by JA Essen
Today was already more than half gone when we got checked in, but Rachel and I still managed a few hours on the pristine beach and in the refreshing ocean before deciding to head back to the room. After attempting to lie down and close my eyes for thirty minutes, only to be pounced on once again and ridden to ecstasy and back, I’ve decided I need a small break and a shower.
Rachel succumbs to my request for a solo shower with a pout, but is over it quickly, deciding to Facetime with Macy instead. As I’m grabbing my toiletries bag to head into the massive master bath, I hear “…and can you believe it? He made me fly commercial!”
I poke my head back out into the bedroom and shout plenty loud enough so that I know Macy will hear, “First class with champagne and everything! It was brutal!” I’m pleased with myself when I hear both women laughing.
Leaving the door cracked, I set my things out on the counter for the duration of the stay. This trip definitely set me back a few grand, but by the looks of it, it was money well spent. The neutral toned bathroom has a white marble double vanity with a small flat screen TV mounted to the side wall. The Jacuzzi tub is big enough for probably four people, and I’m sure Rachel will love it. For me though, it’s the walk-in shower.
It has floor to ceiling glass walls on two sides, with a frosted glass wall to the outside that would be letting in natural light if it weren’t already night time. There’s a long double row of wall jets that extend from my neck to thighs and a massive overhead rainfall shower head. Ditching the towel I had wrapped around my waist, I step in and turn the water mid-way to full heat and press the button activating the jets. Above all the knobs and buttons is a touch panel with SiriusXM radio. I choose channel forty seven and start jamming to nineties’ and two-thousands’ hip-hop.
‘Bump-n-grind’ by R. Kelly comes on and now all of a sudden I’m craving Rachel’s body against mine again.
I’m hopeless, I know.
Turning the volume down slightly, I poke my head out of the glass enclosure, “Hey my little Cali-Barbie, wanna come join me after all?” I wait and wait for the bathroom door to pop open and there’s nothing. Grabbing my towel again, I wrap it around my drenched body and pull the door to the bedroom open.
“Hey babe, you wanna…” I stop dead in my tracks when I come around the corner. The doors to the patio just off the master bedroom are open wide. The chair at the desk is knocked over, the sheets are ripped off the bed and Rachel’s iPad is on the floor, the screen cracked. She’s not there and my stomach immediately knots up.
Sprinting through the room and onto the patio, I scream her name, knowing full well that it’s pointless. Shaking in the warm, salty breeze, I hear my phone start to ring, snapping me from my shocked daze. Dashing back to the bedside table, I grab it with nervous hands and slide the screen to accept the call from Macy.
I can hear her crying. “Zander! Someone took Rachel.”
Seizing the trashcan beside the desk, I vomit forcefully. How the hell could this happen? After a couple of heaves, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand and put the phone back to my ear. “How do you know? What’s going on?”
Macy is sobbing profusely and it’s hard to understand everything she’s saying. “We were Facetiming and all of a sudden I saw Rachel look up from the screen and holler ‘What the fuck is going on? No! Get away from me!’. The room went upside down on the screen and spun. I could see two men in the frame for a second or two, heard Rachel scream for help again, and then the feed died. Zander, someone took my best friend. Where the fuck were you?” Her tone has changed by the end and she’s seething.
“I was showering. I had the radio in the shower cranked up high. I couldn’t hear anything outside of the bathroom noise.” My mind is racing and I have the need to sit down, but I know better than to disturb any of the evidence. Years of training immediately kick in. “Macy, I need to make some calls and get an investigation started right now, while everything is still fresh. I will call you back as soon as I can. I will find her Macy.”
I have to.
Nine
Zander
“Mr. Brooks, la policía have arrived.”
Pulling myself up on trembling limbs from the bathroom floor, I hurry to the suite door and let them in.
“It’s Officer Brooks.” I shake the lead responder’s hand.
“Teniente Rodriguez, Officer Brooks.” He introduces himself to me and returns the handshake. “I have the report señor, but if you could run through everything again for my men, we would appreciate it.”
So I reiterate the chain of events from showering to finding the room in tatters, letting them know exactly what I touched before my training instincts kicked in. The officers begin snapping pictures and taking down notes, and swab what appears may be droplets of blood on the patio, just outside the French doors. Their entire investigation, if you can even call it that, takes less than fifteen minutes.
“Officer Brooks, we will be questioning the grounds keepers that were on duty to see if they saw anything suspicious, and we will send the swabbed sample to the lab, but it will take a while. The hotel manager has already told me he has another room for you so that this one can remain undisturbed as we move forward. Thank you for your time and we will do what we can.”
My eyebrows couldn’t possibly arch any higher. Seriously? You’ve got to be bullshitting me! That’s it? That’s all you have to say?
I shake his hand and escort everyone out of the room.
Fuck. This.
I grab my cell phone from my pocket and begin to scroll through my massive list of contacts, trying to decide who I need to call and in what order. Suddenly it hits me.
Alex!
It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to him so he is way down the ‘recent’ list, but my finger finally finds him. I press ‘call’ and pray he answers.
“Hello?” He picks up groggily after three rings.
