The Hidden Two

by Kimberlee R. Mendoza

  Laura closed her eyes. It obviously upset her heart to speak about this. “I know that’s what you need to think, but I’ve done the same con several times, Myers. It isn’t hard to gain one’s trust—to pretend to love someone. If you don’t know to look for it, a good agent can be very convincing.” She joined Myers’ stare. “Look, she even had me fooled, and that is hard to do. I was trained to pick those kinds of people out. So, once I know what to look for, it is like a string being unraveled. It comes apart quickly, and the individual pieces are revealed. It doesn’t matter if we want to believe it or not, she was a spy.”

  Myers stormed off, but slowly paced back.

  Eri squatted to the ground.

  Charlie hovered over her with a hand on her back.

  Teddy didn’t know what to do. Helena was family. She had been a friend. Never once had he suspected anything but loyalty to their cause. Now, Alicia was a different story. Often her behavior had been unpredictable, bizarre even. When she left, it hurt him. Maybe Laura was right; she was teamed up with Helena this whole time. “Do you think Alicia was in on it?”

  Laura glanced at Teddy.

  Eri stood with Charlie by her side.

  “Yes, I do.” Laura nodded. “That’s why Alicia left. Everything started happening shortly after her departure.”

  Teddy raised his hand, as if he was in school. “Um, guys, I have something to tell you.”

  They all huddled around him, their eyes curious.

  “The night before she left, I found her in the basement doing something odd. I am not sure what, but when I started to confront her…” He swallowed, trying to get this out. “She kissed me.”

  Willow’s eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh.”

  “What?” Laura faced her.

  “Is it that strange she would kiss me? I mean, I know I’m weird, but seriously it’s not that—”

  “Teddy, I meant Willow.”

  “The voice of my abductor.” She stepped forward. “At the time, I was trying to pick out the strange accent. I felt like I knew the voice somehow. It was Alicia. She’s the one who held me.”

  Laura sighed. “I was afraid that might be the case. Look, we all need to rethink things. Every moment you were with them, analyze them. You will see them differently now.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Myers mumbled, his gaze steadied on the dirt floor. He obviously was not taking this well.

  Laura came alongside him and whispered something in his ear. He seemed to soften some, but not much. Without Helena, could Laura control this wild beast? It didn’t seem likely. Teddy made a mental note to avoid the man.

  “What do we do now?” Eri asked.

  Laura met each of their gazes one by one. “We find them, and we end this.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Laura lay on the dark cot. Her face warm and wet from tears that would not stop falling. Her mind wandered from memories of Bryce to Helena the day they met.

  Laura and Bryce made their way up to Julio’s bamboo home. Instantly, Laura knew something was definitely wrong. The door was slightly ajar, and a dining room chair lay upside down on the porch. The two of them glanced at each other. Just coming from the airport, neither had a weapon. Guarded, Laura slid the door open with the toe of her boot. On the floor, between the living room and kitchen, Juan’s corpulent frame lay in a pool of tacky blood. Laura ran to his side and checked his neck. It was cold and hard. He had been there for a while. A maggot ran across her finger. She shook it off and wiped her hand on a nearby kitchen towel.

  A gunshot rang from the adjoining room.

  Bryce fell back.

  Laura screamed, “Bryce.”

  “I’m okay.” He touched his left shoulder and looked at his hand. A dot of blood appeared. “It just nicked me.”

  Both scanned the room. They needed weapons—now.

  Laura low crawled to a drawer, slid a paring knife to Bryce’s side, and then reached for a utility knife. Not elegant, but it would have to do. She indicated with a nod of her head that he’d take left and she would take right. Another bullet pelted the wall behind them. They ducked but kept inching forward. Laura mouthed with fingers held high, “Three, two, one.”

  Both jumped through the door and tackled an olive-skinned woman to the ground. The gun rattled to the floor next to Bryce. The woman fought, but they managed to wrangle her onto her stomach, pushing her head into the dingy beige carpet.

  “Alto!” She screamed.

  “She wants us to stop,” Bryce said.

