Hush in the Storm

by Julie B. Cosgrove

  I curled my legs tighter and looked back outside. “What is there to say?”

  “Volumes, or nothing. Your choice.”

  I looked at him. His eyes shone with emotion.

  “Legally I am a widow.”

  “Yet, you’re still married.”

  He was right. The reality soaked in. “It will never work, will it, Tom? I can’t be in your world, or in your life. I can’t live with a man out of wedlock. It’s not how I was raised.”

  He took my hand. “I know. Robert knows as well.”

  I jerked my hand away. “Never mention his name again.”

  He raised both hands, palms out in surrender. “Okay. What do you want me to do, Jen? Just tell me. Where do we go from here?”

  “Help me find Marisol.”

  He rocked back and stood. He motioned to the couch. “May I?”

  “Please do.”

  He sat next to me and ran his finger along the cushion band. “I sort of know where she is. She’s in a house somewhere in Grand Prairie with some others, but she doesn’t have to do tricks. He’s making sure she gets prenatal treatment as well. Mae Lin’s found someone to take her.”

  I jumped. “What? Tom, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “And have you go off on your high horse like you did with those lectures and talk shows, even after you were warned to drop it?” He shoved his finger into my face. “You are one stubborn woman, you know that?”

  I pushed his hand away. My turn to sit in the Naugahyde chair. I drummed my fingers on the puffed arm and asked the next question. “Will she keep the baby or will he make her sell it on the black market?”

  Tom shrugged. “They will probably tell her to drop it off at one of those safe places. A library stoop, fire station, or the steps of a school.”

  My stomach became queasy. “Robert doesn’t want his own child, does he? Some things never change.”

  Sympathy gleamed in his eyes. “Look. The only reason I can figure is she’s getting treatment because he is doing this for you.”

  “Me?”

  “He saw you connect with her. That made her different from the others.”

  I sat erect. “Different? Others?”

  Tom glared at me. “Do you really want all the ugly facts, Jen? How many young girls he’s dumped on the streets once he knocked them up because abortions are pricey and raise questions? How many he has terrorized or gotten hooked on drugs so they’d perform? Do you want to learn how long he has been doing this undercover work as a coyote?”

  I shook off new tears with my response. The nice Greek Orthodox man I thought I’d married who was honest, loyal and moral was a fantasy.

  Tom snorted. “I didn’t think so. Besides, you told me not to mention him, right?”

  I inhaled what air I could. My chest felt as if it was wrapped in a too-tight elastic bandage. I massaged my ribcage. “How did you get involved?”

  He cocked his head. “With...?”

  “Him. Them.”

  He crossed one leg over his other knee. His foot began to jiggle again. “I told you. I am under him. Even in the Navy, he was above me in rank and skill level. You don’t mess with the 6th Seals.”

  “So, you were just following orders, per usual?”

  He sat up straight and saluted. “I’m the errand boy. I do what I’m told.” Then, he slouched again. “Well, most of the time.”

  “And you were assigned to watch out for me, the woman who stole your best friend. You must have hated me in the beginning.”

  Tom shrugged. “I tried to. But the more I observed you then got to know you...” He kicked his foot into the carpet. His voice volume lowered. “Now do you see why it upset me so much when he became involved with you? I knew you deserved more.”

  “But why was it necessary to fake my death?”

  “Because you-know-who, since I’m forbidden to mention his name, got wind you were in danger.”

  I raised my hands in the air. “Why?”

  He scratched his head. “I thought I’d explained that.”

  “Try again. How could I possibly be any threat?”

  “By association. You were his wife. He may have confided in you.”

  I huffed into my bangs. “Right. Obviously that was not the case.”

  Tom twisted his mouth to one side. In his eyes I detected some glimpse of leftover loyalty mingled with hurt. I wasn’t the only one Robert had stabbed in the gut.

  “Anyway,” Tom continued, “some of the coyotes suspected he was a mole. He had to go deeper to convince them he was legit. Then, the Feds got the players mixed up and began putting pressure on him. It got ugly. He was forced to pick sides.”

