And Then What?

by D. R. Graham

  “Don’t worry about it,” Mason said. “I trust Orrett and no one else probably heard.” He draped his arm across my shoulder and acted as if nothing had happened. “Let’s eat. I’m starved.”

  I twisted to look over Mason’s arm at Sophie and Orrett. They both still seemed a little stunned and it took them a second before they snapped out of it and followed us to the mess tent.

  We filled our trays and sat at a table with the nurse and another volunteer, who I didn’t know. I couldn’t even think of eating because I felt so sick with myself. I didn’t say one word while they all ate because I was too afraid I would blurt out something else stupid. Mason acted the way he always did—as if it was no big deal that I had just blown his cover. Orrett and Sophie didn’t actually say much either, so Mason talked to the nurse and the volunteer and told them about the ruins we visited.

  “Are you feeling all right, Derian? You look a little pale,” the nurse said.

  I nodded and tried to force a smile. Fortunately, the nurse and the other volunteer finished their dinner and said good night, so I didn’t have to attempt small talk. Once the four of us were alone, I thudded my head down on the table to try to make the tent stop spinning.

  Sophie leaned over and hissed in my ear, “Get it together. You’re making it worse.”

  I sat up and tried to pull myself together. Not showing my emotions on the outside was nearly impossible for me. I was the worst faker in the world, which was why I couldn’t lie very well—or apparently keep a secret very well, either.

  “Would you please relax,” Mason said. “Nobody heard and I don’t want you to be all tense for the rest of the time you’re here.”

  “Even if someone did hear, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” Orrett added.

  “Do you think someone heard?” I finally spoke.

  Orrett shrugged. “There were a couple of old villagers behind Bill when you said it. But I don’t know if they even speak English or if they would know the connection to that name.”

  Mason’s expression changed. He didn’t look nervous, just serious.

  “You’re sending mixed messages,” I said to Mason. “Is it serious or not?”

  He shrugged. “My dad insisted on an alias because he believed it could potentially be a problem. I’m not worried.”

  “What’s in it for the villagers if they blow his cover?” Sophie asked Orrett.

  “A drug cartel will give them a cut of the ransom for their loyalty. Some of the older generation aren’t that thrilled about gringos coming into the village and getting all up in their business, so it would also be a good way to scare us all off.”

  “What’s a gringo?”

  “A foreigner.”

  With my stomach churning from the guilt, I stood up to leave. “I need to go to bed.”

  Their chairs scraped as they got up to follow me. It would be entirely my fault if his dad was right, so my only hope was that Mason was right. There was nothing I could do to take it back and I couldn’t have felt worse unless I called up the kidnappers myself and told them to come take Mason while he was sleeping.

  The moon and the stars made it bright enough for me to see without a lantern as I made my way across the site towards the bathrooms. Sophie jogged to catch up with me and the guys waited outside. Sophie glanced sideways at me while we stood at the sinks. There were other women around, so I couldn’t say anything. Once the other women left and we were alone, I splashed cold water on my face and started to cry.

  “Nobody heard,” Sophie tried to reassure me.

  “They did. And it’s not just that. My visions mean something bad is going to happen, maybe they were about Mason, not Trevor.” I sat on the floor beside the sinks and hugged my knees into my chest. “I can’t believe I’m such an idiot. He found something he really likes doing. He’s happy and I ruined it. And to add icing to the cake, it’s probably going to be the last thing he ever does.”

  “You’re being a little overly dramatic, don’t you think? It’s just a stupid name. Nobody cares.”

  “Don’t you watch the news?”

  “No, not really.”

  “It’s not a joke. We’re in the Guerrero State.”

  “I have no idea what that means.”

  I was about to explain, but she lifted her hand up to stop me.

  “And I don’t want to know. He has security. If he’s in any danger they’ll make him leave. Having a breakdown over it isn’t going to change anything, so suck it up.”

  “He was already in potential danger and now it’s probable. How can you not be worried?”