  Laura rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure she does.”

  “You’re American?” The woman’s voice was muffled by the dirty shag carpet.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry I shot at you then.”

  Laura rolled her over, but straddled her, keeping both arms above the girl’s head. “What do you mean?”

  “I am Julio’s daughter, Helena. The men from the village, they came and killed my father. He did nothing wrong. My father said to wait for an American woman.”

  Laura locked on Bryce’s gaze. She had no idea what that meant. He shrugged. She looked back to Helena. “You’re assuming he meant me? Why?”

  “He said Laura Black would save me.”

  Laura cringed at hearing her name. “How do you know I am Laura Black?”

  “I’ve seen a picture.” The woman rolled her eyes up, indicating something over her head.

  A photo sat on a small dresser behind her. In it, Laura smiled with Julio. She didn’t remember that picture being taken. Nor did she understand what was happening. It had taken a lifetime to build a “trap meter,” but Laura had one. “How could your father assume I was coming? I didn’t know he was in trouble.” Laura glanced at Bryce, making sure he caught her meaning.

  “Suspicious,” Bryce mouthed.

  Why hadn’t they stayed with that premise? She also gassed them, stating it was to save her sister. Also, as Bryce said, suspicious. They brought her into their group. Protected her. Trusted her. And she killed the man Laura loved. Everything in Laura’s body wanted to find her, place a gun to her head, and fire. So much rage and agony radiated throughout Laura’s body. She didn’t know what to do with these feelings.

  A hand touched her shoulder. For a brief moment, Laura thought maybe it had all been a bad dream. Bryce was there, holding her.

  “Can we talk?” came Myers’ voice.

  Laura opened her eyes and sat up. “Okay, but not here.”

  They stepped over bodies and exited the room. The air was still humid. The only light came from the moon overhead. Myers lit a small candle and placed it on the veranda. Both sat on ground, with their backs against the wall of the building.

  Myers pulled her into him and together, they cried. Bodies shaking, distraught, so much pain washing through tears attached to fallen lovers. “It is hard for me to accept this. I waited so long to allow Helena in. My heart still belonged to Denise. But I cannot deny what you are saying. I was closest to her, and I saw the signs. I just refused to admit them. That would, in some way, tarnish Denise’s memory…to move onto someone else like that. I just couldn’t concede—”

  Laura touched his face. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay.” They were nice sentiments, but in this moment, they landed like lies. How could they be okay? Either of them?

  She pulled back and noticed his freshly-shaven head. “What happened to your dreads?”

  He half-smiled. “I left them on the bathroom floor.”

  “You know Charlie is going to tease you mercilessly.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  Laura leaned her head on his shoulder. For a moment, neither talked. A slight breeze blew, sending a sweet aroma of what smelled like lavender their way. She closed her eyes, trying to find peace, but doing so only made her wish Bryce was there.

  “Who do you think they work for?” Myers asked.

  “I think I have an answer,” Charlie said from the open doorway. “Sorry if it seemed like I was eave
sdropping, but I worry about you both.”

  “It’s okay. What do you have?” Laura said, sitting up.

  Charlie folded to the ground with laptop in hand. “Harding was released from the mental institution the same week Alicia disappeared.”

  “What?” Myers grunted. “Then it is true? Alicia was part of this? And Harding is pulling the strings.”

  The news was a gut punch. Laura knew what Harding was capable of. “Now that we have all the pieces, all of this is making sense. Go with me.” Laura faced them, just as Eri joined the group. “Harding wants Greenstone killed. So, they set us up in Puerto Rico, knowing I would kill him the first chance I got. Then Alicia leads me back to Julio’s place. Helena does the same. They convince us to take them with us, and they are in.”

  “But we took Harding down and killed their dad,” Eri said.

  “Not their dad.” Charlie shook his head and spun his laptop around so they all could see the screen. A news clipping with two younger girls were displayed under the heading, “Niñas Que Falta.” Missing girls. “I did a little digging now that we know what to look for. Helena and Alicia weren’t related to Julio. These were his daughters, fourteen and sixteen. They disappeared a week before he died.”

