LANA
The ride to the so-called neutral territory Paolo and the Escobars agreed upon, surprisingly takes less time than driving to Paolo’s home. The man armed with the assault rifle next to me mentions that it’s because the Escobars are getting bolder, though I’m not exactly sure what he means by that. Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good.
The forests of Colombia are very humid, and by the time we stop at some kind of checkpoint, I’m already dripping with sweat, and I pull my hair up off my neck.
We make it another mile or so before three different black SUVs block our way down the road. There are easily ten different men armed to the teeth with varying large guns, standing outside of these SUVs. Worried, I look over at Michael who seems much calmer than how I feel on the inside.
Ramone, the man who Paolo sent to escort us, turns back to face me. “This could be dangerous,” he says, before directing his attention to Michael and Joseph. “We don’t fully know what to expect.”
It hits me all at once, just how much danger I’m putting both of them in by having them here with me. “You don’t have to do this,” I tell them, even though my chest tightens with each word.
Joseph snorts. “Of course we’re going to do this. There was never any question. It’s too late to back out of this now.”
Michael nods along. “Everything will be fine, Lana. Let’s just take it slow.”
The armed men open the doors for us, Joseph getting out first, before Michael and I follow him. I immediately recognize Javier with his short-cropped hair, watching me with beady eyes. How I was ever married to a man like him, I still haven’t figured out. The only good thing that ever came from Javier Escobar, was Olivia.
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” he calls out to me, tilting his head to the side. “Especially after I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for the past few months. And here I thought you didn’t care.”
I can feel both Michael and Joseph tensing beside me, but I take a small step forward, my eyes trained on Javier and not the men surrounding him with guns. “You didn’t leave me much choice. Where is my daughter?”
“You mean our daughter?”
I hear Olivia’s muffled voice from one of the vehicles, my eyes scanning each one of them in fear. He looks over his shoulder at the SUV right behind him, nodding to the driver who then hops out, opening the passenger door.
“Olivia? Why don’t you come out here?” Javier says loudly, his eyes never leaving me.
My heart nearly jumps out of my chest as I catch the first glimpse of her, her hair pulled back into dark pigtails, looking completely out of place as she eyes all the huge men surrounding her before she finally sees me.
“Mommy?” she says just loud enough for me to hear her, walking over to Javier who has pulled her alongside him. “Are you okay?”
I nearly crumple in on myself, so relieved to see her and to see that she’s not hurt. At least from what I can tell. “Oh, baby,” I cry out, tears streaming down my face as I reach out to her, wishing I could touch her, smell her sweet skin. Everything in me is dying to check her over, to make sure she’s really okay. “I’m okay, Livi. Are you okay?”
Even beside me, I can hear the ragged breathing between Michael and Joseph, both clearly relieved to see that she’s okay, too.
Olivia looks up at Javier, whispering something in his ear before he stares me down, finally giving her a quick nod. “I’m okay. Daddy wanted to surprise me with this special trip,” she says. Something in the way she says it though, makes me realize that perhaps Olivia knows more than she’s letting on to Javier. Javier, who still has never grasped just how smart Olivia truly is, seems none the wiser. He probably thinks she really did fall for his bullshit.
Olivia makes her way over to me very carefully, obviously understanding the tension between both groups. I never take my eyes off her until she’s within touching distance, and I grab at her quickly, sobbing as I finally have her in my arms again. “Oh, Livi, baby. I missed you so much. I was so worried,” I whisper in her ear, desperate to get her out of here.
As she pulls away, she gives me a little wink, and I know I was right. “I need to go talk to Daddy, okay?”
Joseph and Michael both take a step toward us, but I wave them down, very much aware of how everyone’s guns have seemed to shift. All I want to do it get us all away from this place, but I don’t want to scare Olivia. Although everything in me is screaming to grab her and run, I bend and tell her “That’s okay, baby. Go ahead and talk to him. There’s no need to rush.”
She nods and makes her way back over to Javier, every step causing my heart to beat faster and hard. He seems curious as she pulls him in for another hug. She speaks loud enough so that everyone around can hear her. “Daddy, I love you so much, but you know I have to stay with Mommy, right? I have to make sure she’s okay, and someone has to take care of her. She would be really sad if I wasn’t with her.”
I have to admit, that if there was ever a weakness of Javier’s, it was my baby girl. He shifts so that he’s eye level with her, bending down. “But what about me? I will be really sad without you here with me.”
Olivia nods. “I know, Daddy, but you’re a boy, so you’re a lot stronger than Mommy. It’s just me and her back home, but you have all of your friends here with you if you ever get lonely. Plus, I’ll be coming to visit! That way you won’t have to do all the boring parent stuff with me and we can do all the fun stuff. Like when you told me how we were going to go zip-lining, you know?”
I’m surprised to see a slow smile spread across Javier’s face as he nods. “You’ll love it, Olivia, I promise. It’s like flying, baby.” He looks up at me, slowly standing up.
“I promise you, I’ll come see you, and you can come see me too, but Daddy, you’ve gotta change. You’ve gotta be a good person and not do bad things anymore, okay? I don’t think Mommy likes how you didn’t tell her you were coming to visit me, and I want to see you more. Can you please be good, Daddy?” she asks him in her sweetest voice.
The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife between the group that brought us, Paolo’s men, and the Escobars.
“Abajo,” he calls out to the men around them, and everyone lowers their guns as he squeezes Olivia, whispering something to her. Javier gives me one last look, and lets go of her.
She bounds back toward me, free and happy considering the circumstances, I scoop her up in my arms, spinning her around as I clutch at her frantically. “It’s possible I’m never letting you go again,” I laugh into her hair. “Like, ever.”
--
Gently running my hands through Olivia’s hair as she sleeps in my lap, I look over her head at Michael and Joseph who are sitting in the captaincy it’s facing toward us, watching her too. It’s hard to believe so much as happened in just the past twenty-four hours, but I’m beyond grateful that I have her here with me again, safe and sound.
Thank God for Joseph and Michael…without them, I may have never been reunited with Olivia again. A thought I can’t even possibly imagine.
I don’t know what the future holds in store for us quite yet, but I know there’s got to be a reason why the two of them were brought into our lives.