Chapter 18

• Talia stared at the screen not sure if she was reading the words right. Her throat tightened and her heart pounded hard against her ribs as she looked in disbelief at the words on the page. After several more seconds of reading and re-reading the email, with the mouse in her right hand, she clicked refresh but nothing changed when she read through it again. The words on the screen remained the same. Her hands grew clammy as she clenched and unclenched them, tension like a circuit ran up and down her body, through her arms and down her legs repeatedly. Surely those words couldn’t mean what they said. She thought to herself seeking comfort as the words settled heavily on her head, the reality too great for her to admit. There must be a mistake, there had to be. No, no, she was reading the words wrong, that had to be it.
• “Carrie,” Talia called over her shoulder, a slight tremor in her voice, “come here real quick. Just for a sec.”
• “What’s up?”