  That confirmed it. It just made the angst worst. Laura glanced at Myers. His lips where puckered, his eyes down. Slowly, he lifted his gaze to meet hers and nodded. He was in. They would fight this war together for Denise and Bryce.

  “So, what now?” Eri asked.

  “Let’s try to get a few more hours sleep, then we stop being the prey and begin to be the hunters.” Laura used Myers’ shoulder to stand. “Night.”

  Each returned to the room. There was no guarantee that any of them would sleep. Teddy and Willow were out, but maybe this didn’t go as deep for them. They never knew Denise and had only known Bryce for a little over eight months. Or maybe it was because Teddy could always find a silver lining. He was their own personal Pollyanna. Hopefully, this would not tarnish him. Death had a way of hardening the heart. It did hers so many years ago. Only Bryce had softened it enough to create this family.

  Focusing on the memory of his face, she closed her eyes. It didn’t happen right away, but eventually, her mind relaxed, and she fell asleep.

  ****

  “Let’s get moving.” Laura tied off her boot and stood.

  As the team packed up, Teddy prattled on. “I was able to talk to Miguel, the owner’s son last night, and he told me all sorts of cool trivial. Like, did you know that Mexico… It’s actually called Estados Unidos Mexicanos, which means United Mexican States, which is interesting, because we are the United States of America. So, we are both United States. I never really thought about that, have you? Anyway, he also told me the first printing press was actually used in Mexico City in the 1500s, and they have a tamale called a zachuil that weighs one hundred and fifty pounds.”

  Laura usually loved the enduring quality of their youngest family member, Teddy, but today, it was boarding on obnoxious. It was not lost on Laura that he chattered more when he was nervous or anxious. This likely qualified, so she tried to endure it. No reason to hurt his feelings because she was in a bad mood.

  “I think I’ve heard that,” Laura said dryly.

  “And did you know that millions of monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico from the U.S. and Canada every year? I guess they are like birds, flying south for the winter, though there isn’t much winter in the south, so I wonder. But it is interesting. I have always liked them, especially the color. I’m fond of that color orange.” He peered slightly at Willow, who blushed when she apparently realized he was talking about her red hair.

  Despite herself, Laura smiled. Maybe his talking was distracting them. That could be a good thing. “What other Mexican trivia did you learn talking to the owner’s son?”

  “I’m glad you asked.” A big grin spread across the blond boy’s face. “Did you know that Mexico City is actually built over the ruins of an ancient Aztec city and a lake? And because of that, it is sinking like six inches a year?”

  Within ten minutes, the SUV was packed. Eri and Charlie used bleach and rags to remove any blood and fingerprints, and Willow collected any apparent DNA. Better it appeared they were never here. When the room was spotless, the crew boarded with Myers at the wheel. Charlie sat next to him with laptop in hand. Helena had made one mistake. She still had her cell phone, which meant she could still be tracked.

  “So, where is she?” Myers said.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Myers rubbed a hand over his now bald head. Though everyone chided him last night for shaving off his dreads, it was time and almost therapeutic. The immediate future would not be easy. He pulled out of the lot, ready to do whatever it took to avenge their family members. Harding was ultimately responsible, but the girls were not innocent. They would pay. After a long drive, Charlie pointed to a skinny dirt road that led to what looked like a border crossing.

  “Are we going back to the States?” Laura asked, leaning over the seat.

  “It’s where the tracker is taking us,” Charlie said.

  “I don’t like it.”

  Myers glanced over his shoulder, then back and forth from the road to Charlie. “Do you think it is a trap?”

  “That is always the first thought.” Laura glanced at Charlie’s screen. “Where does it stop?”

  “El Paso.”

  “They’re in Texas?” Myers asked.

  The road dropped down a hill, and then, the U.S. border came into view. The contrast from the close-boxed homes of Mexico to the spacious houses and buildings across the border were clear. They would soon be back in the U.S.A.

  “Passports out,” Laura commanded.

