Marked in Mexico

by Kim McMahill

  “I like the way you think.” Jessica shook out the pillowcase the grenades had been wrapped in and loaded the blanket, water jug and tortillas. Jessica secured the pillowcase’s top using a strap she had removed from the pack before Jack left. The strap was long enough for her to slip it over her head and across her shoulder for easy carrying.

  While she adjusted the strap, she noticed Megan retrieve the rifle Jack had left behind. Megan examined it closely then slung the rifle over her shoulder. With their meager supplies loaded, they left the small clearing and hid behind a tree to wait.

  The flutter of bats and the whine of hungry mosquitoes seemed unnaturally loud to Jessica as she strained to hear some indication of a human presence. She swatted at the pests and found the vibrating sounds of locust and crickets unnerving. Croaking frogs surrounded them, but what she really feared was night-hunting snakes. She glanced over at Megan and read none of the same anxiety. The woman was cool and focused and didn’t seem to notice the blood-sucking mosquitoes feasting on her bare legs.

  Jessica kept looking at the watch. It was now eight-twenty-five. In five minutes, they’d leave if Jack didn’t show. She was afraid to move on without him, but didn’t want to sound weak, so kept her worries to herself. He had told them which direction to head, but she wasn’t confident they wouldn’t end up walking in circles or straight back to the kidnappers. Telling her to head east and north was like telling her to perform heart surgery. She knew there was something about the sun rising in some direction and setting in the other, but she had never paid attention and besides, that did little good in the dark of night.

  Someone approached. Megan slid the rifle from her shoulder and clicked off the safety before they cautiously peeked from behind the tree. They nearly screamed for joy when they saw it was Jack. Megan set the rifle down and they both ran to him and threw their arms around him, sandwiching him between them.

  Jack grabbed Jessica’s wrist and looked at the watch. “You should have been long gone by now,” he scolded. “But, I’m glad you waited.”

  “We heard shots and figured they probably came from the house and were aimed at you. We decided to think positive and give you thirty minutes from that point.” Jessica slipped the bundle off her shoulder and removed the water jug for him.

  He watched with approval as Megan retrieved the rifle, reset the safety and carefully leaned it against a nearby tree. He was thankful both women apparently had good survival instincts, because he now knew they would need more than luck if they hoped to live another day.

  “Here, eat something.” Megan handed him a tortilla. “And, tell us what happened back there.”

  Jack sat down to catch his breath. He drank from the jug Jessica handed him and ate a tortilla as Megan demanded, while explaining about the additional guys, where he had placed the pack and why they heard the shots.

  He shared with them what he knew about Las Culebras. He wasn’t sure Megan comprehended just how dangerous these men could be, but by the look on Jessica’s face he suspected she’d heard of this group before. He didn’t want to scare them, but he wanted them to have a healthy respect for the force hunting them and he was now certain that at least Jessica did.

  “Now, it’s your turn,” he said while looking at Jessica. “What did Gilbert know that you didn’t want him to tell? What information did he have that was so big our captors felt the need to bring in the most deadly hired guns in Mexico? If we are to survive, we have to trust each other and I have to know everything.”

  Jessica didn’t see any harm in telling them now. What she suspected would happen if their kidnappers knew the truth did happen, but now that they’d escaped the information seemed harmless.

  “Have you ever heard of Senator Hughes from Texas?”

  Both Jack and Megan nodded.

  “He’s my father.”

  Jessica watched as Jack’s head dropped and he pushed his hair back on his forehead and Megan’s eyes popped open wide. They didn’t comment, so she continued.

  “During the early election years my face was plastered all over the newspapers and it took Gilbert a while to place me, but when he did, he thought he could use the knowledge to negotiate his own freedom. He thought I alone would be valuable enough to the kidnappers that they wouldn’t need the rest of you. I begged him not to tell. He was probably right about me being all the leverage they needed, but I believed with all my heart they wouldn’t just release the rest of you or take you back to the ruins. If they no longer needed you, I had no doubt they would kill you. If I thought telling them who I was would have freed everyone else, I would have told them myself right from the start.”

  Jessica stared at Jack, trying to gauge his reaction. She was worried he would be mad at her for not telling him sooner, but she had only done what she thought was best for everyone’s safety.

  “What an idiot,” he finally muttered. “You were right and any moron would have known that. Even if they got what they wanted, we would’ve never been released. Exposing your identity would have shortened everyone’s life, except yours, and upped the security when they realized what they had, eliminating any chance of escape. As soon as they realized they’d hit the jackpot, they called in reinforcements.”

  “Wow. I knew you looked familiar. Since I go to school in Texas, I probably saw your picture in the paper. It’s those eyes that give you away. That’s right. Your father calls you Bluebell and the media eats it up,” Megan stated.

  “Bluebell?” Jack burst out laughing. “That’s good. That’s really good, but I’d say hitting a man over the head with a cast-iron pot is a little out of character for a tiny woman called Bluebell.”

  Jessica scowled. “My father gave me that name when I was a little girl and no one else, I mean no one, is allowed to call me that. You got it?”

  “I think it’s sweet,” Megan added. “But, if you two will look around, we still have a big problem here.”

