“San Diego.”
“Isolated?”
“Not completely.” She takes a shaky breath. “I have maybe an hour.”
I nod and rush to the dresser to get socks then throw Zak’s t-shirt at him. “Are you close to a Western Union? Somewhere I can wire you money?”
“There’s a drugstore close by, maybe a few blocks.”
“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You are going to pack nothing but necessities, one bag, that’s it. I’m going to wire a few hundred dollars to the drugstore under the cover of our favorite movie characters. When you get it, buy a burner phone, put my number in it, then trash this one and text me.” I run down the hall to the living room and wake up my laptop to start searching airports. “Take a bus to McClellan-Palomar, there will be a ticket waiting to take you to Vegas— “
“I need two.” Tate clears her throat. “Two tickets.”
“What...”
“One adult, one... one child.”
Urgency flares and my anger rises. “Got it. Two tickets to Vegas will be waiting for you. When you get there, it’ll be the same, Vegas to Denver. My boyfriend and I will—“
“Don’t bring Tony, please. I don’t want him to see me this way.”
I blink then do it again. That just proves how long it’s been since I’ve talked to Tate. Sure, yeah, Zak and I are still new, and I was with Tony for years, but the last time we spoke was well before he and I started having problems, probably even before I graduated NYU and it was so brief I’m a little surprised she remembers Tony at all.
I shake my head. “Not him, we’re done. Zak, my boyfriend and I, and our family will meet you in Denver and drive you back to Sabine Woods. You can tell me everything then.”
Tate sighs, exhausted, defeated. “I’m sorry, Dori.”
Tears spring to my eyes as I click away on my keyboard and secure everything, her nickname for me like a knife wrapped in a fuzzy blanket as it plunges into my guts. “Don’t be. Never apologize for people loving you. Repeat the plan.”
She does, word for word, then again because she knows me well enough to know I want to make sure she’s got it.
“You text me as soon as you have that phone, ok?”
“I will.” Tate sniffles again. “Dori?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“Thank you.”
A big fat tear rolls down my chin. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Then she hangs up.
“Who the fuck is Tate and who the hell even are you right now?” Zak growls as he tugs his cut over his t-shirt. “I swear to god, Theo, if you have some secret—“
“My sister.”
He stops mid-scold and blinks. “What?”
“Half-sister actually.” I wipe away my tears then get to my feet, continue rushing around to gather my coat and purse, my keys, but Zak stops me, places his hands on my shoulders and pins me with his gaze.
“I thought you didn’t...”
“Me too,” I sigh. “I didn’t think I had any family left either. Tate is my half-sister, same mom, different dads. We’re two years apart and lived together until she was eleven. Her dad was a junkie, mixed up with the wrong people and kidnapped her while we were asleep. My mother never bothered to look for her, but as soon as I was old enough, I did. Her dad sold her to the guys he was running with, Italian mafia types in New York— “
“Which is why you went to school there.” Zak sighs as he starts rubbing my arms.
