The Key To Micah's Heart (Hell Yeah!) (6 page)

“Of course, I’ll certainly try. Do you have a photograph?” Sofia asked gently.

After toddling to the next room and back, Senora Estevez handed her a faded Polaroid. “See how pretty?”

Gazing at the happy face, the big brown eyes, the long dark hair, Sofia nodded. Lupe fit the description of ninety-nine percent of the lost ones. Poor. Pretty. Vulnerable.

“I will do what I can.” The title of Angel Rubio sat heavily on Sofia’s shoulders. “You can do something for me, Senora.”

“What is this?” Her elder clasped her hands together, waiting. “I will do anything I can to help you.”

“Keep your eyes open.” She slipped a small piece of paper into the Senora’s hands. “If you see anything out of the ordinary, call me.”

After kissing the piece of paper, she nodded. “Times are not like they used to be. We have lost so many. There is a monster living among us.”

Sofia had to agree. “Yes. We must find this monster. So, I will ask one more thing of you.”

“What is it?” The grieving grandmother lifted her eyes wet with tears.

“Pray. Ni una muerta mas.”

The Equalizers at work… 

“Come on, Wolfe.” Saxon picked up his laptop. “It’s not like you have anything better to do.”

Micah thought about his comfortable bed and the story half written on his computer. He did his best work when he was horizontal. Or standing. Or sitting. Hell, he was just talented. There were several women who’d give him a glowing recommendation if asked. The very thought made him laugh.

“Kyle won’t mind if we crash here?” Micah asked, picking up a sofa pillow and tossing it up and down in the air.

“Nah, he said we were taxpayers. This home belongs to the people of Texas, ergo to us.”

“There you go, ergo-ing again.” He picked up his Ranger’s hat and pulled it low over his eyes. “All right. I’ve got my thinking cap on. Where do we start?”

“Well…everyone leaves fingerprints on the net. Let’s go exploring.”

As adept at filtering out information online as Saxon, Micah grabbed a computer and went to work. Like his friend, he knew how to navigate the dark-web. He’d mastered intelligence gathering in the service. The contacts he’d made over the years were invaluable. He was still contacted occasionally by different branches of the government and the military to aid them on special projects with his own unique way of finding what other people intended to keep hidden. What they were looking for was any chatter that could be construed to be about abductions, prostitution, human trafficking–anything they could tie to Juarez. “If I were a total creep, selling drugs and women, where in Juarez would I live?”

“In the richest part of town?” Saxon muttered dryly.

“Yep, a place called the ‘Golden Zone’. Juarez isn’t like Tampico, there’s no particular red light district.”

“I don’t think Noah’s mother would be living in the better part of town.”

“No, I don’t think so either. But she would go where the girls are…if she’s the angel of mercy she’s purported to be.” Micah chewed on his lower lip as his fingers flew over the keys.

“Why do you think they call her Angel Rubio?”

Micah glared at his friend. “Golden haired angel. Did you fail basic Spanish?” Saxon didn’t look up. “There’s a superstition in Mexico that touching someone with blond hair is good luck.” When his friend continued to ignore him, he grew suspicious. “What?”

“I think I found something.”

“What? Did you find someone buying cases of duct tape and date rape drugs?”

“No.” Saxon flipped the screen around so Micah could see. “I found a message calling for a hit on Angel Rubio.”

Angel Rubio – Sofia Garza Salazar…

“I think we should leave, go to the States.”

Sofia dished up a plate of heuvos rancheros and handed them to the young man who had come to mean so much to her. “Mateo, this is not something I can run from. You, however, should leave. Go back to your family in Mexico City. Blend into the crowd.”

“You saved my life. I’m not leaving you.”

Watching Mateo eat his food with gusto, Sofia smiled sadly. “You should have stayed in Tampico. You were safe there, you had friends.”

He took a big swig of milk, then held out his plate for more. “Your son’s family came looking for you. Why would you avoid them to fight a battle you can’t win?” Mateo watched Angel Rubio’s face fall. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned him.”

“Noah. His name is Noah.” She said the words reverently, like a prayer. “He’s a beautiful young man, very smart. A good man.”

“How long has it been since you saw him last?”

As if in a daze Sofia began to speak. “The last time I held him, he was two weeks old. Since then, I’ve seen him twice. From a distance.”

“What do you mean?”

“I attended his high school graduation, sat in the back. I also saw him the day he married, I parked on the road a few blocks from the ranch and watched him and his new bride leave for the airport. She is as beautiful as he is.”

“How did you keep up with this?” Mateo was confused. He didn’t understand why a woman who loved a child so much could stay away.

“The McCoy family are newsworthy. I keep up with them via google-alert.” Sofia laughed a bit harshly. “Isn’t that pitiful?”

“How about the pictures? I saw the pictures and they didn’t come from the internet.” Mateo asked the question, then had the good grace to blush.

“You snooped through my things?” She raised one elegant eyebrow.

“Yes, I needed answers. I wanted to know why you risk your life for others.”

“And did you find the answer?”

“Yes.” He shook his head. “No. I don’t know.”

“That’s a very decisive answer.” She gave him a sad smile. “The truth is simple. I sinned and being separated from my child was the punishment.”

“Whose punishment?”

“My husband.” She stood up and began putting the dirty dishes in the sink. “He was an angry man and I never pleased him. I turned to someone else for comfort and Noah was the result. One day after he’d beaten me, I lashed out and told him the baby I was about to have wasn’t his. When Noah was born, he told me to get rid of him or he would kill my baby. I appealed to Sebastian McCoy to take Noah away, to save his life. He agreed.”

“So… he was the father?”

Mateo’s question was met by a period of silence. At last, she answered. “Yes, that’s what I told him.”

Mateo frowned. He needed to practice his English, sometimes he didn’t get the nuance. “And the pictures? Who sent you the pictures?”

