Page 99 of Eternal Craving

“Tell me,” I snapped.

“Ricardo!” Miranda said, a warning in her voice.

When I glanced at my palms, I saw beads of blood. I’d punctured my own flesh with my fingernails. I leaped from my chair.

Ricardo stared up at me. “Jacob knew that you killed my father.”

Alicia sat beside him. “What are you talking about?”

“We overheard you.” Ricardo glared at me. “You admitted to Aunt Miranda that you murdered my father.”

“Dear God.” Alicia drew in a sharp breath.

Ricardo rose. “You lied to Mama that Papa fled Spain.”

“Those were not my words.” I glanced at Alicia.

“What has this got to do with Jacob?” Alicia asked.

Ricardo glanced at a discarded knife on the table. “What did you tell my father before you killed him?”

Alicia looked horrified.

“My father was a good man,” Ricardo muttered. “A fine politician. He would never want us to live like this.”

Feeling a terrible sense of despair at not seeing this coming, I scoured Ricardo’s mind. “No!”

“What?” Alicia gasped. “You’re scaring me.”

“He sold him,” I said in disbelief.

Ricardo stared at me in amazement, his thoughts carrying.

“How could you know that?”

Chapter Thirty-Six

I turned the hourglass over.

Sunaria had convinced me of the wisdom of remaining composed and staying focused on getting Jacob back. Together, we’d flown to the docks, the place where Ricardo admitted having taken Jacob.

We scoured the port and soon confirmed that Jacob had been seen with a lone sailor. Ricardo had sold Jacob to him for pennies. More money had changed hands here in the admiral’s office.

Glaring at the portly, middle-aged man, I stared him down as sand trickled through the narrow timer, pooling into the base.

“By the time it’s empty,” I said, pointing at it, “you’ll have told me where the boy is.”

The admiral coughed. “As I’ve already told you, I have no idea where he is now.”

My gaze fell on the hourglass.

He stared at Sunaria, beads of perspiration spotting his brow.

Meager maritime furnishings revealed the gentleman’s profession. A fire roared in the fireplace, flames licking the grate.

I turned the hourglass over once more. “This time when it’s empty, I’ll kill you.”

Hooves clipped below just outside the window. Foreign accents drifted in from the sailors working late into the night. This was business as usual for the bustling dock.