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So I do. Not every detail—some things are still too raw—but I tell him enough. Levi moving in next door. The way he worked his way into my life. Maverick. The clause. The school dance.

The words burn as they leave my mouth. Every sentence feels more humiliating than the last.

Drew’s quiet for so long I wonder if the call has dropped.

Finally, he exhales sharply. “That doesn’t sound like him.”

“He admitted it.”

“I’m not saying he didn’t,” Drew says carefully. “I’m saying this doesn’t track. I figured he was still in hospital. Thought the second he was back on his feet, he’d be coming for me. Not doing this.”

“Why would he be coming for you?”

Drew goes quiet.

“Drew?”

“Because I ran off with Grace,” he says. “…and because I shot him.”

“You shot him?”

“He shot at me first. Missed, though.”

I can’t find any words. All this time—Levi’s bad arm…Drew had done that.

“I should go,” I manage.

“Carmen—”

I hang up before he can say anything else.

For a while, I just sit there with the phone in my hand. Then I scoop Fifi up and hold her against my chest. She’s warm and bony and smells faintly of cheese.

“I’m sorry, sweet girl,” I whisper, voice thick. “I need you right now.”

I take a long breath.

“You picked him for what he really was, didn’t you? That’s why you peed on him.” I let out a watery laugh. “You were trying to warn me, and I convinced myself he wasn’t bad news.”

She gives me a dopey look, completely unbothered.

“We’re going to get through this,” I tell her, even though she has no idea what’s going on. “We will.”

42

LEVI

It’s been three days, and I still haven’t seen Carmen. Her car hasn’t moved. Her house stays dark.

She’s gone.

I don’t know where she is, and I’m trying like hell to respect that she doesn’t want to be found right now.

I pull into the driveway after dropping Theo at school and spot an unfamiliar car parked in front of Doris’s place. Doris never has visitors unless someone’s delivering her prescriptions, so the car stands out immediately.

I kill the engine and sit there a moment, staring at it.

Cute. Parking at Doris’s like I wouldn’t notice.