David wasn’t just my business partner; he was my childhood friend. We had built Mendez & Partners Architecture from the dirt up in Guadalajara. He knew my finances. He knew my marriage. He knew my deepest, darkest insecurity—my desperate, consuming desire to leave a legacy.
I dialed Lucy’s number. Ring. Ring. Ring.
“The subscriber you are trying to reach is unavailable,” the automated voice chirped.
I cursed out loud, drawing stares from an elderly couple sitting across from me. I dialed again. Voicemail. I sent a barrage of texts. Lucy, please answer me. What envelope? Lucy, I’m sorry. Please.
Nothing. Only the cold, gray ellipses of a conversation that had reached its terminal point.
Driven by a toxic cocktail of adrenaline and terror, I sprinted out of the hospital, leaving Valerie and David’s baby behind. I didn’t care about the five-million-dollar condo in Brickell. I didn’t care about the SUV. I didn’t care about the looks of disgust from the hospital staff. I needed to get to my house. I needed to find that envelope.
The drive from the hospital to the upscale residential district of Guadalajara felt like a fever dream. I pushed my Mercedes to its absolute limit, running two red lights, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
When I finally pulled into the driveway of the home I had shared with Lucy, the silence hit me like a physical blow. The lights were off. The garden, usually meticulously kept by Lucy, looked shadowed and abandoned in the twilight.
I unlocked the front door and stepped inside. The house was cold. The faint smell of lavender vanilla—Lucy’s signature scent—still lingered in the air, but the warmth was entirely gone. Her keys weren’t on the counter. Her coat was missing from the rack.
