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I hear her call my name, but I don’t look back.

I put one foot in front of the other, retracing my steps until I’m back in my car. I make it all the way down the drive and onto the main street before I completely unravel.

I pull over, my head on my steering board, trying to catch my breath. I replay what she said, fighting my tears with everything I have. She’s not worth them.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been sitting here when the scream of close-by sirens makes my head snap up. I flinch and lift my hands to shield my eyes from the flashing lights of three police cruisers that have completely surrounded my car. I go from numb to reeling in the space of one heartbeat. Oh my God. She called the police? I keep my hands on the steering wheel and use my phone’s voice command to call Omar and let him know I’m in trouble.

CHAPTER 39

CHAOS

Omar

“This is great.”I am sincerely impressed with the scope and size of the abandoned shopping mall he’s walking me through.

“I think so, too. Let’s get back to the office, and we can talk numbers if you’re ready to move forward.”

I nod. “What about your dad?”

“He said he had to stop at the house. Probably to check on my mom.”

Alarm bells ring in my head. I pull my phone out to text Jules. “Leave now.”

He takes his sunglasses off and wipes his eyes like he’s tired, oblivious to my panic. “She’s got agoraphobia. It’s a damn shame because she used to be…man, larger than life. She traveled all over the world and was the head of the division that sourced our fragrances in the nineties. When I was a kid, I had nannies and barely saw her. And then, when I was old enough to not need her anymore, she suddenly was locked in her room and couldn’t leave the house.”

“When was that?”

“I don’t know. I was maybe eighteen. So like 2011. I can’t believe it’s been that long.”

“Listen, do you mind if we postpone the meeting till?—”

A loud ring interrupts me, and he pulls his phone out of a holster in his jacket, and for a second, I think it’s a gun.

I try to call Jules while he’s talking, but his conversation draws my attention and raises my panic. “What? Who? Shit. Fuck. Okay, I’m on my way back.”

“What is it?”

“There was an intruder. Someone broke into my mother’s room.”

The surge of panic makes my head spin. What the hell? “Is your mother okay?”

“I dunno. My dad said he got there just as they were running out. They got away, but he’s called the police, and they’re looking for them.”

Thank fuck she got away.

“Can I drop you somewhere? I’ve got to get back to the house and see what the hell is going on.”

I wave off the offer. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll catch an Uber. Or call Jules. I’ll be fine. You go ahead.”

I call Jules like a madman for a solid two minutes. Then I order an Uber to take me back to my house, and in the five minutes it takes for him to arrive, I call her at least fifty times. Her phone goes straight to voicemail.

“Jules, I swear to God, if you don’t call me back, and you’re fine when I see you, I’m going to fucking spank you. I swear. And not in the way you like.” I leave a voicemail and try to think.

My phone rings, and it’s her. “Beat, what the hell?—”

“Omar, I messed up.” She’s whispering, but her panic is palpable.

Mine even more so. “What happened? Where are you? I’ll come get you.”