The cab doesn’t even clear the hospital parking lot before I holler for him to stop. He refuses the couple of dollars I offer. “Are you goin’ t’ be okay, miss?”

I’m not your father and I’m not going to abandon you—no matter how much you want me to.

I mentally shake myself. I can’t fall apart now. I thrust out my chin. “Yes.” I’m going to be okay. Diana is going to be okay.

I’m going to save her and we’ll do it without Jonas Knightly.

But I can’t do it alone.

I call Zach.

And he answers.

“I need you.” I manage to squeak out.

“I’m on my way. Are you at the hospital? Did something happen to Diana?” Just like that. After everything I’ve done. The way I’ve treated him. The things I’ve said. The countless times I’ve pulled him in, only to push him away, he’s willing to drop everything and run. All I have to do is ask and he’s here.

Just like he said he’d be.

“No. Wait.” Shit. I squeeze my eyes shut.

“Don’t come here. The cameras.”

“Fuck the camera,” he says. A door slams and footsteps slap pavement.

“He knows.” I open my eyes, the dense heat of the tropics closing in on me. “Jonas knows who I am. He found me.”

He doesn’t say anything. All I hear is heavy breathing.

“Zach?” I pace under the shade of the palms and mango trees, none of them providing relief from the cloying temperature.

“Doesn’t matter.” Movement again, like the sound of me saying his name jolted him back into action. “I’m on my way.”

I need to be under the waves, in the quiet, calm of the ocean. It’s where I think best. Where I feel strongest. Standing on the hot blacktop, my brain twists and turns, searching every possible avenue to scrape up several thousand dollars. I only come up with one idea.

“I need money. They won’t do another surgery for Diana unless we pay for the first one…” I close my eyes. “I promise I’ll pay you back. Whatever it takes I won’t stop until I do. But we need the money now...” My voice trails off. His end of the line is silent again. “Zach?”

“I don’t have any money.” He sounds like the words stick in his throat. Like he has to push them out one at a time.

Not laying around, of course. “There’s time to withdraw or transfer it today. Even a statement showing the funds are on the way would work. But it has to be now.”

“No, I don’t have any money.” Again, he pauses. “I’ve got about ten dollars in cash. All my expenses run through the show account. Niles and Jonas have me locked out. I can’t get a dime.”

Sweat pours off me, dripping under my arms and running down my spine, pooling in the waistband of my shorts. I scramble for another way. “What about Liesa? Can you ask her? She knows Diana. She wouldn’t want her to…” I gulp. “She would want to help.”

“She’s in the same boat I am.” He sounds angry. Disgusted. “On the surface it looks like we have money to burn but…”

Liesa had confided that to me when we were almost friends. I figured having no money meant something different for her than for me. As in, if Liesa had no money she would have to settle for the BMW not the Bentley.

I don’t know how long I stand with the phone to my ear saying nothing, seeing nothing, before I realize Zach is saying my name.

“Are you there? Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” I swallow. “I’m fine.”

I’m lying.

I’m not fine.

He seems to know it because he curses under his breath. “I’m on my way. Do you hear me?” His car door slams and the engine starts. “We’ll figure it out. I swear.”

It’s time to admit defeat. “You can’t help.”

“Give me an hour.”

I can’t do anything but stare into the eyes of an iguana in a tree at the edge of the parking lot. “Thank you.” I finally blink, bringing myself back to the present. “For answering the phone. For—” Keeping your promise. Not abandoning me. “trying.”

“I’ll fix this,” he says. “Kylie, do you hear me? It’s going to be okay—I’m going to fix it.” He sounds hard. Determined. “I’m going to find a way. Tell me you believe me.”

“I believe you.” I say it because he needs to hear it. He needs to know I believe in him. And I do. I believe Zach will do everything in his power to make this right.

But there’s only one person who holds all the power and he’s the only one way left.