Izabel picked up Cami from the mall’s childcare and brought her home. They said hello to Jana, who was studying at the table. But Izabel wasn’t all the way pleasant with either of the girls. She didn’t feel like herself. She needed to talk to Paz.

Izabel gave Cami a bowl of graham crackers and put on Miraculous for her, a French television show about a girl who turns into Ladybug, a ladybug-styled superhero with a weapon that resembles a yo-yo but that no one calls a yo-yo.

Izabel slipped into her bedroom and called Paz. She didn’t even say hello to her. She asked, “Didn’t you have surveillance on our old street?”

“I can’t comment on an ongoing investigation,” Paz said.

“What?”

“I can’t comment.”

“But before—”

“You’re in a different position now, Izabel. Look, do you need something?”

“No,” Izabel said.

“Then I have work to do.” She hung up.

Izabel came back out to the living room, still not sure how she was feeling, and very sure she didn’t want to do the self-reflection needed to figure it out.

“Snuggle?” Cami said.

Izabel sat next to her on the couch and Cami snuggled into her. Izabel spaced out to the same sequence of music, over and over, each time the girl turned into Ladybug. The spot on her head still hurt. She rubbed it. She lay down, sleepy, bending her legs to fit on the couch. Cami moved to sit behind Izabel’s legs, like Izabel had created a tiny wall, a fort, for Cami to hide in.

Cami tried to wake Izabel when she was thirsty. Before Izabel had opened her eyes, Jana said, “You could’ve asked me for that. You didn’t have to bother your mom.”

“Sorry,” Cami said.

Izabel heard Jana open the fridge and pour the juice and bring the cup over to Cami. She heard the same show still on. She thought about how she could fall back to sleep, sleep the whole afternoon away, but she wanted to be able to fall asleep that night, to feel tired, like a normal person.

She opened her eyes, reached for her tablet, and sat up.

“You are awake!” Cami said.

Izabel didn’t want to talk yet, but she kissed the side of Cami’s head.

In her app, she left it on 2017, but then she tapped Infamous. The first headline was “Serial Killer Fears: Area of Tampa on Edge After 3 Killings.” She felt the start of a panic attack in her chest. The article named the victims, their ages, and the dates they were shot. It described how the community was responding, how bus routes had been changed, the extreme degree to which police presence was heightened. Even the FBI and ATF had come to help. The article ended with a quote from a woman who heard gunshots. No conclusion after that. Nothing.