He nodded.
Then
his phone vibrated.
He looked down.
His face changed.
“What?”
He handed me the phone.
A message from Jenna.
Love you. Wish you were home. This night feels lonely.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Daniel laughed.
The sound frightened me.
“She sent that from the hotel?”
“Probably.”
He typed something.
I grabbed his wrist.
“What are you saying?”
He showed me.
Miss you too. Long shift tonight. See you in the morning.
I slowly released him.
“Good.”
“I feel sick.”
“I know.”
He sent the message.
Three dots appeared.
Then Jenna replied with a heart.
Daniel turned the screen facedown.
“What’s the plan?”
We spent the next four hours at my sister Ruth’s empty lake cabin twenty miles outside town.
Ruth lived in Arizona six months a year and had given me a spare key.
No one knew we were there.
Not Mark.
