by KK Bauer
I only know a few words in Spanish, and we can’t communicate well enough.
“Por favor, um… shit.” I don’t know the word for help, sick, or kidnap. The older woman looks at Aubrey with sympathetic eyes and nods her head. She leads me to their home and lets me lay her down on the only couch in the area. It is all one room and there are two small beds in one corner and a kitchenette in the other. Aubrey’s eyes are open and she is looking around like she doesn’t know where she is. She looks extremely confused.
I hold my hand up to my mouth and ear like a phone, but the chances of them having one are slim. They don’t have a TV or anything. They all shake their heads. But the young girl, who can’t be but seven years old, points into the business district where I just escaped.
15
Aubrey
I don’t remember much about the last couple days. Just bits and pieces, and they are all pretty bad. I haven’t truly slept since we were taken, and with my bright idea to starve myself, I became a vegetable pretty quickly.
I don’t remember escaping. I don’t remember Kellan carrying me a mile down the road to the poverty-stricken little neighborhood. I don’t remember him carrying me back toward the building we spent the last week tied up and tortured.
I think what breaks me out of my stupor is glancing down and seeing Kellan’s bloody feet. I realize that he has been barefoot, walking around in dirt and gravel, carrying me.
“Kellan, I can walk,” I say weakly. I try to clear my throat but it is so dry I can’t.
“I’m fine, just a little farther,” he says with determination masking his beautiful face.
“We haven’t eaten those cheeseburgers yet, have we? I’d be a shame for me to not remember that.”
Kellan laughs and it causes him to slow his speed down, clearly exhausted.
“No, we haven’t had them yet. Are you good enough to try and eat something?” He asks, and cranes his head around to look me in the eyes.
I shrug because I really don’t know. “I feel weird, but not awful. What happened?”
He goes through what we went through the last few hours. I hate myself for trying something so stupid. I should have known that it wouldn’t have worked. But… really, it did. It was just enough for them to freak out and do something irrational. We are lucky.
“You need to rest, put me down,” I say, trying to sound strict.
“Yes, ma’am.” He gently sets me down and the feel of the gravel underneath my feet feels hot. “You okay?” He runs his fingers through my hair and my eyes close at the feel of it.
I nod and give him a weak smile. I spot the businesses a quarter mile away. I see people crowding around a corner and I want to investigate. Maybe there is someone there that speaks English.
When we get there, our nerves are on end. We are looking around frantically, hoping Carlos and Andres are still in the building, unconscious. When we don’t see them, we cautiously approach the group.
I’m still in the blue dress with no bra, and Kellan is still shirtless. I haven’t seen a mirror in a week but I am certain I look awful. I try to clear my throat again and this time am successful.
“Habla Ingles?” I don’t really know if I asked that correctly but frankly I don’t give a shit about proper Spanish right now.
Everyone shakes their heads, but one points closer into the town and says, “Carlos Esperanza, doctor.” My breath catches because they are talking about our Carlos. My body immobilizes and my eyes widen. The group eyes me curiously. I can’t trust these people, so I keep our nightmare to myself.
“Come on, let’s go,” Kellan whispers in my ear. We walk around the town on the outskirts, scurrying from wall to wall to stay out of sight. We have no money, no shoes, no clue where we are, so basically, we’re screwed.
“What should we do? Maybe there is a payphone or something somewhere,” I suggest. We turn a corner and see an old general store. We peer in and see an old man behind the counter. He looks up at us and smiles. There are only three aisles and all the product is in Spanish.
“Telefono, por favor?” I ask.
“No, lo siento,” he says sadly.
“Policia?” Maybe we can contact the police department and they can help.
Kellan quickly shakes his head, signaling that notifying the police might not be a good idea.
Kellan’s stomach growls loudly and the man points to the aisle behind us, which is full of candy and treats.
“No dinero,” I say and shrug.
