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  Anna pulled away from the large woman, who snatched a handful of hair and drug her towards the street. Hunter closed to within thirty feet when she heard a child’s voice call out, “Hunter! Hunter!”

  It was Anita Chapa, waving and excited, running across the street toward her as her mother yelled at the child to stop. A car hit its brakes and slid toward Anita, but Hunter sprinted into the street to snatch her up and crossed to Ramona. The driver of the car silently cursed them, then drove down the street.

  Anita said, “I’m sorry, Hunter.”

  “No problem, mija.” She held the child, who hugged Hunter’s neck. Anita smelled like fresh soap and honeysuckle blossoms. She pulled back and smiled happily at Hunter. Those eyes, Hunter thought, wow.

  Ramona said, “I owe you again, it seems.”

  Hunter turned to look for Anna and the large woman, but both women were gone.

  “Are you looking for someone?”

  “Yes. A friend was fighting with another woman, a large one, over there.” She pointed. “But they’re gone now.”

  “The large woman is called La Osa, do you know what the name means in English?”

  “It’s a female bear, a sow.”

  “A sow is for black bears. This woman is more like a grizzly.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “She is not someone to trifle with.”

  “I’m not trifling, I’m looking for my friend.” Anita touched Hunter’s small diamond stud earring while the women talked. Hunter hugged her a little and Anita grinned.

  Ramona asked, “What is your friend’s name?”

  “Anna Hoyt.”

  “A gringa?”

  “Yes, her daughter was taken the day before Anita was. They never located the child.”

  Ramona looked at Hunter, nodding, “And you are looking for the child, yes?”

  “Right now, I’m looking for the mother. But yes, I’m trying to find out where Kelly was taken.”

  “Kelly is her name?”

  “She’s about eleven, almost twelve, looks a lot like Anita, actually.”

  “You have seen her in person?”

  “Only in a photo.”

  “Where and when was she taken?”

  Hunter told her, then said, “I need to go.”

  She handed Anita to Ramona, but not before Anita kissed her and hugged her neck again. As she left, Ramona said, “I have your number, and I will ask around about this Kelly child.”

  “Thanks.” Hunter felt it was useless to keep looking for Anna, but she continued down the street anyway, checking every business along the way.

  Two blocks down, she found Anna hiding in a narrow alley. She looked no worse for wear. Hunter said, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. I outran her and now I’m hiding in case she comes this way.”

  Hunter looked up and down the street and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

  “I have to find Kelly.”

  “I know you do, but let’s first plan a little, okay?”

  Anna looked at Hunter with a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes, “You’re going to help?”

  “I’ll do some checking.”

  “I can live with that. Thank you.”

  They reached Hunter’s pickup when La Osa came around a corner in front of them with two accomplices. Hunter recognized the older one, the woman who threw Anita off the bridge, and the woman recognized Hunter.

  “Get in,” Hunter said.

  Anna hurried to the passenger’s side and slid into the seat as Hunter hopped behind the wheel and started the engine as the three women hurried toward them, with the older woman and La Osa holding pistols. Hunter popped the truck into reverse and put sixty yards of distance between them in seconds, then spun the wheel and steered away as a pistol shot punched a hole through the rear windshield and expended itself by cracking the front windshield into a four-inch spiderweb pattern before the spent round dropped onto the dash. It was a nine-millimeter hollow point.

  “Dammit!” Hunter said. She felt so vulnerable without a weapon, but had no choice. She’d taken weapons into Mexico before, but only when the need was dire. To get caught with one, or even ammo, could result in her being sentenced to a decade or more in a Mexican jail, and that was not a pleasant thought. She sped to the corner and turned without slowing, squealing tires in an angling slide, putting a building between them and the three women. She asked, “Who fired, did you see?”

  “The big woman.”

  Hunter nodded, now knowing who could shoot in the bunch. Hitting a moving pickup and putting the bullet so close to Hunter and Anna’s heads at sixty or more yards, that was good shooting. Something to keep in mind, she thought.

