Chapter Fifty-Four
Bree
“Wait! No! I’m here to help you,” I cried as the little shadow scrambled up the other side of the culvert and darted away from me in the dark. “Maggie, come back!”
The shadow faltered as I heaved myself out of the dry bed. “How do you know my name? Are you one of them?”
“One of them? Who? I’m not a kidnapper, Maggie. I want to make sure you get home safe,” I said.
The little girl shook her head of tangled hair. It was the only detail I caught before she melted back into the shadows.
I chased her another twenty yards before I called out again. “Maggie, please. I just want to help you.”
“I don’t have time. They’ll know. I have to go now,” Maggie said.
I plucked at her sleeve, just enough to swing her eyes back to mine. Even in the dark, I could see the little girl’s tears. “Do you want to go?” I asked her.
Maggie snuffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “No. But I have to.”
“Fine. Then I’ll go with you,” I said.
Maggie’s eyes widened and a smile almost curved the edges of her lips. Then she hung her head. “You can’t. I’m supposed to be alone.”
I shook my head. “You don’t have to be alone. I’m American and my friend is a Navy Seal. He wants to help you get back to your family.”
“A Navy Seal? Like a soldier?” Maggie asked.
I nodded. “A very tough soldier. And he’s been looking for you. We came down here to find you.”
Maggie tipped her head to one side. “What’s his name?”
“Nathan.” I held out my hand to the little girl but there was nothing there.
The little shadow darted between gorse bushes and off across the field. I chased her but lost sight of her after a few minutes. I stopped to catch my breath and hope that I could hear her somehow.
“Maggie, please. You can trust me. I’ll follow you all night to prove it.” I held up both hands and turned under a pale moon. “I haven’t tried to grab you. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m not forcing you to come with me. It’s an invitation, Maggie. If you don’t want to be alone, you can come with me, and Nathan will help you.”
A ragged figure lifted out of a low crouch. “You’re strangers,” she said.
“You and I are, maybe, but I think you know Nathan. He has a postcard from you,” I said.
Maggie inched a little closer. “What was on the postcard?”
I smiled, glad for her interrogation. The faster the little girl trusted me, the faster I could get us back to the safety of the motel. And Nathan.
“It was a photograph of a mission church in El Paso,” I told her.
Maggie took another step toward me. “And what did it say on the back?”
“You told Nathan about Ginger Park Road,” I said.
Fireworks burst up from the rooftop of one of the larger hotels nearby. Maggie fled in the sparkling light, back toward the culvert. She scurried down inside and sprinted along toward the US border. I ran alongside, gasping as my ankles wobbled on the uneven ground.
“Maggie, please. Don’t be scared of me. I need your help, too,” I called.
Maggie looked back as I stumbled and banged my knees down hard on the edge of the concrete river bed. She slowed down and then stopped. When she came back toward me, it was with all the caution of a young doe.
“You need my help?” Maggie asked.
I nodded. “I don’t want to be alone out here either.”
“It’s not so bad, if you don’t believe in ghosts,” Maggie said.
I slipped down into the culvert next to her and gave an exaggerated shiver. “Did you say ghosts? Is that why there’s no one around here? They’re all scared of the ghosts?”
Maggie nodded and bit her lip to hide a shy smile. “Wanna know a secret?”
“Are you a ghost?” I asked, covering my mouth as if I might scream.
Maggie giggled. “No, silly. There are no ghosts. They just made up those stories so no one would come out here at night.”
“But you’re not scared?” I asked Maggie.
“No. Not of made-up ghosts,” she said.
“But other people?”
Maggie glanced over her shoulder, ready to run again. The culvert was a long and dark stretch across the field; a muddy, shadowed road.
“Of the dark?” I asked.
Maggie gripped her flashlight harder and shrugged. “Lots of people are scared of the dark.”
“But not a lot of little girls are running around the border in the dark all alone,” I said.
The tears surfaced again and Maggie’s voice trembled. “I want to go home.”
I held out my hand. “I will take you home. First, I’ll take you to the motel where you’ll be safe. We’ll head home in the morning.”
I had no idea what mixture of lies, miracles, and threats would get Nathan and I, plus a child, across the border and into the US, but I had to believe. For Maggie’s sake. The poor little girl looked like a ragged scarecrow, her tearful eyes too large in her heart-shaped face.