The man waves his hand to us in a nonsense gesture and walks around the counter and grabs two granola bars. He hands one to each of us and smiles. The two of us walk around the store, nibbling at what is likely to be the only food we get for the day. I spot some maps in the corner so I grab one and run to the man.
I open it up and point to Cancun, where our villa is. He seems to know what I am asking so he points to where we are. His finger slams down to the west side of the city, away from the hotel zone. Based on the key, it looks to be about twenty kilometers. I know that equals a lot of miles, though I don’t know the conversion. I thank the man and we start to head out but he stops us and holds out his finger for us to wait. He disappears into the back hallway and comes back with two pairs of flip flops.
This man is a freaking Godsend.
As we exit the store, Kellan turns to me and whispers, “Hey, don’t trust anybody, okay? Let’s just make it back to the hotel zone and we can go from there. Until we get into the tourist part of the city, we can’t trust anyone. Not even the police. We don’t know where they stand on anything, okay? They could be corrupt. Got it?”
I nod but wish we could find someone who could help us. I don’t know if I can make it back to the touristy area without going crazy again. I assumed once we escaped we would be in the clear, but our nightmare is still going.
We’ve been walking for hours. Every mile or so we have to take a break. I wish we didn’t have to but we are both pretty weak, and that granola bar didn’t keep our strength up for long. The last time we stopped, we ended up sitting on the sidewalk for what seemed like an hour until I could take a full breath.
Locals are staring at us and laughing, probably thinking we are just drunk college kids who wandered off the beaten path. A few look at us suspiciously, and I see one pull out a cell phone and speak Spanish into it. I imagine he is talking to the police but a sudden shift in my thoughts and he is talking to Andres and Carlos. I voice this to Kellan and we bolt up and disappear into the small alleyways. The man didn’t follow us, thank God.
The sun is setting and we look around, hoping to see somewhere to rest some more. When I looked at the map, I remembered a few main roads, but after a while they all seemed to sound the same so we’ve been walking east, not paying attention to which roads we are taking. I’m disoriented and starting to lose hope. But Kellan keeps on, pressing me to continue also.
When it is completely dark, we are forced to stop. We are in the city now and I’ve been tempted more than once to go into a gas station and find a pay phone. But Kellan says we need to keep going, so I do. We find what seems like an abandoned warehouse and there is an opening that is hidden from the street and is covered from overhead.
Kellan lies down in the grassy area and pulls me into him. We curl up together and try to get some sleep. I can see locals in the distance, carrying on without knowing where we are. I pray that no one finds us here. I don’t have the strength to fight anymore.
“We’ll rest for a couple hours. We have to be close,” Kellan says into my hair. His hand rubs up and down my arm and rests at my elbow, then slowly falls to drop over my hip. Even though it is uncomfortable, we manage to pass out.
I jerk awake to a sound coming from the bushes to our side. My eyes have adjusted and the faint lights from the city leave a ominous yellow glow to everything around me. I peer down and see Kellan sleeping soundly next to me. I hear the sound again so I squint my eyes and try to find out what’s making the noise.
<
br /> After two minutes or so of nothing, I just assume it’s my paranoia. I fall back down to the grass and close my eyes. Kellan’s hold on me tightens for a second and he sighs. A small smile forms on my lips and I turn a little to be closer to him. I reach up and touch his face with my fingertips, tracing his features lightly.
I hear the sound again only this time it’s closer. I whip my head around and see the bushes are moving. I sit up and prepare myself for whatever animal is there, ready to attack. My stomach is jumping around and my heart is fluttering so fast I can’t catch my breath. I nudge Kellan to wake him in case I need his help. He comes to and sits up with me.
I point to the bushes and he furrows his eyebrows in curiosity. The noise rings through the silence of the night and his eyes widen slightly. I can hear his heart beating in his chest, mirroring my own.
