Page 75 of Twin Deception

No other woman was around. It was just me, unless Rueben had a woman in his house. No female exited the cars with them.

It made no sense, but they were looking atme, callingmeGraciella.

“Get back.” Miguel immediately went on the defense, holding his gun at the ready and blocking me from them storming up the steps. We circled the approaching men, and he kept me behindhim. His arm shot up to ward off the closest man from reaching me, but there was no way we’d win. They outnumbered us, firing shots, fighting Miguel, and all calling me Graciella.

They’d shown up so quickly, so suddenly, that I couldn’t keep track of who was where and what everyone said. Still reeling from what Rueben had said, that Louis was usingmein marriage offers I knew nothing about, I struggled not to be swallowed up by the panic of men surrounding us.

All of them seemed to be Cartel members, working as a group. Together they were too many for me to run from, for Miguel to fight back. He’d told me that Rueben wasn’t exactly a friend, but an acquaintance. Even he was no help, as confused as I was.

Reacting to the need to fight or flight—again—I ran. I sprinted off the porch as Miguel shouted at me to back up, get in the car, and hide. But I didn’t get far. Two men grabbed me, and with a flurry of too much motion and speed, I was taken into the second car the men had arrived in.

And I was gone.

Kicking, flailing, and screaming, I resisted them capturing me at all.

None of them struck out at me, but two of them who sat in the back constrained me. My hands were pulled behind me. My wrists were tied. And a nasty strip of cloth was wrapped around my mouth, gagging me and ending my screams and shouts.

I’m not Graciella!

I had no clue who she was. I didn’t care. I didn’t want to know. Apparently, she was the woman in Louis’s life. His femme fatale. It didn’t matter to me. I’d cut my ties with Louis long ago, and Iexpected it to stay like that. No contact and severing ties meant nothing could pull me back in again.

They spoke on their phones, calling many people with excitement. I couldn’t follow the codes they spoke in, the names they referenced. I couldn’t begin to guess what they were discussing.

Staying observant and waiting to learn something I could use to get away, I lay there and waited.

And waited.

The more I focused on cataloging every detail about what they said and where it seemed like they were driving me, the less I could let my mind wander to that darkness of worrying and being so anxious that I swore my heart would trip and stutter to a stop.

This can’t be it.

This cannot be the end.

It wasn’t fair. It was not right or just or even believable in the throes of panic that this could be happening.

When I found him, just after I found the man who could make me feel complete and ease that aching sensation of being one half or lost, I’d have to lose him?

All the joy and excitement that I’d let into my heart and mind with Miguel seemed too cruel now.

To think that this was it, that I would be lost and separated from him forever.

Dread coiled in my stomach as I waited and tried to breathe as steadily as I could through the stress of this captivity.

None of them addressed me. None of them spoke to me or touched me. I was left to the lonely company of my mind as I circled over and over again through the questions and fears that bombarded me.

As the hours passed by, the tension racking my body and the lull of the car ride tricked me into dozing. I fell asleep, so overwhelmed by the constant attacks of panic and stress. Too weak to remain awake, my body shut down.

I didn’t sleep for long. I had no way to know how long I’d been out, but when I was roused by a man grabbing me by my upper arms to drag me out of the car, I didn’t feel rested at all.

I couldn’t track where I was, but I knew that they only could’ve moved me in that car, with whatever mileage they could afford on that tank of gas. I was still in Mexico, still a drivable distance away from Acapulco.

Still near Miguel, I hoped.

I couldn’t let myself fear for him. I couldn’t give in to the worry that he could’ve been hurt in that fight. We had to be strong together, as partners, even if we weren’t together in time and place.

Partners.

I would find my way back to him. I had to. I’d spent too long dreaming of having someone like him in my life to give up hope now.

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