Four was my emergency line. Only a couple of people had the number. Carl had it. I bet it was him, still trying to be protective.
“Can’t it wait?”
“No. The guy threatened me pretty soundly.” Matt shrugged unapologetically. He’d let me mess with the threats from the supernatural world. One of these days he was going to quit this gig, and I wouldn’t be able to blame him. I needed to get Ozzie to give him a raise.
“Estelle, hang on for just a minute. I’m still with you, but I have to take a break.” I put her on hold, punched the line, and made sure it wasn’t set to broadcast. The last thing I needed was Carl lecturing me on the air. “What?”
“Hello, Katherine,” said an aristocratic male voice.
It wasn’t Carl. Oh, no. Only one other person besides my grandmother ever called me Katherine. I’d met him only a couple of times in person, during territorial face-offs with Carl and the pack. But I knew that voice. That voice made my bone marrow twinge.
“Arturo. How the hell did you get this number?”
“I have ways.”
Oh, please. On the phone, behind the microphone, I had the power. I switched the line over to live. “Hello, Arturo. You’re on the air.”
“Katherine,” he said tightly. “I wish to speak to you privately.”
“You call me during the show, you talk to my listeners. That’s the deal.” Maybe if I was brazen enough, I’d forget that he’d tried to have me killed.
“I do not appreciate being treated like your rabble—”
“What do you want, Arturo?”
He took a deep breath. “I want to talk to Estelle.”
“Why?”
“She’s one of mine.”
Great. This was getting complicated. I covered the mike with my hand. “Matt, how does three-way calling work again?”
A few seconds later, I had Estelle back on the line. “Estelle? You still there?”
“Yes.” Her voice was trembling. She swallowed.
“Okay—I have Arturo on the other line—”
She groaned like I’d just staked her. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill me for leaving him—”
“On the contrary, my dear. I want to take you home. You’re hurt and need help. Tell me where you are.”
Her breath hiccuped. She was crying. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—”
“It’s far too late for that,” he said, sounding tired.
I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “Estelle, I think you should listen to him. I don’t know what I can do for you. Arturo can get you to a safe place.”
“I don’t believe him. I can’t go back, I can’t ever go back!”
“Estelle, please, tell me where you are,” Arturo said.
“Kitty?” Estelle said, her voice small.
“Arturo—you promise you aren’t going to hurt her?”
“Katherine, you’re being harsh.”