“Alex, man, I’m sorry for calling so late. It’s Zander Brooks.”
I can sense his demeanor immediately change. “I’m here man. What’s going on?”
My voice and hands are shaking as I start, “Alex, I’m in Cabo and my girlfriend’s been abducted. The Mexican police were absolutely worthless.”
“Oh fuck man. How long has it been? What do you need from me?”
While he puts me on speaker phone, I give a rundown of what has transpired for the third time tonight.
“I’m not surprised by the lack of investment by the Mexican police. With you two being Americans, they probably won’t put much effort into it. Hold on,” I hear water running and can tell he’s brushing his teeth. “Okay, stay on the line while I make a call.”
In the background I hear him on the phone to what I presume is his unit chief. Alex relays the information I’ve given him and after a few ‘yes,sir’ and ‘I understand’, I finally hear what I’m hoping for… ‘thank you sir, I’ll let him know’.
“Zander, you still there?”
“Yeah man.” There’s a little bit of hope in my otherwise scared and concerned voice.
“I spoke to the director at the FBI sub-office in San Diego and called in a favor. They are organizing a team as we speak and will be there by seven in the morning. I know that you know, but I still have to say it. Don’t touch anything in the room. Don’t let anyone else in, either, Zander.”
He takes a breath to compose himself. “I’m taking the first flight I can get out of here. The San Diego office has given me privileges to come in and assist thanks to my forensics specialization. It’ll be late morning though before I can make it.”
“Alex, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of this. Fuck man,” I run my hand through my hair as the tears begin to pile up again, “I’m scared to death. I know how things go down in Mexico and how often…”
He doesn’t let me finish my train of thought, “Don’t even go there man. Don’t you dare start thinking like that. You’ve got some of the best men coming in. You made the right call
and we will be bringing her home. Keep that on repeat in your head. She will be coming home. I’ll see you as soon as I can get there.”
“Thanks, Alex.” I end the call and the shock and anger finally gives way to the fear. The fear that I may never see Rachel again. Curling into a ball on the floor, all my strength and bravado fails as the tears begin to fall. Sobs wrack my body as I cry out for a miracle. Please dear God bring her back to me in one piece.
The memories of losing Mom hit me hard, harder than they have in years. I remember feeling so helpless as I watched her wither away. The hurt of being unable to take away her pain, something I would’ve done in a heartbeat. I’ve already lost the most important woman in my life once. I can’t go through that kind of pain again.
The marble floor is cold against my clammy skin as I pull myself into the fetal position. How did I let this happen? How did I let her so deep inside my heart? I wasn’t ready.
Tears hit the floor and gather in a small puddle as the bonds on my heart break and shatter into a million pieces. She’s my entire world. My everything. It is right here in this moment that I know, without the slightest shadow of a doubt that I love her. “I love you Rachel,” I whisper out loud into the darkness that is surrounding me.
After what feels like an eternity, the burning tears finally subside, and I sit myself up against the glass door of the shower. I breathe, trying to calm my body enough that I can rise to my feet. Grabbing the marble counter top, I attempt to pull myself up with arms that feel like they are made of rubber. My hold fails, and I slip back to the floor, my head slamming up against the hinge of the glass enclosure.
Sliding my fingers through my hair, luckily I don’t find any blood, but there’s already a knot and my head throbs even more than it already was. Pissed, I lean forward onto my hands and knees and push up, managing to make it to a standing position as I lean against the counter. Taking a wash cloth from the rack, I run cold water through the faucet, wet it, and wipe my face clear of the dried salt.
Looking at the broken husk in the mirror, I know there’s no way in hell I’m going to sleep, so I do the only thing I can think of right now. Making sure the keycard is in my pocket still, I leave the room and head to the shopping and dining portion of the resort.
There’s an all-night coffee shop open and a mini convenience store type of thing right next to it. Heading there first, I do something I gave up a long time ago. I buy a lighter, a pack of smokes, and some gum for afterwards. Next I hit the coffee shop for the largest cup of java I can get. The interior of the resort is smoke-free, so I have to head out onto one of the open verandahs that lead out to the beach.
Setting everything down onto a small, metal-top table, I unwrap the cellophane from the pack of Marlboros, pack them, open the flip top and remove one. Placing the long stick between my lips, I stuff the trash down into my pocket and then lift the lighter to the end. Striking it, the flame licks up and with shaky hands, I manage to get it lit and take a long, deep drag.
The first one hits me pretty rough, garnering a hack and a cough, but after two or three more, that calming buzz begins to sink into my system. I can’t stand the way it tastes, but alternating the drags with sips of coffee allows me to get the benefit from the cigarette that I so badly need right now.
How the fuck did this happen? It’s not like we’re staying at some seedy, one-star motel. Why the hell did I have the music up so loud? Stupid; just stupid! I clench my non-occupied hand into a fist and slam it down on my leg over and over again.
Burning through the first cigarette, I light another as the guilt of being less of a man than Rachel deserves courses through me. What kind of man doesn’t make sure the doors are locked and the room is secured? I kick the flimsy chair next to me, sending it flying across the cement verandah floor on its side.
