Chapter 20

“Is Francesca here? We really need to talk to her.”

Mrs. Quintero got off her stool from behind the counter and came around to us. She gave us a once over, then turned to Carmen.

“I should say so. She is in back. I will get her.”

Before heading back, Mrs. Quintero took a few more looks at us, then continued on. Though we couldn’t hear what they were saying, it was definitely laughter that was coming from the back. You know, like this sort of thing happened every day in the normal world.

Mrs. Quintero returned without saying a word and promptly returned to her seat at the counter. She picked up her magazine once again and simply ignored that we were there. A few seconds later, Francesca finally emerged.

“Come to the back, please, so we can talk in private.” She waved us over to her, and the three of us followed. Francesca seemed to keep her eye on Angel the whole time, smiling and nodding as if to signal that everything was okay.