People Talk

Lila

She was woken by her phone trilling in the middle of the night. It took a minute to remember where she was. Her first thought was that Dane was being called to a crisis, and she reached out for him—and remembered the second her hand hit the cold pillow.

The phone trilled again and she forced herself to roll over and answer it. "Hello?"

"Lila?"

"Yes. John?" Finally.

"I'm so sorry to wake you… but… can you come out now? To meet me?"

"Yes. Yes of course. Just… where?"

"I'll get you the address," he said. "Just get dressed and get ready and go down to the cars. I'll make sure you have it."

She swallowed hard and told him goodbye, then went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face. 

She had to keep it together. She had to remember what role she was playing, what the endgame was. If she didn't, she could bring this whole thing crashing down, right on Dane's head.