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“Paranoia can be useful,” Luke says. “I’m not talking about true psychological paranoia. Like a paranoid disorder. But when you have a feeling—a gut feeling—don’t ignore it.”
Something about his words triggers what I’m feeling. What’s off. It’s Gloria, but it’s not what she told us. It’s her. Something is wrong.
“Oh my God,” I say. “I feel like…”
“What?” Buck says.
“We need to go over there. We need to go to Gloria’s house.”
“Right now?”
“Yeah. I just have a really bad feeling.”
“How bad?”
My skin prickles. “I don’t know. I feel like we need to confront her, like she’s up to something. Maybe she’s trying to get out of town.”
“She’s married, has a husband. You told me yourself that he doesn’t know about any of this. My guess is she won’t try anything. Because to do so she would have to tell her husband what’s going on.”
Still, an invisible rodent gnaws at my gut. Something’s wrong.
“You told me to trust my instincts,” I say.
“Yes, if you feel like we need to go over there right now, I’ll take you myself.”
I settle down a bit then. I’m just being paranoid. She said she would help, and I have no reason to distrust her.
Except I do have a reason to distrust her. She overheard those two players talking, and she didn’t report it.
But no one would’ve found me. No one found any of us until Derek Wolfe was murdered and the truth finally came out about his island.
They had enough money and enough people on the payroll to keep it totally secret.
Nothing would’ve changed.
Gloria is fine. This is nothing.
“I’m fine. We don’t need to go over there.”
“Are you sure?” Buck says. “Because I’ll take you right now.”
“No. Let’s have some dessert.” And I force the invisible rat inside me to stop chewing at my insides.
By the next morning, though, I still can’t shake the feeling about Gloria. I jostle Buck awake.
“I need to borrow the car,” I say.
“What for?”
“I’m going to Gloria’s school, just to make sure she’s okay.”
“All right.”
“You’re the one who told me to trust my instinct.”
“I am. Give me a minute and I’ll take you.”
The minute turns into half an hour, because Buck showers first.
By the time we get to the high school where Gloria works, it’s ten a.m., and the school day has been going on for two and a half hours.
We walk in, and we have to put our bags through a metal detector and walk through one ourselves.
Since when did schools become like airports?
So much happened during the time I was gone.
We walk to the office where a secretary greets us.
“I’ll need you to sign in. What are you here for today? Do you need to see your son or daughter?”
“We’re not parents,” I say. “We’re here to see a friend of mine. Gloria Delgado. She’s a teacher.”
The secretary’s eyes open wide. “You’re here to see Gloria?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe you can help us out then. Gloria didn’t show up for work this morning.”
“Oh no. Is she sick?”
“Tell me and we’ll both know. She didn’t call in, which is very unlike her.”
The invisible beast gnaws at my gut again. Maybe my instincts were right last night. And if they were…
But I didn’t want to look like the paranoid torture victim. I wanted to convince Buck, Katelyn, Luke—maybe most of all myself—that I was okay.
“Have you called her?” I ask.
“Yes, several times. She’s not answering, and neither is her husband, who is her emergency contact.”
I knew it. Damn it. I knew it. They left town.
“Is there anything you can tell us?” Buck asks. “She and my wife are old friends.”
I jerk slightly at his term of wife. But I get it. It makes us look more legit.
“I wish I could, sir. We’re all concerned. This is totally not like her.”
“Could you call us if you hear from her?” I ask.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. That’s not our policy. All I have is your word that you and your husband are friends of hers.”
I nod. “All right. I understand.”
But Buck pulls a card out of his pocket and slides it in front of the secretary. “I’ll take it as a personal favor if you might. Here’s a card in case you change your mind.” Then he smiles—a dazzling and flirtatious smile.
And I know. If any information comes up, this woman will call Buck.
“I’ll see what I can do,” she says.
But already I know we won’t be hearing from her. Not because she can resist Buck. I mean, who can?
Because Gloria will not be calling. Gloria will not be returning to the school.
Gloria has gone on the run with her husband.
We walk out of the building. “Oh, Buck, we should’ve gone over last night.”
“They might’ve been gone by then.”
“What if they weren’t? What if…”
“We made a decision at the time. You can’t second-guess yourself, baby. Trust me. It doesn’t lead to anything good.”
