I almost hung up. But on the patio table in front of me was a drawing of pink reindeer that Noelle had made for me. She’d drawn it right after we’d had the Santa Claus talk, something, like the tooth fairy, that her parents should have been there to handle. Luckily, I’d avoided the truth—nobody did that better these days. Sweet little Noelle still believed the man in the red suit slid down the chimney every Christmas Eve, or in our case, sneaked in through the garage.

The drawing and the reminder of Noelle and Holly helped. The girls and my parents had to be my focus.

I squeezed out my reply. “I’m sorry everything is so awful. I’m sorry you missed Christmas with the girls.”

“Did you make it a good one?”

I dug my fingernails into my palm until I knew I’d drawn blood. “Yes, but everybody missed you.”

She sniffed again and while she sniffed, I lied. “We’re close to finding Milton Kearns.”

“Are you?”

“We are. But Wendy, I have to know the truth.”

I took a deep breath. I had rehearsed what I would ask her if and when she called again. I had decided not to tell her about catching Jonah, or about opening the safe. And she certainly didn’t need to know my friendly spymaster had managed to decrypt the photos on her flash drive. But I did want her to know something else.

I couldn’t let her know I had her passport, so I lied yet again. “I checked with the Gracey Group travel agent. You’ve been to Brazil. Twice. I’m guessing you went for cosmetic surgery. I’m also guessing Vítor Calvo might have been your doctor. So his death at the same resort you were evaluating in Santa Fe seems more than suspicious. Is that why you’re on the run?” I paused for one more second. “Or are you running because you really did murder him?”

“I didn’t!”

I had to admire how she poured a ton of outrage into three syllables. “Okay, but were you meeting him there? Was that why you were at the resort?”

“No.”

“When you were in Brazil, was he your doctor?”

“Listen, I had two small cosmetic procedures at his clinic when I was in Brazil on vacation. I love Rio. I loved getting away for a little while. It meant nothing. But yes, he was my doctor. So that’s why when I saw him at the resort, I asked him to have a drink. It was 100 percent innocent. He was charming, and he even pretended to remember me. But don’t you see? That connection, as vague as it is, makes it more likely the police will come after me.”

“It really does, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does! Thank you.”

“And everything else is the same? You’re not holding anything back?”

“I am not. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right up front. But, to be honest, I was a little embarrassed I’d had surgery. I didn’t want to admit it.”