CL Hart -From A Distance (28 page)

Everywhere she looked, Cori saw armed border guards. They all seemed to be looking at her and Kenzie, but she took another shallow breath and realized they were paying no more attention to them than to anyone else. A border guard enclosed behind a chest-high counter manned each of the four inspection stations. Cori and Kenzie could not actually see the border guard from where they stood, but his hands and arms poked out now and then as identification was handed over by the couple currently at the booth. They had several plastic bags, as most everyone had, and they passed them over to the guard's outstretched hands. After close examination, the bags were returned and the couple moved on.

Kenzie and Cori shuffled forward, closer and closer to the booth at the front of their line. As they drew nearer, Cori could hear mumbles and hushed words coming from people moving through the checkpoint. Before she realized it, they were at the front of their line.

"Next," a monotone voice said as a hand came out of the booth and waved her forward. Cori took a step forward and felt her heart rate increase as the cool whisper of fear suddenly gripped her.

Chapter 12

The judge had been tirelessly making inquiries, but the information he was seeking had eluded him. There were proper channels he normally would have followed, but the need for speed and discretion forced him to navigate shark-filled waters without making any waves. If he tipped his hand, he wouldn't be able to obtain the information he required without someone else knowing that he was looking.

There was a polite knock on his door and then Shelby opened it and poked her head inside. She held up several large manila envelopes. "These all just arrived for you by special courier."

"Excellent. Thank you." He stood up and gestured her in.

Shelby, a small sprig of a Southern raised woman, moved quickly across the thick-carpeted floor and set the envelopes on his desk. "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

Judge Woodward thought for a moment, then nodded. "Actually, yes, if you wouldn't mind." He went over to the closet to retrieve his wallet from his jacket pocket, counted out several hundred dollars, and then replaced the thin leather wallet in the jacket. Closing the door, he turned back to his secretary. "This is beyond your job description, so please don't feel obligated-"

"Judge Woodward, I have worked for y'all for how long now? Whatever it is that y'all need, I'd be happy to oblige."

He smiled at the woman he had chosen so many years earlier. Shelby had not been the most refined of the applicants he had talked to, but she had something that she referred to as "gumption". It had made him laugh, and he knew she was the administrative assistant he was looking for. "What would I do without you?" he said with a shake of his head.

"Let's hope we never have to find out, sir."

"I need you to pick me up one of those cheap, pay-as-you-go cell phones. You know - the kind you can get at an AM/PM or a mini-mart, and some phone cards, as well."

"Yes, sir." She nodded, almost bowing, before she turned to leave.

"Shelby."

She paused at the door and turned back to the judge, noticing for the first time how tired he looked. "Yes, sir?"

"If they need a name..."

"It sure as hell won't be mine or yours," she said with a wink, then left him to his envelopes.

"Next." The voice inside the booth sounded impatient, but Cori could not seem to move. Her feet felt like lead and her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Cori?"

She felt Kenzie nudge her forward, but her body refused to move. From the booth ahead, a face popped around the side, looking Cori over as he motioned her forward.

"Next," he commanded strongly.

A firm hand on the small of her back pushed her forward, giving Cori no choice. She reached the counter and smiled hesitantly at the stern face of the border guard. He didn't even lift his eyes to her as he held out his hand. Cori glanced back at Kenzie and then turned her attention to the detached government official.

"Identification," he said, waving his hand impatiently.

She swallowed hard, doing her best to appear relaxed. "Are we supposed to go one at a time, or can my friend join me?"

The border guard finally looked up at the young woman. He hesitated a moment, before answering, "It doesn't matter."

Cori looked back at Kenzie and motioned her up to the booth.

He leaned out to look beyond the booth to the woman standing next in line. "That your friend?"

"Yeah." Cori continued to gesture Kenzie forward.

"Next," the guard said sternly.

When Kenzie joined them at the booth, he looked the pair over, scrutinizing them from head to toe. "Identification." He held out his hand.

Cori was certain that he could sense her fear. If not, he definitely could hear her heart beating as she handed over her counterfeit Californian driver's license and fake birth certificate.

The border guard examined the ID carefully and then held it under a small desk lamp. He said nothing as he reached for Kenzie's ID. He held up the IDs and compared the pictures to their bearers.

It seemed to take forever but Kenzie remained calm and confident, though she could feel the heat radiating off her face and the sweat rolling down her back. She watched the border guard's eyes as he glanced over the documents.

Cori started to fidget, but the guard didn't appear to notice or care. He handed them back their papers without question or comment. Reaching out, he waved his fingers to the young Mexican couple waiting in line. "Next."

There was no "goodbye", no "thank you", and no "welcome to the United States of America". It was just - "next".

Kenzie guided them away from the booth as Cori tucked her fake ID into her wallet and slid the wallet into the back pocket of her jeans.
One down and one to go,
Kenzie thought to herself as they moved toward the x-ray machine. There were five uniformed border guards around the machine, two of them sitting and a trio standing. No one said a word to them and that was just fine with Kenzie. Apparently, it was just assumed that you knew what was to happen next after you left the guard at the booth.

