Page 48 of The Truth about the Devlins

Suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw the blur of a black Hyundai,theblack Hyundai. It sped away, but I got a clear view of its license plate.

HOK6253. I didn’t have to check my hand to know it was a match.

“Hey!” I took off, chasing the Hyundai in traffic. Cars swerved to avoid me. Horns blared. Drivers flashed me the finger. I kept running, but the Hyundai disappeared up ahead.

I stopped, breathing hard while cars moved around me. I turned, walked between the lanes, and went back to my car. I pulled on the handle, but the door didn’t open.

Mango was propped up on the door, screeching and screeching. The button on the door was down. I was locked out.

I reached for my phone to call for help, but it wasn’t in my pocket.

Then I heard it ringing.

Inside the car.

•••

I tried to flag down a driver who would let me use his phone to call for help, except even if I did, my phone knew my numbers but I didn’t. I didn’t know anybody’s number except my sponsor’s. I had AA, but not AAA.

Mango was freaking out inside the car. My phone was ringing, undoubtedly with a call from Maya. I was never going to make our date on time.

I kept waving my arms, but car after car passed me. I considered blocking traffic with my body, but people carried concealed these days.

Finally a Lexus driven by an older man stopped, and he lowered his window. “Is that acatmaking that noise?”

“I know, right?” I answered, validated. I noticed a garment bag hanging in his back seat. “Can I borrow a coat hanger?”

•••

I slipped into my driver’s seat, put Mango back inside the carrier, and zipped it closed. She kept howling, but I picked up my phone and saw two calls from Maya. I braced myself and called her back. “Maya, I’m sorry, but—”

“You stood me up.”

“I’m sorry, I can explain—”

“I sat there like a smacked ass.”

“I’m really sorry. What happened was—”

“Did you ever hear the saying ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them?’ Well, you showed me.”

“I have a good reason—”

“Are you bleeding from the head?”

“No, I got held up—”

“Why didn’t you call?”

“My phone was in the car.”

“So?”

“The cat locked me out.”

“Yeah, right.” Maya hung up.

Argh. I hung up and was about to set the phone down when I saw that Patrick had called, too, so I called him back. “Patrick—”

---