  “Worry doesn’t fix things, it just makes you worried. Everybody here adores him. Nobody’s going to let him get hurt.”

  “Okay, you’re right,” I said and got off the floor. “But I’m going to convince him to go back with us. That will make me feel better.”

  When we emerged from the bathrooms, Mason was gone. Orrett was leaning against the wall with his foot jammed up behind him.

  “Where’s Bill,” I asked frantically.

  “He’ll be right back. He’s just talking to someone.” He turned his head away as if seeing someone cry was something he couldn’t quite stomach. “Please don’t do that. Everything’s fine,” he said as he ventured a glance at my face, then quickly looked away again.

  “Sorry.” I took a deep breath to pull myself together.

  Mason appeared from around the corner, holding up a lantern. He took one look at me and pulled me in towards his chest. He held me so tightly I could hear his heart beating. Beating way too fast. He leaned back and ran his thumbs over my cheeks to wipe away the tears.

  “Come on, I have to talk to you guys.”

  We all followed Mason to Sophie’s and my tent. He opened the flap and followed the three of us in, then put the lantern on the floor. Sophie and I sat on my bed. Mason sat beside Orrett on Sophie’s bed. Mason’s relaxed demeanour from dinner was gone. His expression was completely serious and it scared me. He inhaled deeply and looked at each one of us individually, then ran his finger over the scar that cut through his eyebrow.

  “We have to leave,” he said and his jaw muscle twitched with tension. “It’s just a precaution. Colin doesn’t think anything will happen, but he wants us gone in case it does. They sent for a vehicle and it should be here in twenty minutes.”

  “Who’s Colin?” Sophie asked.

  “The head of security.”

  I sat up rigidly and clenched the edge of the bunk with my fingers. “What does Colin think might happen?”

  “Nothing, as long as I’m not here.”

  “Shit,” Orrett said. “Does he think one of the drug cartels already knows?”

  “He just thinks it’s better if the girls and I aren’t here.”

  “We have guards,” Sophie pointed out.

  “Only two. The cartel guys will just shoot them,” Orrett stated matter-of-factly.

  “No,” I squeaked pathetically.

  “How do we know they won’t hurt anyone else even if we’re gone?” Sophie asked.

  “We don’t.” Mason sighed heavily.

  “We have to take Orrett with us too. He has a kid,” Sophie insisted.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, barely audible even to me.

  Mason didn’t say anything. He just closed his eyes and rested his head back on the side of the canvas tent.

  “Are the local children in danger?” I asked.

  Mason tilted his head forward and his eyes locked with mine. He didn’t exactly answer my question. He simply said, “We have to leave.”

  I rested my elbows on my knees and banged my brace repeatedly against my forehead. It hurt, but I didn’t care. I felt so stupid. All I had to do was call him Bill for a couple of days. Was that really so hard to do? Lives only depended on it. I felt like I should volunteer to be kidnapped and then refuse the ransom. I deserved whatever punishment they could dish out, especially if the children were harmed in any way. I wouldn’t be able
to live with myself if anyone was hurt because of my air-headed move.

  I wanted Mason to yell at me and tell me I was an idiot or useless. I wanted him to say that he was disappointed in me, and that he hated me, and that he never wanted to see me again for as long as we lived.

  He didn’t yell at me. He leaned across the tent and hugged me. “It’s not your fault, Derian. We’re just leaving as a precaution. I should have never brought you here. It’s my fault.”

  “You won’t be able to come back. I ruined everything for you and you won’t even have a chance to say good-bye to everyone.” I held his hands. “Hector will be so sad that you had to leave.”

  Mason stared at the floor. Obviously, it hadn’t occurred to him that he would be leaving behind people he cared about. After a while, he shook his head and said, “The project is almost finished. I would have been leaving soon anyway.”

  Sophie dropped to her knees and stuffed her clothes into her bag. “Derian, get packed.”

  “We can worry now?” I snapped. She shot me a vicious look, so I threw my things into my bag, then looked at Orrett. “I’m sorry I screwed everything up for you too.”

