

### Two For Rain

K.J. Rivera

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 K.J. Rivera

License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

Two For Rain is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real.

To my Sweetie Lindo, without you I would have nothing to write about.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

# CHAPTER 1

The sun glistened off the dark asphalt road ahead of us, less than twenty miles away was the US border and behind us red lights from a police car were flashing. Sebastian and I were treating Nelly and Gwen to a vacation in San Diego to thank them for letting us stay with them the past few months. From the moment we left Phoenix Nelly started dropping hints that she wanted to take a day trip to Mexico. Sebastian quickly shot down the idea on day one and backed it up with a long list of examples to why it was an awful idea. From then on Nelly reserved her Mexico quips for only Gwen and myself.

The night before we were getting pulled over in Mexico we were in the middle of drinks with some of Gwen's old friends when Nelly summoned us to the restroom. It was our last night in San Diego and I wasn't surprised she was making one final plea for her quest to go south of the border. She mouthed the word _bathroom_ to me from across the table and I mouthed back the word _no_. Gwen laughed at our exchange because she had been through this many times before. Gwen and Nelly were my best friends from college. Nelly always insisted on having pow-wows with us in the women's restroom and I always resisted.

I let Nelly know by my sarcastic 360 glance around the room that I wasn't keen on hitting the bathrooms with her. We were in a cool little dive bar with a nice ocean view but it finally clicked in Nelly's head that it was not frequented for its cleanliness. She pointed outside and started walking towards the door. I kissed my husband Sebastian on the cheek before reluctantly getting up to follow Nelly. He was not concerned I was leaving him with people he didn't know because he found a guy to talk football with.

Once outside Nelly gave me the spiel I was expecting. She put the guilt trip on me thick pleading with me that tomorrow was her last chance to get the medicine she desperately needed. Her insurance didn't cover the meds and if I didn't persuade Sebastian to take her to Mexico she would rent a car to drive herself.

Driving down to Mexico to buy drugs didn't sound like a good idea but I was intrigued. I had been yearning for adventure since we left Florida a few months ago. We escaped a hellish situation and I would never want to go through anything like that again but I was longing for some kind of action. The extent of any adrenaline rush since moving back to Phoenix had been test-driving the cars Sebastian bought on Craigslist. That along with one night out where I had to make like a ninja to smuggle Nelly out of the club before the cops arrived over a fight she instigated. While this was only a day trip to Mexico it gave me hope for experiencing some kind of thrill.

Nelly went on and on about why I should be on board with her idea. I had already made up my mind that I was cool with it. She had me at 'I know it's dangerous but YOLO.'" The dangerous part had me not YOLO. Nelly's latest fad was using acronyms when she talked. She had to watch her language since she taught elementary school kids and to help curb her bad mouth she resorted to using acronyms, a G-rated version of the word or a made up word in place of the swear word. By habit she started turning a lot of her language into acronyms. It was getting on everyone's nerves.

Later that night when we walked back to the cottage we rented for the week I gave Nelly's spiel to Sebastian. He hated the idea but since Nelly was serious about renting a car if he wouldn't take her he obliged.

Well _that_ was the other night the following day with cherries flashing in the rearview mirror I was sure Sebastian wished he had let Nelly rent that car. We had an uneventful day trip to Mexico up to the point where the Mexican police car was pulling us over. Nelly had bought her drugs and we were so close to crossing back over the border unscathed.

"You got to be kidding me!" Sebastian yelled. "I can't believe this."

I perked up and glanced back at Nelly and Gwen. They had fear on their face. Part of me was excited because this is what I was longing for. I wanted adventure and fear but only on my terms. I felt bad for that as I thought of headless bodies hanging over a bridge that I had recently seen for a preview about a documentary on Mexico's violence. My stomach dropped looking in the rearview mirror at the cop car. I felt a smidgen of guilt.

Sebastian slowly pulled over to the side of the road. "Aren't you happy now you got your damn drugs Nelly?" Sebastian was fuming. "So glad you got your precious pills."

Nelly didn't even know what to say for a moment. She had her blonde shoulder length hair in pigtails. It made her look like a teenager. Her blue eyes were big and I could tell she was scared. Nelly could never stay silent for long though.

"KMA Sebi you are the one driving! Why are you speeding?"

Sebastian's eyes narrowed as he turned over his shoulder to glare at her. "I'm not speeding mojón. We're from the US driving a nice car they either want to extort us for money or they're going to bust you when they find all those drugs. It might not even be a real cop!"

Nelly didn't have a comeback for Sebastian. The night before outside the hole in the wall bar Nelly had told me the drugs were for _girl stuff_. Gwen giggled hysterically. Hearing Gwen laugh the way she did made me realize I didn't want to ask specifics because I wouldn't be able to lie to Sebastian about it and he would nix the trip. I shook my head knowing Nelly got this idea from my grandparents. They take a trip to Mexico each year and stock up on medicine. Hell my grandma got a new set of teeth there a few years ago.

"You got us into this Nelly you have to get us out," Sebastian proclaimed.

The police officer took his sweet time getting out of his car and our nervousness was building rapidly. I looked out the window at our surroundings. We were in the outskirts of a Mexican city with a few raggedy stores and houses surrounding us. It reminded me of a Pepsi commercial without the supermodel.

Nelly looked perplexed. "How?"

"You better do something. Fake like you're sick and have to crap."

"What?" Nelly shrieked.

I spotted the police officer in the rearview mirror as he walked toward our Camry. A nervous gasp left Gwen's mouth. I took a deep breath.

"Fudge! Fudge! Fudge!" Nelly said quickly. "What should I do?"

The officer knocked on our window and all of us except Sebastian flinched.

"Be dramatic say you need a toilet," Sebastian said. "Point at your ass!"

When Sebastian rolled down the window he greeted the officer in Spanish so he knew he spoke the language. I had hoped this would give us extra points. Sebastian was Puerto Rican and fluent in Spanish. He was also 6'2" and built. With his dark hair and blue eyes he was gorgeous but his size and demeanor could come off as intimidating. I was hoping the power tripping police officer didn't take off points for that. They spoke back and forth in conversation for a moment. The police officer looked scary. His facial expression remained stern and even. His voice offered no compassion. Nelly sat behind Sebastian leaning against his headrest like a little kid in trouble. After a few moments Sebastian snapped his fingers to the side and tilted his head to look at Nelly indicating it was her turn to do her thing. She would not speak though and sat there with a terrified look on her face.

Through my teeth I whispered to Nelly. "Tell him!"

Nelly paused like a deer in headlights and I wanted to burst out laughing. I turned away and looked out my window to distract myself from the sight.

"Um I have dia-ree-ah!" She began to sputter in a loud voice. "I'm really sick!"

The officer tilted his head and looked at her with confusion. He squinted his eyes and said something in Spanish to Nelly.

"Um Montezuma's revenge!" Nelly brought her weight to her left side, raised her booty in the air and pointed at it. "Butt! I gotta go!"

"Say nalgas," I whispered. "Nalgas means butt." I said this proudly since it was one of the few Spanish words my husband had taught me.

Nelly pointed to her butt again and spoke loudly, "Nal-gas, nal-gas!"

She dragged out the pronunciation. Sebastian was embarrassed and extremely agitated. I couldn't hold in my laughter and put the top of my tank top in my mouth to prevent myself from busting out. Nelly pointing at her ass and yelling was too much for me to handle. Sebastian started talking in Spanish again to the officer. All of a sudden there was a loud pop and all of us jumped. A few quick seconds later a string of loud pops echoed through the air. It sounded like firecrackers going off but I knew that sound it was gunshots.

"Get down!" Sebastian shouted.

The car shook as all of us quickly got down struggling to fit into the small floor space in the Toyota Camry. There was another loud pop and the sound of glass shattering. Small pieces of our front window shattered around me. Nelly and Gwen both let out loud screams. I raised my head up ever so slightly to look over at Sebastian. I tried to get as low as possible but it hurt trying to cram myself low to the ground. We heard the police officer yelling as he left the vicinity.

"What the hell!" I yelled.

"Oh fudge, oh fudge, oh fudge," Nelly whined.

Sebastian slowly kneeled up and looked over the steering wheel.

"There is a fire fight up ahead of us," Sebastian grimaced. He was struggling to contort his body to be able to stay low. "We can't stay in the car we're sitting ducks! Everyone get out from the right side! Stay low and get into that store over there! Go. Now!"

We scurried out of the car and sprinted to the store. It felt like we were moving in slow motion. When we reached the store we ran through the aisles continuing to get as far away from the gunshots as we could. When we got to the back of the store we all went down to the floor. I leaned back against the cooler door to catch my breath. I looked around and saw that most people were shopping like there was nothing out of the ordinary going on outside. A young mom was huddled to the left of us and had two young kids under her arms. Other than that the few customers in the store carried on with their shopping. I saw a young boy walking down one of the isles with a stack of papers. He was handing out some kind of flyer to everyone he walked by. When he walked by us Sebastian reached up motioning the boy to hand him a flyer. He looked it over and asked the young boy a few questions.

"Que es eso?" I asked.

Sebastian handed me the flyer. A picture of a Chinese girl was surrounded by Spanish words.

"The kid said a Chinese man gave him $20 to hand these out."

"What's the flyer say?" I asked Sebastian.

"It's about a missing girl."

I glanced at the picture of the girl then folded the flyer and put it in my back pocket. I looked over at Nelly and Gwen. They were both visibly shaken. Their faces were bright red and it looked like they were on the verge of tears. We sat in silence all of us trying to wrap our mind around what just happened outside. Well at least I got the adrenaline rush I was looking for. I smiled at Sebastian and he shook his head still reeling from his disgust with Nelly for dragging him down to Mexico. He gave me a sly look and I assumed it was because he realized that I was slightly amused at our predicament. My husband knew me too well. He put his arm around me, pulled me close to him and kissed the side of my head.

"You have missed the thrill of danger haven't you my lady?"

I smiled coyly. "Maybe a little."

The frequency of the popping from the gunshots slowed down. After a few more minutes of waiting it ceased all together. Sebastian told me he was going to check on things outside and walked to the front of the store. Gwen, Nelly and I stayed sitting on the floor. I realized that for Gwen and Nelly this had to have been the scariest moment of their lives. They don't know about the self-proclaimed private eye business we ran in Orlando so they had no idea that Sebastian and I had been through far worse.

"Holy fudge nuts!" Nelly ended her silence.

Gwen rolled her eyes and got the giggles. Gwen's laugh always started out as a giggle then gained momentum into a belly laugh. It was contagious. "Butt!" Gwen managed to say between giggles.

"Do you have diarrhea now?" I asked Nelly.

Nelly broke out her infectious laugh and all three of us started laughing non-stop. The laughing escalated when we watched an older married couple leap arm in arm over Gwen's long legs as they went to pick out a carton of orange juice. After a good five minutes or so we finally gained our composure and stood up to head to the front of the store. Through the store's front door we could see Sebastian talking to a local. I opened the door to go out but Gwen and Nelly hesitated not wanting to go outside where shots had just been fired a few moments ago.

"Leah go ask your man if it's okay to come out," Nelly said. "I want to get the f out of this place!"

"Oh now you know why Sebastian wasn't keen on your little day trip idea," I teased. "In your sales job last night you said that crime down here is exaggerated."

"Shut up b-zitch."

Gwen and I shot each other the look we had been sharing with each other since Nelly started using her new vocabulary.

"Nelly seriously!" I snapped. "You have to stop with your lame replacement words. It's super annoying."

I turned and let the door shut so I wouldn't have to listen to her response. I confirmed with Sebastian that it was safe to come out and gave the girls a thumbs up sign. Sebastian and I inspected the Camry. A bullet hole went through the front window and landed in the back seat. Nelly gingerly strolled over to us knowing she was going to take the heat on this one. Sebastian glared at her half-heartedly knowing that she felt bad about the situation she put us in.

"Hope that hemorrhoid medicine was worth it." He pointed at the backseat. "Check out where you were sitting."

Nelly put her finger on the small hole in the seat from where the bullet pierced it. "OMG!" She said this dramatically as she took a moment to reflect. When she saw the bullet mark she realized how close she was to being shot. "OMFG it landed right where I was sitting! I am so freaked out you guys. Gwen look!"

"Day trip everybody! YOLO, LOL, KMA, BRB USA. Let's go to Mexico!" Sebastian mimicked Nelly using his best womanly voice and even acted out her body language.

Nelly snapped out of the reflective sentimental moment she was in. While she tried not to laugh at his impression of her she couldn't keep herself from smiling. She shook her head in an effort to get a serious expression back on her face. "Oh be quiet," she grumbled. "And I didn't get hemorrhoid meds you jango!"

"You sure? And what? Is jango short for Jango Fett in your new language?"

"No I call you jango so I don't call you an f'er."

"Stop it children," Gwen said. "Can we like seriously just get the hell out of here now? I've been shot at enough for one day."

Sebastian inspected the windshield and ordered Nelly to go back into the store to look for duck tape to put over the bullet hole. When Nelly didn't return Sebastian went in and came out a few minutes later with a roll of dark tape that would have to do. Once on the road again all of us were silent. I think we all shared the same thought that we wouldn't feel relieved until we crossed the border back into the US. Nelly put on her headphones and listened to her iPod to avoid anymore of Sebastian's wrath. Gwen closed her eyes trying to sleep off the terrifying event she just lived through. Sebastian held my hand as he drove. We would be back in San Diego with plenty of day left and I started to plan what I wanted to do before our California vacation was officially over. I wanted to get one more round of beach volleyball in along with a final dip in the ocean before we had to drive back to Phoenix that night.

"Hey did you keep that flyer?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah." I grabbed the flyer from my pocket and unfolded it. "Okay so tell me everything it says Sebi."

Sebastian leaned his head over to get a better look at the writing on the flyer. "A Chinese girl went missing down here. It lists her features. She's 5'4", dark hair and eyes. Last seen wearing jeans and a yellow tee shirt. Her name is Grace Yu. If you have any information call Bo."

"The phone number is a US number right?" I asked. "619."

"Yep looks that way," Sebastian said.

"Yeah that's a San Diego area code," Gwen said quietly.

I looked back at Gwen. She still had her eyes closed.

"Hmm," I said. "So does the flyer say anything else? Did she go missing while visiting Mexico? Is there a reward?"

"Doesn't say much else and no reward listed but that's not a surprise."

"Why?"

"This Bo guy doesn't want to place a dollar amount on it or he might get extorted or kidnapped himself. The amount of kidnappings that take place here is ridiculous. He would get a bunch of calls with false information."