Kellan grabs me and pulls me behind him so he is effectively shielding me from whatever is out there. The noise gets louder and the bushes move faster now. Finally, when the tension is so heavy and the anticipation is getting the better of me, a hand emerges and pulls the bushes to the side.
Through the darkness, with the little light we have, a face appears beside the hand. The lips are curled up into a nefarious grin and the dark beady eyes are glaring right into us. Then out of nowhere, another face surfaces, with the same wicked expression.
The second one cackles, the sound of the familiar laugh sending chills all the way to my core. The first face moves forward, and within two steps he is out of the bush and into the clearing, standing just feet from us.
Carlos opens his mouth and even with the smallest whisper, the words cut into me and send a bolt of cold air through my veins. “Found you.”
I wake up screaming and thrashing, thoroughly freaking out Kellan. His eyes are hooded and he looks sleepy. He sits up with me and holds my face in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over my cheeks.
“Aubrey, it’s okay. It’s okay,” he assures me, and pulls me in close. I breathe in the smell of the sweat on his skin to try and relax me. The tremors that rack through my body from the nightmare are slowly subsiding, but I’m still not in control of it. My eyes search the land surrounding us.
“They found us, Kellan. They found us,” I choke out. My vivid nightmare wreaks havoc on my psyche and I am frantic, waiting to see Carlos and Andres hiding in the shadows.
“No, they didn’t. It was all in your head. It’s just you and me. Hey, look at me,” he says softly and lifts my head. “Watch me and breathe with me, okay?”
I nod and focus on him breathing in, and out… in, and out. I mimic his breaths until I am calm enough to do it on my own.
A small smile plays on his lips and he leans in to kiss me lightly. I keep kissing him to keep my mind off of everything that happened. I need him to distract me from my nightmare, my pain, and my dark thoughts. I lean him back and crawl onto his lap, straddling his hips, until I am suddenly aware that we haven’t brushed our teeth since yesterday.
I pull back and slide off of him, embarrassed at my forwardness.
“Sorry,” I mumble and roll over so my back is to him.
“Nothing to be sorry about, remember?” He spoons me once again and pulls my hair to the side to kiss the back of my neck.
But I am. I’m sorry for everything. I’ve done nothing but cause Kellan problems since I met him. I need to stop acting on my feelings and let him go. I’m no good for him.
Once I realize this, I feel calm. I accept my decision. I think of what we’ve been through and though it could have turned out worse, I couldn’t have done it without him. My payment will be to let him go and find someone who isn’t such a train wreck. I will sacrifice the feelings I have for him. It’s easier said than done, but with every moment that passes, I know it’s for the best.
“Hey, you see that street sign?” Kellan exclaims. We’ve been wandering for about an hour and I have tripped over my feet twice. The flip flops on my feet are dirty and already wearing through and the balls of my feet burn. We’ve run into many locals and they don’t seem to even notice us. That is hopefully a good sign.
I lift my head up and see what he is pointing to. Kukulkan Boulevard is right before us. That is the street that flows through the hotel zone, the street that separates our villa from the beach. A weight lifts off of my shoulders and I have the urge to cry. We are so close now. Just another mile or so before we hit the hotels and condos.
We walk as fast as we can down the palm tree-lined street until we hit the first building. We run in and the lady at the front desk smiles at us at first but when she takes in our appearance she drops the smile. We really don’t know what to say, so we just stand there and stare at her. I’m so dumbfounded that we have made it that I am just waiting for it to not be real anymore. I’m preparing myself for the realization that we have just been hallucinating everything and really we are only a block away from the building we just spent the last week.
She starts to say something, probably her typical ‘welcome’ spiel, but stops short. Her eyebrows furrow together in thought and then recognition hits. She gasps and takes a step back. “You’re the… Oh, my!” She grabs the phone and presses some numbers violently. When the person on the other end answers, she begins speaking in Spanish faster than I have ever heard someone. She drops the phone and looks around and hands me her water bottle and runs off. I look down at the half empty bottle and up at Kellan.
