Page 114 of Cryptic Curse

“About the chocolates?”

I look down.“No.I threw those out.But we can figure out who sent them later.There’s something else.”

“Great, what is it?I could use some good news.”

“Vinnie just got home, and he was able to pull some strings at the courthouse.I’m getting a divorce tomorrow.”

“You mean an annulment?”

“Annulment, dissolution, divorce.I don’t even know.But Vinnie fixed it.We have to go to the courthouse, and it will be final upon our signatures.”

“Doesn’t that usually take a couple of months?”he asks.

“Honestly, I don’t know.But you know Vinnie.He’s got connections.“

“That is great news, honey.I’m happy for you.”

My heart soars from his use of a pet name.I like it.Honey.Honey is sweet, but it also takes a lot of hard work—from the bees themselves and the apiarists—to make and harvest.

“I’m happy for us, Hawk,” I say.

After we end the call, I can’t help thinking that I may be falling in love.

* * *

The hearingon our marriage takes place in the judge’s chambers.

Vinnie and I talk to the judge, a very nice lady named Judge Matthews.

“It looks like everything is in order,” Judge Matthews says, “although Daniela, you became a permanent resident in the United States because of your marriage to Vinnie.You do realize that by ending this marriage, your green card could be revoked.”

I drop my jaw.

“Bernadette,” Vinnie says, “isn’t there something you can do?”

“Is there any reason why it would be dangerous for you to return to Colombia?”Judge Matthews asks me.

I look at Vinnie.He nods at me slightly.

I bite my lip.“I was…sexually abused there.By my father’s friends.He was in organized crime.”

The judge scrunches her eyebrows.“Are you saying you were sexually trafficked?”

“I mean, yes, I guess.”I steady my face.“He forced me to do things that I didn’t want to do.”

Judge Matthews frowns.“Your father forced you.”

“Yes.”

“But your father’s deceased now?”

“Yes,” I say.

“But the men who abused her are not deceased,” Vinnie interjects.“Not all of them, anyway.”

Judge Matthews sighs.“Federal law states that if you were a victim of a severe form of trafficking, you may be allowed to stay in the United States.You need to have suffered past harm that was so severe it would be cause for ‘extreme hardship’ were you to return home.Did any of these men ever threaten your life, Daniela?”

“Yes,” I whisper, my throat closing at the painful memories.

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