  Driving to circle the block and come back to the road to the International Bridge took longer than Hunter wanted because of traffic, but she reached the road and almost turned when she saw the three women standing there watching traffic going toward the bridge.

  Hunter continued straight, then turned west on Highway 2. Anna asked, “Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to the Amistad Dam. We’ll cross there, then we can circle back into Del Rio.”

  “Okay.”

  “It’s not far, relax.”

  Hunter realized how foolish it was to say, knowing that Anna couldn’t relax while Kelly was missing. She focused on her driving.

  They made it across the bridge without incident and when they reached Highway 90, turned right to go toward town. The adrenaline rush made Hunter thirsty, and she asked, Anna, “You want a drink? I need one after that.”

  “I would. Just water.”

  Hunter turned into another Stripes Convenience Store as a Jeep Wrangler pulled in at the same time. Two teenagers hopped out and looked at the rear window as Hunter exited. The blond one said, “Did you get shot at? We hear that happens a lot down here on the border.”

  The brown-haired boy said, “We’re from Amarillo, we don’t see things like that at home.”

  Hunter said, “It was a hunting accident on our lease. The new guy was careless and shot at a feral pig and missed, but hit my truck. Don’t worry down here, fellas, Del Rio is pretty safe.”

  They nodded and said, “Thanks.” As they turned to go to the store, the two talked together for a moment, then the blond boy said, “I’m not trying to be a stalker, but, well, you are really, really good looking. I’m not trying to pick you up or anything either, it’s just we don’t see women like you, not with that look you have.”

  “What kind of look is that?”

  The boy blushed, “I mean this in the best way, but your eyes and all, you look like a beautiful assassin.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  Both boys said together, “It was a compliment, really.”

  Hunter laughed, “I’ll take it that way. You guys have a good time.”

  Hunter bought two bottles of water and handed one to Anna when she returned to the truck. Anna said, “They’re right, about your eyes. When you saw the…La Osa, with the pistol, your eyes changed. It’s not so much when you’re relaxed, like right now, but there’s still a little of it.”

  “I’m just me. I can’t change that.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to. It sort of makes me feel safer, if you know what I mean, like you’re capable of taking on anything.”

  “Don’t give me that much credit, but I will try to help you.”

  “Now I have some hope,” Anna said, and Hunter didn’t have the heart to tell her not to get her hopes up too high, because Kelly might already be dead.

  Chapter 5

  Kelly awoke on the third day in the dimness of predawn, hearing whimpering from the other children. She turned on her side and the old, twin bed springs squeaked in loud protest as they did every time she moved. The medicine-like odor still clung in her mouth and nose, but not as strong as the last two days, and she noticed her hair had fully dried and didn’t look blond anymore, but a uniform mousy brown. Kelly studied the inside of th
e large metal barn where she’d been kept since her kidnapping in Mexico. Eight or so other children sat or reclined nearby, all either asleep or emitting soft, plaintive crying sounds into their pillows.

  Kelly moved outside the room and sat on the concrete floor of the barn, near one of the other new girls, who looked about nine or ten, with thin legs and mousy brown hair, as all of them had. Kelly vaguely remembered someone dying her hair, but not much else. She looked at the other girl, “What’s your name? I’m Kelly.”

  “I am Consuela.” She looked frightened. “Where are we? Where’s my mother?”

  “I don’t know.” They both hushed as the large sliding barn doors opened and two women and a large man entered the barn, eyeing them as they approached.

  The man said, “We’re halfway there, and they look good.”

  The woman with black hair said, “Paco will bring some more in the next day or two. Then we can make a load for transport.”

  Consuela stood and said to them, “Where is my mother? I want my mother.”

  The black-haired woman struck Consuela with a closed fist, shooting the punch straight from her shoulder like a middleweight boxer. The girl flew off her feet, hitting on her back so hard on the rough concrete that the back of her blouse tore at her shoulders, leaving a ragged piece of flower-patterned cloth hanging from the girl’s back, as limp as a flag with no breeze.

