Letty pushed her seat back and stood. Just before making the short trip to the bathroom she turned back toward Hatch. "I know where she is."
Silverware stopped banging against the blue porcelain plates where the last scraps of food were being scooped into awaiting mouths, which hung open as the girl's softly spoken words grabbed the attention of everybody at the table. "I heard you talking before I fell asleep. I listened to what you said about a redheaded girl. You thought I was her. You came for her, but you got me instead."
Hatch said, taking the girl's hand in hers, "you're right. I was looking for someone else when I found you. And I'm glad that I did find you. But you know where Angela Rothman is?"
"The other day, she was with me and a bunch of other girls. We all got shipped off in different directions, but when they took her away, I heard them say where they were sending her."
"Where?" Hatch edged forward in her seat.
"They said they were taking her to The Last Stop."
"Is that a place? Like a restaurant?" Hatch surveyed the rest of the group's faces and saw no sign of recognition.
"It's not a restaurant. It's a juice factory. These people move us around all over the place. Some of them get nicknames. The Last Stop is what we call the Solarus Orange Juice factory."
"You mean my favorite juice, the one with the wacky orange walrus as the mascot? Really? The cartel takes everything I love. My wife never lets me have it often because it's got too much sugar. Now it'll never touch my lips again." Ayala looked as though he was going to burst at the seams.
"The two taking her away were talking about it. They didn't know I heard, but I did."
"Just like in the car," Hatch whispered. Letty smiled. "But I still don't understand. They move girls out of the juice factory?"
"You could say that. I've never been there myself. If I had, I wouldn't be here with you now. They call it The Last Stop for a reason. It's the last place they put us before we are sold to an outsider. Girls who go there are never seen again."
"What do you mean?" Hatch said. "Will they kill them?"
"It's less than two hours from here." Ayala popped his head up from his phone with a determined look on his face. He turned the phone to show them. Sure enough, just off Highway 2, south of Juarez by about thirty miles, was the Solarus Juice Company. A digital pushpin pointed to the location. "There's only two factory plants in the country and the other one is three hundred miles south. I'm guessing a Juarez cartel would want to use a Juarez juice factory."
"Then we better get a move on," Hatch took Letty's hands in hers. "These good people are going to take care of you now. Trust them and do what they say, and you'll be home before you know it."
A tear cleared a path down the girl's dirty face as she locked her arms around Hatch's neck and hugged tightly. Hatch held Letty until she released her grip. It felt good. Although much older, holding the small girl's frame in hers reminded Hatch of her niece, Daphne.
"Thank you," Letty whispered before she walked to the bathroom.
Hatch watched the waif of a girl slip inside the bathroom and close the door before turning her attention back to her hosts. "I can't thank you two enough for your hospitality." Hatch took her empty plate over to Josefina, who’d already finished rinsing the two heavy cast iron pans and was toweling off one of them. "And for the amazing food."
"I hate to eat and run, old friend," Ayala said. "But it looks as though Daphne and I have somewhere to be.
"Just make sure you don't take so long in between your next visit. We miss seeing your face."
"I think you miss my wife's cornbread."
The two old friends embraced in a goodbye hug. Hatch, more prepared this time, accepted hers as Cruz pulled her in, and after getting to know the man, accepted it far less awkwardly than she had when first arriving.
Josefina had packed a couple water bottles and some fruit into a paper sack and handed it to them. As they said their final goodbyes and turned toward the door, headlights penetrated through the curtains. The light was accompanied by the crunching of tires over the unfinished roadway leading to the front of Ernesto's house was followed by the sound of brakes.
"Ms. Nighthawk, you're too pretty a lady to be out here causing this kind of trouble." The voice of Nogales Police Lieutenant Eduardo Munoz broke the silence of the heavy night air.
Twenty-Three
Hatch had peered through a slit in the curtains and saw that the light coming through was generated by two vehicles. Both of the older model Crown Victoria Interceptors fanned out in front of the Cruz residence bore the emblem of the Nogales Municipal Police.
"Is there a safe space we could shelter, aside from the bedroom and bathroom in the back?" Hatch looked across the table at Ernesto.
Letty changed into the better-fitting clothing that Josefina had provided, bypassing the shower, and was now standing in the hallway. Josefina ushered the girl to their version of a safe room, a trapdoor in the floor of the hallway covered by a musty throw rug. Wood stairs led down to a poured concrete basement with canned goods lining the walls. It was a food pantry, but in a pinch, it would have to do.
"I'll let you know when it's safe to come out." Hatch offered a hand to Ernesto who began his descent into the cooler space below.
"You're not getting in?" Ernesto asked. Josefina and Letty were nestling themselves into the far corner. Josefina offering a motherly embrace to the terrified teen.
"Somebody's got to put the rug back over." Hatch winked.
"I can do it," Ayala stopped with one foot in the steps going down into the cellar.
"And then what?" Hatch said. "Wait for them to enter? So they can torture you until they get what they want?"
"What's your plan, then?"
"One that doesn't involve any of the things I just said."
"That wasn't an answer." Ayala, the wordsmith, countered.
"I can tell you this, you're a lot more valuable to me down there. You're going to be the last line of defense."