutes later with Chef.
“Chef,” I say.
“Daniela.”He looks to Raven.“Ms.Bellamy.”
“Raven, please.”
“Forgive my intrusion at this hour.”
I choke back my last sob.“I intruded on you.There’s nothing to forgive.Whatever it is must be important.”
Chef clears his throat.“This whole thing is shocking.Really.Our neighborhood is quiet.That’s why we moved there.When my friend visited last week, he couldn’t believe you could hear the crickets and cicadas at night.He kept laughing that he’d never slept in a place where the only sound was the night itself.At home—where he grew up—there were sirens and, you know, sometimes… gunfire.”Chef winces.“I don’t mean to be flippant.I just… I can’t believe someone would try to coerce a little girl—” He stops abruptly.
