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If only I hadn’t fallen in love with him.
Clearly he wasn’t in love with me, and right now he had way more to deal with than anyone should have. Bothering him about our “relationship” was not something I’d do.
What could I do?
More research on the future lawmakers. Another visit to my uncle, maybe. Another visit to Larry Wade. At least the two of them seemed less crazy than Wendy. Still crazy, though.
It all seemed so futile now. No matter how hard I worked, I never seemed to get anywhere. Questions didn’t turn up answers. Only more questions.
What would make me feel better?
Being with Ryan, but that wasn’t in the cards.
Then it hit me. I’d call Shayna. Just check up on her to see how she was doing. Maybe she’d heard something about Juliet and Lisa.
I searched my contacts and pulled up her number. It rang a few times, and then a female voice answered.
“Hello, Shayna? It’s Ruby Lee, from Jamaica.”
“Ruby? I don’t know any Ruby.”
“This is Shayna Thomas, right?”
“Yes.”
“We met in Jamaica. Remember? When your…friends and you went off on those Jet Skis?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please don’t call me again.”
The line went dead.
What?
I called the number again. This time I got no answer. It went straight to voice mail. “Listen, Shayna,” I said. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I assure you there’s nothing to fear from me. I’m a friend. I want to help. I want to—” The line went dead.
I called again. No voice mail. She had blocked me.
Why?
What was she afraid of?
I shook my head, eyeing my glass of water on the counter above me. I wasn’t thirsty. I wasn’t hungry.
I wasn’t…anything.
And then my phone rang. A number I didn’t recognize.
Shayna! Perhaps she’d been afraid someone was listening in, and she’d tried a different phone.
“Shayna?” I said into the phone.
“No,” a male voice said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Who is this, please?”
“Ruby,” the voice said, “this is your father.”
Chapter Thirty–Eight