  “It’s just a precaution for Ritchie Rich here.” He chuckled. “I live in a bungalow in Whittier. Nobody’s going to want to hold me for ransom.”

  “I’d feel better if you came along too,” Mason said.

  “Nah. I’m going home in another week anyway and I’ve got a few root canals to do before then.” Orrett shook Mason’s hand and hugged him over one shoulder. “Take care, man.”

  “I’ll call you when you’re back in LA,” Mason said.

  “You better come for a visit. The wife wants to have you over for dinner. I’m not sure what to call you anymore, but we’ll worry about that later. Ladies, it’s been a pleasure. Be safe.” Orrett hugged Sophie and me. “Oh, I should get you some painkillers to take with you. Let me run to the medical tent. I’ll be right back.”

  Orrett opened the flap to our tent and stepped outside. I glanced up at Mason to check his expression. He forced a smile before I had a chance to figure out how he was really feeling.

  “Mason, you need to pack your things too.”

  “Yeah.” He shook his head like he was trying to clear a fog and make his brain think straight. “I don’t have that much stuff here, nothing I need, anyway.”

  “What about Hector’s wind chime? We have to take that with us, and the letters you wrote me. I want to read the letters. Go to your tent and we’ll meet you there when we’re done.”

  “Uh.” He paused and ran his hand through his hair. “It’s okay. I’ll wait for you to finish and we can all walk over together.”

  “Why don’t you want us to walk by ourselves?”

  His forehead was shiny with sweat. “I don’t mind waiting.”

  He avoided looking at me, so I stopped what I was doing and stood to face him. I had to hold his chin to force him to look at me. The expression in his eyes gave him away. “You’re afraid to leave us alone, aren’t you?”

  He didn’t say anything.

  “I thought you said it was just a precaution.”

  “A necessary precaution.”

  Sophie stood up straight and pushed him in the chest. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means we have to leave. All right?” His voice rose with the stress of the situation. I had never seen him rattled before and it was extremely unsettling.

  Sophie and I quickly zipped our bags as Orrett poked his head back in the tent. He handed me a plastic Ziploc bag of pills. “Here are your painkillers.”

  “Thanks.” I stuffed them into my pocket.

  “Looks like your transportation is already here,” he said as he looked back over his shoulder.

  We climbed out of the tent. The headlights of four vehicles lit up the area as they skidded into camp. Mason and Orrett both stepped in front of us. I peered around them as men filed out of the four trucks. Several locals from the village took off running. My body tensed and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as one of the men from the trucks pushed two volunteers to the ground. A gasping sound escaped my throat when the guy pressed the long barrel of a gun into the back of another volunteer. The volunteer laced his hands behind his head and dropped to his knees as he followed directions I couldn’t hear.

  My body froze in place. I didn’t even flinch when the bodyguard who I’d seen earlier at the cave jumped out from behind the tent to stand between us and the vehicles. His stance was wide and his gun was drawn. I watched in shock as our two other armed guards took positions against the corners of tent frames and also pointed their guns towards the headlights.

  Mason turned to Sophie and me and yelled, “Run!”

  He said it with so much intensity it startled me. I dropped my bag as Sophie grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the forest. I yanked my hand out of her grasp, turned, and ran back to Mason. “I’m not leaving without you.”

  “Run!” He shouted louder and the tendons in his neck stretched tightly.

  I dug my fingers into his arm and tried to pull him as a spotlight scanned across the camp. It lit up Orrett and Mason’s bodyguard.

  “Derian, they will kill you. Run!” Mason pushed me so hard the force almost made me fall down.

  “Not without you!” I shouted.

  Several flashes blew out of the barrel of the gun. Orrett’s body jolted backwards. My instinct was to try to catch him, but my nervous system wasn’t responding. I watched helplessly as he slumped to the ground and lay motionlessly. Mason’s bodyguard shouted, “Go! Go! Go!,” as he and the other guards returned fire.

