"Maybe this Rick she's involved with is her accomplice."

Marisa turned to Nate, a new thought occurring to her. "Or maybe he was just using her to get information, to find me. Maybe he threatened her, and she didn't have any choice."

Nate nodded slowly. "Maybe."

The rest of the room was silent. Clearly, nobody thought that seemed plausible, but the idea took hold, a lifesaver in this ocean of doubt. "Maybe she really was threatened that night, and they think I have all the money. She went to Mexico to get me to give it to her. Maybe she's been caught up in something she can't control."

"That's very possible, Marisa," Nate said. "We'll just have to wait until we find her and we can ask her."

"But you don't believe it."

He shook his head. "Why wouldn't she have just given them the money she stole? To protect herself, to protect you, why not just pay them off to get them to go away?"

Marisa had no answer to that.

"Remember what Nate said?" Rae asked. "In a weird way, this is good news."

Marisa turned to Nate as the memory of his words from a few minutes before came to her. "Why is it good news?"

"Your daughter is with your sister." Nate adjusted in his seat to face her. "Don't you see? She might be guilty of all these things, but she's not a psychopath. She wouldn't be cruel. I don't know your sister like you do, but from what you've told us, and from what I've seen, she has a strong instinct to nurture. Don't you think she's taking good care of Ana?"

The tightening in her chest loosened just a tad, and a tiny flicker of hope lit. Marisa remembered Leslie with Ana, remembered how they'd walked hand-in-hand through the market. Remembered the gifts Leslie had bought her, the way they'd laughed together, how Leslie had protected Ana on that Acapulco street. Leslie wouldn't hurt Ana.

Marisa met Nate's eyes. "Leslie will take good care of her."

"I think so, too."

"Thank God." Marisa looked up, saw only the ceiling, but imagined some strong force up there. For the first time, she allowed herself to believe this might work out. She looked back at the faces around her, all watching for her reaction. She smiled. "You're right. That's good news."

Nate squeezed Marisa's hand and turned to Brady. "We have the information. What do we do with it?"

"I know what I'd say," Brady said, "but Garrison probably has more experience with this kind of thing than I do. Let's catch him up and see what he says."

"What would you do, though?" Marisa asked. "I'm curious."

"If it were me, I'd stay the course, see if you can discover who stole Charles's money. For all you know, they're watching you. You don't want them to know you're on to them."