He shrugs and nods for me to drink it. I down a few gulps and it soothes my scratchy throat. I hand it to Kellan, who finishes the rest. We both sigh in relief. We’ve managed to drink a little out of water fountains on our way, but were afraid to drink too much because you know what they say about the water in Mexico.
A man comes down the corridor following the woman’s heels and he looks on us in shock. “Aubrey and Kellan?” he asks breathlessly.
“Yes,” we reply in unison.
“Oh, my God. Olivia, call nine-one-one, now!”
We are escorted to a small couch in the entry and sit to watch them run around. Olivia is on the phone and the man is yelling commands at her, chewing on his thumbnail. He keeps looking over at us every few seconds to make sure we are real. He jumps to a start and disappears down the hallway and back again with his lunch pail. Inside is a turkey sandwich on ciabatta bread and a bag of Doritos.
We only wait a few minutes before a police car comes up into the parking lot and ushers us away. I turn to the couple and wave, and they bow their heads to us.
“Welcome back,” the man says before the door shuts us off from them.
The next few hours go by so fast, but not fast enough.Kellan and I hold hands the entire time, afraid they will separate us. When we get to the police station they try to do just that. I cry and scream like a five year old and whimper as they carry me to a separate room for questioning.
I can’t believe it’s over. It seemed like a lifetime that we were in that room, but now that I’m sitting in a cold chair in a bland gray room waiting for someone else to come in and talk to me, it seems like it went by so fast. I keep looking at the mirror on the wall, knowing someone is behind it staring back at me. Maybe it’s my parents, maybe it’s Carlos and Andres and they are in on the whole thing. Maybe it really isn’t over and once they talk to me I will get escorted back to that dreadful building.
I take big breaths and wait some more. An hour or two passes and nobody comes. I know there is going to be some drama because the Mexican police probably don’t want the United States FBI involved. Tough shit, they are on my side. I need them.
The door slowly opens, creaking ominously as a large Mexican man steps into the room and glares at me. In his hands is a folder and pictures of Carlos and Andres are pinned to the front. When he slams the folder onto the table in front of me, I see Andres is in a police uniform. I fall out of the chair and onto the floor, devastated.
“Are these the men that kidnapped you?” He asks, his voice booming throughout the room.
&n
bsp; I nod. That’s all I can do.
“We are doing what we can to find them. The building you described was empty when we searched it.” I don’t believe him. I can’t believe him. This man and Andres could have been partners. This man could have been involved. Suddenly I am grateful for Kellan who demanded no cops be contacted until we were certain we were safe.
“Do you know them?” I ask bitterly. I know the answer already.
“Yes.”
“And were you aware of us before we were found? Did you know where we were and what they were doing?”
He hesitates slightly before swallowing. I see spots and my vision becomes blurry and black before he answers, “Yes.”
16
Kellan
Three weeks later
The reporters have dwindled, though there are a few still milling around. After we were released from police custody we went straight to the hospital and left for home from there. Aubrey and I gave a million interviews, separate and together. They asked us why we didn’t go to the police in the city, didn’t find a payphone and call somebody collect. Why we didn’t go to the hospital that was just a block away from Kukulkan Boulevard. The fact that Andres used to be on the police force before being kicked out for abusing witnesses didn’t waver some attacks to us.
We explained the best we could, but the more they asked, the more we questioned ourselves. We really didn’t know before that he was on the force. I just did what I saw in the movies. I knew anyone from distressed cities could not be trusted. But the questions still kept coming. I’m surprised they attacked us like they did, like we weren’t the victims in the situation. I thought they would find us lucky or smart for managing to get away alive.
In one particular interview, Aubrey broke down and cried on national television and refused to answer any more questions. I was worried they would think us guilty for some fucking reason, but it turns out Aubrey crying cut the interrogation short and we were done. Until the next fucking interview. The last few were so robotic I don’t even remember what I said.
