I don’t wait to hear how Paul is going to dig himself out of this hole. Walking on tiptoes, I slip inside the house and up the stairs to my room with no one noticing me.

Diego isn’t in my room. And I can’t help but notice the space seems half-empty.

Because it is.

All his stuff is gone. His clothes, his bag, his jacket. I take in all the empty spots where his things should’ve been, until my eyes land on a crumpled brown envelope lying on the bed. Propped on top of it is a set of keys—the spare for my apartment that I gave Diego.

I toss the car keys on my desk and sit on the bed, clutching the envelope in my hands. I know what’s inside; still, I open it and shuffle through the wad of cash. A tight pull in my chest makes it hard to breathe. Even as my face flushes with heat and my palms pool with sweat, I feel cold.

Diego is gone. The message he left couldn’t be clearer. Nevertheless, I jump off the bed and ransack the room in search of a note or anything else that would explain his absence. But there’s nothing.

I shouldn’t have left without talking to him. No, I was right, I needed to find Paul and fix things. Diego is the one who should’ve waited for me. No matter how mad he is with me, running away isn’t the answer.

I fish my phone out of my bag and call him.

The call goes unanswered.

I dial his number again and wait in vain.

On my third attempt, I get sent straight to voicemail.

Avoiding me, are you?

Oooooh, but he’s not going to get out of this so easily. Nuh-uh. I mean, he doesn’t have a car or his stupid bike; how far could he have gotten? Not very far. I can still catch him, wherever he is.

The sinking realization that I knew exactly where to find Paul, but have no idea where to look for Diego, hits me like a hard blow. It doesn’t matter. He has to be around Old Saybrook somewhere. This is a small town; there are only so many hotels he could’ve gone to.

Fueled by my new purpose, I march down the stairs, forgetting to be stealthy.

“Nikki!” My mom spots me the second I set foot on the landing. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I-I just need… Diego and I…”

“Oh, yes, darling. Such a pity he had to go back to New York early. He told us about the casting call for the big job.”

At least he had the decency to cover up his sudden disappearance with my family, leaving me to explain the fight—the breakup? What is this, anyway? Doesn’t matter; this is not the time to label things. My only concern is to find Diego, explain everything, and beg him not to go.

Right, finding him. Mom is my best chance at fresh intelligence.