  I repositioned my legs half yoga style. It helped my backache, a residual twinge from rolling on his lumpy mattress, not to mention my whole body had been in an emotional knot for two days. “So, he faked his death and reemerged on the dark side.”

  “Exactly. But not right away. He laid low for a while. That meant he needed a middle man to keep watch on the agency movements, and yours.” Tom pointed to his chest.

  “So he chose power and money over duty, right?” Like the Invisible Man in the old black and white movies, each new tidbit of information unwrapped the ugly truth and made the man I thought I knew disappear even more.

  Tom stood and came over to me. He sat on the floor beside me, his head against the sliding door, and took a deep swig of his soda. “Both sides thought the other had taken him down. They were watching you to make sure you were not in on any of it. At first, to verify his demise. Then the traffickers had to be reassured he hadn’t given you instructions to go to the Feds. This is all tied to organized crime, Jen. If you knew anything which would incriminate them, they’d have to eliminate you.”

  “They thought I’d turn them in?”

  Tom raised his soda can. “Bingo. You might. Out of revenge for your husband’s death.”

  My brain was rattling. This was like a TV movie gone haywire. “But I didn’t know anyone had killed him. Or not. Whatever.”

  “They didn’t know that. They set up your little accidents as warnings. But you weren’t paying attention.”

  “So you arranged for me to disappear.”

  He sat erect. “Yes. Now you get it?”

  I slunk deeper into the chair. “No.”

  He groaned and rose to pace the floor.

  “Was Robert planning to join me or not?”

  “At first. That was the plan. Fake both your deaths. His, then a few months later, yours. You’d go into WITSEC, and start over with new lives.”

  “Federal Witness Security Protection?”

  Tom stretched out his legs. “Right. I took the call to make it happen.”

  “What?”

  He wobbled his head. “Agreed to the assignment. To set things in motion for him to get out and you to join him. Then he’d cry uncle, turn state’s witness, and you two, both now reported dead, would vanish. No one would be looking for you.”

  “But in the meantime, he got the thirst for power.”

  “I guess, among other things.”

  I peered into Tom’s face. “He was there in the coffin room when I was coming to. I did hear his voice, after all.”

  “Yeah. We came close to blowing that one.”

  “Why was he there and why couldn’t I see him then?”

  “He’d been spotted alive. To save his skin, he told the cartel he faked his own death to shake the Feds. The trafficking lords were impressed. It moved him up the ladder as an untouchable. Gave him more control. That’s what he came to tell me. The plan had changed and he was headed to New Mexico.” Tom’s voice became more animated, his voice louder. “Do ya see now? That’s why I had to detain you. When I got word I was to take you there to join him, it made my skin crawl. So Mae Lin got involved as back-up.”

  It all began to make sense. Yet it didn’t. “What happened to him?”

  Tom twisted toward me. “He turned, Jen. I don’t know why. I just kne
w. I didn’t recognize him anymore that night at the shacks. He knew you’d never join him. He’d made his choice—it wasn’t power over duty, it was power over love.” Tom looked down. I watched his Adam’s apple bounce. “I told him I wanted to save you from knowing the ugly truth. He saw I’d fallen for you. Maybe he hoped I could give you what he no longer could. I guess that’s why he agreed to let us go.”

  “I doubt it. Tom. He won’t let me go that easily.” Still, Agent Hernandez had been right all along. “So he didn’t let us go because you ran drugs for them.” My tone was flat. “You lied to me.”

  “I had to tell you something. What was I supposed to say? The truth? That your deceased husband was screwing illegals in the shack next to you and he was the one running drugs?”

  “Yes.”

  “Would you have believed me?”

  I bit my lip and looked down. For a moment neither of us spoke.

  My voice cracked as if my heart wanted to prevent my mouth from asking the next question. But I had to know. “He’s not undercover anymore? You’re really sure?”

