Chapter 29
Triana~
It was the next morning, and I couldn’t lie and say that I hadn’t spent all night scared out of my mind.
Though the holding cells in the border jails had been built to house only one person at a time, that didn’t make me feel any safer.
Knowing that the guards were less than honorable, I had spent most of the night fearing the worst. I kept expecting to hear my cell door open, inviting my worst nightmare to come true.
Thankfully, I’d been left alone all night, but this morning, breakfast had come with the announcement that my arrest was already all over the news and internet, and all I could think about was Tomasco and Sonia.
Tomasco more so because I could only imagine the shock that he must be feeling.
There was no way that he wasn’t going to feel hurt over this, and I couldn’t blame him.
Before I could think on it some more, a voice snapped me out of my thoughts. “You’ve got a phone call.”
I sat up on the cot, then looked over to see a thirty-something female guard on the other side of the bars. “I don’t...I don’t understand,” I said. “I was told that I couldn’t make any phone calls.”
Her brows immediately furrowed. “Who told you that?”
“The two guards who arrested me last night,” I answered. “I asked if I could make a phone call, and they told me that this wasn’t the RNA.”
“Well, as you can imagine, we’re not a fan of your people,” she remarked, but she didn’t state it rudely, just as a matter of fact.
“And while I can appreciate that, that still doesn’t give them the right to arrest me on RNA land,” I said, praying that I wasn’t making things worse by telling her the truth.
“What are you talking about?”
“They arrested me under the sand cliff by the rosemary bushes,” I told her. “I wasn’t crossing the river like they claimed.”
Her eyes narrowed a bit, but siding with her co-workers, she just asked, “Do you want to take the call or not?”
“Did...did the caller say who they were?”
“He claims to be your brother,” she answered, making my eyes water. “Tomasco, I do believe.”
While I was eager to talk to anyone that might be able to help get me out of here, I couldn’t lie and say that I wasn’t hurt that it wasn’t my parents calling for me.
While I could admit that things had gotten bad between us, I still never imagined that they’d leave me to my own devices in the event of something horrific like this.
I had fooled myself into believing that they had no choice but to love me unconditionally, no matter how angry they might be at me, but I was quickly beginning to realize that I didn’t know my parents at all.
I stood up from the cot, then waited until the guard opened the door, and I didn’t say a word as I followed her dutifully into a room that looked like a military monitoring area but was just a bunch of computer screens stationed about a yard apart.
The guard sat me down at a table in the far-left corner of the room, which was odd since I was the only inmate here, but I didn’t question it. If she was trying to give me some privacy, then I was going to take advantage of that small consideration.
“Pick up the handset, then press the green button, and it should connect you,” she instructed, and as soon as I did what she’d said, Tomasco’s worried face popped up on the computer screen.
“Jesus Christ, Triana,” he rushed out. “What the fuck?”
“I’m so sorry,” I quickly told him, not sure how much time I had on here. “I just...I know I messed up, but this isn’t what it seems.”
“It seems like you ran away to Mexico,” he retorted. “That’s what it seems.”
“Look, that’s too long of a story to get into right now,” I said. “Besides, you know most of it already.”
“Well, I’ve already told Mom and Dad that I am never going to speak to them again if they don’t do everything in their power to get you out of here,” he said, and that’s when I could no longer control the tears. “It’s their fault that you’re in this mess to begin with.”
As much as his loyalty was what I needed right now, I couldn’t let him go on thinking that.
“No, it’s not,” I sighed, wiping my tears with the sleeve of my jumper.
“There are a million different ways that I could have handled this better, Tomasco. They’re not the ones who put the idea of running away in my head. This is all me.”
“If you want to give them a free pass, then be my guess,” he huffed. “But I’m not letting them off that easily.”
“Look, I don’t know how long they’re going to let me talk to you, but I have to tell you the truth while I still can,” I said. “Yes, I was planning on crossing into Mexico illegally, but that’s not how I got arrested, Tomasco.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was on Rancher Hills land, under one of the sand cliffs, when two guards found me, then arrested me,” I quickly rushed out. “They said no one would believe me if I told the truth.”
“Do you know their names?”
I nodded. “Benito and Hector.”
“Did you tell anyone else about this?”
I nodded again. “I told the guard that escorted me over here, but I don’t think that she believed me. She kind of just brushed it off.”
“Well, that changes everything,” he muttered, thinking out loud.
“There has to be cameras somewhere, Tomasco,” I insisted. “With as dedicated as Mexico is to keeping their borders safe, there has to be cameras along the fencing. There has to be.”
“No, I agree,” he said, nodding in thought. “They also have body cams on their uniforms, so there should be a clear record of what happened. If not, then we can question why their body cams were turned off.”
“Do you think that Benicio Cortez will even meet with you?” I asked, the tears coming again, hating how I had left my brother without a word, yet he was the only one here.
“I’ll give him no choice,” he replied confidently. “If I have to go on the internet and make a public appeal, accusing Mexico outright, then I will.”
“Tomasco, I’m so sorry-”
“Don’t,” he quickly rushed out, interrupting my apology. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Am I hurt that you didn’t trust me? Yeah. However, we can work on that later. The most important thing right now is to get you back home.”
I nodded, the tears falling wildly now. “Okay...okay.”
“Sonia’s also losing her shit,” he said, a small smile on his lips. “I’m not sure what set her off, but she was pissed even before they announced your arrest, and if anyone can get you out of here, I’m sure it’s that psychopath.”
There was only one reason why Sonia would become unhinged on my behalf, and Kairo must have reached out to her, telling her what had happened between us. I also knew Sonia well enough that you could torture that girl, and she’d still keep all of my secrets safe.
“Well, maybe if you both demanded to see Benicio Cortez, he’ll be forced to listen,” I suggested. “It wouldn’t hurt to have Sonia as backup, especially since Mom and Dad are truly done with me.”
“Triana, whatever happens next, we’ll get through it together, okay?” he said, his voice cracking a bit. “I’ve got you. No matter what, I’ve got you.”
“I love you,” I mouthed, too emotional to get the words out.
“I love you more,” he said, making the sobs come out harder. “You’re my baby sister, and this is not going to be the end of our story. This is not how this ends.”
I nodded, though not feeling as confident as he sounded. “Okay.”
Tomasco gave me a few seconds to collect myself, then asked, “Before they come get you, you need to tell me everything, Triana. While I’m not keeping score, I’m owed that much.”
Feeling completely defeated, I finally told my brother everything about these past few weeks, and once I got started, I couldn’t stop spilling every thought and feeling from when our parents had first announced my betrothal.
Through my tears, I confessed to him like he was my priest, and he listened patiently as I held nothing back.
When I was finally finished, I was a disaster, and no amount of praying was going to fix the mess that I’d made of my life. “I’m sorry for not trusting you, Tomasco,” I whispered. “I just...I wanted to protect you. I didn’t want you getting caught up in my...this mess.”
“Oh, Triana,” he muttered, finally grasping just how big of a disaster this was.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said, feeling spent and helpless.
“Leave it to me and Sonia,” he replied. “We’ll get you home one way or another.”
The only thing left to do was pray that they could.