Gwen sighed. "Yeah it happens all the time. A girl I worked with the summer I lived in San Diego had a cousin get kidnapped when they were down here for a wedding. She said it was awful. The family paid the money and got her back in the end. They went through hell though."

"Wow," I said. "That's so sad. I don't know why anyone would want to risk coming down here."

All three of us glanced at Nelly who had her eyes closed bobbing her head slowly to her music.

Sebastian shook his head. "That one back there."

"Only Nelly," Gwen laughed.

"And PBJ," I said. We called my grandparents PBJ it stood for pretty boy and Jazzy.

"Oh yeah of course your grandparents they are regulars down here," Gwen laughed. "We will have to send Nelly with them next time because I am sure as hell not coming back here. Have you talked to Jazzy lately?"

"Yeah I talked with her a few weeks ago she told me a story about a lady at church who walked down the aisle for communion and only one leg had pantyhose on it, she missed the other leg."

Gwen cackled. "How does that happen?"

"I have no idea."

Sebastian frowned. "Hey wake up the drug mule I want her to have to endure this."

We were approaching the border. Gwen nudged Nelly in the leg. "Wakey-wakey."

"I am up you," Nelly searched for a safe word. "You people!"

Gwen laughed. "Good one Nels."

"Suck it."

Nelly wiggled around nervously. She took her headphones off and began to fidget with her seatbelt. Sebastian told her to calm down and act normal. We all breathed a sigh of relief after we were given the okay to continue on by the border patrol without an inspection.

"Go, go, go," Nelly yelled.

She was relieved to be out of Mexico. All of us were.

"Relax Nels we're all good," Gwen assured Nelly. "We're back in the good ole USA."

Nelly stayed turned around in her seat peering back at the border. After a few moments she turned forward and smiled brightly. "Home sweet home."

I took the flyer out of my pocket and kept studying it. I couldn't help but wonder where this girl was and what she was going through. Being kidnapped or having a loved one kidnapped in Mexico would be a nightmare. I wondered if Bo was her dad or brother or boyfriend. The girl looked quite young but guessing how old someone is nowadays is tricky. I am 24 and a few weeks earlier I couldn't get into an R rated movie because I didn't have my purse to show ID. Sebastian couldn't believe they wouldn't let me buy the tickets then told me I did look like a teenager with my dark brown hair up in a high ponytail.

"Grace Yu where are you?" I said quietly.

Nelly inched to the edge of her seat behind me and popped her head over my headrest to see what I was doing. Sebastian did not put on the radio at all during our trip to Mexico. He said he needed a break. On the drive to San Diego we sang and laughed the entire time. He didn't understand how we could laugh so much when we were around each other. Nelly and Gwen were like sisters to me. We played college volleyball at Arizona State together. Gwen grew up not that far from me in Colorado so I had known her since we were in grade school.

"What's with Hello Kitty?" Nelly asked.

"It's the flyer the boy was handing out in the store. A girl is missing. Her name is Grace Yu."

"What boy in the store?"

Gwen gave her a bewildered look. "Yeah just the only boy walking around the store we were in while we hid from bullets being fired. He had a stack of papers and was holding a rather scary staple gun. That boy!"

"Hey I was trying not to piss myself," Nelly snarled. "I wasn't paying attention to anything else in that store. So does this China girl live in Mexico and went missing?"

Sebastian filled Nelly in on the kidnapping and crime that Mexico was known for. He pointed out that he touched on this when she first brought up her brilliant idea of visiting Mexico.

"Sucks to be Grace Yu," Nelly mumbled.

Gwen gave Nelly a disapproving look for her snarky comment.

"Well it does!" Nelly exclaimed. She sighed then leaned back and sat normally in her seat.

After a few moments of silence I nudged Sebastian. I gave him the universal call sign and when he gave me a puzzled look I whispered to him that I wanted to call the number on the flyer. When I got something in my head I couldn't let it go. I knew Sebastian was thinking about the missing girl as well. Sebastian nodded his head slightly but I knew he didn't want to discuss this with Gwen and Nelly in the car. I was anxious to know if he was in agreement and I whispered to him that we could help find this missing girl. Of course with her headphones no longer on Nelly couldn't resist inquiring what I was whispering about.

"What are you two love birds talking about?"

"Nothing just thinking about this missing girl."

"Are you going to call the guy?" Gwen asked.

With her angle she heard what I had said to Sebastian. "Maybe. I'd like to get more information on her disappearance."

"And what?" Nelly smirked.

"Sebastian and I could help. We have no place to be, no commitments. No harm in trying to help. How many people even care this girl is missing? I feel for this guy Bo and this girl's family."

Nelly let out a snicker. "And what you two are going to make like Bonnie and Clyde and rescue th-"

"Those were bank robbers," Sebastian interrupted.

"Whatever, you know what I mean. Um, Turner and Hooch or whoever you want to call yourselves and make like detectives?"

"That's Tom Hanks and a French Mastiff," Sebastian said.

"Shut it," Nelly told him with a laugh. "Seb earlier you said you would never go down to Mexico now you want to go on a scavenger hunt down there for a fortune cookie? Please."

"I don't mind taking a chance on going to Mexico when the mission is to find a missing girl. I just don't like it when the mission is to get you hemorrhoid pills for your flaming ass."

"I didn't get hemorrhoid pills you jackass!"

"Mouth!" Gwen said sarcastically.

Sebastian turned on the radio.

# CHAPTER 2

Sebastian and I were cautious when we discussed how to approach speaking with Bo. We agreed we would meet Bo if he was open to it and get a feel for him before committing to help search for the missing girl. Sebastian the anal one was hesitant to get back into doing this type of work. It had been two months since the events in Orlando and for me I thought it would be therapeutic to get back to work. I wanted to do something, anything, for us to move forward and put the Orlando memories behind us. For Sebastian it was the opposite he was still on edge not wanting to do anything that could be dangerous for us. One of my strengths was living in the moment. While I would never completely be able to wash away the memories of what transpired in Orlando awhile back I didn't dwell on it.

After pacing back and forth for what seemed like a long period of time Sebastian called the number listed on the flyer. I heard him talk and could tell he was being reserved. I could also sense the desire in his voice. I knew my husband wanted to do this as bad as I did.

Our life was vastly different from the life I envisioned we would have when I met Sebastian. I thought I would be an architect's wife and have a normal 9-5 job myself. The highlight of our week would be happy hour with friends then spending the weekend either curled up with one another at our house or traveling to one of our favorite getaway spots. Not long into our marriage that pretty picture faded. The architecture firm had layoffs and Sebastian was out of a job. My low paying health club job didn't pay our bills. To avoid being homeless we took all the possessions we owned that could fit in our vehicle and along with a lot of credit card debt we moved in with Sebastian's parents in Orlando.

After months of being in a stupor that included staying up late into the night watching TV shows we had missed out on I took the first job I could find. I became a part time waitress at The Cheesecake Factory in Winter Park. It was there in the parking lot one night that an older lady beckoned me to her Mercedes window. Her name was Shirley Campbell and it would be an encounter that would set our life on a different course. Meeting Shirley led us to evil men and to discovering unthinkable things. Our encounter with Shirley also brought us hope and a new life. I can't say I wish we wouldn't have met her because I find myself looking around in parking lots hoping to see another Shirley. I felt like Jack in Lost who would fly Oceanic flights hoping to crash so he could get back to the island.

Sebastian brought his phone down from his ear and smiled. "Bo was excited but reserved to hear from me."

"Tell me everything he said! Is he young, old?"

"I don't know he sounds young. He wants to meet with us but first we have to go to a FedEx store."

I frowned. "For what?"

"He wants us to send him a copy of our drivers license. He wants to check us out to make sure we are legit. Not two crazies trying to come after him for money. Once he reviews it he will send me directions to a place to meet."

"Okay I guess I don't blame him. Did he tell you info on the missing girl?"

"He didn't say a thing he will divulge all the information when or if we meet."

"Well why don't we take pictures of our license on our phone and email them?"

"Brilliant Leah."

Sebastian sent a copy of our licenses to Bo. After an hour of patiently waiting Sebastian's phone buzzed indicating he received a text message. Bo must have approved of the background check he or his people ran on us because he sent Sebastian an address. Who knows what he even did with our licenses or if he simply wanted to have our names as a security blanket. Sebastian studied the directions Bo sent to him. The meeting place was located in La Jolla. Sebastian sent me down to the beach to tell Nelly and Gwen that we might need to stay another night. Bo wanted to meet us at 7 pm. Without knowing how long it would take or if we will need to have some follow up tomorrow with Bo we decided it was best to plan on staying another night. Gwen and Nelly had gone straight to the beach when we arrived back from Mexico and had been napping on their beach towels ever since. A groggy Nelly was pissed off with the change of plans. I told her we needed to get the windshield fixed on the car and that calmed her down.

We had nearly two hours to kill until we met with Bo. Sebastian and I started driving north towards La Jolla using the directions Bo sent us. It didn't take long to find a restaurant that caught our eye. Before our food came we did a search on our laptops on everything related to Grace Yu. We were surprised to find so little information. There was a small blurb on a local paper's website the date of the article was from the previous month. The only new information it provided that we didn't already know was that Grace Yu was a 20-year-old San Diego State student. We took our time eating then walked on the beach holding hands and talking about our future.

"Leah I just think we need to be very cautious this time around and not get ahead of ourselves."

"I know, I know." I got frustrated at Sebastian's conservative ways. "This is the perfect case Seb. It is to find a missing girl. It's public. There's nothing wrong with us working on trying to find her. It's not like Orlando we're not getting duped. This is legit, a girl is missing."

"I know this," Sebastian sighed. "I just think we need to be safe and smart going forward. I still think we should look into getting a PI license if we are serious about making this our living. If not we need to look into another line of work."

I scoffed at the idea. I looked into getting registered and licensed when we moved back to Arizona. It didn't appeal to me. I didn't want to conform and be part of a system. For the past couple of months to make money Sebastian had been buying cars and flipping them. Sometimes he fixed the car up making its value rise other times he made no tweaks and used his salesman skills to make a profit. This started because we needed a way to launder the cash we made in Orlando. Sebastian was making this his passion while I kept trying to persuade him to let me put feelers out to find someone who needs our services. He kept telling me to relax and take some time to clear my head. My passion the last couple of months had been spin, yoga, and kick boxing classes at the Camel Club.

I wandered away from Sebastian and walked into the ocean water. It was cold and felt refreshing. Sebastian stayed on the sand because he hated cold water. I turned my head back toward him. "Sebastian please don't start with the getting licensed stuff. You know the system. Are hands will be tied and I don't want to do it that way. You know this and you've agreed with me."

He cleared his throat before replying. "Leah I know. You just have to understand what we went through."

"Sebastian I was there I know."

"Yeah but you are you Leah. I guess I still struggle with all that went down in Orlando, death and betrayal. I don't ever want that feeling again."

"I don't either but we can't let it paralyze us," I said confidently. "Come on we have to live again. It's okay for us to live. Our goal when we decided to start doing this kind of work was helping others live. There's a girl out there that has nobody that is helping her. If we don't help who does? Her life is over."

Sebastian walked toward me, he took a step back when he felt the chill of the water and I took a few steps to meet him. He hugged me and held me tightly kissing my hair as he ran his hands gently down my back. He put his hands around my waist and leaned his forehead against mine.

"Thanks for being my best friend."

"Always. I love you Sebastian."

"I am always thinking about keeping you protected Leah. I love you."

We drove past one beautiful house after another. The area was full of immaculate houses. It looked like a postcard of wealth complete with the ocean view and picket fences. When we got to the end of Bo's directions we were in front of what I would call a compound. _Who is this guy Bo?_ Sebastian and I gave each other nervous glances. Sebastian rolled down his window and pressed the button on the intercom announcing our arrival. There was no reply only the opening of a large gate. Sebastian parked the '08 Camry that he'll have to fix up before selling and will likely lose money on.

Sebastian shook his head. "This is kind of odd."

"Huh?"

"This guy has some serious money and he's answering our call. A flyer we found in Mexico is bringing us here? I don't know I'm just suspicious."

My stomach sunk. I was surprised by the fear I felt. We had nothing with us for protection. "Oh damn you don't think we're being kidnapped or some shit do you? Should we get out of here?"

"Gates already closed," Sebastian said. Sebastian sensed my uneasiness and adjusts his demeanor. "Leah it'll be fine we're not getting kidnapped in this compound and if we do it might be nice this place is like a castle. Come on we're just being paranoid let's go in."

A maid answered the door and led us into a large sitting room. This place had more of a feel of a library than of a home. Maybe this is a business building or an institute of some kind. After sitting down on a couch I started to say something to Sebastian when a guy in khaki shorts, a grey v-neck tee shirt and tan flip flops walked in. He carried a manila folder and a laptop. He was of Chinese decent with short dark hair and glasses. The young man introduced himself as Bo Tang.

Bo appeared nice and laid back. My first impression was positive and I liked him. I could sense he was genuine. I liked to boast to Sebastian that I had keen senses for being able to read people. He liked to dismiss this notion but I frequently proved it to be true. Bo asked us to give him our background. Sebastian did the talking and right away you could see delight in Bo's eyes. Sebastian detailed our past making it sound a lot more glamorous than it was even though he didn't fabricate it by any means. As I heard Sebastian tell our story of how we came to be investigators and our past cases I was as intrigued by it as Bo was. It was like I was hearing it for the first time. It was crazy to hear it told a loud by Sebastian. I could tell Bo was excited to have investigators show an interest in Grace. Sebastian didn't lie, he told Bo we were not licensed and after the great detail Sebastian used to outline our previous cases he didn't seem to care.

Bo was anxious for his turn to talk. He took out his laptop and placed it on the coffee table in front of us. Bo kneeled down to the side of the table and started to scroll through pictures showing us who Grace Yu was. The girl looked young, almost childlike. She was cute and I could tell by her facial expressions that she had an outgoing personality. Most of the pictures were only of Grace while there were a few of Bo and Grace together. Grace had the same bubbly smile in all of them. Only one showed a sad Grace. It was a picture of her and Bo at Alcatraz, it was raining and Bo had an umbrella over them. Grace was playfully giving Bo a look of disappointment while he smiled at the camera. I only knew she was playing because Bo went into detail telling us about that day. It rained and instead of the day being ruined they let themselves get drenched as they took in the sights of a soggy San Francisco. Hearing Bo talk about Grace with his face lit up reminded me of that initial passion Sebastian and I had when we first met.

