"Okay." Rae sat beside her and folded her legs. "All is not lost."

Marisa sighed. "I know. Intellectually, I know. But it feels... I thought they were going to get her."

"Yeah."

Marisa waited for Rae to encourage her, to offer platitudes. She didn't, though. She sat with her and waited. A few minutes passed before Marisa said, "What are they talking about out there?"

"I'm sure they'll fill us in."

They would. At least whatever Marisa insisted on knowing. Which, at this point, might be very little. She couldn't take any more bad news. Unless they had some hope, maybe she didn't want to know.

She thought again about Mexico's fields of bones. Oh, to never know your loved one's fate. What did she want more—hope or closure?

Neither. She wanted Ana. And she wasn't going to get her daughter back by hiding in the bathroom.

She pushed off the floor and stood. "We need to figure out what to do now."

Rae stood beside her. "Agreed. Let's go."

When Marisa stepped into the living room, Brady, Sam, and Nate all looked at her. Nate's concern was palpable from across the room.

"I'm okay. My stomach..."

"What can I get you?" Nate asked.

She sat beside him and patted his knee. "I'm okay. Really. We just need to make a plan."

"I agree." Nate turned to his friends. "The kidnapper said he'd call today. We haven't really talked about what to say. I guess we'd hoped..."

When he didn't finish, Brady said, "You need to quit putting him off. You'll have to tell him you have the money."

"Or I can get it," Marisa said. "Maybe I should say I can get access to it on Monday. That gives us two more days. And it is Saturday."

"Some banks are open. And they all have online banking," Nate said. "What would be your excuse?"

She didn't know. She looked around the room for advice. Brady glanced at Rae, who opened her mouth before snapping it shut. Sam started tapping on her computer as if all the answers could be found on that screen. If only.

It was Nate who finally spoke. "The money is tied up in a mutual fund, and the account has been closed and the money sent, but it won't be in your account until Monday."

"That could work," Sam said. "And it would make sense, I think."

"That I'd bought a mutual fund with stolen money?"

"Not you," Nate said. "You've maintained all along you didn't have the money. You need to stick with that. Tell him the person who has it is giving it to you."

"Okay. But still, stolen money in a mutual fund?"

Rae leaned forward. "In this story, you're just telling him what the person who really stole the money told you. If he questions you, you can tell him that. You're just passing on what you've been told."