“I’m certain that’s the least of their concerns at this point.” He took my hand. “Angela. I know this is not going to be easy for you, but I need to know what happened in Cancun. I need to know how you ended up with Marco Ruiz.” He lifted my chin and I looked into his serious, compassionate eyes. “Can you tell me?”
I swallowed hard. My stomach squeezed in a fit of residual panic when I thought about that night. But I took a deep breath, nodded, and told Colin Douglas everything that happened. I watched his hands open and close in tight fists as I recapped Fernando’s actions.
“Do you have any idea where he is, Angela?”
“Marco said he was sending him to Asia, but that was two years ago, and I haven’t heard anything about him since.”
His jaw moved from side to side as he stared off in thought.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. But you don’t need to worry, okay? You should try to eat something. They’ve usually got sandwiches and drinks—”
“No.” I couldn’t eat.
I shivered and he pulled me into his arms again, where I stayed for the duration of our flight.
The air in Scotland was cool that evening as we were ushered straight from the plane into the back seat of a tinted, black sedan. The driver gave a mustached grin as he stuck out his hand to Mr. Douglas.
“Agent Douglas. Well done, pal. Very well done.” He sped us away from the airfield.
When we stopped at a light he turned and held his hand out to me. “Angela Birch? Welcome to Scotland. I’m Agent Abernathy.”
I looked to Mr. Douglas, who nodded his approval before I took the man’s hand, feeling skittish and out of my element at this innocent touch from a man. “Hi,” I forced myself to say.
He turned back to the road and spoke as he drove. “The Birch family arrived at Graham’s this afternoon. They’ve taken residence in Scotland for the past four months in hopes that this day would arrive.”
Giant butterflies swooped inside of me and my heart slammed in my chest.
My parents. They were here and I was going to see them.
I looked up at Mr. Douglas, trying to get ahold of my breathing with a hand to my chest. He gave me a small smile.
“You’ll be alright.”
“No. I’m scared,” I admitted, my voice sounding small. “Maybe I shouldn’t…maybe we should wait. I—I need a shower.”
I caught Agent Abernathy shooting Mr. Douglas a look in the rear view mirror, like he was telling him to calm me, and the pressure made my heart beat even faster. Mr. Douglas took my hand, running his thumb back and forth over the top. I wanted to enjoy that touch, but I couldn’t when I knew he was only doing it because his partner silently told him to.
“Don’t leave me,” I said.
The other Agent’s quizzical eyes went to Mr. Douglas in the mirror again, but my savior’s attention was fully on me.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. The house we’re going to is my brother’s.”
I nodded, inhaling and exhaling with care.
We ended up on a winding road over gorgeous hills and into the dip of a valley. At a black gate, Agent Abernathy entered a code and the iron gate swung open. The house looked like a grand cottage. Too large to be quaint. Too small to be ritzy. Perfect, really.
As the headlights rounded the curve and landed on the house, the door flung open and two familiar bodies came sprinting out, running at the car before the Agent could come to a stop. My heart swelled gigantic in my chest. Agent Abernathy slammed on the brakes, muttering a curse and I felt a fresh set of tears forming in the back of my eyes. My hand fumbled for the door handle and I shoved it open, stumbling out and into my mother’s arms.
Our simultaneous cries rose up and filtered into the night air. I felt my father’s arms come around us and his face against mine, kissing my wet cheek countless times, and whispering, “Thank you, Lord.” Mom’s hand felt my back, my arms, and she pulled away enough to look at my face.
“I knew you were alive,” she whispered.
She hugged me again, so tightly it was as if our breaths depended on this closeness. She petted my hair and for a second I felt five-years-old-again.
“It’s all over now, baby.” I wanted to sink into her comfort, to take her every word as the gospel truth, but it wasn’t all over now—not in my head, anyway. Her unconditional devotion and affection was overwhelming. I didn’t deserve it. How could I have deceived this woman, who only ever wanted the best for me?
“I’m sorry I lied to you, Mama.” A fresh sob sounded from my chest. “I’m sorry I went to Cancun. I’m sorry for what I put you through.”
She stood straight and took my face in both hands, her voice quaking. “Don’t you do that, sweetheart. No matter how you ended up in Mexico, what happened there was not your fault. You hear me?”
My face fell to her soft shoulder again, and I let her hold me, soaking in her unconditional love and forgiveness. Dad’s hand smoothed down my hair and my back.
“We’re going to have a fresh start now, Angie girl,” he said. “We’ll work through this thing together.”