Page 93 of The Matchmaker

In a few swipes and turns, the cabinet unclicks.

I press the first handle. The drawer is empty. Save some scrap paper and an old thumbtack, the second one is vacant too. I hear Borzu’s voice faintly in the background as I go through the other drawers. Third. Fourth.

“I can’t believe we didn’t get rid of this dinosaur yet,” he says. “I’ll take it to the dump on Monday.”

I open the last drawer. My heart catches in my throat.

This can’t be real. I’m seeing things. I must be.

There are files in here. Rows and rows of neatly organized folders. Numbly, I pull out the first manila folder. Flipping it open, my breath hitches.

Blank matchmaking agreements. Our agreements. I zero in on the first sentence. There it is. The double comma.

The other folders contain more contracts, but these ones aren’t blank. They’re filled out and fully executed agreements purportedly signed by me for clients I’ve never worked with.

I stare at the name on the next file. Jenny Ho.

Here’s John Schaeffer’s file, and Simran Kaur’s.

Every last one, without exception, is signed with my name.

The next name makes my blood go cold.

Basit Latif.

“How?” I croak. “How ishein here?”

I turn the pages of the agreement. I stare at the very last page. This one does not contain my signature.

It’s Darcy’s.

My heart thumps wildly in my chest. The room is shifting around me.

No. No. No.

Not Darcy. The person who knows where I am when no one in all the world does. The person with keys to my safety-deposit box. The keys to my own home.

“Darcy is taking on clients behind my back? Sh-she wouldn’t do this.” I look at Borzu’s pale face. “There’s got to be a logical reason for this. You kept your involvement with Logan from me, didn’t you? You had a reasonable explanation. Maybe she has one too.”

Borzu moves to speak, but nothing comes out. What can he say? There’s her name. It’s her signature. There’s no explaining this away.

Breathe.But nothing enters my system. The room spins on its axis. Beads of perspiration dot my forehead. I lean against the wall.

“Darcy would never…”

Except she did. I’m staring at the proof in my hands. Numbness spreads through my limbs. It’s as though my body is protecting my mind from what it can’t process.

A phone alarm sounds. My alarm. A reminder that I’m due at Nina’s. My agenda from a life that suddenly seems like it was ages ago. But Nina’s depending on me. I can’t let her down.

“I…have to go.”

“Nura, you can’t be serious,” Borzu says.

“Borzu’s right,” Logan says. “You can’t leave right now.”

But this doesn’t make sense. It can’t be true.

“I have to babysit my niece,” I say shakily. “Nina’s counting on me. I’ll…I’ll call you after.”

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