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“You just have to hang on.”
    â€œThere’s nothing to hang on to, Charlie. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. When your show started tonight, you talked about that moment when Eurydice stretches out her arms to Orpheus, but all she can grasp is air. That’s the way it will always be for Kali and me. We’ll always be reaching for Robin, but we’ll never be able to touch her.” His voice breaks . “How could I allow my beautiful Kali to endure that?”
    â€œShe doesn’t have to,” I say. “Kali will love other people. Gabe, no one’s life hangs on the love of a single person.”
    â€œYour life did,” Gabe says gently. “Over the years, I’ve often listened to your show. I was listening the night you found out the woman you loved was dead. What was her name again?”
    â€œAriel.”
    â€œAriel,” he repeats. “It’s a beautiful name—full of light. When you realized you would never touch her again, wouldn’t you have given anything for a needle that would end your pain?”
    â€œThat was different,” I say. My voice is flat. “Ariel was…damn it, Gabe. It doesn’t matter what Ariel was. She’s dead. Kali is alive.”
    â€œAnd that means ter rible things can happen to her. In ten minutes I’ll be dead. Nothing will ever hurt me again. What kind of man would I be if I left Kali to face the pain alone?”
    Robin reaches for her microphone and clutches it as if it were a lifeline .
    â€œGabe. I’ll come back to you. I promise.”
    â€œDon’t say another word, Robin. You were never a good liar. I don’t want to die knowing that the last words you spoke to me were a lie.”

CHAPTER TWELVE
    R obin takes off her earphones, folds her arms on the desk and rests her forehead on them. I have no idea how to comfort her. As always when I hit the wall, my gaze travels to the control room. Nova meets my gaze and opens the talkback. The news is not good.
    â€œThe police aren’t going to find Gabe and Kali,” she says. “They’re running out of time, and they have no leads. They’re focusing on the hospital because, according to Gabriel Ireland’s friends, that’s where he felt most at home.”
    â€œAnd nothing?” I say.
    â€œNothing. The hospital has been code black since we learned that Kali was with Dr. Ireland. There are literally hundreds of people looking for them, but that hospital is huge. I’m going to play another Tord Gustavsen tune—give you some time to prepare Robin Harris for the worst.”
    When she sees that I’m on the talkback, Robin turns her eyes to me. She has the five-mile stare of a person sliding into shock. I don’t know how to pull her back. The cool Nordic rhythms of Tord Gustavsen’s trio drift through my earphones. Usually the trio’s clean, effortless riffs help me to think clearly. Nothing helps tonight. The panic in my chest expands. I’m having trouble breathing.
    â€œThere has to be something we can do,” I say to Nova.
    She shakes her head. “No one’s calling. No one’s emailing. No one’s texting. Everybody’s scared, Charlie. They know that Kali’s life is at stake. You asked people to keep the lines open, and that’s what they’re doing.”
    â€œDo you think I should go on-air and make another appeal?”
    Nova rubs her eyes. “It can’t hurt,” she says. “Anything’s better than just sitting here listening to the clock tick off the minutes of Kali’s life.”
    I flip on my microphone. Suddenly Nova raises her hand in a halt gesture. “Hold on,” she says. “We’ve got a call.”
    â€œDo you want me to take it on-air?”
    â€œGive me a minute to make sure it isn’t a hoax.”
    As she takes the caller’s information, Nova’s body tenses. Her voice