  Kelly felt her heart beat rabbit-fast. The woman turned to her, “You want to say something?” Her pale blue eyes reminded Kelly of old jeans, but her eyes were fierce in their focus, and her hands remained clenched and ready to strike again.

  “No, Ma’am.”

  “What do you know,” the woman said to the man, “One with some manners.”

  The man’s voice was high pitched, almost girlish despite his huge size, “That’ll bring some extra coins, besides, she’s pretty, too.”

  “Don’t go getting any ideas, Carl. No sampling the merchandise.”

  “I know, I know.”

  The other woman, the one who had dirty blond hair and multicolored tattoos of knives, skulls, witches, dragons, and naked men and women covering her bare arms returned from looking over the other children, “We’re good.”

  The black-haired woman said, “Okay. Feed ‘em, and leave the doors open, it’s gonna get hot as hell today.”

  “If one of them makes a break for it?”

  “I think you can outrun a kid, don’t you?”

  “Well, sure.”

  “If they get to the point where you can’t catch ‘em, shoot ‘em.”

  “But–”

  The black-haired woman stepped closer. She smiled and cupped the tattooed woman’s chin in one hand, “You’re new here, so I’m gonna give you a break.” Her smile turned sadistic, “I tell you something, you do it, no questions. Got that?” She shoved the woman’s face away from her. “Now get busy and feed these rug apes.”

  Kelly wasn’t sure what a rug ape was, but she figured it was not a polite way of saying kids. She watched the black-haired woman and the big man leave as the tattooed woman rummaged in a plastic grocery sack. She removed two loaves of white bread and a jar of peanut butter, placing them down in front of Kelly. “You, make the sandwiches and give ‘em to the others. Whatever’s left is all yours.”

  “Can we have water?”

  She pointed with a tattooed arm, the bright colors like a kaleidoscope: greens, blues, reds, yellows. “Over there, near the doors. There’s a water faucet that works.”

  “Are there any cups?”

  “Hah. Nah. Turn it on and put your mouth under it.” She turned and exited the barn doors.

  Kelly watched her go across the path to a large mesquite where an old, rusty, green lawn chair nestled against the trunk. The woman sat down to watch the open doors.

  Kelly made sandwiches, scooping and spreading the peanut butter with her fingers, and passing them around. Consuela said, “I’m not hungry.”

  “You should eat.”

  Kelly touched the girl’s face where fresh bruises showed under the skin. “That hurt?”

  Consuela nodded, then whispered, “They scare me. I’m not hungry, and I miss my mom.”

  Kelly felt a pang in her heart, I miss my mom, too. Kelly knew she couldn’t think about that right then, those thoughts were for late at night, in the dark and silence where she could cry and no one noticed. She took a deep breath and said, “Find a place to hide the sandwich in case you get hungry later.” Consuela nodded and took the sandwich.

  When Kelly finished with the others, she made one for herself and wolfed it down. two pieces of bread remained, so she made one more, and that used the last of the peanut butter as well. She tucked it behind some discarded wood in the corner before standing, still holding the empty peanut butter jar. Kelly went to the door and walked out, going toward the blond, tattooed woman, who sat up and frowned at her.

  “Can I rinse this at the faucet and use it for a glass? Its plastic.”

  The blond woman thought a second and didn’t see a threat. She nodded at Kelly, “Go ahead.”

  “Thank you.”

  The blond woman showed a faint smile, then ignored the girl as she opened a paperback by Ace Atkins and began to read.

  The other girls had already moved away from the faucet, so she had time to clean the jar. The water felt cool, and the remains of the peanut butter inside the jar didn’t clean well, as it left oily smears on the insides of the jar that Kelly couldn’t remove. She only had water and her fingers to use, and that didn’t work.