  Everyone readied himself or herself. Anytime they had to go over the border was scary. Technically, they were all fugitives, but the good news was no one knew who they were. Someday, that could change. It would only take one smart cop and a bit of modern technology to find them. Anyone with skills like Charlie or Myers could crack the code on this family. It all depended on how important they were to the FBI. After all, Charlie did hack the FBI last year; not to mention, Black’s family had killed hundreds of bad guys. Even though they paid for all the damages and stolen goods, they still committed many robberies and crimes.

  “Keep it slow,” Laura said, as they approached the line to cross.

  A Border Patrol Agent stood just outside a hut speaking into car windows and then either waving them through or to the side. It took a good thirty minutes, but eventually, it was their turn. Myers accelerated forward and rolled down his window. “Good afternoon, sir.”

  The agent peeked in the car and met every eye. “Where are you coming from?”

  “We attended a funeral just outside Mexico City,” Myers said. It wasn’t a lie. Laura always said it was better to tell as much truth as possible. It prevents eye dilation and other physical tells.

  “Where do you live?”

  “San Francisco.”

  It was almost a truth. It is where they lived before.

  “Passports.”

  Everyone passed them to Myers who handed them to the agent. He looked at each photo and then returned it and asked, “Are you bringing anything into the U.S.?”

  Each said no. Finally, he handed the last one back and waved them through. A verbal sigh could be heard throughout the car. They were back in the U.S. and not in prison.

  “Did you know the Mayans used to throw what is called a hornet bomb at their enemies?” Teddy said, breaking the tension. “Seriously, they would take a hornets’ nest and chuck it at them. I hate anything that flies and buzzes, even more if there is a stinger at the other end.”

  The space was silent for a moment, until everyone began to chuckle, then laugh, and then roar. It was a much-needed release. Whether tired, broken, or just relieved, they laughed for a good ten minutes. Tears rolled down Myers’ cheeks, only these were laughter induced. He could barely see the road.

>   “We’re close. Turn at the next light,” Charlie said, bringing the mood back down. “The signal is about a block away.”

  All laughing stopped, and the tension resumed.

  “It’s a trap, right?” Eri said from the back seat.

  Laura glanced at Myers’ stare in the rearview mirror. “Likely.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  Myers slowed the car by a curb and put it in park. He turned to face the group, and Charlie did the same.

  “We need to do recon and not be half-baked this time. Let’s watch the house. Get some surveillance in there.” Laura glanced at Charlie. “Do you have any of those tiny drones still?”

  A big smile lit up his face. “Yeah, two.”

  She shifted around to look at Eri. “You ready to go ninja with me?”

  Eri nodded. “Sounds like fun.”

  “We’ll wait for it to get dark. Myers, go shop for a less conspicuous vehicle. We’ll stick out like agents if we drive up the street in this thing.” Laura glanced at Charlie. “You do what you do.” Then she twisted in her seat to see Willow and Teddy. “You’re backup. If anything happens to Eri or me, you take them down.”

  Now with marching orders, Myers stepped from the vehicle. The summer weather was balmy—a little cooler than Mexico, but not by much. He grabbed a baseball cap from the floorboard and slammed the driver’s side door closed, probably harder than he should.

  In the past, Helena was the one person who could calm his anger. Now, she was the cause of his fury. There was nothing holding him back. That scared him. How did he refrain from the fire inside? Not wanting to disappoint Laura or the team was all that held him from walking down the street and raining bullets on Harding and his girls.

  Once again, loss lay heavy on his heart. Losing Denise was not like this betrayal. Only a few months ago, he’d given himself completely to Helena. The idea of marrying her someday began to enter his mind. The only thing that stopped him from marrying her was the memory of Denise wanting the same. Praise God for that.

  An old, green ’80s sedan was parked in an alleyway. In the window was a for sale sign. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the number. It had taken six months to pay everyone back from the last time they traveled across America. This time, they were trying to stay legit. S.I.U.’s payout kept them well off enough; they didn’t have to steal much anymore.