It doesn’t take long for me to figure out she’s not talking about my dad. Ever since she got here, she has been comfortable discussing his case with him even though she knew he wouldn’t be able to answer her. Which means she’s talking about somebody else.

She knows so much about my family, yet I barely know anything about hers. The only hints I’ve received are the ones she offered for some reason during our ATV ride two days ago. Is she talking about her mother, before she passed? Wren didn’t even say how she died. Maybe she had a stroke at some point too, or maybe she had something else. I can’t imagine anything as bad as a parent wanting to say something but their muscles not being able to get the words out, but by the way she’s blinking fast, I’d say maybe there is something just as bad, if not worse.

“How?” I ask, trying to get something more. Anything. How did you move on? How did you survive this?

Her mouth opens, then closes. I stare at her intently, waiting. I don’t know why it’s so important that she tells me. I just know there’s something inside me that wants to get her. Fully get her.

Something in her is burning. Her gaze is alive, trying to communicate something with me. But no word comes out.

Taking a step forward, I say, “Are you talking about—”

“She’s not here!” a voice screams down the hallway. A voice I’d recognize anywhere. “Aarón!” Ma shouts, panic lacing her voice. “I can’t find her!”

I’m out of the room in a second, Wren right beside me. I find Ma a few feet away, her eyes red, face blotchy.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say, grabbing her arms. “What’s going on?”

“Callie,” she says, panting. “I can’t find her anywhere. She wasn’t there when school finished, and she’s not at Sylvia’s, and she’s not in the yard, and—”

“Okay, Ma, calm down,” I say, even though my own heartbeat is through the roof. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Mi bebé,” my mother wails, fat tears starting to roll down her cheeks.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Ma, it’s going to be fine, okay? I’ll find her. Just… Can you go with Dad and take a breath?” The words barely come out of my mouth. Air seems scarce all of a sudden. Thankfully, she listens to me. She can’t see that I’m panicking.

I head up the stairs—for what, I don’t know—and as soon as I have some space to freak out, I do. Big time.

Focus, Aaron.

I can’t. Not when my little sister is missing, and I’m the one who’s supposed to find her.