Page 39 of Not Our Daughter

They’d almost made it. Within the hour, they should be across the border and hopefully home free. But first a quick stop to grab new burner phones while they were still in the United States. He wasn’t sure he’d have great phone-purchasing options once they were inside Mexico and traveling through random small towns. He wanted them to be able to always communicate, especially in a country where they would need to quickly learn a new language. Plus, Cole wanted GPS mapping sohe could follow the fastest and safest way to get to Sayulita. He didn’t need to be driving off a jungle cliff somewhere.

He parked the van in between the mall and a separate Red Lobster restaurant situated in the mall parking lot, which stirred Lisa awake in the back. She popped up and quickly scooted next to him in between the seats.

“Where are we?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“El Paso.”

“Wow, already? I must’ve been sleeping hard.” She stared out the windshield. “Why are we parked in front of Red Lobster?”

“Thought you guys might want some shrimp and biscuits.”

She frowned at him.

“Look to your right,” he said.

She glanced over. “We’re at a shopping mall?”

“I want to pick up new phones before we cross the border.”

“Oh, okay.” She peeked behind her. “She’s been tossing, turning, and restless all night.”

“This has been understandably traumatic for her.”

“We need to tell her the truth, Cole. We can’t continue to keep her in the dark, or she’ll stop trusting us. We’ll lose her.”

“I know. I just want to protect her.”

“She’s tougher than you think.”

“Yeah. I guess I still see a little girl reaching out with her tiny hands, wanting her daddy to pick her up and hold her. I wish we could’ve stayed in that place with her forever.”

“Me too. Speaking of truth telling, what really happened with the gash on your arm?”

He swallowed. “I got shot,” he whispered.

Her eyes went wide. “What?”

“Yeah. While I was in town trying to evade the FBI. I ran from a cop. But then something even more frightening happened I’ve been needing to tell you about.”

He checked to make sure Jade was still fully asleep and then went on to quietly explain his traumatic encounter with the stocky guy in the alley, and how he’d confirmed it was the same man by reviewing the home security video he had kept. Lisa’s mouth dropped open, and she cupped both hands in front of it.

“How is this even possible, Cole?”

“I have no idea.”

“You could have been killed.”

“I know.”

“How did he find us? And why is he coming after you all these years later?”

“Questions I’ve been asking myself the past few hours. I can only think we’re somehow a threat to someone. But I’m not sure how or why.”

“We need to tell the FBI about him. He killed a cop. Maybe it could somehow help us.”

“We tried that before, and it got us nowhere, remember?”

“Right. You’re positive it was the same man?”

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