  Jessica began reassembling her bundle, more to avoid looking at Jack than any pressing need. She hated the nickname. Most people were usually at least polite about it. He was the first person who had ever laughed at her and she felt like a complete idiot. He was so cocky sometimes that she wanted to strangle him, but at the moment she needed him, not that she would ever admit it.

  “I thought once they reacquired their drugs, they might decide it was easier to search for some new hostages to use to negotiate their brother’s release, but since we’re traveling in the company of Senator Hughes’ daughter, I doubt we’ll be that fortunate. But seeing as her father is a very powerful man, I can almost guarantee this jungle is crawling with Special Forces by now and with any luck, we’ll find a very large group of them soon.”

  Jessica had heard of Las Culebras before and the irony of the situation was nearly too much. The fiasco had nearly cost her father a re-election bid, but fortunately the defection of the commandos was kept low-key in the media. Training Mexican anti-drug commandos in the U.S. at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning had been his baby. He had fought ardently for the approval of the project and millions of dollars in funding. He believed the idea would solve the border problem of human and drug trafficking, but it had backfired. The men he had worked so hard to get the U.S. to train and arm were now hunting his daughter.

  Chapter Thirteen

  They walked until midnight. Jack didn’t think they needed to run anymore, but he did believe it would be wise to place as much distance as possible between them and the five men who had utilized a great deal of firepower trying to kill him.

  There was no good cover. The trees were dense, but most were spindly. There was no terrain to give them a higher vantage point or anything else to conceal them, which left them with no other option than to rest in the open.

  As soon as Jessica and Megan unloaded their supplies, Megan sat on the ground with her back against a tree and instantly fell asleep. Jessica gently laid the blanket over Megan and tucked it around her the best she could to help protect her
from the blood-thirsty insects which had been dogging them since dusk.

  She walked over to where Jack was inspecting the pistol and watched him for a moment. She didn’t know a lot about guns, but it was obvious he was quite familiar and comfortable with the weapon. He also seemed to know more than your average American citizen about rogue Mexican commandos, drug cartels and hand grenades, which made her wonder about his past and feel a bit uneasy.

  When he looked up and caught her staring at him, she felt the need to say something.

  “I imagine we’ll need to rest in shifts, so why don’t you sleep for a while and I’ll keep watch,” Jessica offered.

  Jack finished checking the gun and placed it in the back waistband of his shorts then set the rifle down at his side. He continued to stare at Jessica for several moments then patted the ground next to him.

  Jessica happily took the cue. His intense gaze had made her uncomfortable and the action gave her a way to break the connection. She assumed he wanted to talk about something, but he just sat, his eyes looking straight ahead. She didn’t know what to say, so she joined him in silence and waited until he finally spoke.

  “They’ll hunt for us and they won’t stop. They know everything we know, and this is their country, their jungle.”

  Jessica was confused. She didn’t understand what Jack meant. She suspected their captors knew much more than they did. All she knew for sure was that some very dangerous men were trying to capture them and use them to barter for a colleague’s freedom and if caught they would eventually be killed. They had escaped, but were far from safe. But Jack’s tone was so distant and resigned that she didn’t ask him for clarification.

  “Maybe we should split up. You could take Megan and get her out of here. If they find me, they’ll stop looking for you two.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not going to sacrifice you to save ourselves. Besides, if I let anything happen to either of you, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. I couldn’t go through that again.”

  “You’re not responsible for me and you don’t owe me anything. We barely even know each other. Take Megan and go.”

  Jack turned to Jessica and grabbed her by the shoulders and held her firmly, waiting for her to look him in the eye.

  “You’re not listening to me. I have to save you. I can’t let anything happen to you. Do you understand?”

  She didn’t understand. The look in his eyes scared her, yet something in the desperation in his tone made her heart go out to him. She could see the tension in his taut muscles and realized he didn’t comprehend how tightly he was clutching her shoulders.

  “You’re hurting me. I hear you. I may not understand, but I’ll do whatever you want and if that means sticking together, I’ll do it,” she said as calmly as she could.

  Jack released his grip and let his hands slide down her bare arms. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. Get some rest. I won’t be able to sleep now anyway, so no sense both of us staying up.”

  Jessica doubted she could sleep either and wondered what was going through his mind, but decided it best not to ask. He didn’t seem to want to talk and when he did say something, she didn’t understand him anyway.

  She wasn’t sure what compelled her, but she leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. His body was rigid, but she didn’t move. She shut her eyes, and after several moments she could feel his tension start to ebb. He slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer. Gradually his breathing leveled off and she could feel his muscles relax, and the warmth of his body coaxed her into sleep.

  * * * *

  Jack watched her sleep. He didn’t mean to scare her, but he couldn’t help but think of Elaine. He had watched her die that day on the mountain and a thousand times since in his dreams. He doubted Gilbert’s death would haunt him and he hoped Ashley’s wouldn’t, but now that it was just the three of them, he felt responsible for their survival. If anything happened to Megan or Jessica it would be too much to bear.

  After a few hours, Megan stirred. She walked toward them and quietly crouched in front of them, gently laying the blanket over their legs and sitting down on the other side of Jack.

