When I Knew You by Desireé Prosapio Page B

toward the International Bridge to the south or the Fort Bliss Army base to the north.  
    "Kati," she said gently. "It is still me on the tape, you know. She is still me."
    I concentrated on driving, having no answer.

    I pulled into the parking garage at Calderon's office. Antonia had no memory of sending him to get me, but something about the way he spoke about her, about the other Antonia, made me think he was a friend.  
    Calderon's office was on the third floor of the Mills building. I caught a glimpse of myself in the elevator's mirrored wall panel. The bruises from my accident were fading to a yellow-green on my face, my hair was a mess, my clothes were dusty with chalk and rumpled from the drive.  
    "You look fine, Kati," Antonia said.
    "I look like hell."
    "Well, sure, you look like hell. You've been through hell. After this we'll go to a friend's house and get cleaned up," she said.  
    "Who's house? Where can we go? Where is it safe?" I asked. Before she could answer the elevator doors slid open and we froze in place.
    The front lobby looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. Tables were overturned, paper was strewn everywhere, and the glass wall behind the huge reception desk was cracked down the middle. A toppled office chair poked out from behind the desk, its back section twisted. Yellow police tape was draped across the reception desk and continued to the far wall, blocking the way to the hallway on the left.
    The elevator doors began to close on the elevator and I jumped forward in time for them to spring back into the wall. We stepped cautiously onto the marble floor, trying to avoid the swirl of paper at our feet. The office looked empty, but I could hear voices.
    "What are you doing here?" A woman emerged from the hallway, her dark hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She wore a jacket over jeans and walked swiftly in bright white tennis shoes to intercept us, her short stride as authoritative as her voice.
    "I was looking for Mr. Calderon," I said. "He came to see me a while ago and we never finished our..." I wasn't sure what to say.  
    "Mr. Calderon, you say?" Her eyes pinned me in place. "Gustav?"
    Antonia's grip on my arm tightened. "Gustav has some papers of mine."  
    Antonia's voice was soft, her southern accent thick. Her accent was always heavier when she was stressed. "We need them."
    "I'm afraid the office is closed for now." The woman reached over the tape to the receptionist desk and withdrew an ivory business card with embossed lettering. "Call us in a week, I'm sure we'll be able to help you."
    I accepted the card. "Thank you. And you are?"
    "Connie. I'm the office manager." She smiled weakly.
    I peered over her shoulder, saw the stray sheets of paper that littered the halls, looking like autumn leaves scattered in a brisk wind. "What a mess," I said.
    "All those neat little files," Antonia shook her head. "All that work."
    "We'll be able to put it all back," she said reassuringly.  
    "Can we reach Mr. Calderon?" I pressed. "He has something for us, it might not even be here."
    The voices rose for a moment and there was a loud slam. The woman looked down the hall. She turned to us, her face grim. "Gustav is missing. He's been missing for three days. I'm very sorry, but I'm certain he'll be back. He was on a trip out of town, then when he returned, he called and said he had some personal business to attend to."  
    "Three days?" I asked. That was about the time I left the hospital.
    Connie pulled her jacket closed. "I haven't heard from him. He always calls me. He's always worried about me..." her eyes blinked quickly and she stammered. "I-I-I mean the office. He's always worried about the office." She covered her mouth with her hand, her face crumbling in a flash before she regained her composure. "Ah, hell. I don't know where he is. I'm sorry." She led us back to the elevator. "Call in a week. We'll have this mess straightened out and will find whatever it was he had for you."
    I