She nodded again. But she had her doubts. She tried to sweep them from her mind. Her phone rang again. Rina said, “It’s Cindy. What do you want me to tell her?”

Donatti gave her a wave.

Rina pressed the button. “Hi, honey.”

“What’s going on?” Cindy asked.

“Terry’s in the hospital.”

“In the hospital?” Cindy shrieked. “Is she okay?”

“We’re waiting to hear.”

“What happened?” A pause. “Or can’t you talk now?”

“Exactly. I’ll call you when I have an update. Don’t say anything to the kids until we know exactly what the status is.”

“Of course.”

“How are the kids?”

“They’re not saying much … to be expected.”

“Did they sleep?”

“They said they did. They ate breakfast. Now they’re watching TV. Sanjay is. Juleen is in the room with the door closed. When I checked on her, she was lying on the bed reading. I don’t want to bother them too much right now.”

“I agree.” Rina paused. “Thanks, honey. I’ll call you later.”

“Where’s Daddy? He’s not answering his phone.”

“He’s with the police. I’ll explain later.”

“Oh my God. Someone hurt her?”

“Yes.”

“It’s serious?”

“Yes. I’ll call you later.”

When she hung up, Chris said, “Kids okay?”

“Probably disoriented, but physically they’re fine.”

About ten minutes later, Donatti’s phone rang. “Shit, that’s Gabe. Can you talk to him?”

She took his phone. “Hi, honey.”

“Juleen called me. She said Mom is missing. She said that she and Sanjay are at Cindy’s house. What the hell is going on?”

Rina waited a moment to catch her breath. “Your mom is in the hospital, Gabe. Please don’t say anything to Juleen and Sanjay just yet.”

“Where’s my father? Did he hurt her?”

“No, nothing like that. Your dad’s right here with me in the corridor, waiting to hear from the doctors.”

“Can I talk to him?”

“He’s not in much of a state to talk.”

Donatti held out his hand, and Rina gave him the phone. “What?”

“You tell me, Dad,” Gabe said.

“I can’t tell you a fucking thing because I don’t know anything.”

“Is it serious?”

“I just said I don’t know.” A pause. “Where are you?”

“Budapest. I booked a ticket to come back as soon as I heard.”

“How’d you hear?”

“Juleen just called me. She said that Mom was missing.”

Donatti let out a gush of air. “Don’t come home yet. Wait until I have news, okay? Can you do that for me?”

“Dad, I can’t perform with this level of anxiety.”

“Just wait, okay?” Donatti said. “I’ll call you when I know something. Or maybe Rina will call you. Just don’t tell Juleen anything about this until I have something definite.”

“Of course not.” A pause. “When you see Mom, tell her I love her.”