Although she buried herself in as much work as possible, even pulling potential clients out of the call-back file, the days seemed to drag by. Saturday was the expected date of Cruz's return. Before she went to bed Friday night she turned off her cell phone, unplugged the land line and finished off a bottle of wine.

When she awoke late Saturday morning, for a moment she thought the pounding she heard was in her head, a present from the empty wine bottle. But after stumbling ...