Going through my head is everything that I have to do as morning comes, when suddenly, my iPhone rings in my pocket. It’s already nearly four in the morning, so it startles me. Retrieving it, I see it’s Macy.
“Hey,” I come on the line.
“Zander, it’s Seth. Macy is a wreck and asked me to call to see if there’s any kind of update you can give. I told her it’s too soon, but she wouldn’t let up until I called.”
“Yeah, it’s early, but I called on an FBI buddy of mine. He’s already got a team en-route from San Diego. They should be here in about another three hours, and he’s coming from the East Coast, so it will be a little later for him. Alex is a forensics specialist, and we’ve known each other since we went through police academy training together.”
“I take it the Mexican police were less than helpful then?”
“Yeah man,” my voice changes from flat to pissed once again, “they spent in total about fifteen minutes in the room. I absolutely couldn’t fucking believe their lack of concern.”
There’s a long pause on the line before Seth speaks again. “Have you called her parents yet?”
Dread rolls through my body as this necessity hits me again.
“No. I was waiting until five A.M. here before I make that call. I’ve had to make some rough calls, informing parents that their child has been a victim of a crime, but this… I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the call.”
“If there’s anything you need from me or Macy, let me know. I’ll update her on the FBI coming in. Talk to you soon. Stay safe and take care of yourself as well.”
We end the call, and I light another cigarette. The coffee is nearly gone and I know I’ll have to get a refill after this burn.
When five rolls around and the first colors of morning start to show over the ocean, I put out my last cigarette for the time being, grab my freshly filled cup of coffee and head back to the room to make the worst call of my life.
Ten
Zander
Hearing Rachel’s mother completely broken on the phone nearly ended me. Her father remained as stoic as he could for her and did most of the talking with me. Of course he’s given me carte blanche for whatever funds need to be spent, offering to fly in anyone and everyone that is necessary. Begging them to stay in California and let the FBI handle this was a near impossibility. I assured him that the FBI had given this a top priority ranking and they would be here shortly.
That was just under two hours ago, and as I’m pacing back and forth in the bathroom, fearfully looking at my favorite picture that I took of Rachel just hours ago on the beach, the rap of knuckles finally comes at the door.
“Officer Brooks, it’s Special Agent Ryan Eads of the FBI.”
I nearly trip over my own feet as I spin to go to the door. Opening it up, I’m so thankful to see Agent Eads and his men.
Shaking my hand he continues, “I spoke directly to Alex after we landed and his flight is scheduled to be on the ground just before ten. If it’s alright, and I know you’ve already had to do this several times, but I would like to go over everything with you just to make sure my file is as precise with details as possible.”
“Sure,” I say, motioning to the bathroom.
Turning his head to his men he orders, “Go ahead and start working the scene. Document and photograph everything inside of the room and the patio as well. You guys know the drill.”
Poking my head back out I add, “There’s a small blood stain on the patio that one of the Mexican police found. Be sure not to miss it. It could possibly be one of the abductor’s.”
Putting his hand on my chest, Eads eases me back into the bathroom. “These are some of the best men I’ve worked with in my fifteen years on the force. Trust me, Zander, they won’t miss a thing. Just let them do their job as quickly and thoroughly as possible.”
Taking a breath, I step back into the bathroom, walk to the counter, lean against it and the two of us go over the information he has in the file. I fill him in on exactly who her parents are and that money is no worry. They can cover anything that arises.
The next part of our conversation is what causes my stomach to tur
n.
“Zander, I know you don’t want to hear this, but with her being taken, and no demands being made to you or her parents yet, this likely isn’t an abduction for ransom, but rather for slave-trade. The cartels use low-level runners to snatch young, beautiful, foreign women and force them into the underground sex world.”
All color drains from my face, and I turn to the sink basin, losing what little bit was left in my stomach. I’d already admitted this to myself, but to hear it coming from another professional is more than I can take. Rinsing the contents down the drain and running water through my mouth several times, the sickness begins to turn to rage, and I can see the seething burn in my eyes when I look up into the mirror.
“Agent Eads,” I hear one of the team members call out. “I’ve got tire streaks from the end of the patio and a solid pattern imprint in the soft ground.”
He motions for me to stay put while he goes to observe. While he’s gone, everything that Macy told me starts to play over again in my head. ‘I saw two men on the screen.’ It hits me like an arrow.
“Agent Eads, I think I may have something that could drastically help.”
Gingerly he steps back through the room, cautious not to disturb anything at all. “What is it?”
“Rachel and her best friend Macy were Facetiming when everything went down. When Macy called me, she said she could briefly see two men come onto the screen before the line went down. Is there any chance that those sessions are recorded?”
“That’s great, Zander. Let me make some calls.” Eads’ facial expression lifts as he pulls out his phone and begins dialing.
I step out into small hallway just outside the bathroom while he has conversation after conversation. Watching the team work the room, I feel better about our chances of tracking down whoever took Rachel, and bringing her back in one piece. Seeing one of the team members at the patio door on the outside, I get another piece of hope when I see him do an air fist-pound and see him mouth ‘Yes’.
