She didn’t reply. She could only stare at him with wide eyes. Breathe in. Breathe out.
“Once the press gets wind of this, they will be on your doorstep. I’m sure of it. Is there somewhere you can go if it gets too bad? It’ll die down. It always does, but I’m sure they’re going to want to talk to you.”
“This is the last week of school, well I have next week, but we have a summer house that we go to. We could go there.”
“That might be perfect.”
Both agents stood. “Here’s my card. If there is anything you need, you let me know.”
“I will. Thank you so much,” Liz said, standing. She hugged the man. What the hell did she do that for? She was having a meltdown. She couldn’t do this alone.
“May I have my phone back?” the agent who had just gotten hugged asked.
“Oh, sorry. Could you send that picture to my phone?”
He smiled. “Yes, what’s your number?”
Liz closed the door behind the two men, the two men who had just tilted her whole world. She wondered if Shelby would remember her at all. How much does a three year old remember? Could she remember when she was three? She lived by the lake where their cabin was. No, she didn’t remember that. She just knew it to be fact. She needed to call Manny. She needed to go tell Reese.
“Mom?” Reese said from the stairs with a puzzled look. That snapped Liz out of her internal rant for the time being
“Reese, sit down. I need to talk to you about something.”
“You’re the one that looks like you need to sit down. What’s going on?”
Liz took another short puff from her inhaler. Why was she having such hard time breathing? That was the third dose in twenty minutes.
Liz pulled the ottoman over and sat in front of Reese. She held her phone up, showing Reese the photo of her big sister. “Reese, do you have any idea who this is?”
“Um, no, should I?”
“This is Shelby. This is your sister, Reese.”
“What do you mean?” Reese asked. She may need that inhaler. She couldn’t breathe all of a sudden either.
“She was found yesterday. She is coming home tomorrow.”
Reese had the exact same reaction as her mother. She plopped back in the chair. Was this real? “I think this is some sort of sick joke. I don’t think this is real.”
“It’s real Reese. She’s coming home. Oh, my God. She’s coming home,” she stated again as it kept hitting her over and over. “We have to get her room ready.”
“What room?”
“We’ll put her in grandma and grandpa’s room, that’s a nice room for her, isn’t it? You have your old black comforter with the red lips. We’ll put that on there. She’ll like that. Wont she?” She wasn’t really asking. She was just trying to make sense of the craziness. It was crazy. This doesn’t happen. “No, no, we’ll wait and let her pick out her own things. We’ll take her shopping, Reese.”
“Mom, you’re freaking me out here,” Reese assured her, watching her mother as she rattled on and on.
“I have to call your dad.”
“Something’s burning?” Reese decided, smelling something scorched.
“Shit, my spaghetti sauce,” Liz said, running to the kitchen. Yup, it was burnt. The whole kitchen filled with smoke, setting off the first smoke alarm and then the other four. Liz removed the smoking pan and opened the back door. She turned the exhaust fan on and waved the dishtowel over the alarm until it stopped. Of course, the smoke had to set off the asthma again.
“What if she doesn’t like me?” Reese asked from the door.
Liz smiled a motherly warm smile. “Who wouldn’t love you? I’m sure she will adore you. We are going to have to be extra nice to her, Reese. This is going to be quite an adjustment for her.”
“It’s going to be quite an adjustment for all of us,” Reese assured her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it. I mean, she was happy that they found her and glad that she was okay, she just didn’t know how she felt about it yet. She was going to have a sister, and not one that she had grown up with. This one was seventeen, and she was just all of a sudden coming home.
“Yes, it is. Go finish your homework. I have to call your dad.”
“I wasn’t doing my homework. I was downloading music.”
“Well, stop downloading music and do your homework.”
“I’m hungry.”
Oh, yeah. She still needed to feed her. “Order a pizza.”
Liz sunk to the chair at the kitchen table. Where was her inhaler? She was going to need it…again. She dialed her ex-husband’s cell number. He didn’t answer. She looked at the clock. It was after five. He was probably out of the office by now. No, no, he was probably right there at his desk where he would be until nine or ten o’clock. She dialed his office and his secretary answered.
“Rimmer and Moore Links. This is Karen, how I may I help you?”
“Hi, Karen. It’s Liz. Is Emmanuel still there?”
“Yes, but I’m not supposed to interrupt him unless it’s emergency. They have a big account due in a couple of days. How are you?”
“I’m well, but this is an emergency.”
“Oh no, is Reese okay?”
“Reese is fine. Could you please just connect me to him?” She didn’t mean to be rude or short with Karen. She had always liked her. She just didn’t want to small talk with her. She needed to talk to her ex.
“Hey, Liz. Can you give me like twenty minutes and I’ll call you back?” Emmanuel asked, looking at his watch. He was just about finished for the night. He just needed to go through the presentation one more time.
“Yeah, sure, Manny. You go take care of your WORK. This is something that can wait around for you to finish.” Always the same ole’ Manny, work first, and family later.
“Can you give me five minutes?” he asked his partner. “Okay, okay, Elizabeth. What is it that is so important that I can’t finish this advertising deal that will ensure you get a check next month?” He asked as soon as his partner closed the door.
Really? He was going to do this now? Why the hell was her asthma acting up so much tonight? She shook the little container and inhaled once again.
“I wish you were here, Manny. I hate telling you this over the phone.”
That piqued his interest. “What Liz? Is Reese okay?”
“Reese is fine. It’s our other daughter that has me so distraught.”
“Shelby? What do you mean?”
“Shelby is coming home tomorrow, Manny. She was found yesterday.”
“You mean they are sending her remains home?”
“No, Manny. I mean, she is coming home, alive and well.”
“Liz, I think someone is playing some sort of sick joke on you. This isn’t possible.”
“I thought the same thing. I have a picture of her on my phone. It’s no doubt her, Manny.”
“What? How? I don’t understand. Where was she?” He was the one that needed to sit down now.
“I don’t have a lot of details yet, but from what I have gathered, she was accidently found. They raided a big time drug smuggler, and he had Shelby.”
“Did he hurt her?”
“I don’t think so. The agents that came to tell me said that he raised her like his own daughter and was very good to her.”
“How noble of the son of bitch. I hope I get the chance to see him face to face.”
“You won’t. They killed him.”
“Is this real, Liz?” he asked again, feeling like he too suddenly had asthma.
Liz blew out a puff of air. “I think it is, Manny.”
Emmanuel sat up straight. “Okay, I need to get this project finished and hand it over to Cody. I’ll head out first thing in the morning. What time will she arrive?”
“I’m not sure yet. Someone is supposed to call me later with the details.”