Page 40 of Not Our Daughter

“One hundred percent. Seeing him up close and personal was surreal. But I didn’t want to say anything in front of Jade that might scare her even more.”

“Yeah, I’m okay leaving that part out—for now. But we still need to tell her the truth about everything else.”

“Agreed. As soon as we get across the border, we’ll stop and have that conversation.”

“Okay.”

“I need to go grab these phones now. Stay here.”

Cole got out of the van, pulled the top of the gray hoodie he’d put on during the night over his head, and walked across the parking lot toward the two-story mall. He entered through the glass doors of a Dillard’s department store and crossed through the various clothing, shoe, and makeup sections, until he found his way into the main mall corridor. The shopping mall was busy, but then he rememberedit was still only Sunday. It felt like a full week had passed since they’d celebrated Jade’s birthday in Grand Lake yesterday. He was grateful for all the extra faces around. It was easier to blend in and made him feel less exposed. Still, he kept the hood up to cover as much of his face as possible. He stopped at a mall map, spotted an electronics store on the upper level called Cellular Tech Works, and then made a beeline for the nearest escalator.

While ascending, he shook his head. It was hard to believe the plan had worked. All the years of preparation—purchasing the van, keeping it running, constantly updating supplies, clothes, cash, phones, fake passports—had actually paid off. It had been emotionally draining for him to stay in plan mode for the past ten years. But it had saved his family.

Twenty-Seven

Jade jerked awake, opened her eyes, and then sighed with disappointment. Every time she’d woken up over the past few hours, she’d immediately prayed she’d be back in her bedroom and none of this would be real. And the only thing on her agenda for the day would be hanging out with Tyler. But each time reality hit, she felt devastated. She rubbed her face in her hands to try to wipe off the fog and then gradually moved up toward the front of the van. She could see it was raining outside. Her mom sat in the front passenger seat staring intently out the wet windows.

“Where are we?” Jade asked.

“El Paso. Your dad ran inside the mall to get new phones.”

“Oh.” Jade grimaced. Her back was really hurting. She felt it the most while lying stationary for an extended time. It had been frustrating waking up with aches up and down her back every morning before school. It would sometimes take a couple of hours to work it out to where she could focus in the classroom.

Her mom turned fully to face her. “You okay?”

“No. What’s going to happen with my surgery now?”

Her mom sighed. “I don’t know, honey. But we’ll figure it out. I promise.”

“Are we really going into Mexico?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

She huffed. “Nobody seems to know much of anything. And that just sucks.”

“Yes, it does.”

Jade was surprised how her mother’s response lacked much positivity. Her mom had been mostly reassuring for a majority of the trip, but she seemed to be losing her optimism. Or maybe she was just tired. Since they were alone, Jade decided to press her for more information.

“What did Dad do, Mom? You can tell me.”

Her mom looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“All of this? Everything that’s happened. It’s because of Dad, right?”

She shook her head. “No. Your dad is a wonderful man.”

“So then, what, it’s you? You caused this? The FBI is after you?”

“It’s neither of us, Jade.”

“Then why all the secrecy? Why won’t you just tell me why this is happening?”

“Your dad and I were just talking about that. We plan to tell you everything as soon as we get into Mexico. I promise.”

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