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“My job doesn’t allow me to have a family. He’ll be confused when I have to give him to someone else, but it’s for the best.” I felt the pain of saying that out loud, and my arms tightened around him.
The truck’s engine turned off, and we were once again at a standstill. “How long have you guys been here in this truck?”
Crystal looked at one of the other girls then turned to look back at me. “Since last night, but we were parked at a truck stop for a long while. Charley brought us food and explained that we would be crossing in the morning. Then this morning he said we had to wait for one more person.”
“Me?”
“I guess so. No one else showed up.”
That was odd. I didn’t know I’d be getting this ride until I arrived at the border and reached out on that live feed from the restroom. I couldn’t believe my luck that someone offered to help. Wait. But that Chili guy knew my name, so he had to have seen my video. The timeline of Crystal’s story was confusing, and it simply didn’t work.
Suddenly, the engine started, and we were on the move. It seemed as if we were changing lanes. Maybe border patrol waved for him to go through a faster line, or maybe they saw me get in? Whatever was happening, it sent an extra dose of fear through me, and I was maxed out on fear.
“It’s okay, ladies,” Crystal assured the girls when one of them began to cry softly. “He said we we’re heading back to the US, and that’s a good thing, right? We just have to be smart, and the first chance we get, we run.” They all murmured their agreement, but these poor kids were all in bare feet and tight outfits. I couldn’t imagine how they’d ever run, especially in their current mental state.
I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. My head hurt with trying to piece the what the hell is happening puzzle together. I needed to focus on something else. Paul popped into my head, and I couldn’t help but feel sick that he might not be all right. He has his team. They’ll get him. I pushed Paul’s handsome face away and tried to focus on something a little less hard on the heart. Bruno took his place, and I flinched when I thought about how far I pushed him at the border. I used that fear and gave myself a mental high five when I thought about how I shot him in the foot. I hoped it left him with a permanent limp. Maybe the women and men he hurt in the future would have a fighting chance of getting away.
“We’re at the border booth,” Crystal whispered, and it brought me back to the present. I saw her peek through a tiny crack between the truck’s wall panels. I looked down at Chase and hoped to hell the little guy wouldn’t cry. “He just waved us through!” Her excitement spread across to the other girls.
“Aren’t trucks supposed to be scanned?” The words flew out of my mouth without me meaning too.
Crystal’s face fell and she looked around. “I-I don’t know.”
With wide eyes and open ears, we listened for the truck’s engine to slow to say we were being pulled over to secondary, but it never did. Crystal was glued to the little peep hole and relayed what she could see. “Still just open road. There’s a family in a car next to us.” She leaned back, and I could see her tears. “Crazy, isn’t it?” She looked at me. “How many trucks and cars have you driven past in your lifetime. You never know what’s really going on inside.”
I thought about Bruno’s phone in my bag and wondered if I should offer it to them to call their families. I’d turned it off before I left the bathroom at the border. I hadn’t wanted to take any chances. I knew the second I turned it on, he’d see my location. I felt guilty that these girls needed to get to their families, but I had to get Chase and myself to safety. I was his only hope. Chase shifted, and I watched as his fingers played with the GoPro camera that was attached to my shoulder and was still recording.
“Crystal,” I pointed to my camera, “you said the first chance we get to run and get help, right?” She nodded. “Why don’t each of you speak to my camera, and if I get away, I can use my contacts in the media to get this to go viral.”
“Yeah,” she sat up straighter, “yes, Nicole that’s a great idea!” She brushed her hair away from her face and took a deep breath. “My name is Crystal Bleak. I’m twenty-one and from Malibu, California. Mom,” she started to cry, “I’m so sorry we went to the party.” I watched as each girl introduced themselves and quickly told their version of what had happened to them. If anything, it gave us something to focus on. It gave the girls hope.
I squeezed the arm of the checked-out girl named Cindy and slowly pointed my camera at her. She just stared straight ahead with empty eyes. I wondered if she was screaming for help inside. It crossed my mind that even if she was rescued, would she ever really escape her battled mental state? “It’s okay,” I tried to reassure her, “it’s okay, Cindy. Even if we just show your family your face and that you’re alive, it might be enough.” Her eyes remained deep, blank pools, and I could only hope my words got through. I smiled warmly and hoped they did. “There you go, that was perfect.”
Afterward, we all sank into a terrible silence, their earlier desperate smiles of hope forgotten.
My head flopped around as sleep begged me to give in. The truck was hot, but Chase was hotter. I wasn’t a doctor, but I’d been around my fair share of sick children, thanks to growing up in an orphanage, and my guess would be that his fever shouldn’t have stayed this long. I was so afraid for him.
Hours later, the sun began to set, and the truck went dark. I settled against the wall and let the weight of Chase’s tiny body rest on my lap. Finally, my body gave in, and I felt my mind let go as I fell into a restless sleep.
I glanced at myself in the mirror in the hotel lobby and fixed the collar of my dress. I had borrowed it from my good friend Mari. The soft white fabric of the skirt billowed out as I walked, and I felt so good in it. I had met Mari through my friend Jack’s wife, Emily. She’d spent a year abroad here in Mexico City and had connected the two of us. Mari hadn’t hesitated when I called to ask if I could stay with them, and so began a solid friendship. I’d visited her and her husband a few times over that year.
My phone rang, and I twisted to grab it from the table. “Hey, Jack.”
“Nicole, I was thinking,” he said in a low voice. He was probably in the computer room. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Mari was telling Emily these guys are ruthless. She’s worried.”
I laughed. “Well, of course. They’re Cartel. I’ve been in these situations before. Don’t worry.”
“Right, but I’ve got a really bad feeling about this one.” He paused. “You know I’ve always got your back, but when have I ever said I don’t think you should do this meet and greet?”
I dropped into a chair and glanced around as I contemplated his words. He was right. Jack let me run with just about everything but had never warned me off before. It was just that this was such a huge opportunity. “I hear ya, I do, but Sully will be here with me.”
“Sully?” Jack cursed under his breath. “Nicole, Sully is one of them. I know you think he’s sweet and different than the rest, but he’s still Cartel. Don’t lose sight of that.”
“Oh, I haven’t.” I wasn’t that stupid. “Sully is trouble, but he can get me an in with Martin Castillo and his sister.” I knew Esmeralda Perez was even harder to connect with. “I know they’re up to something, and I can feel it in my bones it’s something big.”
“I know, I know, you’ve told me that but, jeez, rubbing elbows with Castillo’s nephew and his sister is a whole new level. The fact that Bruno is friends with the Tunnel to Hell Devil, as you call him, is damn scary in itself.”
I remembered the first time I’d seen Eric Noah and how he snapped a man’s neck without a second thought. I shivered at the thought and knew Jack’s worry was justified. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”