Bo sat back in his seat and talked to us about the police having no leads. He felt like the case was at a dead end. I could hear the desperation in his voice. He said Grace had been missing nearly two months now and in the beginning there was vigils held but everything had ceased. Sebastian and I studied the photos.

"So I take it Grace is your girlfriend?" Sebastian asked.

Bo hesitated. "Yeah she's my girlfriend. But..."

Sebastian and I looked at each other with a slight frown. It was a yes or no question.

Bo laughed lightly. "Yes she's my girlfriend but it's complicated you have to know Chinese culture. My parents have no interest in hearing about my girlfriend Grace."

"They don't approve?" I asked. That was shocking to me because the pictures showed such a sweet innocent girl. How could his parents not like her?

"My family originates from Hong Kong. I was born and raised in Vancouver where my family still resides. While I was raised outside of China my father is still very much rooted in the ways of Chinese traditions. He has already picked out my wife."

"Say what?" I raised my eyebrows and shuddered at what that must be like.

"Yeah he picked out my future bride already," Bo said shyly. "They are planning a January wedding for us."

"Damn that's less than three months away!" I gasped.

"Have you met her?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes I have." Bo said unruffled. "Her name is Xiu Ming."

"Does she have an English name?" Sebastian asked. "I know most of the time you pick an English name when you come to the states."

"No the Ming's are very traditional. My father picked her out a long time ago because her family has roots to the actual Ming Dynasty. Once we marry the Tang's and Ming's will combine our multi-billion dollar industries."

I shook my head and looked at Sebastian. _I love the USA_ I thought to myself.

"So it's a business decision," Sebastian paused. "Wow that has to be awkward for you. So do your parents know you met Grace and like her?"

"Oh yes I told them about her but they didn't want to hear it. They dismissed it. Again my dad is set in his ways there's no getting around it."

I felt for Bo and was disgusted this was how marriage worked in other cultures. Two people coming together shouldn't be a business decision. Bo changed the subject back to Grace and started to talk about the day she disappeared when an older Chinese man abruptly opened the door to the room we were in. He spoke in a loud stern voice to Bo. It was all in Chinese and Sebastian and I watched the exchange wide-eyed. Bo calmly replied with a few words when he could get them in. The man pointed to the pictures on the laptop and kept going with his rant. In the hallway watching was a gloomy looking Chinese woman and a fit Chinese man in a black suit. The man looked intimidating and I started to get worried about what was going on by everyone's demeanor.

Bo who was standing while taking in the verbal punishment from the man finally leaned toward us. "Excuse me for moment while I talk to my father."

Bo's father led him into the hallway while continuing his verbal blast in his stern tone. The woman kept her head down and the man near her had a slight grin on his face. The woman looked younger than Bo's father but I wondered if it was his mom. After a few minutes Bo returned with his dad behind him.

"Sorry I troubled you today, forgive me, your assistance will no longer be needed. If you can take the folder and thumb drive you brought with you Mr. Ho will see you out."

The gentleman in the hallway must have been Mr. Ho because he jumped up at the snap of Mr. Tang's fingers. He walked toward us and got uncomfortably close. Sebastian fidgeted as he grabbed the manila folder Bo wanted us to take. Some of the papers fell to the ground. While he picked them up I grabbed Bo's thumb drive off the table. I slid it into the computer bag and we started walking out of the room with Mr. Ho on our ass. Once in the hallway there were two more businessmen in dark suits that led us to the front door. They acted as if they were guards and escorted us all the way out to our car. With folded arms they closely watched us back out of the driveway.

"What the f!" I shouted as we passed the gate.

Sebastian tilted his head and gave me a blank stare. "Stop."

"What?"

"Nelly is rubbing off on you."

"Oh sorry. It's just she says it all the time now. That was crazy what the hell do you think is going on?"

Sebastian shook his head as he looked down at his phone to get the directions to get out of here. "Don't know. Maybe Chinese mafia or some shit."

On the trip back to our vacation rental we debated why Bo's dad was so livid. We were intrigued about the content that was on the thumb drive that Bo made sure we took. I called Nelly and told her that we were leaving tonight after all so they needed to have all their stuff packed. It was loud where she was at and I could tell she was drinking. She told me she had a 'potential' so I would have to give her an hour or so. I told her we were leaving with or without her so she sent Gwen back to the cottage to pack and said we could pick her up when we were done getting our stuff.

It didn't take long to pack up our belongings. I didn't like ending our vacation to San Diego on a sour note. At least Nelly was closing it out with a bang. We went to pick her up at a bar called The Local. I sent Gwen in to get her but when they didn't come out Sebastian sent me in after them. Gwen was doing her best to get Nelly to leave but she was a few shots in already so it was a task that required two people. Nelly said her new boyfriend would drive her home. When Gwen and I headed for the door she sheepishly followed.

"I thought you two went to get the windshield fixed?" Nelly asked looking at the Camry. "Looks the same to me."

"Couldn't find a place to do it cheap so I'll bill you," Sebastian replied.

Nelly gave Sebastian a glare and got in the back seat just as the guy she was flirting with came out of the bar. He had on board shorts, flip-flops and a tank top. He was short with sandy blonde hair. He looked around the parking lot for Nelly.

"Nels your man's looking for you," Gwen chirped.

"Oh don't go yet! Falip! Falip over here!" Nelly waved her hand out the window to get his attention. Sebastian did not want to delay our leaving and started to go. "Stop the flipping car Sebi!"

"Falip? What the hell kind of name is that?" I asked her.

Gwen laughed. "That is so not his name."

Nelly ignored us and got out of the car. She exchanged numbers with Falip.

"Let's go!" Sebastian yelled out the window.

Nelly hugged the guy and got back in the car.

"Is his name really Falip?" Gwen asked with a laugh.

"Yes! Did I stutter? Leave his beautiful name alone."

Sebastian gave the Camry gas then stopped abruptly. "Hold on. This is going to drive me crazy." He backed the car up. "Hey! Hey man!"

The guy was nearing the bar entrance. He turned back when he heard Sebastian.

"What's up bro?"

"What's your name?" Sebastian yelled.

"Philip."

"Awesome thanks Falip!" Sebastian stepped on the gas peeling out of the parking lot while Gwen and I laughed hysterically.

"Falip, really Nelly?" I said in between laughing.

"No that's what it sounds like in my accent!"

Apparently unbeknownst to me Nelly's new thing when she got drunk was to talk with an accent. She thought it was a good way to pick up guys. Gwen filled us in on her technique and Nelly babbled on about how it worked.

"That's so lame Nelly," Sebastian said. "That's not going to work. What you need to do is stop having a guy own a Trans-Am or a IROC-Z as your prerequisite."

"I got his number didn't I?" Nelly announced. "How you like them apples bro?"

"He looks and acts just like your old boyfriend," Sebastian scoffed.

"Brandon?" Nelly yelled. "No he doesn't!"

"Hey we saw Brandon a few weekends ago didn't we Nel," Gwen said.

Nelly tossed herself back in her seat like she was trying to shake off her buzz.

"Don't remind me."

"He have man jugs yet?" I asked.

"No," Nelly answered. "He actually looked kind of tamales."

"You boink him?"

"Hell no Leah and what are you 13?"

"I am being sarcastic Nelly. That was your question to me in college every time I would mention a guy's name?"

Gwen let out one of her cackles. "Oh my gosh I remember that! She would say that line all the time for everything."

"Oh come on I needed to ask that," Nelly said with a laugh.

"Um no you never needed to ask that and you over used it like you are doing now with your acronyms. You would use it even when it wouldn't make sense."

"Yeah whatevs."

"Oh right yes it needed to be asked when I got done checking out a book at the library. This was you, 'I saw the elderly male librarian _checking_ you out, you boink him?' Yeah that needed to be asked."

"Let's get back to what originated this, I got digits!" Nelly shrieked. "And he's a hottie!"

"Yeah I am sure a long distance relationship is going to work with the guy you _just_ met in a bar Nelly," Gwen said. "But hey it would not surprise me one bit with you. I hope you and Falip are very happy together."

"Hey I can find a job here and would gladly move to San Diego. Plus I met a few other guys this week that were hum-a-da-hum-a-da."

"Not _it_ on coming back here to visit your randoms with you Nelly!" Gwen mumbled sarcastically.

"Oh you are coming with me Gwen."

"Nope," Gwen replied. "Hey maybe Sebastian will drive you back."

"Hell no I am not it!" Sebastian shouted. "I love you Leah and you can go on vacation with Gwen and Nelly again sometime but I am staying home. Can you guys please, please for the love of Falip please be quiet now?"

Sebastian's tone was sarcastic and the girls laughed. I smiled and leaned over to give him a kiss on the lips. He turned the radio on and asked for silence again. It didn't take long for Nelly to crash out. Gwen fell asleep soon after. We left San Diego just before 9 pm and wouldn't be home until nearly 2 am. Sebastian was relieved there was peace and quiet in the car. I opened up the laptop and started to go through the thumb drive Bo gave us. It was basically an overview of Grace's missing person case. I found nothing eye catching or out of the ordinary. There were no leads and no clues as to where Grace could be. She was last seen at her one o'clock philosophy class on the campus of SDSU. The manila folder only contained photos, flyers, articles and vigil announcements. I put it away after sifting through it. There was no smoking gun that Bo wanted us to see, no hidden messages or findings to go with on our own. I was hoping Bo was giving us this stuff to provide us instructions on what to do to help him with the situation he was in. His dad looked like he wanted to choke him out. Bo didn't seem phased by it though. I was sure he must be used to it.

I was sound asleep when Sebastian's phone rang. I wiped off the drool that was on my cheek and switched positions leaning my head against the window. I heard Sebastian say his email address and assumed it was another interested car buyer. He was always getting calls and emails for his used car business he was running. I felt the car slow down and I opened my eyes. I saw lights up ahead for a gas station and the brightness burned my eyes. I was surprised at how hard I had been sleeping.

"Leah," Sebastian whispered. "Leah!"

"What?"

"Come outside with me I have to talk to you."

"I'm sleeping I don't want to get out."

He leaned over and whispered to me that it was Bo who called him. I slowly got out of the car and walked inside the gas station with him. Sebastian told me that Bo apologized for earlier and wanted to hire us. Sebastian told him we were game and Bo would email us flight information. He was going to book us one-way tickets to San Diego and provide the return ticket when it was needed. Bo told Sebastian we could stay at his apartment near the beach and he would stay at the compound.

"S&L is back sweetie!" Sebastian said. "We're hired."

"Awesome. Did he say anything about the fee?"

"No we will discuss it tomorrow when we meet. He's got plenty of money to pay us though so I don't think we need to worry about that. You're excited right?"

"Yes. I'm just a so tired right now and I'm a little concerned about the dad. We don't know these people Seb."

"It'll be all good Leah. Tomorrow I am going to get a list of all the names of the family members and the guards we saw tonight and give it to Pauly to check."

"Cool, good idea."

Pauly was our tech guy we met in Orlando. He's the only one that knew what type of work we did. When we started venturing into investigative work Sebastian's one rule was we would stay anonymous and not tell any family or friends what we were doing. We had kept to that rule and while we hadn't needed Pauly for anything since we left Orlando I still kept in touch with him.

"Why don't you call your brother tomorrow Leah and see if he will look over the case for us."

"I could. You want him knowing what we're doing though?" My brother Adam was a police officer in Denver, Colorado. "I don't want him asking questions."

"This is different than what we were doing in Florida Leah. I trust him and it would be good to have him give us any inside information that we can't get on our own."

"Deal I will give him a call tomorrow."

We pulled into Nelly and Gwen's complex at 1:52 am. For a little over a month Sebastian and I slept on their living room floor. It was tight quarters but after being away from them for so long we had a blast living together. Sebastian didn't enjoy it quite as much as me and was ecstatic when three weeks earlier we moved into a small house in Central Phoenix. One of Nelly's old classmates at ASU was participating in a two year teaching stint abroad and tried to sub lease her house. She was unsuccessful in renting it out and it sat empty for nearly a year. It was a perfect home for us. Rent was cheap and we adored the old school Phoenix neighborhood with houses that had huge yards with orange trees.

I had to jab Nelly and Gwen a few times to awaken them. They both groaned and yawned continually while they slowly prepared themselves to get out of the car. They waited in silence for Sebastian to hand them their bags out of the trunk.

"Goodnight girls," I said.

Both Gwen and Nelly mumbled quiet goodbyes.

"Sweet dreams," Sebastian called out as they walked toward their apartment.

"Yeah gunshots and the aftertaste of Jack Daniels will be a part of my dreams tonight," Nelly stammered.

"And Falip," Gwen said sarcastically.

# CHAPTER 3

Just like in a cheesy 90's movie there was a guy in a black suit holding up a sign with our names on it. I gave Sebastian a nudge and smiled at him like it was Christmas morning. Like two kids we jumped into the black Lincoln Town Car and touched all the amenities. The flight was short and both of us slept so we both had boundless energy. We couldn't wait to check out Bo's apartment and get started on our quest to find Grace. Sebastian called Bo to tell him we were on our way to his place. After a beautiful 15-minute drive we pull into an apartment complex that looked more like a hotel. It was facing La Jolla Shores beach and I thought of how excited Nelly would be when I told her.

Bo was waiting for us in the lobby. He gave us a tour before heading up to the 8th floor to show us where we would be staying while we worked on finding Grace. It was no surprise to me that his apartment was spotless. Bo's place was the perfect fit for him and similar to what I imagined it would be like. He had a one bedroom, two-bathroom place. His bedroom was large with a bed and a nice desk. Various gadgets were scattered around his room in orderly fashion. Sebastian was mesmerized by a two-foot robot and engaged in robot talk with Bo. The apartment was not pretentious like the compound was. The compound depicted his dad and this apartment depicted Bo. I couldn't get his dad out of my mind. I wondered how many times Bo would like to tell him to, well _fudge off_ like Nelly would say since turning over a new leaf. My parents tried to get me to take piano lessons when I was little and I fought them like I was getting imprisoned for life. If my parents were to force a spouse on me I would do whatever it took to flee.

We sat in the living room and started to discuss why we were there. Bo inquired more about our background. Sebastian told him how we met and went into detail because everyone melts a little when hearing him tell our love story. Sebastian gave more of an overview when he explained to Bo how we stumbled upon our private investigating gig. He told Bo that we had worked a missing persons case, investigated a cheating spouse, a pedophile and a murderer. Bo asked specifically how we started this line of work and I closed my eyes as Sebastian told Bo about the night that started it all. The night Shirley Campbell catcalled me to her Mercedes in the parking lot of The Cheesecake Factory.

