We went back and forth like that for a minute. I’d just convinced her to page Kaylee, when a tall, willowy Asian woman in a severe black suit swept by. “Oh, there she is,” the receptionist said, relief in her voice. “Mrs. Quan!”

The woman glanced in her direction and chose to ignore her. Her cell phone was up to her ear, but she wasn’t speaking into it.

“Thanks so much,” I said. My boots clattered on tile as I ran after the woman. “Kaylee!” I called once we were outside.

She turned to stare at me. “Do I know you?” Her irritation was palpable.

“I’m Lily.” I put my hand forward. “It’s nice to finally meet you. You were a friend of my sister’s.”

“Your sister’s?”

“Claudia Moore.”

Kaylee took two steps back. “Stay away from me or I’ll have you arrested. Leave me alone. I mean it.” She turned and stormed away. I stared after her, wondering what my next move could possibly be.

CHAPTER 26

Jesse made his best attempt at cheering me up that night. He pulled together a group of our old friends and dragged me to dinner with them at Rosa Mexicano, a raucous restaurant west of Union Square. It was the sort of place you had to shout to be heard, but no one seemed to mind. I downed three pomegranate margaritas and tried to forget what I knew. It didn’t help that Sinotique was two blocks away, a reminder of my abject failure to find out anything about my sister’s whereabouts.

After we hugged our friends goodbye, Jesse and I were left alone for the first time all evening. “You want to stroll on back to the ole homestead? It’s cold out but I need to walk off some tortilla chips.”

“Sure.”

“What’s up? I couldn’t ask much at supper, Lil, but you owe me. What happened today?” He knew all about Mal Sabado stealing valuables from Claudia’s—I’d told people about that at dinner—but nothing about where I’d spent my afternoon. I wasn’t ready to tell him about Martin and face his furious reaction. Instead, I told him about my visit with Sarah.

“She’s bang on about there bein’ a connection between your sister and that impostor. That woman knew all about your folks, right? So your sis had to have spilled her guts to her.”