With effort, I pushed back the waves of emotion streaming toward me from Alik and Evan and tried to focus instead on trying to sense mom. I took some deep breaths and closed my eyes. I thought of my mother, the beautiful woman who raised me. I allowed myself to remember the little things that brought waves of emotion crashing down on my heart.
In my mind, I saw my mother’s strong, gentle hands. They were always the right temperature. If I were feverish, they felt cool and soothing on my forehead. If I had chills, my mother’s hands felt like warming mittens against my skin.
In the evenings, when we sat around the living room playing games or reading, my mom would always have to have her hand or her toes or something touching us. If I were sitting next to her on the couch, she would make sure we were snuggled against each other. Even if we didn’t say one word, lost in our own leisure activities, we were always near each other.
Mom had the best laugh. Her eyes would squint up into slits as her wide smile pushed her cheeks up. Her smile was dazzling and her laugh was addicting. We would do anything to hear that genuine, belly-rolling, till-you-cry, laughter of mom’s.
I remembered how mom always smelled so good. I don’t know how she did it, but she always had a hint of a floral fragrance about her. I remember when I was a little girl I would curl up in her lap, snuggle my face into the crook of her neck and fall asleep feeling so safe with her strong arms and scent encircling me.
In the middle of those memories, I felt a tugging in my heart. It was weak, but it was there. I felt my mother somewhere in those buildings. She was in so much pain and was so scared. The more I knew where to focus the stronger the connection I could make with her emotions. Mom was alive, but barely.
“Meg, Meg! What is it? What do you feel? Is mom in there? Is mom alive? Meg wake up! What’s happening?” The boys were shaking my shoulders to bring me back to reality. I had been crying.
My heart still ached so deeply from the pain I felt emanating from our mother, but I managed a nod. Then I forced myself to tell my worried brothers everything I had just felt.
“They’ve hurt mom. She’s hurt and barely alive,” I said through quivering lips.
“Williams is going to burn for this.” Alik was shaking with anger.
“But she’s alive,” Evan said as if needing to hear the words out loud again. “Mom’s alive, and we’re going to get her back. Alik, you need to drive, man. We’re looking too conspicuous stopped here on the road.”
Thank God for Evan. He was always so level-headed, and boy did we need level-headed now. Alik pulled away slowly from the curb and pointed the truck away from the ghostly white compound. We had work to do and each of us felt both heavier with the weight of the endeavor at hand, and lighter at the hope our plan gave us. Mom was alive, and we were on our way to get her. Each of us prayed silent prayers for strength and skill, for the sake of our mother.
Chapter 39 Ammo and Donuts
Whoever said boys don’t like shopping has never been with them when they walked into a sporting goods store. Their eyes lit up like stars shooting across a dark night sky when they peeked into the window.
“You ready, Ev?” I asked, attempting to revive him from his ammo ogling.
“Oh, yeah,” he grinned.
We decided to walk through the sporting goods store before closing so Alik could memorize the merchandise layout. We wanted a very specific plan to get the necessary items for tomorrow’s operation and though Evan was pretty sure he could disengage the alarm system so we could move around undetected for as long as we needed, we didn’t want to leave anything to chance.
Just one rent-a-cop walking around with a flash light for a nightstick could completely ruin our plans. And mom didn’t have time for us to waste. She was alive, but wouldn’t be for too much longer without proper medical help. She was depending on us. There was no room for errors.
We left the store at 8:30 that night. We would be back at 2am, so we had some time to kill. Personally, I was getting a tongue-sore for those white powdered donuts. A quick stop at a gas station filled the truck, and my need for that particular sugar rush.
Evan drove us to a nearby dog-friendly park, where we did just that, parked. Maze jumped happily out of the truck and stretched. First he leaned forward, then back with his tail high in the air and finally he shook all over. That boy sure can shed, I thought as a silver cloud billowed around his shaking coat. Then he let out a wickedly huge yawn and trotted off to find, undoubtedly a place to sniff. I couldn’t help but smile after him. I have never had to use a leash with him. He’s always just come when I called to him. He’s like my constant shadow, ever present and dependable. Through this whole traumatic week, my sweet boy has been by my side.