I pulled on my earlobe a couple of times but Sebastian did not pick up on our code. I nudged his leg then grabbed my earlobe again. This was code for him to stop talking. Sebastian would talk forever if you didn't interrupt him. I was not sure if he was talking that much or if I just couldn't stand hearing anymore about the Campbell's. Sebastian finally picked up on the signal I was giving him and invited Bo to tell us about himself.

"Well my life is pretty tame compared to your adventures," Bo said. "Let's see here. I'm 22 years old. I am biochemistry major at UC San Diego. I am a senior and will be graduating in December. So I am almost done. I grew up in Vancouver. My family has had our house in San Diego since I was little so growing up we would spend summers and holidays here. I knew I wanted to attend college at UCSD since I was in 5th grade."

"What about your family do you have siblings?" Sebastian asked.

"I am the youngest of five. I have four sisters so when I came along I was the golden child." Bo shyly looked down at the ground a moment. "Having a son is very important in the Chinese culture. I have to carry on the Tang name."

"Where do your sisters live?" I asked.

"They live in Vancouver and work in our family business. We manufacture industrial chemicals. Tang Industries. We have plants in Mexico and China. Very large and successful."

"And was that your mom that we saw the other day at your family's compound?"

"No," Bo said. "That is Mrs. Tang, my dad's wife. My mom died when I was 18 months old."

Sebastian and I both nodded staying silent as Bo paused. I felt for this guy he seemed so sweet but trapped in a life that was not his own.

"The maids and my sisters raised me," he continued. "My dad was always working."

"How old is your dad?" Sebastian asked.

"He's 62."

Sebastian paused and I knew he was trying to choose his words wisely. "Mrs. Tang looks rather young how long have the two been married?"

"Yes she is in her early 40's," Bo answered. "Let's see they have been married for five years now. She was an employee of Tang Industries for a long time before that."

I kept thinking about Bo saying his maids and sisters raised him. It made my heart sink. His dad was too busy building his business to be involved in raising his son. The only contact between the two was probably his dad giving him orders on what to do and what not to do. I was getting the full picture of Bo's childhood and it hurt. He is 22 years old and stuck under his dad's rule.

"So your dad must be pretty important," Sebastian chuckled. "He's got a lot of bodyguards. Are they always with him?"

"Ha yeah. Not sure if they are always necessary but yes he usually has a few men with him. Mr. Ho the man yo-"

Sebastian cut him off. "The guy that sweetly escorted us out the other night?"

"Yes I am sorry about that." Bo looked embarrassed. "Mr. Ho is my father's top man. He oversees the day-to-day operations of the business and of all the houses we own. He is his right hand man."

"Now that we know a little about your family tell us all about Grace," I said.

Bo sat up straight and a smile lit up his face. The weight of his family was so heavy that when his attention turned to Grace he was able to escape it for a brief moment. He started from the beginning telling us he first laid eyes on Grace when she was surfing. Bo had come to shore after taking a nasty spill on his surfboard. He spotted the only girl surfer and couldn't take his eyes off her. He could tell she was an avid surfer and watched as her long dark ponytail bobbed up and down. It wasn't until the third Saturday in a row of seeing her at his surfing spot that he worked up the courage to speak to her. They clicked right away. Bo said he was shy at first but Grace brought him out of his shell by having no reservations. She was like no other girl he had ever met. Surfing since he was 6 years old Bo dreamed of finding a true surfer girl. Bo described her face as a face of an angel. He said what he noticed first were her big caramel soft eyes with dark eyelashes. I loved seeing guys beam about their true love. We let Bo go on and on as he relived the beginning of their relationship.

Bo finally proceeded out of his romantic mode and began to tell us facts about Grace's life. She was a sophomore at San Diego State and was there on a full academic scholarship. Her major was international business with a minor in Spanish. Bo said she was fluent in Spanish and Mandarin. Grace worked part time at a clothing store in the mall. She grew up in Los Angeles in a middle class family. Her parents moved from China to the USA to give their daughter a better life. Bo let us know that Grace's mom once told her that when she lived in China she was worth less than a dog. Women were of little worth in rural China. Hearing him say that made me sad and thankful I lived in this country.

"So Bo is the reason your dad wouldn't approve of Grace is because her family is middle class?" I asked.

Bo shrugged. "No that's not the issue. My dad's wife is middle class. The reason I can't marry who I want is that I am the only son and will be heir of the family company. Like we talked about the other day it's about business. I know that sounds bad but it's true. Our family and the Ming's go back thousands of years. It's hard to explain if you are unfamiliar with Chinese culture." He spoke with a disapproving tone in his voice. "It's the way it is."

"If you knew you were being groomed to marry this Ming girl why did you get involved with Grace?" I said this angrily and I was angry. Did Grace even know about his arranged marriage? Surely she didn't know because if you knew your boyfriend was getting married to another women wouldn't that be a deal breaker?

Bo shook his head and looked to the ground for a second before looking at me directly. "Falling in love with Grace was so natural. It happened so fast. Meeting her gave me hope that something could change. My life has been scripted since I was born and for the first time I started thinking about different possibilities. Something could happen that could change the course of my future. The deal with the Ming's could fall through. Or something could happen to my father and I wouldn't have to answer to him anymore. I could be with Grace."

"Did Grace know about the arranged marriage?" I asked.

"I never got around to telling her," Bo admitted. "I wanted to tell her. Well sometimes I did and other times I just wanted to ignore it so we could be together in peace."

There was silence for a few moments. I wanted to lash out at Bo and ask him what he was thinking. He was to be married in January, which was only a few months away, and he never told his _girlfriend_ this vital piece of information. Before I could speak Sebastian directed the conversation back to finding Grace. I figured getting mad at Bo wouldn't solve anything anyway so I let it go.

I wrote down all the names of people in Grace's inner circle. Bo thought her parents and friends would all be open to talking to us. Bo's best guess of what happened to Grace was that she was kidnapped for sex trade. He said this was not uncommon in border towns and there was a high demand for Asians.

"Okay Bo," Sebastian said. "You have to tell us what was up with your dad the other night. After we got escorted out we didn't expect to hear from you again. Did he come around?"

"Look I am hiring you not my dad. He can't know about this and I want to keep it that way. He does not approve of my desire to find Grace. He thinks I would be putting my family at risk if I were to make waves in Mexico trying to find her. I have to do this alone and I want to hire you two. I have money in a trust account available to me. You two have free room and board plus any retainer you require."

"Why us?" I asked. "Not that we aren't capable of doing this it's just with your funding being limitless why don't you hire a large PI firm that could have a whole team dedicated to this? Or with your wealth offer a large reward? You may get a lot of false reports but you may also find some leads. Your flyer we got was pretty weak."

"With you two it will be off the grid. I can't sign a contract with a large firm I can't have this on record or my father will find out. My flyer is so bland because I could not in any way give the slightest hint that I had money. If they knew I had money they would just try to extort me. My family has factories in Mexico and my father has told me many stories of how people deal with people of wealth down there. You two are the perfect option."

Sebastian and I looked at each other. I thought of our jaunt to Mexico with Gwen and Nelly. I dreaded going back but if it was likely Grace was there I knew an upcoming trip was inevitable.

"So were we the only ones who answered your flyer?" Sebastian asked.

Bo nodded. "I had several calls but you two were the only ones not trying to scam me and the only ones willing to provide ID. After meeting you guys the other night I could sense your desire to help. Hearing you talk about your experiences today I am convinced you will do the best you can finding Grace. Please tell me what rate you charge for your services?"

Sebastian was frank with Bo telling him this was either a missing person case or a murder. We didn't know if Grace was alive or dead, if she was in the United States or in Mexico. Bo's face changed when Sebastian brought up the possibility that Grace was dead. His shoulders dropped down and he tightened his lips. I could tell the thought of Grace being dead was a thought he fought to keep out of his head. Sebastian went on to tell him with no leads at all and with nothing to go on we would like to start with at least $10,000.

"I will get you $10,000 in cash today," Bo said. "I will be staying at my family's place this apartment is yours. You guys can take my car I will use one of my father's cars."

I looked at Sebastian. "That works for us."

"I am desperate to find Grace," Bo sighed. "Everyday that comes and goes without knowing where she is-"

Bo couldn't finish the sentence. Seemingly embarrassed by the emotion he was showing he cleared his throat then got up to walk over to look out the window. It was the most emotion he had shown. From the small amount of time I had spent around Bo and his family I could tell they didn't show emotion or love. That would be seen as a sign of weakness. Seeing the way Mr. Tang talked to his son I could tell he was incapable of showing any kind of affection. I thought about the story Bo told about him and Grace visiting San Francisco on that rainy day. I imagined Bo with Grace was completely different than Bo without Grace. In Grace, Bo found someone he could be his true self with. He fell in love with Grace and in love with how life could be lived when you lead with your heart.

Sebastian put his hand on mine and kissed the side of my head. We both stayed silent on the couch to let Bo have his moment. I rested my head on Sebastian's shoulder and remembered what it was like falling in love with him. It was the most amazing feeling in the world. It was a high that was priceless. It felt like I was not alone anymore. I had someone I could open up to and let in my crazy little world.

Bo slowly stepped away from the window and the beautiful view of the ocean. He sat down and stretched his legs out. He put his hands behind his head. Bo's eyes were red and for the first time I noticed how broken he was over Grace.

"Do you think you guys can find her?"

He was longing for hope. Sebastian and I were much different. I was the optimist, the dreamer; the believer of anything was possible. Sebastian was conservative; he looked at the facts and the obstacles. I nodded and gave Bo a smile of confidence. I let Sebastian do the talking though because I didn't want a lecture from him later saying I should not have given him false hope. Sebastian told him we would give 100% of ourselves and do everything possible to find Grace.

"Look you guys find Grace I will give you $100,000."

Maybe it wasn't normal but money was just a number to me. I did think of how much we could use the money to breath and not have to worry about Sebastian flipping cars but this figure didn't motivate me. Thinking of Grace alive somewhere scared and suffering motivated me. I had always been able to put myself in others shoes. I had compassion for people. I cared about people. Knowing how much Bo was suffering and how painful it would be for him to live life without Grace motivated me. I did want to have a conversation with Bo about his plan for telling Grace about his arraigned nuptials. I couldn't comprehend how he would go through with marrying Xiu Ming with the love of his life having her heart broken. Grace was gone though and until we found her I would try to put this out of my mind.

Sebastian and Bo were talking about Grace's apartment on the walk down to the parking garage. I was spaced out thinking about everything we just learned.

"Alright here is my baby."

Sebastian and I walked around the car inspecting it. Bo owned a black M3 BMW. I knew the make and model. I was well educated since Sebastian talked about cars so much. I saw the smile on Sebastian's face and knew he was geeking out right now.

"I am going to drive this like it's a rental," Sebastian said.

Bo shot him a nervous glance not knowing how to respond.

"I'm joking Bo."

"Oh boy I was hoping you were joking."

Bo drove us over to Grace's apartment by the campus of SDSU. He told us they lived only 12 miles apart and both had a set of keys to each others place. Grace's apartment complex was nothing special. She lived alone in the one-bedroom apartment. While it was not spotless like Bo's place it was tidy and neat. From the first impressions of her place I could tell she was a creative person. She had paintings on the wall that Bo said she painted herself. She also had various homemade items everywhere. There were cute potholders, a colorful clay bowl that held matchbooks, a frame made of bamboo and a lamp made of recycled cans. The place looked like a typical Southern California girl's apartment. I saw no Asian influence as I scoped out the apartment. There were three big Roxy surfing posters on the wall in the living room. A small flat screen TV was in the corner.

"Are her parents cool?" I asked Bo.

"Yeah they are super nice but I'm not sure they approve of me."

"Why?"

"They blame me for her disappearance."

"Really?" Sebastian asked.

"They know I come from a wealthy family. The Tang name is well known in China. I just get the feeling they think my family's wealth got her in trouble."

Sebastian and I looked at each other confused.

"Wait do they think your father was behind this?"

"I don't know."

I frowned. "Do you think your dad had anything to do with this?"

"No," Bo replied. "Her parents were just in shock and I don't really blame them. When there were no leads or evidence they wanted to blame somebody for their daughter being gone and I was the closet person to her. They knew Grace was spending all her free time with me and was getting serious about me. They didn't like that. I tried to call them a couple times but they haven't returned my calls."

Grace's room was cool. She did a lot with a little space. It was colorful and reminded me of a room you would see in Dwell magazine. Two walls were painted neon green and the other two had stencil art with different designs. At the same time none of her items were fancy or expensive. She was a do-it-yourselfer and it showed strongly. I felt sad as I looked through all her stuff. This young college student left a life that was being lived and now it was like there was a painful pause. Everything in this apartment was on hold. Grace had her whole life ahead of her and it made me sick that she might never return to this life.

There were pictures everywhere. Most were cut out using different shapes and sizes. A few had paper frames that Grace made and a few frames were made out of thin wire. There was a large picture of Grace and Bo together. Bo had his hands wrapped around her as he stood behind her with his chin on her head. Grace had a big smile on her face and she was trying to look up at Bo with mischievous eyes. There was a caption written in Chinese.

"Bo," I called. He walked in after a few moments cautiously. He stayed near the door and I sensed it was painful for him to be in her room.

"What does this say?" I pointed to the picture.

He didn't move. "It says my love."

"Oh okay thanks. It's a beautiful picture."

I wanted to ask where it was taken but I didn't want to bother Bo with more memories. It looked like they were at some kind of party. Bo nonchalantly walked back to the living room. I looked through a few of her textbooks and notebooks. I wasn't sure what I was even looking for. I did feel like I was getting a clearer picture of Grace's life.

Sebastian and I switched places, I went into the kitchen and he checked out the bedroom. I had heard the clicking of his cell phone frequently since had arrived. He had been taking a ton of pictures. He liked to have something to look at and would probably be up half the night dissecting them to see if any ideas came to him. And knowing him he would probably come up with a few off the wall theories that could be plausible.

Nothing in the kitchen to report on other than it was time for Grace to go grocery shopping. There were only energy drinks and rice milk in the fridge along with a bulk supply of yogurt. I thought of my fridge when I was a college student. Gwen, Nelly & I lived off Easy Mac, cereal and peanut butter sandwiches.

