The question nearly broke me.
“I miss some things.”
She accepted that.
Children sometimes understood complexity better than adults.
She returned to coloring.
Marisol touched my shoulder.
“You don’t have to figure out your marriage today.”
“I know.”
“Just today.”
I looked at her.
“When did you become the sensible cousin?”
“I have three children.”
“Right.”
“And a mortgage.”
“Right.”
She smiled.
I leaned into her shoulder.
For the first time since leaving Dallas, I let someone hold part of the weight.
At 3:18 that afternoon, Adrian called.
I almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Did you find Claire?”
“No.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“But we found something else.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course you did.”
“Can you come downstairs?”
“Why?”
“I’d rather show you.”
I looked toward Marisol.
She nodded.
“I’ll stay with Lily.”
Ten
minutes later, I found Adrian in a small hotel meeting room.
Daniel stood near the door.
On the table were three printed pages.
Adrian did not sit.
Neither did I.
“What is it?”
“Claire left a file on our internal server.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“For you?”
“We thought so.”
