Page 59 of Dina's Favorite Mistake

Shit. Camila will be there soon. Before we can reach her.

“Do you know where she is?”

Steve nodded. “She left Dina a message of sorts.”

Lola blanched. “She went to find her dad.”

“Yeah.”

“He’ll kill her this time.” Lola’s face twisted with emotion. “He tried before when she was a baby.”

“I know. I heard.” He still couldn’t quite believe any father would do such a thing. “It wasn’t in any of the case files or police reports.”

Lola shook her head. “No, we kept it quiet. That’s how we do things.” She laughed harshly. “We just sweep away our secrets and hide them in a dusty, dark corner somewhere.”

Steve really didn’t want to know what other secrets the family had hidden.

“I tried calling Beto again.” Lola inhaled a steadying breath, as if refusing to cry. “He’s not answering.”

“Is that like him?”

“No, it’s not.”

“Do you think he’s in trouble?”

“He might be, but if he is, he can probably handle it.” She shrugged. “He circumnavigated the globe on a shitty little boat. He’s survived hurricanes and typhoons and brushes with the criminal underworld in Asia.”

“That would have been good to know,” Steve muttered, thinking he shouldn’t have been worried about Beto behind the wheel while taking potshots.

“What do you mean you lost her?” Soila Farias shouted, her angry voice echoing through the house like a ricochet.

Lola grimaced. “Mama is home.”

“And not happy,” Steve grumbled. He warily eyed the hallway, expecting Soila to come stomping out at any moment to waylay him. “Listen, I need a vehicle that can go off-road.”

“Take my Jeep. The keys are on the front seat. It’s got a full tank of diesel.”

“What kind of a driver is Camila? She’s not old enough for a license.”

“No, but I’ve had her driving me around the farm on the Gator and the work trucks. She’s pretty good. Wherever she’s going, she’ll probably get there safely,” Lola reasoned. “I’ll keep Mama busy. Have Dina take you out the back.”

“Call us if you hear anything.”

“I will, but you better call me if something changes or you need our help.”

“I will,” he promised.

Carefully, he rushed back upstairs and found Dina leaving the suite of rooms she shared with her daughter. “Did I hear Mama?”

“You did. Lola’s going to run interference so we can get to her Jeep and get out of here.”

“Wait. Steve.” Dina clasped his hand. “Camila didn’t only take the money and gun I keep in the safe. She took something else—a file.”

“A file of what?”

“It’s the hospital report from after—.”

“After he threw her out the window,” Steve guess sadly.

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