Cori approached first, and one of the guards pointed to the moving conveyor belt of the x-ray machine. He didn't say anything, just pointed. She laid her bags down on it and then walked to the other end and waited for them to come through.

Kenzie transferred the pinata to her right hand as she placed the plastic bag and their jackets onto the x-ray belt.
This is it, Big Polly. You'd better be right.
She placed her pinata on the moving belt, watching nervously as it inched toward the opening, until it became apparent that it was not going to fit. Kenzie glanced up at one of the guards sitting next to the machine. "It won't fit," she said.

The guard barely looked up before he waved it off. Big Polly had been right again. The guards had no interest in either of them or the pinata.

With a sigh of relief, Kenzie reached for the pinata, but the hanging wire attached to the back became tangled in the handles of the plastic bag she had already placed on the moving conveyor belt. Try as she might to unwind it, the plastic only seemed to tangle more tightly around the wire hook as the conveyor belt persistently tugged at it. Other parcels and packages started jamming up on the conveyor belt, adding to the difficulty of untangling the little bull pinata.

Waiting at the other end of the conveyor belt, Cori saw Kenzie struggling with something, and though her demeanor remained calm, Cori knew her well enough to know something was going wrong. Glancing at the guards seated behind the x-ray machine, she saw they had not moved from their positions, but they were all watching Kenzie.
This is the last thing we need. Come on, Kenzie. Let's go.
But instead of moving on, Kenzie bent down out of her line of vision. When two of the border guard began to walk in Kenzie's direction, Cori panicked.
What's going on?

She hurried back to see what the problem was and saw Kenzie pulling at the plastic bag wrapped around the wire hook of the pinata. One of the guards leaned down to assist, his leather gloved hand reaching out to grasp the papier-mache pinata. Cori quickly leaned over and held back the mass of parcels, jackets, and bags that were pressing to get through the x-ray machine. Between them all, it was enough, and Kenzie released the plastic bag from the pinata.

"Thanks," she whispered as she snatched her pinata from the guard's grasp. "Sorry. I didn't know it wouldn't fit." She locked eyes with the border guard, "It's a gift for my nephew, but I think it's going to be more of a pain to get it home than it's worth." Kenzie smiled. "Do you want to look at it?"

The guard shook his head and waved her through, "Nah, don't worry about it." He turned his back with a wave of his hand, returning to the discussion with his colleagues.

Kenzie and Cori moved to the end of the belt where the troublesome plastic bag was waiting for them. Snatching it off the conveyor, Kenzie said to Cori, "Let's get out of here before we draw any more attention."

They were through and on their way, and Kenzie couldn't have been happier. The process had been easy, too easy, but she wasn't going to object as she crossed the hard tile floor.

"That's it?" Cori whispered to Kenzie, who was holding the door open for her.

A smile of relief spread across Kenzie's face. "That's it. Welcome back to the United States."

"Hey - you two ladies, stop right there." The voice of authority ruined their celebration. In unison, they turned to the guard summoning them. "Come back here, please." He motioned with his hand.

Cori looked at Kenzie. "What do we do?" she whispered.

For a brief moment, Kenzie looked beyond the doors. They were so close, but if they tried to run, there was no chance they'd make it past the doors. "Let's go see what he wants."

Nervous, Cori followed Kenzie back to the guard at the x-ray machine.

"In a bit of a hurry?" The guard's tone sounded accusatory as he glanced from Kenzie to Cori.

"Is there a problem?" Kenzie asked.

"You were down in Tijuana just for the day?"

"Yes," Kenzie answered for them both.
Where is he going with this?

"You went down this morning?" He turned his full attention to Kenzie and the two locked eyes.

"Yes. Is there a problem, Officer?" Cori interjected as she watched the two size each other up.

The guard turned to Cori. "Should there be?"

"You called us back, I just don't know why."

The guard came around the end of the conveyor belt. "You forgot your jackets. It's kinda warm for jackets isn't it?" he said, holding out the two windbreakers.

"We weren't sure how long we were going to be. It can get a little chilly toward the evening," Cori said.

"Ah, sorry." Kenzie collected the forgotten items. "Thanks. I'm sure we'd be missing these later." The guard nodded and they turned and headed for the door.

Cori walked through the door and out onto the sidewalk of San Ysidro, California. They were back on American soil.

"So much for Homeland Security," she said as Kenzie stepped up beside her.

"What did you expect?"

"I don't know, but something better than that. They hardly asked us a thing. I thought that after 9-11 there would be better security."

"Security is a state of mind," Kenzie commented as she glanced over the busy sidewalk, her eyes stopping at the row of automated ticket booths. "There." She nodded toward them. "We need tickets for the red trolley. That will take us into San Diego." She transferred her pinata to her other hand, gently guiding Cori forward and away from the building.