  Mason grabbed my hand and we both sprinted into the forest behind Sophie.

  CHAPTER 15

  The sound of gunfire cracked through the air and made me flinch and cringe repeatedly as the bullets hit trees around us. The moonlight was filtered by the treetops, so I couldn’t see that well. I kept falling and landing on my brace. Sophie must have been falling too because I could hear her groan and swear. We were definitely being followed. And it was impossible to tell if it was the security guards or the gunmen. Their footsteps and heavy breathing got louder as they gained on us. I was too afraid to slow down to look over my shoulder. But when I heard them speaking Spanish I knew for sure they were the men from the trucks. My stomach sank and collapsed on itself as I realized it probably meant the guards had gone down. I ran faster.

  Mason and I caught up to Sophie and I passed her to take the lead. Trevor and I had spent our entire childhood climbing in the forested mountains around Britannia Beach, so I was used to the terrain, but not in the dark. I scrambled over rocks and hopped fallen tree trunks, stumbling almost every fifth stride. Branches slashed my arms and legs as we moved through the dense bush. Mason passed me and stomped through the vegetation to make a path for us. Unfortunately, it was also making it easier for our pursuers. They gained more ground, moving fast—faster than even Trevor could travel. We were so screwed. We reached an opening in the woods and I pulled Sophie and Mason’s hands. “This way.” We sprinted along the edge of the clearing, where it was easier to run.

  When we reached the other side, Sophie whimpered then fell to her knees. “Go without me.”

  “No.” I stopped and turned to help her. Mason had already pulled her to her feet. I glanced back. I couldn’t see the men, but I knew they were standing in the middle of the clearing because I could hear them talking. “Shh,” I breathed out. Sophie and Mason both turned to see what I was looking at. “It’s too dark for them to see us. They can only hear us. If we stay still, they might leave.”

  We all stood perfectly motionless in the shadows of the trees. I tried to slow my breathing to make it quieter, but the best I could do was an erratic wheeze. One of the men shouted something in Spanish. I saw a flash before I heard the crack of a gunshot that was aimed in our direction.

  “They have night scopes,” Mason said and shoved us to keep going. We ducked into the fores
t and started running again. Bullets whizzed by us. One hit the tree right in front of me and the splinters of bark sprayed into my face. It was surreal—like one of my visions, only it was really happening. My muscles burned, my lungs protested with each expansion, and my skin scraped with every fall. Sophie was crying. I turned left and led us uphill, hoping the men would assume we would take the easier downhill route.

  As we got higher out of the canopy of the big trees, it was a bit easier to see. I ran along a rocky ridge and turned to reach my hand out for Sophie. We scrambled up a rounded rock mass that overlooked a valley. It was too dark to tell what would be the best escape route.

  “I need to stop,” Sophie gasped and rested her hands on her knees.

  “We can’t.” I pulled her by the elbow.

  She yanked her arm out of my grasp. “I can’t. Go without me.”

  “We’re not leaving you here,” Mason said as he checked over his shoulder. “I think we can rest for a second. I can’t hear them.”

  “How long do you think we’ve been running?” Sophie asked.

  Mason said, “Probably forty-five minutes.”

  I knew it had been longer because of where the moon had risen to, probably more like two hours. I searched the sky for a star to follow—that’s what Trevor would have told me to do—not that he was experienced with being chased by men with guns. Tears ran down my face as I thought about Trevor. He was going to be so mad at me. If he were with us, he’d be yelling at me for putting myself and everyone else in so much danger. Actually, if he were with me, none of it would have happened in the first place.

  “We have to at least keep walking,” I whispered and headed in the direction of the star.

  As we walked, I listened for the sound of the men following us. I was also trying to detect the sound of water. Trevor always told me that if I was lost in the forest I could follow the water downhill. There was no running water, the dense ground brush was impossible to move through quickly, and I couldn’t see worth shit. I stopped in a heavily wooded area and bent over to puke.