Maggie didn’t take my hand but she did edge closer to me. No longer looking over her shoulder toward the border, Maggie followed along as I took a few cautious steps. We walked slowly and carefully along the dry culvert until a knot of tree branches and leaves got in the way.
I climbed out and reached out to help Maggie but she flinched away from my hand. My stomach clenched at the thought of what caused such an instinctive reaction, but I stepped aside to give the little girl enough room to climb up alone.
“Which way is the motel?” Maggie asked.
I pointed in the general direction.
Maggie nodded, gave one fearful look in the opposite direction, and then started walking toward the motel. “What’s the soldier like?” she asked.
Tears sprang to my own eyes as I thought about Nathan. Right now, he was just starting to realize I was never coming back. What would he say when I showed up at his motel door again?
Then I thought of the look on his face when he finally saw Maggie and forgot my worries.
“He looks and acts all tough, but he’s really nice and likes to help people,” I said.
“He’s good?” Maggie asked.
I smothered a smile, thinking how Nathan would bristle at that question. “He’s one of the good guys.”
Maggie nodded, satisfied, and I walked next to her, wishing I had even half that confidence. Nathan was a good man, deep down, I knew that. Other than that, I didn’t know much about the man at all. I fretted over that as we walked along in the dark, but finally, I had to let it go.
The truth was, Nathan was the only person in the world I really trusted. He was the only one Maggie and I could depend on to get us both home safely.
The little girl stopped at the edge of the field, again glancing nervously off into the distance. I didn’t ask what was in that direction, or, more to the point, who. Instead, I smiled and held out my hand again.
“Nathan is someone I trust completely. He’ll help us,” I told Maggie.
She nodded then stopped short. “So why were you running away?”
I laughed. “Good question. I was running away because I was impatient. Nathan’s smart. He doesn’t just run off in the night.”
We continued down the first street, and I struggled to control a new fear. What if Nathan had done just that?
I could easily see Nathan heading straight for the cartel once he found out I was gone. The thought made my mouth dry and my breaths shallow.
I forced myself to swallow hard and plaster a reassuring smile back on my face. “It’s this way, only a few more blocks,” I told Maggie.
“Navy Seals help find people?” Maggie asked.
“Exactly. Except I think maybe Nathan calls it an ‘extraction,’” I said.
“What’s that mean?” Maggie stopped and frowned at me.
“I know, it sounds like something a dentist does, but it’s the Seal’s way of saying they are going to get someone and bring them home,” I said.
Maggie gave me another shy smile. “He’s going to pull me out like a wiggly tooth?”
I nodded. “And tuck you under your pillow at home, all safe and sound.”
Maggie liked the sound of that and skipped ahead a few steps. I noticed she was wearing a heavy backpack. It slumped low against her knees, and she hitched up the straps as she bounced along.
“Maggie? What’s in your backpack?” I asked.
A car turned the corner ahead of us, and Maggie grabbed my hand. She yanked me behind a dumpster and pulled me down into a low crouch beside her. The car drove past without stopping.
I didn’t say anything as Maggie finally stood back up and crept back out onto the street. She led the way, rushing from shadow to shadow alongside the closed buildings. The little girl only looked back to inquire which way to turn. Other than that, she seemed to be trying to guide me safely through the streets of Ciudad Juarez.
“Is someone after you?” I asked Maggie when we found ourselves evading another car.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” Maggie said.
I peeked around the next corner when Maggie gave me the ‘all clear.’ “It’s okay,” I said. “That’s the motel over there. We’re almost there!”
Maggie was inching away from me, back down the narrow alley. She looked up at me with sad, scared eyes but shook her head when I held out my hand.
“I have to go. Now. I can’t be late,” Maggie said.
“We’re almost there, Maggie. You won’t ever have to go anywhere you don’t want. Except maybe school,” I said.
Maggie almost smiled but swallowed hard instead. She waved but I lunged forward and grabbed her hand.
Catching the other wildly flailing hand, I squatted down so Maggie could see my eyes. “Thank you for helping me get back to my motel safely. Now, please, Maggie, let me help you.”
Headlights swept across the wall above us as another car turned down the road. Maggie flinched and tried to run but I didn’t let go. My grip was firm on her hands and I felt her tremble.
“Just a few more steps, Maggie, and you’ll be safe. Much safer than out here,” I said.
She shivered, a violent quake of fright, and nodded with a stiff neck. I kept her hand tight in mine as we ran across the road and headed up the stairs to Nathan’s motel room door.