trendy cocktail bar downtown. The kind of place

corner of the bar and ordered the m

asses. She was an island of quiet despair in an ocean of manufactured joy.

ng swallow. The burn in her throat was a wel

the bar. It was he

re you okay?" Jaida's voi

her own voice raspy and unfami

You sound like you're dying. Don't move, I

ender for another. She traced the condensat

nize. Probably Don's lawyer, or a reporter he'd sicced

Hope Hill clinic paced his floor. "She's not pickin

ne screen lit up, then went dark. She was

he sharp edges of her pain were starting to bl

ath down her cheek. She wiped it awa

urgent matter from Hope Hill Clinic regarding the results of your recent procedure. Pl

second. But the battery icon was a sliver of red. B

th it, the message that wo

bled toward the restroom, bumping into a man in a tailored suit. He shot her

s glassy and unfocused. She looked like a stranger. She splashed cold water

heir predatory smiles making her skin crawl. She didn't have the e

omach heaved. She leaned against a lamppost, g

, the neon signs across the street blurrin

ilent as a shark,

o saw her. A lone, pathetic figure, slumped

e opposite seat. "Ayleen Ramirez. L

dette's lips. "Rough night? She's cele