Family Money(9)

I heard a dinging noise come from my backpack. A phone message alert. But it wasn’t my phone, which was sitting on the bed right next to me. Getting up, I fetched my backpack, unzipped a front pocket, and pulled out Joe’s cell phone. I had shoved it in there earlier after returning from the village. While the phone was locked with security, I knew the password because Joe had dozens of children’s apps and movies on it for my girls to enjoy whenever we were out to dinner together—which was at least twice a week. I typed in the password and found a dozen or so new messages waiting to be addressed. Most looked like normal business emails. Joe had been an attorney his entire professional career. Although he called himself retired now, Joe still represented a few cases here and there from his home office. Out of curiosity, I did a quick scan and noted that most of the messages were indeed related to various legal matters. But the latest alert that had just arrived was a text message from a number not in Joe’s contacts.

Call me ASAP. I think we’ve been found out.

Greta

My eyes narrowed on the message. There was no text history between them that suggested they’d previously exchanged messages. I think we’ve been found out. What did that mean? My thoughts were interrupted when my own phone rang on the bed next to me. Taylor. I leaned over and grabbed it.

“Hey,” I answered.

“Anything?” she asked.

“No. Still nothing.”

She sighed. “This is excruciating.”

“I know.”

“Olivia wants to say good night,” Taylor said.

My seven-year-old jumped on the phone. “Hi, Daddy!”

“Hi, baby girl. Are you about to go to Nanny’s room?”

“Yes!”

“Don’t be too much of a wiggle worm, okay? Nanny needs to get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

“I won’t. Good night, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you, too, sweetie. Good night.”

Taylor was back on the phone. “Nicole is out like a light. There’s no stirring her without getting the monster in return.”

The monster was what we called Nicole when her sleep was interrupted before she was ready to get up. She had a deep growl for a tiny girl. It was no fun dealing with the monster.

“She went nonstop all day long,” I said.

“Yeah. I’ll bathe her in the morning.”

A lull of silence. I could hear Taylor nervously breathing.

“Try to get some sleep, babe,” I said.

“My mind keeps going to the worst possible places.”

“I know.” I tried to think of something comforting to say but felt lost for words. So I simply said, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I hung up and felt my eyes grow moist.





SIX


I left my guest quarters and walked the orphanage property to see if someone had dropped off a ransom note somewhere. How would they even leave a note? Would someone tape it to a door? I had no idea. I first checked the front doors of each of the buildings and then the exterior of the security gate before I settled into a weathered rocking chair tucked in the night shadows near the front of the main building and watched the dirt road. There was no reason to stay in my bedroom. I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. I perked up a few times when I spotted headlights approaching. But each time the car would pass by the orphanage without slowing down.

Taylor was also up all night. She texted me at midnight, at two-thirty, and at four in the morning. I always texted right back, telling her I had no update. It was grueling. I wanted to offer my wife hope. But I was losing hope by the hour. Just as the sun was popping up on a new day, I spotted the familiar police truck from yesterday drive down the isolated dirt road and pull up to the security gate. Raul got out. I had texted him the previous night to let him know I was staying at the orphanage overnight should anything come up on his end. Why was he here now? He had my phone number. If he had news, he could have just called.

I felt a surge of anxiety push through me. I hurried down the gravel drive to meet him outside the gate. The lines in his face told me he was not here to deliver a positive update. We exchanged a very quick greeting.

“I need you to come with me, Alex,” he said.

“Why?”

Raul pressed his lips firmly together. “We got a call about an explosion this morning. When we arrived at the scene a few minutes ago, we discovered a vehicle on fire matching the description you gave me yesterday.”

“A gray minivan?”

“Yes. And there’s a body inside.”

That news hit me like a full punch to the chest. “Is it Joe?”

“We don’t know yet. I need to see if you can make an ID.”

I rode with him in silence, feeling a desperation I’d experienced only once in my life—at Olivia’s birth—settling on me. That nauseated feeling of being caught in the middle of extreme opposite emotions. I was about to experience total devastation or unbridled relief. There was no room for anything in between. As we passed by a rickety old shack, I spotted an older couple standing outside. Raul told me the call about the explosion came from the woman, who said it had startled her and her husband awake. We pulled off the desolate road. From the passenger seat, I could see two police vehicles on the scene, along with an ambulance and a fire truck. The minivan was no longer on fire, but it was still heavily smoking. Several firefighters were examining the wreckage. Although completely burned, the vehicle definitely looked like the same kind of minivan the three men had used yesterday to grab Joe.