Page 131 of Faded Gray Lines

She sighed. “Don’t you remember the night I got shitfaced?”

“Yeah, you kept calling Sarah, Simba and quotingThe Lion King. I was told you even sang a really bad karaoke version of...”

“‘The Circle of Life,’” she said, her hands slamming onto her hips in satisfaction. “Stella is in there. You just have to get me in, and I’ll find her.”

“Well, you won’t have to wait long.” Holding the doorknob, I gave a sharp flick of my wrist and it clicked. “We’re in.”

Leighton tore past me in a blur of drenched denim and a lingering smell of charcoal, and I followed behind her. Even though her theory sounded plausible, I had my doubts. Emilio was an asshole, but he hadn’t lasted as long as he had in the cartel by being transparent. Hiding Stella inside Caliente would be too simple. If a man wanted something bad enough to kill for it, he wouldn’t turn around and just ...

Hide it in plain sight.

Just like Hector did.

Leighton almost ripped the stock room door off its hinges. “Stella? Stella, it’s Mommy. Are you here?”

After tearing the entire bar apart, we came up with nothing.

Leighton collapsed against the wall with her head in her hands. “I don’t get it. I know she’s in here.”

Or out.

“Maybe not.” Grabbing her hand, I dragged her outside where Emilio kept a locked storage shed tucked away near the back of the property.

Leighton pressed her face against the rusted metal door. “Twinkle, twinkle, little star...”

Neither of us breathed as a voice so faint I thought I imagined it floated by.

“How I wondow what you awe.”

Leighton’s knees buckled. “That’s her!” Tears rolled down her face, and she barreled into me. “Stella? Up above the world so high.”

The faint voice answered. “Wike a diamond in da sky.”

“Stand back,” I instructed, pulling my gun out.

She grabbed my arm. “No! You’ll hurt her.”

“I’m not going to shoot inside, Leighton. Just the lock. I’m done with this.”

“No guns.” Pulling my knife out of my back pocket, Leighton snapped it open and within a couple turns of her wrist, popped the lock. I didn’t have time to be impressed. Once she pushed the door open and flipped on the light, my world came crashing down around me.

A little girl in jeans and a pink shirt sat huddled near the back, her knees drawn to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her body looked just like Leighton’s did when I found her in the woods, but her face was like looking in a mirror.

Recognition registered in her beautiful brown eyes, and she scrambled to her feet. “Mommy!”

Leighton fell to her knees, scooping the little girl into her arms. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what Leighton would say. It hardly seemed like the time or place for a family reunion. As much as I wanted to claim my child, I didn’t want Stella’s first memory of meeting her father to be in a dirty shed after being kidnapped.

But as usual, Leighton knew exactly what to say. Inching toward me, she placed a hand on my arm and smiled. “Stella, this is my friend, Mateo. Can you say hello?”

There were two moments in my life I knew I’d never forget: the first time I saw a girl in a yellow dress, and the first time I heard the voice of an angel.

“Hi.” She grinned, dimples sinking into both her cheeks.

I choked out the words lodged in my throat. “Hello, Stella. I’ve waited a long time to meet you.”

* * *

Ending the call, I glanced at Leighton. “Val’s contact at the morgue said he can only slow down the autopsy report by two days.”