There was a stack of papers on the counter. I sifted through them feeling like I was violating Grace's privacy. There was a sticky note that said 'thinking of you poo bear I love you, your tigger'. The writing was scratchy which made me think it was a guy's handwriting. It was probably nothing but I snapped a picture of it anyway. I didn't want to ask Bo about the note in case it wasn't from him. He was having a hard enough time being in the apartment. I could tell he was getting impatient and wanted us to hurry up.

"Did Grace, I mean does Grace like Disney stuff?"

I couldn't resist asking him, I needed to know if Bo was Tigger.

"Um I don't know," Bo replied. "I guess she likes some. I mean we went to Disneyland together. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. Sebastian loves Disney and with Grace growing up near Disneyland I just wondered if she was a big fan."

Bo didn't say anything so I dropped it. He was reading a magazine from Grace's coffee table. He seemed to be growing nervous and uncomfortable. I skimmed the rest of the papers to see if I could find anything else. I noticed there was a small rosary box on the counter. It was empty. I knew it was a rosary box because against my will my grandma dragged me to church every time I stayed with her for the weekend. Witnessing the rosary being performed worked my imagination to come up with some kind of daydream that would export me out of that moment. I shivered a little thinking of those strange mornings held hostage in a church pew. I never understood why the heavens would be pleased hearing a monotone prayer over and over again. I remember how I thought that forever and ever was going to be so painfully boring.

"Hey Bo is Grace Catholic?"

Bo smirked. "No she's Buddhist."

"Hmm, that's odd."

"She isn't a hardcore Buddhist by any means but she believes in it."

"Do you know why she would have a rosary?"

"No idea."

"Did she." I caught myself. I kept talking about Grace in the past tense. "Does Grace go to a lot of garage sales? She's got a ton of random antique looking items."

"She's into vintage," Bo said. "I don't know where she gets it all she just finds it and makes it functional."

"Oh my gosh she is talented," Sebastian yelled. The apartment is tiny so he could hear us talking. "She has the neatest stuff in here. I like all these homemade frames!"

"I know right!" I yelled back.

Sebastian walked out. "Bo when was the last time you talked to Grace before she disappeared?"

Bo grimaced like he was in pain and took a deep breath. "It was a Tuesday morning. She stayed over at my place so we could wake up and surf. It was our thing. Tuesday and Saturday mornings we would get there right at sunrise. After surfing we got breakfast together then she took off so she could go to her 11 am class. I kissed her goodbye at her car that was the last time I saw her. I spoke to her briefly when she was at lunch. The last thing I said was I love you. We exchanged a some texts and that was it."

We knew from the documents on the hard drive Grace was last seen that day at her 1:00 class. Grace never showed up at her job in the mall that started at 5:00 that night. It wasn't like her to miss work without calling in. Her manager for the night wasn't alarmed. He was used to his college employees flaking out once in awhile. Bo was not alarmed at first either. He last spoke to her on the phone over lunch and her plan was to study after class up until she had to be at work. Grace and Bo kept in touch hourly with text messages. They were in the puppy love stage where it hurt to be apart and you communicated constantly. When Grace never replied to his afternoon texts Bo thought maybe her phone ran out of battery or she turned it off to focus on studying for the test she was cramming for.

"I wasn't worried until I couldn't get a hold of her after 10:00 pm when she was done with work," Bo recalled. "We never go to bed without talking to each other. I knew something wasn't right. I called her friend Ki to see if she had talked to her lately. She hadn't so I drove over to her apartment. I was worried her car broke down. When I got over here her car was parked outside but there was no sign of Grace anywhere. I looked all around the complex. I found nothing."

A classmate claimed he saw Grace walking with a few other students after class. That is the only piece of information police received. No suspicious people reported on campus or around the apartment complex that day. No red flags. Grace Yu vanished into thin air.

"Anything else you want to check out Leah?"

I knew Sebastian was getting the same vibe from Bo that I was. It hurt Bo to be in Grace's apartment without her. He tried to put on a strong Tang demeanor but we saw through him.

"Yep I think we're good," I replied.

"Thank you Bo this was a good place to start."

"No problem. Just let me know if you need to get back in here at anytime."

Bo drove in silence to the Tang compound where he would be staying. We would part ways with Bo while we would get started with our search for finding out what happened to Grace Yu. Bo told us to wait while he went into the compound. He returned a few minutes later.

"Here is $15,000 in cash," Bo said. "I gave you a little extra just in case."

"Thanks," Sebastian said. "You can reach us anytime you need to Bo. We will be in touch."

Bo nodded. "Okay goodnight."

I watched Bo walk towards the dull gigantic compound and knew that his heart was empty.

# CHAPTER 4

I walked back and forced the screen door shut with a hard push. It was one of those doors that stops a foot short of closing and slowly inched its way shut. Sebastian looked at me and rolled his eyes.

"What? It bothers me!"

Sebastian shook his head. "It will eventually shut."

"I know."

Maybe I wanted to feel like I was helping. Every door to finding this missing girl was shutting. Maybe it was my way of expressing my desire for the Yu's to have closure. We had just spent nearly two hours inside Grace's parents small home in Los Angeles. They lived in a three-bedroom house a few miles from Dodger stadium. A house they had lived in since Grace was three years old. Her room was still in tact. Teddy bears on her bed and books from her childhood on her nightstand. The older Chinese couple did not like being intruded on. They were suspicious but warmed up after awhile and seemed to enjoy being able to open up about there only child.

Sebastian and I sat quietly in the BMW. We took turns drinking out of the water bottle we brought. I put my hands through Sebastian's hair and then put my head on his shoulder. "I love you Sebi-bears."

He kissed my hair. "I love you too sweetie. Where do you want to eat?"

"Wherever you want Sebi. Oh how about our spot? Our seafood place north of Santa Monica?"

"Deal."

It would take awhile to get to the beachside restaurant. Los Angeles traffic was brutal and it made me appreciate living in Phoenix. While driving through the Yu's neighborhood it was hard to imagine the beauty of the beach was even remotely close to this place.

"So what did you think of Grace's parents," I asked Sebastian.

"They're sweet. I feel awful for them. I'm not sure I buy their claim Bo's father is in the Chinese mafia."

"You never know you mentioned it when we first met him."

"I know Leah but what motive would Mr. Tang have for kidnapping Grace?"

I sighed. "Like Mrs. Yu said he wanted her out of the way."

"Mr. Tang is arrogant he doesn't see Grace as a threat. I mean really what threat did she pose?"

"Maybe he was pissed Bo kept seeing her even though he knows his bride is picked out and wanted the relationship to end."

"And he had her kidnapped or killed Leah? Mr. Tang is not a criminal. He is a traditional bastard but no criminal."

I didn't respond to Sebastian. It was Thursday and we had not uncovered any new clues in the whereabouts of Grace Yu. We had spent Tuesday and Wednesday in San Diego tracking down Grace's friends and visiting the campus of San Diego State University. It had been an exhausting week. Sebastian kept telling me we were in gathering mode right now and to be patient.

Our beachside restaurant was packed. We found a table outside and both of us got out our notebooks. I flipped to a new page and doodled while Sebastian went to use the restroom. I spent most of my time in school sketching in notebooks. I sketched out Grace Yu's name then made a design around the letters. Sebastian returned and started looking through his own notes.

"You ready to go over our notes or do you need some time to finish your project?" Sebastian said this sarcastically referring to the drawing on my page.

I scowled and flipped to the beginning of my notebook. We had not shared any of our notes with each other up to this point. We agreed to gather as much information as possible and then brainstorm.

"So what are your theories so far Leah based off what we have learned this week?"

I yawned before I replied. "I have a few different ones but nothing has jumped out at me to give me confidence to feel strongly about a particular one."

Sebastian nodded. "Okay so what are they?"

I sheepishly grinned at Sebastian. I hated when he put me on the spot like he was doing. I liked to throw out as many possibilities as I could think of when going over details even if they were far fetched. I tended to hesitate because Sebastian was much smarter than me. He liked to come back with all the reasons why I was wrong.

"Sweetie come on," he pleaded. "I'm not going to say anything give me what you got."

I took a deep breath then went for it. "Reading all the media reports everyone wants to assume her disappearance is associated with Mexico. What if it's not? There is plenty of crime right here." I paused to see if Sebastian would respond but he nodded and flailed his hands for me to continue. "Maybe there was another man in the picture. A boy in one of her classes or at work that had a thing for her. He gets jealous of her love for Bo and in a rage kills her. I found a love note in the kitchen and I am pretty sure it wasn't from Bo. Her friend Ki told us Grace was worried about his family never approving of her. Maybe her way of showing Bo she was worth it was to make him jealous with another guy."

Sebastian rocked his shoulders and head from side to side indicating he thought this might be plausible but not likely. I was talking a mile a minute and I felt like my words were all over the place.

"What?"

"Nothing Leah I am listening. Keep going!"

"Now one other possibility I have been thinking about is Bo. I get a vibe that he is genuine and I would be shocked if he was involved. If he were he would be the mastermind deceiver of the universe. But since Orlando and how we were deceived we learned never to trust anybody. What if Bo did tell Grace about his arranged marriage. She loses her shit and drops him. He sees her with another guy and he flips his shit, in a jealous rage he loses control and kills her. Now I am not sure why he would go to lengths to hire people to find her but maybe he wants some fools like us to figure out where she is and he has evidence planted along the way to pin some dude he doesn't like with the murder. He gets closure and doesn't have to be haunted by the thought that he could be found out down the road. You get me?"

Sebastian smiled and that pissed me off.

"Sebastian seriously?"

He shrugged. "What you are cute!"

"You think my theories are dumb."

"No Leah relax. You're right, at this point anything is possible. There are no leads or clues. The police didn't find shit. So we need to look into all kinds of theories. This is good."

"Well you don't have to laugh at me."

"Don't get so defensive." He stroked my cheek with his finger then flipped down my lower lip so it made a popping sound. I couldn't stand it when he did that to me. "I am not laughing I just think you are so damn adorable."

I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I needed a nap. Since Sunday night when we met Bo for the first time at his compound my mind had not turned off. It was been reeling with scenarios, ideas, and continued thoughts about what happened to Grace. I couldn't shut it off. Our number was called over the loud speaker and Sebastian went inside to get our food order. I kept my eyes closed until he came back. We were quiet while we ate our food. It was delicious and we had not eaten since early that morning when we made oatmeal before leaving on the road trip to Los Angeles.

"Okay Sherlock tell me what you think," I said.

Sebastian kept eating his fried oysters making me wait in suspense.

"Seb! Come on!"

He laughed. "Wait a sec let me enjoy this." He took a big gulp of his sweet ice tea and got serious. "The reason I feel strongly about the Mexico angle is because there is no reason for us to do double work." Sebastian paused to take another bite of his food. "The US police already did the work here and found nothing. It would be a duplicate effort. The case is still an open case though. This leaves Mexico open for us to look at. I did some research the last couple of nights. It seems unlikely Grace was kidnapped for money because nobody close to her has been contacted for ransom money. I think Grace was abducted, taken to Mexico and is possibly part of a prostitution ring."

"Yeah that sounds better than my theory," I admitted.

"There are brothels in Mexico that feature Asian women only. They get the women one of two ways. One way is they go to Asia to recruit poor Asian women by promising that they will bring them to the USA for a fee of like $5k. These women sell everything they have to get the money. Well then they bring them to Mexico and force them to be sex slaves. They say they have to make them a certain amount of money before they will take them over the border to the USA. But usually they just keep them in Mexico never letting them go. The other way is they cross the border and kidnap young US girls making them work in the brothels."

"Damn," I said. "That is sick. And there are a lot of these brothels?"

"Leah this type of stuff is going on here in America. I remember seeing on the news about a month ago a prostitution ring was busted in Arizona. These women become a product, they're like cattle put to work or sold for meat. You've heard the stories of people finding a big container full of illegal immigrants who have died because they suffocated, right? They can't breath after being in a container on a ship for a week and die. It's really sad and it's reality unfortunately."

I started to steal some of Sebastian's fried oysters and he picked off the rest of my shrimp. If Grace was kidnapped and taken to Mexico she was hopefully still alive. I tried to think of what I would do if I was kidnapped and forced to be a prostitute. I would fight. They would have to kill me because I would not stop trying to escape.

"Damn Sebastian. Guess we're going to Mexico?"

Sebastian shook his head yes. "I want to head back to San Diego and spend a few days preparing. We still need to go to Grace's place of work and interview her co-workers. I don't want to leave any stone unturned."

We grabbed a couple of towels out of our car and walked across the street to the beach. I took off my long sleeve shirt and put it behind my head. I was wearing a red spaghetti strap tank top that barely covered my belly button. Sebastian sat down next to me on his towel and put his hand on my stomach. He leaned over and kissed my stomach. He tucked my long dark hair behind my ear and gave me a ton of kisses all over my face. He finally went back to his towel and took out his laptop. I dozed off with the sound of waves crashing onto the shore.

It was Friday afternoon and we were checking out the clothing store Grace worked at in the mall. We drove back from Los Angeles late Thursday night. Sebastian and I talked the whole way about the case. My brother Adam finally called me back when we were on the outskirts of San Diego. He said that the San Diego police were working a missing person case but it was currently at a dead end. Per the police report everything was left in tact, there were no traces of a crime and absolutely no evidence regarding the disappearance. There were no suspects or leads.

With Adam giving us that information it confirmed we were going in a direction that seemed plausible. We planned our trip to Mexico. I was anxious about going back there after our first trip with Nelly and Gwen. I didn't like the fact that we would not be able to bring any weapons for protection and we would be unfamiliar with the area.

"Hey Sebastian," I said. "Can you go over to that guy folding sweaters and see if you have better luck than me?"

Sebastian glanced at the guy then back down at his cell phone.

"Sebi!"

"What Leah?"

"Did you hear me?"

Sebastian didn't look up. "Why do you want me to talk to him?"

"He was weird when I asked him about Grace. What if he is behind her abduction?"

Sebastian kept his eyes on his cell phone. "Doubtful Leah."

"Why?"

"He's folding sweaters."

"He could be her Tigger," I sighed. "His name is Chadwick can you at least try to get his last name from another employee here so Pauly can check it out."

My phone vibrated in my pocket and it startled me. Nelly was calling.

"Sure. Give me a second I got an email back about the car on Craigslist. If that's Nelly calling tell her only she can stay with us no surprise guests allowed."

Nelly called me on Wednesday telling me she was coming up for the weekend. Phillip invited her to go with him to see a band on Saturday night.

"Hey Nels what's happening?"

"Getting ready to pack up my car. What are you guys doing?"

"At the mall. When are you going to be here?"

