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"And why should I believe you?"

He raised an eyebrow as the phone began to ring

She said, "I’ically, what reason do I have to trust you? You have to see where I’ from"

"I do" He heard Matt pick up the phone "And I respect your caution It bodes well for your survival Matt?"

"Baojia, is that you?" Theout of her mind Is Natalie okay? Please tell me she’s with you Is she safe?"

At the sound of Matt’s voice, he saw tears well up in Natalie’s eyes and her shoulders relax as the underlying tension left the roo a deep breath and covering her face

"I’m here, Matt" She swiped at the tears on her cheeks and rested her elbows on the desk, leaning forward and taking a deep breath "I’m okay Tell Dez I’m okay" Then she met his eyes, and Baojia saw a seed of trust take root "I think I’onna be okay"

"So you do think it’s the saative mode on the phone with Dez, and Baojia found the whole experience of watching her while she took notes on the yellow legal pad… oddly stih the speaker phone "As soon as I learned about the existence of vampires, I had to think of Juarez There was so much that never fit Sure, some of the cases were solved, but it was such a weird pattern And to have it go on for so long--"

"But there were a lot of theories, Dez I’ with a super--I feel like I’ins of the paper, ser patterns "Iwith is human, as sick as it is"

"It was odd to me that the Mexican authorities never devoted the kind of tiht"

She lifted her shoulders, gesturing to her friend asn’t in the roousting lack of concern for female victims?"

"Or a to shed light on secrets?"

"It’s too soon to tell whether thethat could be linked to Juarez," she said "I don’t want to juation"

"I agree," Baojia said quietly

Natalie offered him a small smile and said, "Unfortunately, we may not be able to make any links until more women are murdered"