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He's not my boyfriend, but it's a very convenient thing to say right now. I let it go.
"Mr. Montavio," one of the officers says. "I can assure you we're doing our best." Ricco shakes his head, then he does that thing where he crosses his arms on his chest. His muscles bulge, and it’s scary as fuck, honestly.
They all take a step back.
"Actually, you're not. I know you're not because my girlfriend is distraught. And if you were doing everything you could an hour ago, she wouldn’t still be so upset. Instead, you had to go look in the fucking cafeteria to make sure that she wasn't getting juice. Emmy doesn't even like fucking apple juice."
I love you.
Silence. Ricco glares. “I want you to tell me the location of Officer Jack Sullivan."
One of them looks scared, his eyes wide, and he shakes his head. "I can't do that, Mr. Montavio."
Ricco takes a step toward him. "You can." The way he lowers his voice to deliver those two short words makes the little hairs on my arms stand up on end. "And you will. Don't make me ask again."
“I’m so sorry," a different officer says, a much younger man with white-blonde hair and watery eyes.
Ricco gives him a curious look.
“Oh?”
“We don't know where he is. We haven't seen him in a couple of days."
"I see. Allow me to have a look around myself."
Ricco reaches for my hand. I take his, and we walk together into the school. "She's not here," I say to him. "Ricco…"
"I didn't come into the school because I think she's here," he says in a low whisper. He turns to face me, the two of us alone in the dark corridor. "I need you to trust me, baby. Can you trust me? I know after everything that's happened that it’s a big ask of you.”
I swallow. "I wouldn't have called you if I didn’t trust you," I say. "I don't know where we stand, but I do trust that you'll help me find my Emmy.” I squeeze his hand. "Ricco, please. Find my little girl."
Leaning into me, his gaze is intense. His thumbs on either side of my cheeks, he holds my face in his hands. "I promise you I will do everything I can, but you need to understand that I have methods that you won't like."
I think this over for like ten seconds.
Emmy could be hurt. Scared.
I swallow. “I don't care. Find her, Ricco. Find my little girl.”
He nods. “I’ll do everything I can, Daniella. But there’s more at play here, and you need to know.” I swallow and nod. He draws in a deep breath. "This is not the way I would've chosen to tell you. But you need to know." He stares at me. "Do you remember that day when the officer came into your studio? Timeo saw something on the camera. He said that he needed to investigate further."
I nod impatiently, eager to find Emmy.
"He’s not dead, baby.” I stare at him, uncomprehending.
“What?”
“Nick’s alive, Daniella. And that matters right now because if what we believe is true, it's possible that Nick was the one that took Emmy, or he knows who did.”
I have such mixed emotions, I don't know how to feel or even think. On one hand, I'm shocked and horrified that something happened. But all this time… Nick's been alive?
We’re still… married!?
Still, a part of me is relieved. Because if Nick took Emmy, he's not going to hurt her. I don't know what his end goal is, but I do know that he loves Emmy.
"I'm going to take your word for it, but obviously we're gonna need to prove that."
"Of course. Now do what I say and follow my lead. Got it?"
I nod. "Yes."
Find her.
“What are you going to do?"
“You'll see.”
Down at the end of the corridor, near the restrooms, two police officers stand. Ricco speaks to me in a low voice. "I want you to go to the older one. I want you to tell her that the police officers outside have information that may pertain to this case. You need to get her away from the other officer. Understood?"
I have no idea what he's trying to do, but that's clear enough.
"Yes, of course."
I swallow hard and walk over to the officers. It's easier than I think, when they see who I am, and they see Ricco. The older officer looks more than happy to leave her station.
The younger officer looks barely old enough to graduate college. He talks in a low voice to Ricco. I cannot hear what they're saying, but it looks like they're making a deal.
This might work in my favor.
Ricco finally nods. “Thank you for your help. And if you hear anything at all, you know where to reach me." It sounds like a proper business transaction, no more, no less. "Daniella, we're going to go home for now."
