The next morning, we pack up the dog’s food and water bowls along with Sophie’s supplies. When the harness and leash come out, BeeBee goes nuts. She sits at my feet during the drive, vibrating with excitement.

Dante holds my hand again.

I arrive at the café feeling on top of the world and as soon as Sophie’s taken care of, I launch into the office project with renewed energy. By midway through the morning, I have put every single piece of paper in the office into either a category stack or a question stack, the latter relatively tiny.

So when Vic comes in to suggest I take a break, I’m ready to take him up on it. With Sophie on my hip and BeeBee on her leash, we head across the parking lot to the garage.

I spot Rico right away. It’s easy; I just look for Dante, and there he is, dressed in oil-stained coveralls. Even knowing what to expect, it freaks me out a little bit to see him.

The bays are all full, with more vehicles waiting their turn — the garage is as busy as the café. I spot Gilda, torn to pieces. What on earth are they doing to her? It looks like a lot more than some hoses and a water pump.

The garage doesn’t look like a safe place for a dog, so I angle toward the office door to the side of the bays. I’m almost there when the door opens.

A young woman stands smiling at me. She’s around my age, with curly golden-brown hair and a pixie nose. “You must be Heather. I’m Mickey, Rico’s wife.”

Oh. Wow. “I didn’t know Rico was married.”

“Just a few months.” She holds the door open for me, and I go inside. A dog around BeeBee’s size, with a shaggy coat, gets up from her bed under the counter and greets her canine visitor.

“That’s Valiant,” Mickey informs me. “We call her Val. Rico rescued her when she was a tiny puppy.”

Her gaze goes to Sophie. “Can I hold her?” There’s something a little eager in her eyes, her voice, that makes me examine her more closely.

That glow to her skin, the overall air of vibrant health … “Are you pregnant?”

She beams at me. “Rico and I wanted to start a family right away. We just told everyone last week.”

A dull buzzing starts in my head as I watch her bounce my girl on her hip and coo to her. Dante’s twin brother … recently married to a much younger woman. And now, even more recently, expecting a child.

And just in the nick of time, here I come, a much younger woman with a young child.

Instant family.

All the bonds that grew yesterday, during the invasion, seem to wither away, crumbling to dust inside me. It was all an illusion. One big lie.

I should have known a man like Dante couldn’t have wanted a girl like me. Not for my own sake.

He’s just using me, the same way Chandler used me. I’m a means to an end. Nothing more.

“Hey.” Mickey’s peering at me, a worried expression on her face. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” Automatically, I reach out and take Sophie from her. “Could you, um, keep BeeBee with you for a minute? I need to go see about something.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I don’t answer. Pushing the door open, I start back across the parking lot. All I’m aware of is an urgent need to get away from here.

I’m a hundred yards from the street when the squeal of tires on asphalt sounds nearby. A nondescript sedan makes a sharp turn into the parking lot, and I watch it with a kind of detached curiosity, wondering where they’re going and why they’re in such a hurry.

The car tears around the parking lot in a big loop, and not until it’s almost upon me does it dawn on me that I’m the destination. It screeches to a stop next to me, and the driver leaps out.

He’s in a different vehicle than the one he used to chase me around near the daycare center, but I recognize the flat eyes, the thin, cruel mouth, and the ill-fitting suit. I take a step back, but it’s too late. He’s on me.

“You’re a difficult gal to find, missy.” His hand closes around my arm so tightly that I know I’m going to have bruises. “You’ve caused me a lot of trouble.”

He hauls me toward the car and shoves me in, Sophie in my arms, straight across the seat to the passenger side. I reach for the handle on that side, but it’s been stripped. There’s no way to get the door open.

As the PI scrambles in next to me, I hear frantic barking. BeeBee is racing toward us, trailing her leash. Behind her, running flat out, are Mickey and Rico and all the mechanics.

They won’t reach us in time. I look toward the parts store. Dante is running too, dodging around cars, moving at impossible speed, his face a mask of fury.

The driver’s door slams shut. The car peels out. I reach for my seat belt, hold my daughter close, and pray.