  Tom’s silence confirmed what I already knew. I ran my hands over my left ring finger. It had been bare too many months. The white was almost gone, the skin now as tan as the rest of my hand. I had lost Robert to death, and now to life.

  “He’s too much a part of the whole organization he has helped to build, and being Anglo, maybe he has more power. Who knows.” Tom waved his hand sideways in an erasing motion. “I told him it was a game I didn’t want to play any longer. I promised him three things, then I was out.” He held up his forefinger. “I told him I’d see after you, since you didn’t testify against me and go into WITSEC the first time.”

  His words pierced my heart. “How could I, Tom?”

  He ignored my question. I watched his other hand grip into a fist, but his face remained stoic. He held up another finger. “I also vowed to watch over the two girls you took to heart. I got Monica the kitchen help job and Marisol out of circulation.” He raised a third finger. “And, I’ll make sure his kid, when it’s born, finds a good home.”

  “Good. The child deserves a decent life.” I looked away and swallowed back the sorrow.

  Tom reached to clutch my fingers. “You do too, Jen.”

  We sat in silence. Then his words sank deeper. I peered into his eyes. “So you’ve been in contact a lot with Robert since...all of that.”

  He looked at his hand and released mine from its grip. “Yeah. He’s been watching you. So have the Feds, Mae Lin, the traffickers.” He wagged his head as he named them off, then he winked. “And so have I. To make sure none of them got to you. You’ve become my full-time job with all your publicity stunts.” His eyes danced as he pointed his finger at my nose. “It wasn’t easy to guard you and not be seen by the rest of the crowd keeping tabs on you. You know that?”

  I bit my lip. “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry too. About the New York thing. They moved too fast, I...” He dipped his head.

  “I know. It’s okay. I’m not mad about that anymore.” I leaned in to catch his glance and squeezed his fingers. “Can you get out? Is it even possible?”

  He shrugged. “I broke the law, Jen. I doubt it.”

  A thick hush draped between us again. He’d said way too much.

  I knew Tom had put himself in danger to save me more than once. Now he was risking his very life to protect me. If the traffickers didn’t get him for knowing more than he should, the Feds would make him the scapegoat and imprison him. Tom, or Travis, or whoever this man was in this grungy duplex with me, had no future as long as my husband was a free man…and declared dead.

  A strong resolve surged through me. Tom had saved me, several times. It was my turn to save him. That was it. I’d tell them about Robert, then divorce him. That way I could bargain to get Tom and me into WITSEC. We could be together―lead a normal life.

  I turned to see his lost-in-thought expression. Poor man. This was all deeply hurting him as well. I was more than the one woman he couldn’t have. Truth be told, I was one burden he didn’t need right now.

  But I still needed him. I now knew Tom could help me ensure Marisol and Monica had a better future. I had vowed to God I’d find them and give them one, just as Tom had vowed to make sure Robert’s child by Marisol had security and safety. Our purpose was one and the same.

  Our intertwined vows bound us. Until we accomplished them, we’d be unable to move forward together. WITSEC would have to wait.

  “So.” I stood up and brushed myself off. “You say you know where Marisol and Monica are?”

  He stared into my eyes. “So?”

  I leaned in. “When can I see them?”

  Tom buried his head in his hands. “Ah, geez, Jen.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Forget about them, okay?” His eyes pleaded with me.

  I bolted from the chair and paced. “I can’t. I’m a woman who has been wronged, just like them. Even before I knew all of this, I felt a bond.” I stopped, wrapped my hands around my waist, but kept my back to him. “Now I know why. We were hurt by the same man.”

  I felt his footsteps, then his hands on my shoulders. “I’m still wanted, Jen. I can’t run around with you as you try to save two Hispanic girls.”

  “I can’t do it by myself.”

  He smirked. “At least you have the common sense now to know that. Besides, they may not want to be rescued.”

  I spun around. My eyes widened and my mouth dropped. “What?”

  He gave me a sympathetic look. “Jen, honey. Look. This is the only life they know. This is their world. The coyotes have convinced them if they run they’ll be tracked down and killed, or their families back home killed. They are not going to come with you at the drop of the hat.”