Sofia sat back down. No use hiding things now. Too many years had come and gone. “Sue McCoy, Sebastian’s wife.”

“She must have been a very understanding woman.” Mateo didn’t pretend to understand the female mind, but this didn’t seem to be normal behavior.

“She was…eventually.” Sofia’s voice faded. “This was several years later. I tried to call Sebastian one day, just to see how my son was doing. She answered…we talked.”

“Why did you wait so long?”

How did she explain something so humiliating? “For a long while, I felt…unworthy even to inquire about Noah.” She refused to look at Mateo. “Once Noah was safe from my husband, he took his anger out on me.”

“How?” Sympathy was evident in Mateo’s voice.

“He bartered me to the owner of a brothel in Juarez. This is why my greatest desire is to help other girls escape the hell I once knew so intimately.”

A new day for Madison…

The cots at Angel House were as thin as a newspaper insert, but Madison would’ve been glad to sleep on a bed of nails if it meant staying away from her own place while Rudy was there. She awoke early enough to give herself time to head home, grab a quick shower and a change of clothes before heading to work. Madison was always bouncing around from job to job. Her main goal in life was to one day become a nurse, but until she could find the stability, both financially and emotionally to go back to school, temp jobs were the only answer. One day she might be working in an office entering data, the next she could be an executive assistant. The way she saw it, all of these varying assignments gave her valuable computer skills and an opportunity to network with people she might not otherwise meet. After a turbulent childhood, Madison had been slow to find a footing in the world. Now at twenty-six, she finally felt comfortable enough to reach out to people and attempt to blend in with the rest of society.

Padding into the ladies’ washroom, Madison was glad to find it empty. Many other times at Angel House, she’d come here in the early morning hours only to find a visitor sleeping on the floor. Looking at herself in the mirror over the single sink as she brushed her teeth, Madison frowned at herself, wondering if Micah thought she was pretty. Oh well, que sera sera.

“Here you are.” Sonya entered the bathroom carrying a white mug full of coffee. The mug said
Karen
in purple letters with aqua stars encircling the name.

Madison sipped the morning glory. “You are a lifesaver, my friend.”

Sonya smiled back. “No biggy.”

“Well.
Karen
, thanks you.” She raised the mug in a toast, then both busted out laughing. The mug was a remnant from the eighties and they always got a laugh out of referring to whoever was drinking out of it at the time as Karen, even if the user was a male.

“You’re up early,” Sonya said as she leaned on the edge of a sink, hanging on by one ample hip.

“Gotta work.” The sun was still about an hour away from gracing the Texas skies. “I’ve been up about a half hour, already made my bed.” She’d also checked to see that her bag was still secure. It had been–thanks to Micah’s lock.

“Sleep well?” Sonya inquired.

Madison craned her neck and rubbed her shoulder. “What do you think? I don’t have the privilege of sleeping on that comfy blow-up bed you keep in the office.”

“Honey. Don’t hate. That’s just one of the perks that comes with being a director at this high-class establishment.” She gave Madison a saucy wink. “You could enjoy all of these fabulous luxuries if you’d make a bigger commitment to this wonderful place.”

Madison took another big gulp of her drink and exited the room. “Sonyaaaaa,” she whined. “Don’t make me feel bad. I’d love to be more involved around here and give back, but not all of us are as stable as you. The night I volunteer at the nursing home painting the ladies nails and playing games with them is about all I can spare.”

“I hear you. Where are you off to today?”

“Same place as yesterday, Keller Williams Realty. More filing and answering phone calls.”

“Do you like it there?”

“I’d like it better if they’d hire me full-time instead of letting me go next week. But hey, that’s the life of a temp.” The building still smelled of last night’s meal and it brought back the memory of working side-by-side with Micah. Madison smiled wistfully.

Sonya joined in, raising her nose for a whiff. “Smells so good I could eat the leftovers for breakfast.”

Madison wanted to ask her more about Micah, but she didn’t want her curiosity to be so obvious. “That sure was a good brisket.”

“Yea, Micah’s a good cook. He’s been coming around off and on for years. No matter how many other days he shows up to help out, he never misses one particular night–last night. I don’t know the significance. Apparently it’s the anniversary of something very important to him.”

“Does he come in a lot?”

“He comes in when he can, I guess.”

“Does he ever bring anyone with him?”

Sonya gave her a pointed stare, “Like a girlfriend, maybe?”

Busted.

“I wasn’t asking that. But, does he?”

“You know I can’t tell you about our volunteers, Madison. Shame on you.” Sonya gave her a finger wag.

“I was just curious. Geez, Louise.”

“Just curious, my foot. I saw the way you looked at him. Staying back there in the kitchen, washing imaginary dishes, hoping he’d come back and spend a little time with you. This ain’t my first rodeo, Miss Maddie. I recognize a smitten kitten when I see one.”

“That’s because you’re older than me.” She pinched a lock of Sonya’s hair between her fingers. “And you’ve got all this gray hair.”

Sonya swatted her hand away playfully. “I’m only three years older than you. You’re just jealous of all my wisdom. You wish you could rock this color.”

“For your information. I could rock that color quite well. I just prefer my natural color. Now tell me more about Micah.”

“Madison…”

“Pleeeeeeeease, Sonya. I won’t say anything to anyone. I promise.”

With a resigned sigh, Sonya spilled the few beans she possessed. “Well, I don’t know much about him other than he comes in when he can and makes a mean brisket. Plus, the boy is a complete flirt.”

Madison’s heart fell a bit. If he was that big of a flirt, maybe he’d only teased her out of habit. Sonya made it sound as if he behaved the same toward everyone. Pushing aside her disappointment, Madison decided to focus on the positive. “Do you know when he’ll be back?”