but it was a start. Jack didn’t feel comfortable trying to summon help over a two-way radio, certain that Las Culebras would have radios with them and would likely intercept any message. But, if they could find a village, they could find a road, and if there was a road they were bound to come across vehicles.
“Wasn’t he just adorable?” Megan whispered as she scooped rice out of the leaf bundle with her fingers and stuffed the sticky grains into her mouth.
She passed the rice and water to Jessica and licked the rice from her fingertips. “Not bad when you’re starving.”
They sat in the darkness, listening to the rain tap on the roof of the shed and ate the rice until it was gone. For a few moments no one said anything, each deep in their own thoughts. They sat close enough to each other that their bare arms touched and no one seemed uncomfortable with the nearness.
Megan leaned her head on Jessica’s shoulder. When Megan looked to her as the stronger, wiser, maternal one, she gladly accepted the role, but it made her feel much older than her thirty-two years. She had always been daddy’s little girl and had always been taken care of. It felt good to be needed. Jessica wasn’t sure if she would have had the strength to hold it together for herself, but staying strong for someone else seemed easier.
“I feel guilty being alive after what happened to Ashley,” Megan whispered.
Jessica didn’t know how to answer. It could have been her or Megan, but Ashley had been sitting in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The girl had done nothing to provoke her captors and had no control over her fate, yet she was gone. Jessica felt a stab of pain at the remembrance, but there was no way to bring Ashley back.
Jack stiffened next to her and Jessica knew he felt guilt too, though of a different kind. He had tried to intervene, but had been rendered helpless by a gunman. Jessica sensed Ashley wasn’t the first person he had been unable to save. When he had expressed the night before he couldn’t let anything happen to her and he couldn’t go through it again, she was certain he hadn’t been talking about Ashley. There was something buried deeper in his past which clearly still haunted him. Jessica had the urge to comfort him, but she didn’t know how to offer support when she didn’t even know if it was needed.
“I do too,” she finally responded. “But, we can’t dwell on it now. There will be plenty of time to grieve later if we survive, and if we hope to bring Ashley’s killers to justice, we have to live to tell our story.”
Megan nodded and took a blanket and curled up next to Jessica to sleep. When Jessica was sure Megan was asleep she wrapped the extra blanket Manny had brought around her and Jack and rested her head on his shoulder.
“There was nothing you could have done. There was nothing any of us could have done. If you would have gotten yourself shot, it wouldn’t have changed Ashley’s fate and where would Megan and I be now?”
He didn’t respond and Jessica could think of nothing else to say. The best she could do was to allow him take care of her. She felt better when she was taking care of Megan, so she hoped he could find the same comfort in being there for her.
Chapter Fifteen
The sound of the shed door creaking open and then falling shut brought Jessica abruptly out of a deep sleep. Jack was already on his feet and Manny stood in front of them out of breath, dripping wet, urgency in his eyes.
“Go. You must go now. Las Culebras have come looking for three Americans ¾ two pretty girls and a man.”
“Where are they now?” Jack demanded.
“They are talking to mamma on the porch. I crawled out my window to warn you.”
“Is your mother in danger?”
“No. One of the men is from the village and he knows my father, so he will not harm us, but they will look here. You must go.”
By the time Manny had finished talking Jessica and Megan had gathered their few belongings
“Wasn’t he just adorable?” Megan whispered as she scooped rice out of the leaf bundle with her fingers and stuffed the sticky grains into her mouth.
She passed the rice and water to Jessica and licked the rice from her fingertips. “Not bad when you’re starving.”
They sat in the darkness, listening to the rain tap on the roof of the shed and ate the rice until it was gone. For a few moments no one said anything, each deep in their own thoughts. They sat close enough to each other that their bare arms touched and no one seemed uncomfortable with the nearness.
Megan leaned her head on Jessica’s shoulder. When Megan looked to her as the stronger, wiser, maternal one, she gladly accepted the role, but it made her feel much older than her thirty-two years. She had always been daddy’s little girl and had always been taken care of. It felt good to be needed. Jessica wasn’t sure if she would have had the strength to hold it together for herself, but staying strong for someone else seemed easier.
“I feel guilty being alive after what happened to Ashley,” Megan whispered.
Jessica didn’t know how to answer. It could have been her or Megan, but Ashley had been sitting in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The girl had done nothing to provoke her captors and had no control over her fate, yet she was gone. Jessica felt a stab of pain at the remembrance, but there was no way to bring Ashley back.
Jack stiffened next to her and Jessica knew he felt guilt too, though of a different kind. He had tried to intervene, but had been rendered helpless by a gunman. Jessica sensed Ashley wasn’t the first person he had been unable to save. When he had expressed the night before he couldn’t let anything happen to her and he couldn’t go through it again, she was certain he hadn’t been talking about Ashley. There was something buried deeper in his past which clearly still haunted him. Jessica had the urge to comfort him, but she didn’t know how to offer support when she didn’t even know if it was needed.
“I do too,” she finally responded. “But, we can’t dwell on it now. There will be plenty of time to grieve later if we survive, and if we hope to bring Ashley’s killers to justice, we have to live to tell our story.”
Megan nodded and took a blanket and curled up next to Jessica to sleep. When Jessica was sure Megan was asleep she wrapped the extra blanket Manny had brought around her and Jack and rested her head on his shoulder.
“There was nothing you could have done. There was nothing any of us could have done. If you would have gotten yourself shot, it wouldn’t have changed Ashley’s fate and where would Megan and I be now?”
He didn’t respond and Jessica could think of nothing else to say. The best she could do was to allow him take care of her. She felt better when she was taking care of Megan, so she hoped he could find the same comfort in being there for her.
Chapter Fifteen
The sound of the shed door creaking open and then falling shut brought Jessica abruptly out of a deep sleep. Jack was already on his feet and Manny stood in front of them out of breath, dripping wet, urgency in his eyes.
“Go. You must go now. Las Culebras have come looking for three Americans ¾ two pretty girls and a man.”
“Where are they now?” Jack demanded.
“They are talking to mamma on the porch. I crawled out my window to warn you.”
“Is your mother in danger?”
“No. One of the men is from the village and he knows my father, so he will not harm us, but they will look here. You must go.”
By the time Manny had finished talking Jessica and Megan had gathered their few belongings
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