Page 25

Duncan---Treading Water

An unknown number comes across my phone, sending my ringtone screaming into the night. There is only one person who should be calling me this late at night.

“Hello?” I pick up, confusion lacing my voice. I’m hoping it is Amelia, calling to say something she’d forgotten or ask what I wanted from The Morning Medusa in the morning.

“Is this Duncan Russo?” The voice is unfamiliar and my gut tightens, snakes curling in the pit.

“It is.”

“Mr. Russo, I regret to inform you that Miss Conte has been brought to the hospital. You’re listed as her emergency contact.” I sit up, the action waking Parker, and she rubs her eyes sleepily.

“Alive?” My breath catches in my throat, the balance of the whole world hanging on the answer.

“Just.”

Fuck.