"I won't be there until around 8:00 or so. I am going straight to the bar to meet Gwen's old roommate Tracy. You going to be able to meet up later for a drink?"

"Maybe."

"Really Lee, maybe? Your best friend is going to be in town and maybe you want to hang with her?"

I laughed. "Aren't you going to be with Phillip doing your thing?"

"My thing?" Nelly snapped. "No he is busy tonight I am not seeing him until tomorrow. Come on Tracy said there would be cute guys there."

"Really Nelly?"

"Oh sorry I forgot. You can be my wing-bitch. Help a girl out."

I laughed again. Nelly could always make me laugh and it was nice talking to her.

"Come on you are the best wing-bitch Leah," Nelly proclaimed. "Or we could do the good slut bad slut routine."

"Oh that was funny I forgot about that night." I snapped my fingers at Sebastian and nodded my head in the direction of Chadwick.

"You see you miss me Leah come have a drink with me."

"I will try. You crashing at our pad tonight?"

"If it's not that late when I roll out I will if it's cool with you."

"We have been staying up really late so no worries," I replied. "I will text you our address."

"Awesome. Tracy said I could stay with her as well so either way I am set."

"Text me the name of the bar when you get there and I'll swing by."

"Yes! I will do that. Talk to you later Leah."

"Alright see you soon Nelly."

# CHAPTER 5

After we struck out finding any helpful information from Grace's coworkers we met Bo at a coffee shop. He had given us space this week to get familiar with Grace and the people she was close to. I liked that he was not micro managing us and was truly thankful there were two new sets of eyes looking at Grace's disappearance. We gave Bo a brief update on the little information we had collected. He was thrilled we were leaning toward his hunch about Grace being in Mexico. I took the opportunity to ask Bo if there were any guys that had a crush on her or any ex-boyfriends that could be suspects. He gave us the name of a guy she dated before meeting him and said he wasn't suspicious of him. I asked Bo if Grace considered Chadwick at work a friend. The name didn't ring a bell to him and Sebastian rolled his eyes at me. It drove me crazy when Sebastian dismissed my ideas it made me feel small. Just for that I slowly scratched my temple with my middle finger so he knew I didn't appreciate his body language. That move was out of his book and he gave me a sly smile.

I continued on with my questions asking Bo about the Poo Bear and Tigger note I found in Grace's kitchen. He smiled widely and explained the note was from her friend Ki. Grace calls her Tigger because she bounces side to side when she walks. In turn she nicknamed Grace her Poo Bear. That took care of that and I felt better for knowing it was another guy. We parted ways with Bo after we spoke about a few things not related to the case. I could tell Bo missed living in his apartment. He told us the compound was empty besides three maids that do housework and take care of the pets. We told Bo bye and left the coffee shop.

"Alright you ready to go pick up our new ride sweetie?"

I stood outside the BMW and gave Sebastian a blank stare.

"The guy selling his 94' Buick will be home at 5:00."

"Where does he live?" I asked.

"Bonita," Sebastian said. "It's only like 20 minutes from here."

Sebastian wanted to buy a beater of a car for us to take down to Mexico. We drove to Bonita and discussed the details of our trip to Mexico.

"I want to leave Sunday morning by 9:00 am. It should only take us roughly 45 minutes to get to Tijuana. We will visit the local convent."

I cut him off. "I know the plan Sebi we went over it already. We talk to some nuns to see if we can get the scoop on local places where we can find a missing Chinese girl suspected of being put to work in a brothel. I got it."

"I just want to be prepared it's getting close to go time Leah. We'll be in a place that's foreign to us. I want to make sure we got the checklist. Start making a list on your phone of what we need to pack."

For the rest of the drive we went over what we needed to take. Both of us were getting excited and nervous. I liked anticipating the unknown. My energy was spilling over into hyperactivity though. Sebastian tended to stay more even keeled than me. He was always anticipating problems. I left the research and preparation to Sebastian. He was intelligent and thorough. He had been staying up late into the night finding out everything he could about prostitution rings in Mexico.

We reached Bonita and our new brown piece of crap. It was a four door brown Buick. The back was missing letters and it just read ICK. Ick was right. It reminded me of our turd brown van in Orlando. I actually grew to like that thing.

Sebastian paid the man $900 in cash and whistled as he walked back to the car. "It looks kind of nice I may have to do some duck tape magic to make it look shittier than it appears."

Sebastian wanted us to look as poor as possible when we went to Mexico.

"It's a beaut," I said leaning into the passenger side. I got a whiff of the car's odor and took a step back. "Damn can we do something about the smell?"

"It doesn't smell that bad Leah. You got a name yet for it?"

"The poopmobile? What about nalgas?"

Sebastian laughed. "How about the brown mojón?"

"That works. How about just mojón for short." Mojón is Spanish for turd. It was the word in my Spanish vocabulary that I used the most.

"Deal."

I reached out to give Sebastian a fist bump and he grabbed me around the wait to pull me in for a kiss. He then squeezed my stomach and I squirmed to get away. "Stop," I screamed. "That tickles."

He wrapped me up in his arms and blew in my ear because he knew I couldn't stand that. I tried to get away from his grip but couldn't. I surrendered. He gave me a bunch of kisses on my cheek.

"I love doing life with you Leah. I love you so much."

"Thanks."

His mouth dropped open and his blue eyes got big. "Really?"

He grabbed me again and I shrieked with laughter. I was always telling Sebastian 'I love you' I couldn't help it I liked expressing that to him. I guess I started telling him too much because his response as a joke had become 'thanks' or 'hey thanks I appreciate that.' In the beginning I would give him a glare and his response would be something along the lines of 'What? Thanks for loving me. It's good to be loved isn't it?' It felt good giving him some of his own medicine.

Sebastian finally released me and I stumbled trying to regain my balance. "My turn with the BMW. Give me the keys. No way in hell I am driving the mojón."

Sebastian gave me the keys to Bo's BMW and told me to follow him. We drove back to La Jolla to have dinner together. When we were nearly finished eating Nelly sent me a text that she got a late start and wouldn't arrive for another hour. We ordered dessert and Sebastian took his laptop out to go through some information he had learned. It was interesting but he was always so meticulous and it drove me crazy at times. He went on and on. My mind couldn't settle down to focus on all the information. I was excited to see Nelly and I was nervous thinking about what our trip to Mexico would bring. Nelly finally called and I was relieved that I didn't have to sit still anymore. I kissed Sebastian and bolted out of the restaurant.

I spotted Nelly at a table in the back of the club. It was dark, crowded, and jungle techno music blasted from the speakers. Nelly was enthused to see me and I could tell she was just as annoyed by this place as I was. She gave me her trademark glare that indicated this was not what she had in mind.

"Leah I am so glad to see you," she grumbled.

I smiled. "I didn't know you were going clubbing tonight Nelly!"

"Me either. Doesn't this take you back to our ASU days?"

"Yeah and this music is atrocious. Where is Gwen's friend at?"

"Hell if I know," Nelly said. "She was here then disappeared with a bunch of guys."

"So I am ready lets do this," I exclaimed. "I will be your wing bitch."

Nelly smirked. "Shoot I don't need you to be I already got hit on by two drunk dudes. It's a sausage fest in here but all of them look like they're 16. You want a drink?"

"Sure."

"There is a balcony we can sit out there so we can actually hear each other."

We weaved through the crowd as we made our way to the bar. Nelly looked back at me and rolled her eyes when a group of college girls walked by us in skank gear. I laughed at Nelly's reaction. It took us forever to get a drink so we each ordered two fearing we might not get service on the balcony. We made our way back toward the light of the balcony door and did our best to not spill any of our drinks.

"Excuse me."

Nelly stopped and I had to maneuver so I didn't bump into her. The guy who was stopping Nelly was kind of cute but his friend with him had a curly mullet. I looked off to the side so I could stay out of the conversation. It was loud but I could tell the guy was asking Nelly to either dance with him or join him at his table. He wouldn't stop talking and was being persuasive even though Nelly kept declining. I figured she was probably pissed I was not bailing her out but I was on the verge of laughing. I didn't miss clubbing but I did miss being around Nelly.

"No I am good," I heard Nelly yell so the guy understood. "I just don't want to."

I knew Nelly and she was on the verge of losing her patience. I bit my lip and looked away so I wouldn't bust out laughing.

"Come on baby it's -."

"Look I am physically unavailable right now!" Nelly screeched over the music.

I quickly looked toward the guys so I wouldn't miss their reaction. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The two guys turned to walk away with their eyebrows raised. I brought my shoulder up to my eyes because tears were forming. I tried to balance my purse so it didn't fall off my shoulder and spill my drink.

Nelly looked at me wide-eyed. "Leah did I just say that? Did you hear that?"

I was beaming. "Yeah that happened. Physically unavailable what do you have your period or something?"

"Oh my gosh." Nelly burst into laughter. "I meant to say emotionally but I couldn't think of it. He got me all flustered he wouldn't leave me alone!"

We made our way to the balcony and put our stuff on an open table. Nelly fell into her chair and put her head in her hands. I leaned on the table to get a breather.

"I am so calling Gwen she's got to know what just happened."

"No don't Leah. The guy with the mullet though!"

We both started laughing again. Nelly's laugh was the best.

"He would have been yours Lee. My guy was actually cute."

"Why didn't you go for him?"

Nelly smirked. "I got Phillip."

"What no more Falip?"

"No I was drunk when I called him that," she laughed. "He asked me why I was calling him that he thought I had a speech problem."

We laughed some more then she told me about her relationship with Phillip. They had talked everyday since they met but she was not getting her hopes up that it would turn into anything serious. Nelly stressed too much about finding her soul mate and feared growing old alone. I would constantly tell her to relax that she would meet somebody at the right time and it would be perfect.

Nelly and I talked nonstop for the next two hours as we sipped our drinks. She asked me when Sebastian and I were going to get real jobs. In her eyes we had been down and out for the past couple of years. Without divulging a lot of information I told her about Bo paying us to find Grace and implied that we did something similar in Orlando. I told her our plans to go to Mexico on Sunday to look for Grace and she looked at me like I was crazy. She listened intently when I explained the prostitution rings that exploited innocent girls. My night out with Nelly was not what I had expected. It was much better. I thought I would have a quick drink with her and then leave her to party into the night.

"Let's get out of here," Nelly said.

"Cool let's roll out, but I am not going to another club."

" _No_. Hell no! Let's do what we used to do late night sans sausage."

"Yes! Just like old times."

"I miss you Leah!"

"Ditto b-zitch."

We hit up In-N-Out and took it back to Bo's place. Sebastian was on the couch watching Star Wars with his computer on his lap when we walked in. Our conversation quickly sent him into the bedroom. Nelly and I stayed up late into the night talking. We fell asleep on the pull out couch to Can't Buy Me Love playing on Bo's big screen TV.

# CHAPTER 6

When we were a few miles from Mexicali I started to fidget with anticipation. When we got into Tijuana earlier that morning we found out quickly that we would have better luck finding a missing Chinese girl in Mexicali. The nun we spoke to in Tijuana warned us about asking people on the street about our missing Chinese girl. The way she talked to Sebastian in Spanish scared me. Her face went dark and she grabbed both of Sebastian's hands. When Sebastian translated what she said to him a shiver ran down my spine. She had advised him to be careful because this business was demonic. When she knew he was going through with this with or without her help the nun's advice to him was to blend in, appear to be at the brothel as customers and don't ask questions. The nun said they would shoot us if they were suspicious. I think that statement is what had me on edge. I couldn't fathom being shot just for trying to find a missing girl. The nun blessed us before letting us leave and forced us to take a rosary. She called out to Sebastian rattling off something in Spanish. I asked him what she said and he just shook his head that I didn't want to know.

The nun told Sebastian Mexicali is heavily populated with people of Asian origin and if we were looking for a brothel featuring Chinese girls this would be a good place to start. Mexicali was a few hours east of Tijuana and along the way I started having doubts of what we were even doing there. Quite frankly Grace could be in any brothel in Mexico and finding her would be like finding a needle in a haystack. I felt safe being with Sebastian but I couldn't shake the fear of being on foreign soil. I didn't trust this place and didn't like not being familiar with my surroundings.

"Okay Leah this is not like finding a missing girl in Orlando we are in a foreign country. We can't go into a brothel showing Grace's picture and seeing if she's there."

"I know," I answered. "You need to fill me in on this master plan you have been conjuring up."

Sebastian parked the Buick on the side of the heavily populated strip of stores and restaurants. We were in Chinatown Mexico. It made me feel a little better that there were people everywhere. I pictured us going into a brothel in the middle of nowhere.

"Listen closely Leah," Sebastian said confidently. "When we walk in we have to be very believable. They can't question why we are here. So we are here to pay for sex."

"Um okay but how are we going to sell that?"

"We need them to believe we are paying customers. When you get the girl alone you show her Grace's picture."

"Wait," I said. "Me?"

"Yes."

"Oh hell no Sebastian!"

"Leah come on." Sebastian said this calmly like I was being irrational.

"What? You want me to go in and pretend I want sex with one of the girls?" Sebastian gave me a snarky stare as if I was being childish. "That's not believable you have to do it Sebastian."

"Leah believe me these girls are forced to have sex with both genders, young, old, fat, skinny."

I was perplexed. "But what the hell Sebastian you want me to fake like I am into having sex with the girl?"

Sebastian sighed. "Leah you are not actually going to do anything with the girl."

"What if they video tape it? They will see that I am not interested and our cover is blown." My heart was beating rapidly and my hands were getting sweaty. "Sebastian!"

"Leah they won't record it. These people are not techies. It won't be live streamed. The room you will be in is going to be small and dirty."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better. Let's go get me a China girl to get busy with!"

"Leah!" Sebastian yelled. "All you are going to do is get the girl in the room then tell her you are looking for Grace and see if she knows her. That's it!"

I was silent. My mind was racing. I was trying to picture how this was going to go down. I couldn't believe Sebastian was making me do this on a moments notice.

"Leah have I ever put you in a situation you can't handle?"

I looked at Sebastian with daggers in my eyes.

"What Leah?"

"It's always your plan and your way when we do things," I shrieked. "You make me your bitch. I am always your Jesse Pinkman!"

Sebastian squinted and brought his upper lip up in a curl. "Huh, whose Jesse?"

I shook my head and hissed. Sebastian opted out of joining me in watching Breaking Bad from start to finish a few weeks back.

He rolled his eyes. "Leah just listen to me."

"And why are you springing this on me now?" I yelled. "Why couldn't we discuss this back in San Diego? Or even this morning?"