  She put the jar on the ground, wiped her hands and filled the jar with water. It tasted slightly of peanuts and oil, leaving her tongue feeling coated, but wasn’t bad. Kelly screwed on the blue plastic lid and took the water to her corner in the barn, placing it behind a broken one-by-six leaning against the metal wall, just in case she needed it. You never know, is what her mom often said. The thought made her throat constrict and wetness fill her eyes, but she shook it off knowing she had to concentrate, to figure out a way to escape and get back to her mother.

  Movement outside the barn doors drew her attention as the black-haired woman returned to talk to their guard. They weren’t looking in the barn, so Kelly edged her way along the inside of the structure until she stood close enough to the opening to hear.

  The tattooed woman said, “Kit, I swear, if we make enough money this trip, I’m going to Aspen and roll bare-assed in some snow. I don’t think I’m ever gonna cool off again.”

  Kit shook her head, the straight, jet-black hair moving like black wheat in a breeze, and said, “You ain’t going nowhere, Nadine, until I say so.”

  “That’s what I meant, when you say so, I’ll go.” Nadine didn’t want any trouble with Kit Hardee, nosiree.

  Kit pulled a silver-handled knife with a long blade from her waistband and pared her fingernails. Kelly watched the two women under the scant shade of a mesquite’s feathery leaves that didn’t block much sun.

  Nadine asked, “Where’d Carl go?”

  Kit angled her head in a direction and said, “San Angelo, we need some more supplies before the plane comes. Call me when he gets back here.” She turned and walked toward the small house nearby.

  San Angelo. Kelly felt her heart beat a little faster. She’d been to San Angelo before, just last year with her mom. So now she knew about where she was. It was a long way from home in Del Rio, but at least she knew.

  Consuela came to her and said, “One of the girls stole my sandwich.”

  “Which one?”

  She pointed across the barn, “The tall one, and her friend.”

  The two girls looked at Kelly and smirked, as if daring her to do something.

  Kelly sighed and handed Consuela her spare sandwich, “Here. Stay with me while you eat it.” The tall girl and her friend saw the sandwich and whispered to each other.

  Consuela said, “they’re planning something.”

  The two girls watched as the tall one and her f
riend started toward them, walking like they meant business.

  Kelly said, “Come on,” and Consuela didn’t argue, but clutched Kelly’s arm and pressed herself close, never taking her eyes off the tall girl, who picked up speed toward them.

  Kelly tugged Consuela with her as she went toward the barn doors, straight toward Nadine. The tall blond stopped for a second, then hurried to intercept them.

  Kelly almost made it out the door when the tall girl grabbed Consuela’s hair and jerked her backward. Kelly staggered, but held on to Consuela’s arm as the smaller girl shrieked at having her hair pulled.

  Nadine looked up from her book, saw Kelly was involved, and walked to the group, scowling the entire way. “The hell’s going on here?” She said.

  Kelly said, “They’re trying to hurt Consuela.”

  The tall girl said, “We were just playin’.”

  Nadine looked from each girl to the next, coming to rest on the tall one. “You settle down, you hear?” I have to get up again, I’m kickin’ some ass, startin’ with you.”

  The tall girl and her friends nodded, then scurried away, and Kelly called to Nadine as the woman walked to her chair, “Thank you, Nadine.”

  She stopped, “How do you know my name?” She looked suspicious.

  Kelly said, “I heard you and the other lady, Kit. When you were talking I was catching a breeze by the door.”

  That seemed to satisfy her and she continued to her seat, pulling the paperback out of her rear pocket as she walked.

  Kelly and Consuela returned to the corner and sat down on some old hay bales. Across the barn, the tall girl and her friends glowered at them.

  All the other girls seemed apathetic, almost in a stupor, but Kelly rose to check out the tractor in the barn. She didn’t know how to drive one, much less start it, but she looked it over anyway.

  The girls sat in the stifling barn, panting in the heat as no wind could stir in the barn. They occasionally saw the leaves of the mesquites outside moving in the breeze, tantalizing them with its promise.

  Fifteen minutes later, Kelly rose and walked out of the barn towards Nadine. Sweat ran in rivulets down her face.