The Unanswered Call

Chapter 249 - The Unanswered Call

The cool blue light from my phone illuminated the darkness of my car. Jorge's name flashed on the screen, and I answered on the third ring.

"Catherine speaking."

"Catherine, it's Jorge." His voice sounded different over the phone—deeper, more resonant. "I wanted to confirm our plans for tomorrow. Is afternoon still good for the girls to meet?"

I glanced at my watch. Nearly midnight. I'd just left the office after fourteen hours of debugging a particularly stubborn issue in our new security protocol.

"Yes, that works," I replied, stifling a yawn. "Cora will be dropped off around two."

"You're just leaving work?" Jorge asked, picking up on the exhaustion in my voice. "It's quite late."

I turned the key in the ignition. "We're finalizing the government contract presentation. The deadline got moved up."