"I didn't want you to over think your role and worry about it. Look Leah this girl you will be with is going to be relieved she doesn't have to have sex with you. She is going to be very thankful. If I go in there she may not open up and talk to me at all. She may yell for the pimp and our cover is blown. You are sweet and trusting if she is going to talk it's going to be to you."

I shook my head. "But what about the unknowns Sebastian? What if the guy who runs it wants to watch? Or wants to join and he duck tapes my mouth, rapes us both. Then what? You really don't understand why I am freaking the hell out?"

Sebastian sighed and tried to gather his thoughts. He took a moment.

"Leah you have to trust me. I will be near and I will make sure it's only you and the girl. If something goes wrong when you get in there you have to act like you got cold feet. Here take this whistle. You blow that and I am in there in two seconds."

I grabbed the whistle and put it in the daisy duke's Sebastian made me wear this morning.

"Just follow my lead Leah."

I grabbed a small picture of Grace from the glove compartment and tucked it in the waistline of my underwear. Sebastian pulled out cash from underneath his car seat. Before we left he made a slit in the cushioning underneath both of our seats to hide a secret stash of cash. Instead of pimping out the car Sebastian worked on having the exterior and interior look crappy. He duck taped part of the back window and this morning we took turns kicking the trunk.

"You good Leah?"

I nodded and opened the car door. We walked along the sidewalk checking out the stores we passed by. I saw our reflection in one of the store's windows and almost laughed out loud. We did our best to look like poor gringos but I just saw a sloppy version of ourselves. We passed a Chinese restaurant and the aroma stopped us in our tracks. I was hungry but there was no way I could have sat down to eat. If we made it out of the brothel unscathed we could come back. Mexicali had a different feel from Tijuana. It was cleaner and didn't seem quite as impoverished.

"If I am still hungry after my Asian girl experience we are coming back here." I was still pissed at Sebastian and said this to make it clear he did not have a say in the matter. Awesome I thought to myself you're choosing where we eat, way to go Leah! That will show him! I started to walk ahead of Sebastian.

"You may just want a cigarette."

I turned back. "Shut up Sebi! I am taking one for the team here. You owe me."

Sebastian grabbed my shoulder as I turned to continue to walk. "Look you're a rockstar sweetie you will do great but you have to stop moping. You have to change your mood. This is the plan and you have to agree it is the best shot we got."

He pulled me into him and kissed my neck. This softened me up. "I am still just a little in shock. And I am pissed my husband didn't tell me what the plan was."

"Sorry sweetie," Sebastian said. "You want to go eat so you can have time to digest this and get in character?"

"No let's do this now."

"Okay there is a place over there."

I looked across the street and saw a storefront with 'Rasas' in neon lights. "How do you know?"

"It fits the mold. The name means different races in Spanish. Let's go see."

We crossed the street and approached the eerie building. I had a bad feeling about it. My stomach dropped when we walked through the door. It was dim lit and smelled of smoke. There were small tables scattered around and a bar in the middle. To the right was a hallway and I cringed looking at it. About half of the tables were occupied and three men were seated at the bar. I heard the door shut behind us. It was dark and a shiver ran down my spine. It was early afternoon but it felt like it could have been the middle of the night.

I followed Sebastian to the bar. We did our best to act like we belonged. I noticed the crowd was a mixture of Mexicans and Asians. I stayed standing while Sebastian sat down with a big smile on his face. A large Mexican man behind the bar approached us. He said something in Spanish.

Sebastian nodded and spoke in English. "I want my girl to have her wish, to be with a Chinese girl."

The man responded in Spanish and of course I didn't know what he said.

"No not me," Sebastian said. "Only her."

The man laughed and changed his language to English. "She like big girl, small?"

Only Sebastian and I would be in this situation. My stomach was in knots. Sebastian responded to the man in Spanish probably to protect me from getting even more uncomfortable. Sebastian started becoming animated and turned me around so he could slap my ass. I wanted to show my displeasure to Sebastian but told myself to play the game. The man looked me up and down. I was seething inside but I tried to keep a sunny exterior. Why couldn't Sebastian have been the one to do this or at least say we wanted a three way?

The man motioned me to go with him. I gingerly rose and gave Sebastian a nervous smile. He winked at me obnoxiously and slapped my ass again as I walked away. When I joined the man I heard Sebastian yell 'cervezas' really loud which means beer. Glad he was toasting to this wonderful occasion. The man showed me into a room and put up a finger to indicate it would be just a moment. The room was small and dark. There was a nasty musty smell. I wanted to throw up. There was a thin twin size bed and one chair. I could feel my heart pounding against my chest. I heard voices and commotion coming from down the hall. The man came back and a Chinese woman walked in. It was not Grace unless they doctored her appearance quite a bit. The man shut the wire-meshed door behind him and the girl approached me. Up close I could confirm it was not Grace.

"You speak English?" The woman said in a soft Chinese accent.

"Yes."

I noticed the AC was running. I was shivering from being cold and from my nerves. The smell in there was so nasty.

"Do you want me to take off clothes or you want to take them off me?"

"No," I whispered. "I just want to talk."

The girl looked confused. "Dirty talk? You want sexy talk?"

"No." I took a step closer and took Grace's picture out of my underwear. "Do you know her?"

The woman froze. Her eyes got big and the butterflies in my stomach turned to excitement. She must have recognized Grace. Her face changed and she got closer to me.

"What you doing?" She said this with distain. "You going to get us killed!"

She startled me. "Do you know the girl in the picture?"

"No."

The woman grabbed my wrist and put down my hand down to the side so the picture was no longer in her view. Then she put her hands around my waist and started swaying like we were slow dancing. I placed the picture back in my waistband.

"You can't come looking for girls," she whispered sternly. "This will be trouble for you and girl. And me."

I could tell she was frightened that I was there.

"You have to make sounds," she whispered. "Be loud."

I looked at her puzzled. "Sounds?"

"Make sex sounds. They be suspicious if no noise."

I didn't know what to say. I was scared and kept thinking of the big Mexican man that led me in the room. The woman started to moan and I took her queue. I felt awkward and embarrassed for both of us. She stopped so I stopped.

"Keep doing it," she whispered.

I started the fake moaning again. It was so mortifying and I felt bad for this woman who actually had to have sex with strangers all day while the owner of this place got paid for it. My heart broke for her and every other female who was going through this. The woman slowly reached into her bra and pulled out a piece of paper.

"I need your help," she whispered. "There's address on here send letter saying Li Hua Mui is alive and well."

I slid the piece of paper into my back pocket.

"Keep with the noises."

I did my best for a few minutes then I attempted to get anything else I could out of the girl.

"The girl in my picture do you know where she could be?"

"No. Can be many places."

I waited for her to provide more insight but she didn't. We kept making noises as we stood inches apart. I was in agony waiting for this to be over. Finally after what seemed like an hour the Chinese woman stepped back a bit.

"Please send my note. Please."

"Yes I will."

"Bath across hall put water on your body look like sweat."

I nodded and the woman opened the door for me. I walked across the hallway into the bathroom. I flipped the light switch on and nearly gagged. The low light revealed the disgust that I felt. It smelled yucky and I didn't want to touch anything. There were no towels anywhere. I took the bottom of my shirt and turned on the sink water. I threw the stinky water on my face and wiped my arms. There was a busted foggy mirror above the sink. I looked at myself and was thankful for the life I was living. I knew the girls who ended up in this brothel didn't end up there because they wanted to. How different were they from me? They didn't deserve this life.

On my way down the hall I walked past a man who was being escorted to a room. I cringed thinking of the torture these women have to endure. I forced a smile to sell my satisfaction when I got back to the bar area. Sebastian beamed when he saw me and continued his obnoxious male pig role he was playing so well. I sauntered up to him and sat on his lap. We made out and he acted like he was super turned on. He spoke loudly to me in Spanish with the intent of showing the big Mexican man that his customers were satisfied with the service. The Mexican man rattled off something to me with delight in his eyes. Sebastian translated telling me the man was asking me how it was. I looked at the man and said 'muy bueno' awkwardly. I pulled on Sebastian's hand. I wanted to leave so bad. He got up and we took two steps toward the door when the Mexican man yelled at us in a grizzly voice. We froze then turned around. The man smiled and said something in Spanish. I squeezed Sebastian's hand bracing for the worst.

"What's going on Sebastian?"

He pumped my hand a few times lightly. "It's okay sweetie I just didn't fulfill the 5 drink minimum requirement. Look happy."

Sebastian bought two drinks for the man he was sitting next to at the bar and we walked out of the door.

Sebastian smirked at me. "Sounds like you had a good time!"

I give him a sarcastic scowl. "Seriously Sebastian?"

"I heard you!"

"Get real Bastian. It was an act."

He laughed. "It sounded real to me. Is it an act when you're with me?"

"No with you it's real. Please Sebi I was moaning for my life in there. I can't believe those girls are forced to be sex slaves. It is unbelievable. It was tough being in there and seeing it's real. It is so depressing back there Seb!"

"Yeah I bet. It was tough being at the bar in that place. So anything on Grace?"

I told Sebastian the full account of what happened once we were seated at the Chinese restaurant we walked by earlier. Sebastian learned from one of the patrons at the bar that there was a strip joint/brothel down the street called Mujeres Chinas that has all Chinese women. Sebastian wanted to go there that night. After eating we found a hotel close by and checked in.

At 9:00 pm we walked into Mujeres Chinas. I felt as prepared as I could be from having survived the earlier experience. We both walked in confidently and it was déjà vu. The place was similar to Rasas except it was nearly full to capacity and it was part strip club. Sebastian got into character quickly sitting down at a table near a pole dancer. I sat next to him and started to scan the stripper poles looking for Grace. I didn't see her. Sebastian ordered us a drink. When the waitress came back she asked us what else we wanted. Sebastian asked how it worked and the woman said they had rooms in the back. This time the woman spoke in English so I could hear how the sale goes down.

"$250 for an hour. $175 for a half hour. You have your pick from all the girls out here or you can wait until other ones come back out."

Sebastian bit his lip and scanned the girls. "I want that one for my girl."

The woman followed Sebastian's gaze. "That's Tulip. She is very beautiful. Good choice. So it's for your girlfriend not you?"

"Yes," Sebastian said. "It's her birthday present."

She looked my way. "Okay come with me."

I kissed Sebastian on the cheek and followed the young Chinese girl who spoke perfect English. This brothel was much more commercialized than the one we went to earlier. It was a little bit cleaner and definitely smelled better. Tulip got called down off the stripper pole. She grabbed my hand hard and walked me to the back. I was surprised by her force and wondered what led Sebastian to choose her. The room she led me into was about the same size as the one at Rasas but it had a strobe light in it and the mattress was thicker. Even though it was slightly cleaner than the room at Rasas it still felt the same - filthy. Tulip wasted no time she forcefully grabbed me bringing my body next to hers. She outlined my lips with her finger and looked at me with a sultry look. She ran her hand through my hair.

"You have half hour tell me your fantasy."

I froze for a second. This girl didn't seem to be someone who had been forced to do this. I got the feeling she might be there on her own will. Or it was possible she had been doing this long enough that she had accepted this as her way of life. She was much older than the girl at the other brothel.

"Tell me!"

I feared this girl would get pissed if she found out all I wanted was to ask about a missing girl. I didn't know what to say.

Tulip was getting impatient. "What do you want to do with me?"

_Oh fudge I had to say something. Damn this sucks._ "Cuddle?"

The girl tilted her head. "You are shy?"

"Yeah look I'm sorry." I couldn't do it. I pulled out $60 in cash. "I will tip you but I was really hoping to be with a girl named Grace. I had her last time. It was a long time ago so I assume she is no longer here."

I took out Grace's picture and showed her.

Tulip was annoyed. "I don't know her."

"You sure she doesn't look familiar at all?"

I put the picture closer to her. She grabbed my hand and brought the photo right in front of her face.

"Sorry she doesn't."

"I'm sorry I don't want to waste anymore of your time."

"You want nothing?" Tulip said sharply.

"No I don't want anything. I'm Sorry."

She grabbed the cash out of my hand and walked out the door. I released all the tension I was holding in my shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief.

# CHAPTER 7

I flipped over on my back and stretched my leg out to the side. The bed was cool. I put my hand out to feel for Sebastian but he was gone. I slowly opened my eyes to get them used to the sunlight that was filling the bedroom. I looked at Bo's nixie tube clock on the nightstand. It was 10:23 in the morning. The night before we had hung out in Mujeres Chinas for a while watching the girls to see if we could spot Grace. We never saw her and when we started getting funny looks from the girls running the show we took off. Feeling defeated and not wanting to stay the night in the rundown hotel in Mexico we drove back to San Diego. Mexicali was only a few miles from the border and it only took us a little over two hours to get back to Bo's place. On the way back we discussed what our next step was going to be. We decided it was best to call a meeting with Bo and tell him we exhausted our options with the resources he had. We needed more manpower and money to find out where Grace was. Sebastian thought unless we got a contact in Mexico to work with we were at a dead end.

With sleep in my eyes I got out of bed and went to find Sebastian. I wondered if he got any sleep at all last night. He was frustrated thinking about what we should do next. I found him on the deck with his laptop on the table and empty bottles of Corona scattered around.

I slid open the patio door. "You have your own party once I went to bed?" I gave him a kiss on the cheek then leaned over the railing to take in the beautiful views of the ocean. It was amazing to think that yesterday we were in hell and today we were in paradise.

"Leah put some shorts on."

"Why? Hey did you call Bo to tell him we need to meet?"

"Yeah," Sebastian replied. "He wants us to meet him at the compound at noon."

"Good. So what have you been racking your brain about out here?"

Sebastian stood up and stretched his arms to the sky. He turned me around so I was looking back out at the ocean again. He put his arms around me and kissed my neck.

"We're going to meet Bo at noon but we're not telling him we are folding. I came up with a new angle and I think it's our best shot." He smiled widely and winked. "Leah this can work!"

Sebastian never stopped thinking of new ways to solve a problem. I loved this about him but it could be exhausting. He was always coming up with new ideas after we already discussed at length what we were going to do.

"Really?" I asked. "I thought we agreed last night on how we would proceed. We are going to get Bo to hire some more people and we can find someone to work with us down in Mexico."

"Leah it is dangerous to go down to Mexico and keep inquiring. We have to have the leads come to us not the other way around. You remember the nun I spoke to yesterday morning? Remember when we were leaving she yelled out to get my attention?"

"Yeah."

"You want to know what she said?"

"What did she say?"

