CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
red tide
DAY 5
A gentle hand squeezes my shoulder. I open my eyes, but I must still be dreaming.
“Jacinta … are you safe?” I ask the hallucination.
“Lara, wake up,” she answers. Next to me, Humboldt pushes onto his feet and stretches, tail whipping the love seat armrest.
I rub my hands over my eyes. It is Jacinta. She’s here. My office is dark other than the glow from the singular low-watt lamp on my desk. “Why … what happened?”
“Come with me,” she says, helping me stand. My ass is numb from sleeping propped against the couch on the hard floor, my neck joining in with its displeasure. Jacinta pulls me down the hall to the conference room, buzzing with renewed activity. I don’t have to ask.
They didn’t find Finan.
They found nothing, in fact, other than an empty
