Page 51 of Hidden Falls

“We found the kidnappers. They did not take you to an orphanage.” He took out his phone. “I will show you who your supposed mother really is.” He scrolled for a bit and then held up the phone. “This is the place where you were being held. These are the men who took you.”

I didn’t understand what I was looking at, at first. A lot of black, gleams of white. Gradually my brain interpreted the horror:teeth.

Skulls.

Bones, on a bed of charcoal.

“Oh no.” I covered my mouth with my hands.

He flicked the screen; the picture disappeared. “There was no infant skeleton in the rubble after the fire where the kidnappers died. I swore I would find you, no matter how long it took. My promise kept your mother from taking her own life.” Ramirez’s voice rang with conviction; he was telling the truth.

I wished I hadn’t eaten; my belly ached. “I feel sick.”

“You should. Harriet Clark double-crossed her partners and kept you for herself.” Ramirez put the phone away. “I’m sorry you had to see that, but I knew you would not believe my words. Only the truth of your eyes.”

“I don’t know who to believe.” I wrapped my arms over my waist.

He stood up. Snapped his fingers. The door opened. Noella came in and took the tray, then left.

People were listening and watching all the time.

It was hard to remember that.

“You should rest. We will talk more tomorrow. There are activities on the agenda; I suggest you cooperate with the day’s plans,” he said.

“Or what?” I glared at him; I couldn’t help it.

“Or you will spend the day in this room and that meal will be the last one you eat,” he said. “And I will reassign Noella to other duties. She is too soft-hearted.”

My pulse sped up; Noella was in trouble for trying to bring me food! “That’s okay. I’ll be good.”

He reached down and touched my hair. “You look like her.”

“Who?”

“Your mother, Louisa. She would be weeping with joy to see you if she were alive.” Ramirez dropped the ruby ring into my lap. “This was hers.”

And then, my father turned and left.

24

DAY FOUR

Something woke Lei—a sound, muffled but disturbing.

She clawed her way to consciousness and opened her eyes, gradually remembering where she was:Mexico City. Holiday Inn. Sharing a room with Harry after an all-nighter with Cruz surveilling Ramirez’s compound.

Lei turned her head toward the sound.

Harry lay on her back in the bed beside Lei’s, her arms outflung. Her bedclothes had been discarded. Her lean, olive-skinned body was revealed in a sleep tee that had ridden up and twisted around hips clad in black bikini underwear. Her brunette hair, tangled on the pillow, hid her face.

The sound came again—a muffled cry. “Malia. No. No.”

Harry sounded heartbroken, lost.

Lei’s heart squeezed—what would she be feeling if one of her children had been taken as Malia had been?

Lei got to her feet, still wearing socks—at least she’d taken her shoes off when she got into bed fully clothed—and padded over to Harry’s bed.

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