  “I feel rested. Get some sleep. I’ll watch and wake you if a bird so much as flaps its wings.”

  He smiled at Megan and squeezed her hand. He’d been worried about how she would hold up at first, but she had been a real trooper. His confidence in her grew with every hour he spent in her company, so he was able to trust she would be a good lookout. He closed his eyes and rested.

  Jack seldom allowed sleep to completely claim him. He teetered on the edge between consciousness and sleep, listening to the sounds of the nighttime jungle. The swoosh of a raptor’s wings diving for prey, the chorus of insects searching for a mate and the sounds of the leaves rustling in the breeze were familiar, but they weren’t comforting. From his experience, the chaos of the living jungle only served to mask the sounds of certain death.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jessica woke to bright sun and the eerie sensation of being totally alone. She saw no sign of Megan or Jack, but the rifle leaned against the tree within an arm’s reach. Her mind reeled. Hadn’t they decided to stick together? She couldn’t believe Jack had taken Megan and gone after he was so adamant against the idea. Jessica couldn’t imagine he would have left without saying goodbye and telling her which direction to travel. She had offered to go solo and had meant it, but now that she found herself alone, she was terrified.

  She stood up and looked at the sun to get her bearings. “The sun sets in the east and rises in the west. No, it’s the other way around. It rises in the east and sets in the west, I think. So if that’s east, then that way should be north. Jack said go north and east, but if that’s the way they went, then I should go a different direction to lead the kidnappers away from them. Oh, heck, I don’t know.” She bit her lip to hold back tears while turning in circles, trying to determine what to do and which way to go.

  Jessica fought to avoid full-blown panic. She felt lightheaded as she turned, eyeing the trees, so she placed her hand firmly on her stomach and took several deep breaths, holding the air in her lungs until she no longer felt faint. Forcing her mind to focus on the fact that maybe Jack and Megan would be safe if they weren’t with her, helped to slow her pulse to normal.

  She tried to think of the best course of action and decided to stay put for a while to give them a head start. But the longer she sat, the more difficult it became to keep her anxiety at bay. Tears welled in her eyes, but before one could fall, Jack and Megan emerged from the trees.

  Jack was carrying a small bunch of bananas and Megan was smiling as the two walked into view. Both looked rested and much cleaner than she remembered. Before she could stop herself, Jessica rushed toward them and threw herself at Jack. He was barely able to keep his balance as he grabbed her around the waist with one arm, while trying not to drop the bananas in his other hand.

  “What? Did you think we left you?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “As I recall you told me we could.”

  “I know, but when I thought you did, I was scared to death. I had no idea which way to go or what I should do next. I couldn’t imagine you two would just leave without saying goodbye or giving me instructions.”

  “We heard roosters crowing this morning, but you were sleeping so hard we hated to wake you, so we let you rest while we checked our surroundings out,” Megan stated.

  Jessica was so relieved they hadn’t left her she wasn’t sure she could let Jack’s neck go, but her empty stomach won out. She released him, took a step back and snatched the bananas out of his hand. She plucked a small bruised fruit off of the bundle and handed the rest to Megan.

  “So what did you find, besides bananas?” She sunk her teeth into the banana, savoring the strong flavor of the fresh tree-ripened fruit. “Please tell me you found a phone, called for help and the entire U.S. Army is on their way to rescue us as we speak.”

 
; “I’m afraid we didn’t get that lucky, but there’s this wonderful little house, a shed for the one cow the family owns, and a whole bunch of chickens not too far from here. A young boy about nine or ten greeted us when we approached and gave us these bananas. Manny, that’s the boy’s name, said we could stay in the shed with the cow after it gets dark tonight. He told us his father has been gone for about a week for work and he does all the chores, so his mother would never know,” Megan said. “His mother was inside making tortillas, so he sneaked us a bucket of water to wash with. He was the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen. I just wanted to hug him.”

  Jack rolled his eyes as Megan described Manny to Jessica. She was apparently quite taken by his big round brown eyes, the unkempt bangs covering his forehead, and his marginal command of English. Megan was beautiful and this fact had not escaped the young boy’s attention. Jack doubted Manny would have been as helpful if he would have shown up alone. The boy probably would have gone screaming to his mother rather than offering to hide them.

  “Well, not quite what I was hoping for, but at least it’s something. What do you think?” Jessica asked.

  “Let’s get a look around first. We may be close to a village or at least a road. We’ll keep his offer in mind, but if something better presents itself, we’d better take it. We need to keep moving if possible. It won’t take long for these men to find us if we stay put. We could’ve easily avoided the original three, but Las Culebras are professionals.”

  Jack hid the rifle in the bushes. It only had two shells, so wasn’t a lot of use, and he didn’t want to scare anyone they might come across who could help them. His baggy shirt concealed the pistol and they all hid grenades in pockets.

  They walked close enough to the little farm for Jessica to get a look and then left the area on the most well-worn path they could find, hoping it would be the one that would lead to a town or a road. Jessica was hesitant to move on since this was the first human habitation they’d seen in days where no one wanted to kill them and a small boy had even offered to help them. His actions renewed her faith in humanity.