He shouted back, louder than her tantrum.
"What?!"
Ethan's bellow worked like a charm. Amber snapped shut, silent in an instant, like a dog cowed by its master's glare.
Two voices spoke through the comm line at once.
"Amber, hurry up and tell us what Lyla said to you!"
This time Melody Quinn managed to speak before Ethan could.
For a moment there was only dead air. Just as Ethan was about to push her, he heard Amber inhale shakily, then finally speak.
"Lyla called me asking why she couldn't reach Aunt Melody's phone."
She stopped there. Ethan immediately pulled up Lyla's outgoing call log. Sure enough, right before contacting Amber, she had dialed another number again and again. All of them had gone straight to voicemail—line busy.
"I saw that," Melody said quickly. "I was on another call, dealing with Kiara's situation. The second I hung up, I was about to call Lyla back when you rang me!"
"What happened next?" Ethan pressed her.