  “I know. I’ve been told that. But, I have to try.”

  He shook my shoulders. “You are not their Savior. God is. Turn to Him and let Him handle it.”

  I thrust my shoulders away and laughed. “Oh, you are one to talk. You are so pure and holy.”

  He chewed his lower lip. “I never said I was. But that is between Heaven and me.” He raised his eyes to the ceiling.

  Talking about the Almighty with him hardly felt comfortable. I switched gears. “So you won’t help?”

  His face sunk. “I can’t. You know that, Jen.”

  My Irish shot to the surface. “Yeah. So much for your vow. I am not giving up on mine.”

  “To Robert?” His voice croaked.

  “No, silly.” I threw his answer back as I traipsed down the hall. “To Marisol and Monica. The night they disappeared in that van.”

  I grabbed my cell phone from my purse. It still had some battery power. Maybe God was helping after all. I pressed the button to redial Maria Gonzales-Taylor’s number.

  Tom had followed me. He reached to grab the phone. I twisted and backed away.

  “What are you doing?” he hissed.

  A female voice came on the line. “Hello?”

  “Maria. It’s Jen.”

  “Jen? What happened? You never came—”

  “I know.” I looked up at Tom and sat cross-legged on the bed. “I got violently ill. Food poisoning I guess. I am in bed right now.”

  Tom gave me a wide-eyed look and leaned against the wall. I gave him a shrug and continued. “I really am sorry.”

  “I’m sorry, too, Jen. We went to the Taco Shack. She was long gone.”

  I sat forward. “Oh, no. No. Is there any way to find her? Talk to other workers there?”

  Tom gave me an I-told-you-so look.

  I returned a go-to-you-know-where look. He pushed off from the wall and stood in the middle of the room, hands in pockets.

  “Jen, the truth is, if we pursue this, it may put her in grave danger. Plus, as I said, we don’t have the manpower...”

  “I know. I understand.” I took a deep breath. “Maria. Thanks. Really.”

  “If you happen to see her again, call. Yo
u did the right thing.”

  I smiled into the phone. “Thanks. Bye.”

  I rubbed my finger over the dial pad. “She could be anywhere, couldn’t she? Even in a pit lying unconscious. Or worse.”

  Tom moved toward the bed. “Now do you get it?”

  My eyes welled again as I looked up at him. His face fuzzed through my tears. “What do I do?”

  He came and sat on the bed. “First, go to that church of yours. Say a prayer for them, for Robert, and for me. Then talk to the young minister. Tell him all that’s happened.”

  I lowered my gaze to the carpet.

  He raised my chin to peer into my face. “Promise you will. Tell him everything. You hear me? Everything. He’ll know what to do.”

  I bobbed my head.

  “You need to help yourself first, Jen. Find yourself, then find them.”

  I looked at him. “That’s what he told me.”

  “The minister? Smart man.”

  “What will you do?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I am sort of burned right now. No one trusts me, understandably. I really blew it when I escaped from the van with you instead of following protocol.”

  I grabbed his hands in mine. “Then get out, now. Like you said. We’ll secure the girls then go into protection together.”

  He withdrew them. “Sweetie, it’s not that easy. I kidnapped you. Faked your death. Broke the law. Then broke out of jail. I’ll do time.” He looked at the crumpled bedspread. “I don’t want to do time.”

  “Even if you gave evidence...”

  He laughed. “Against who? Blow my cover? Spy comes in from the cold?”

  “Haven’t you already?”

  Tom shifted his weight and looked at the wall opposite us.

  After a moment, his Adam’s apple shifted again. His eyes shimmered as his voice quieted. “That smudge on the wall by the door? It resembles a giraffe, don’t you think?”

  His words crashed around me. With his change of subject, I knew our conversation was over. So was our future.

  Maybe he was right. He knew more about all of this than I did. If whatever I chose to do caused him to go back behind bars...No. I couldn’t have that. I must pretend I’d never had any contact with him, now or ever.