"She said if we go into one of these brothel's and they do suspect us of being there for anything but the service they would shoot me and put you to work."

"You really should have told me that yesterday."

Sebastian laughed and I glared at him lovingly.

"Get some shorts on. Let's take a walk on the beach and I will tell you what I came up with."

Sebastian's plan was pretty good. We had no leads in Mexico. The boy Bo hired in Mexico handed out flyers for nearly a month with no legit responses. Sebastian knew that money talked. If you have enough money you can get a coyote to bring you across the border. If you have enough money you can have things smuggled into the country. His idea was to create a new flyer advertising a $50,000 reward for the whereabouts of Grace. We would create an 800 number to go with it and field the calls ourselves. When anything legit came up we would require a meeting in the US in a public place. Of course Sebastian was more detailed when he told me his whole spiel but this was the gist. It was all subject to change since Sebastian's mind was always in motion and we had 25 minutes until we met with Bo.

Sebastian punched in the code Bo gave us and the gate to the compound swung open. There was a black four door Mercedes in the driveway. We knocked on the door to the massive compound and a maid answered.

"Hola como esta Señorita?" Sebastian said.

While the maid responded to Sebastian I literally ran into the restroom. I had to go extremely bad on the drive over. The bathroom was elegant but I didn't like it at all. There was an excess of marble and while the statue of the dragon was impressive it looked a bit tacky. The compound had the feel of a modern library. I stopped midstream when I heard yelling. Someone was pissed and it was not Bo's voice I heard. I hurried to finish peeing and rushed out to see what was going on. It was Mr. Ho and he was going off on Sebastian.

"You can't be here! You need to leave Bo alone and stop looking for the girl! Leave this instant!"

Mr. Ho kept on repeating this sentiment in a shrieking forceful tone. Sebastian kept saying 'easy man' but Mr. Ho just kept on yelling. I grabbed Sebastian's arm.

"Dude we are leaving relax," I said. "Come on Sebi let's just go."

"We're friends with Bo we are not looking for the girl," Sebastian said. "We were meeting Bo here."

Mr. Ho yelled something in Chinese and threw up his hands.

"Sebi he's not listening let's leave."

The maid motioned us to the door and said something to Sebastian in Spanish. Sebastian grabbed my hand tightly and led me out the front door. We jumped in the BMW but Sebastian was not in a hurry to leave. His mood had changed and I had no idea why. He called Bo as we were pulling out of the driveway and alerted him to meet us at the coffee shop instead of the compound. Sebastian hung up and broke out in a huge smile. He laughed loudly.

I was confused. "What is it Seb? Why are you laughing?"

"Busted bastard!"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Ho is giving it to Mrs. Tang."

"What?"

Sebastian kept laughing dramatically and it made me laugh even though I was not in on the joke. "Come on Sebastian tell me what happened."

"I was in the foyer waiting and I noticed a woman walk into a room down the hall. I only saw her back so I couldn't tell who it was. I could tell it wasn't another maid. Then Mr. Ho walks by the foyer and sees me. You should have seen his face when he saw me Leah."

"Were you scared?"

"No just surprised. He started yelling in Chinese and motioning me to get out of the room. I asked the maid in Spanish if he knew English. He finally realized I couldn't understand him so he switched to yelling at me in English."

"Okay so why is he busted?"

Sebastian sighed in frustration. "Let me finish Leah. When the maid was responding to me when he was yelling at us to leave she said in Spanish what basically translates to he is giving it to the boss's wife."

"Wow so Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang are together?"

"Yep!"

"That explains why he's so pissed we happened to be there. What about Bo does he know they're having an affair?"

"Shit I doubt it Leah."

"But Bo is staying there?"

"For all they know Bo isn't staying there. They don't know Bo is letting us stay at his place. They probably just got here this morning and haven't seen Bo yet."

"We going to tell Bo?"

Sebastian tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs and thought for a moment as I patiently waited. "No we aren't telling him. At least not right now. For our plan to work we need Mr. Ho off our backs so we are allowed to go forward. We can use what we just found out against him. Tell him we won't tell Mr. Tang he is banging his wife if he doesn't tell him we are searching for Grace."

Bo was waiting for us at the coffee shop. We told him about our run in with Mr. Ho at the compound leaving out the fact that Mrs. Tang was with him. Bo was bewildered that Mr. Ho was in town and said he would stay at his friend's house until Ho leaves. Bo was visibly worried about Mr. Ho having seen us. He believed he would report this to his father if not that day as soon as he got back to Vancouver.

"We're coming up with our next steps Bo," Sebastian said. "We have a plan to create a flyer and advertise a cash reward. Money talks and we think this is the best way to make some headway down there. We'll make sure you and your family are in no way associated with it. You cool with us going in this direction?"

"If you think that's the best option I am all for it. You two should lay low though for a couple days," Bo said. "I have to make sure my father doesn't do anything crazy like send some guards to monitor me or you guys."

"He'd do that?" I asked.

"I don't think so I just have to see how he responds when Mr. Ho tells him. I can't see him making a big deal over it. My father is more discouraged that my focus is on Grace and not academics. He's not pissed I want to find her just pissed it is effecting important aspects of my life."

"Okay well hopefully you can smooth it out with him," Sebastian said. "You guys want coffee now?"

"I'll take a sweet iced tea," I said.

"How about you Bo?"

"I'll have an iced coffee. Thanks Sebastian."

Bo and I were left alone at the table. I smiled at him warmly. I had a soft spot for Bo. He seemed like such a sweet guy despite his upbringing. I had a feeling he wanted to break free from the mold but didn't know how.

"How you holding up?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Not bad. I am really busy with my classes so that helps."

I thought of something to ask him but held off. I didn't want to pry. After a few moments Bo opened up.

"Leah do you think it's awful I never told Grace about the arranged marriage?"

I hesitated to think about his question. I didn't want him to feel bad but I also wanted to be honest with him. I always tried to spin everything into a positive. "I don't know Bo. I really see both sides. I think you wanted to protect Grace and the love you two had. There would be no good time to tell someone you just met and fell in love with that _oh by the way my parents have my bride picked out for me._ I think Grace would have understood though if you told her. I mean obviously you don't agree with it and she would know that it was not your fault."

Bo nodded and looked down.

"I know you feel guilty about never telling her Bo but you have to let it go. You can't change it. When we find her you can tell her. Then the real question is what will you do at that time? Are you really going to marry a girl you don't love?"

Bo shook his head in frustration. "My hands are tied."

"Bo last time I checked this is America home of the free. Why not walk away?"

Bo looked at me with a speck of wonder and awe in his eye. He probably had never let himself believe it was not an option for him. Bo didn't say anything.

"My impression of you is that you are living a life that's not yours. Life is short you have to do what makes _you_ happy not your father."

Bo grimaced. "That's easier said than done. I know what your saying but this lifestyle is ingrained in me. It's the only choice I have."

"What would happen if you told your father you weren't going to marry the girl? He cuts you off financially?" I let that hang in the air for a moment hoping Bo could see that walking away wasn't impossible. "You don't seem the type that is driven by money Bo and you don't seem like you aspire to follow in your father's steps and run the family business."

Bo was silent as he pondered what I was telling him.

"What do you want to do with your life Bo?" I sighed. "Okay if your father wasn't in the picture if it was up to you what would you aspire to do?"

Bo came to life. "I would be a professor at a university."

"Really?"

Bo sat up straight in his chair and smiled slightly. "Yes that would be my dream life. I'd be a professor at a top California university with a wife and kids. They would grow up in a safe, fun, happy home and be free to be normal kids. I had a professor my freshman year that invited our class to his house for dinner. It was amazing. His house was charming and cozy. He had two young kids running around laughing and playing. His wife was loving and warm. It made a big impression on me. I remember thinking I would love to be this guy. It was like I was seeing life lived the way it should be."

I was a little choked up hearing Bo tell me this. It made me sad. "Wow a professor that's cool."

"When I met Grace and we started spending time together I envisioned that kind of life actually happening for me. I zoned out all my family stuff and for the first time I felt like I could be me. Leah I grew up in a house where I couldn't be myself. Do you know what that's like?"

I saw Sebastian walking toward our table out of the corner of my eye. "I couldn't imagine that." Sebastian put our drinks on the table and sat next to me. "Thank you Sebi-bears."

Sebastian squeezed my hand and looked at me with a what-did-I-miss look on his face.

"Thanks for the coffee Sebastian," Bo said. "So are you two getting acquainted well with San Diego?"

Sebastian answered and talked about how amazing this area was. While he talked to Bo I spaced out and thought about what Bo shared with me. I couldn't shake the last thing he said... _I grew up in a house where I couldn't be myself._ I knew people growing up that didn't have a good home life but there was always a light at the end of the tunnel. At age 18 they were done with their sentence. They may not have much but they could go off into the world and be free to start anew. Bo was locked in for life.

# CHAPTER 8

Operation Bust-a-Ho was in full force. After we left the coffee shop we went back to Bo's apartment and switched the BMW for the Buick. We stopped at Wal-Mart and bought a $9 cell phone. Then we parked a block away from the Tang compound ready to portray ourselves as casual joggers. We started jogging and both of us made comments about our muscles aching after a few short minutes. It had been a few weeks since we hiked Camelback Mountain back in Phoenix. I was about to complain about parking so far away when I spotted the compound and told myself I could make it.

Nonchalantly as we could we jogged up to the gate in front of the compound. The Mercedes was gone so we punched in the code and ran up to the door. The Spanish maid let us in after giving us a look of disapproval. Sebastian talked, well pleaded with her at first. _I wished my husband would teach me Spanish._ I knew only the bad words and a few sweet ones like the word for kiss. The maid kept nervously looking outside to see if anyone was coming. Sebastian handed the maid the cell phone and she cautiously took it. She shut the door and we jogged back down to the gate.

"What did she say?" I asked.

"Tell you in a minute when we're in the clear. Ho could be here any second."

We ran fast to get out of the vicinity. I was out of breath when Sebastian finally slowed to a walk a street over from the Tang compound.

"Holy crap I'm out of shape Sebi," I huffed.

Sebastian put his hands on top of his head and breathed heavily.

"Doesn't this remind you of the neighborhood from License to Drive?" I asked between gasps for air. "The neighborhood Mercedes lived in?"

"Huh?"

"One of the Corey's gives the chick Mercedes a ride home after ditching his pops. This looks like the neighborhood."

Sebastian looked at me with a blank stare.

"You never saw that movie Seb?"

"No I didn't."

"Seriously? That is one of my favorite 80's movies! It's classic."

"So anyway Leah the maid, her name is Lupe and she is on board. She'll call us when Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang get home."

"Awesome. She seemed pissed at first."

"She is worried about her job she said if Mr. Ho finds out she will be fired. It's all good though I assured her he wouldn't find out she helped us and I told her we would pay her."

"Cool so now we wait?"

"Lupe said they could be back any moment. She said they usually go out at night when they are here. I want to go back to our place and go over my script for confronting Ho. She'll call when they arrive."

We reached our car and Sebastian handed me our bottle of water. I took a drink and handed it back to him.

"Lupe say anything else?" I asked. "Like how much they come here, how long they have been having an affair?"

Sebastian chugged the water until it was empty then responded. "Sounds like they have been sneaking around for awhile. Lupe said they don't talk to 'the help' unless they are giving orders. She said they are usually only in town for a few days at a time. We have to make sure we get the proof fast we can't let Ho leave town without coming to an understanding."

For us to continue our search for Grace uninterrupted we had to keep Mr. Ho from telling Bo's dad about our encounter. We drove back to Bo's to get our camera, go over our plan to bust Ho and wait for the maid to call.

"Leah stop talking," Sebastian said. "Seriously you will not win this."

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Sebastian! Lebron will go down as a better player than Kobe when it is all said and done. There has never been a player like him. Period!"

"Leah Kobe has a killer instinct Lebron doesn't have. He's clutch. He makes impossible shots. He can carry a team by himself and has heart."

"So does Lebron!" I shouted. Why am I yelling I asked myself?

"No he doesn't. Kobe has five championships! Kobe is better face it."

"Kobe is done dude he won't win another championship. And he is a Mike clone. Lebron is in a class by himself."

"So you think Lebron's better than Jordan?"

"I didn't say that mojón."

I stared at Sebastian from the passenger side seat of our Buick. He looked straight ahead shaking his head. I hated when we debated issues like this. Sebastian would never admit he was wrong about anything. He always had to win against me. I turned back to face forward and relaxed the tension that was in my shoulders. Both of us stayed silent for a few moments knowing this argument was going nowhere.

Sebastian tapped the steering wheel with his thumbs and I knew he was preparing to be the first one to speak again. "What freezes faster Leah cold or hot water?"

"Um cold water."

The tone of both our voices had returned to normal and I was glad to have calmness in the car again.

Sebastian smiled. "Nope hot water does."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"How?"

"It's hard to explain. You wouldn't be able to follow. You would just get confused and call me a geek."

"Why did you bring that up now?" I asked. "What does it have to do with what we're talking about?"

"Nothing I just wanted to show you I know more than you."

I playfully went through the motion of slapping him.

"I'm the best!" He smiled and moved away from my hand.

"Sebastian you are lucky you are cute."

He leaned over and flipped my lip down. I pushed his arm out of the way. We had been waiting outside the Tang compound for over two hours. We knew it might be a long wait. Lupe called us close to 4:00 pm letting us know Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang arrived. Our plan was to follow them when they left to go out for the evening then snap a few good pictures of them together. If they didn't leave the compound we would have to go to plan B, which would be to try to get Lupe to open a few shades so we could try to get the pictures that way. Plan C was to go storming into the compound to confront Mr. Ho saying we saw Mrs. Tang in the hallway and we knew what is going on.

"I am getting so bored Sebastian."

"You get bored easily."

I turned to face him. "Want to mess around?" I ran my hand down his leg. I leaned over and put my mouth against his neck. I breathed slowly and softly.

Sebastian quickly leaned away from me. "Stop Leah."

"Come on have you ever fooled around in a brown Buick in sunny San Diego?"

Sebastian laughed. "Come on stop it Leah."

"Let's make out or do something."

"Why don't you look up Kobe's stats on your phone and soak in his greatness. That will keep you busy for awhile."

I went back to my side of the car. "Ha ha Sebi-bears." I fidgeted with my phone awhile and tried to find a new way to sit. The lean back lever on my seat was broken so it was at a nearly 90-degree angle.

"Leah please stop and sit still your driving me crazy," Sebastian snapped.

"I don't know why we had to come over here right when we got the call. It's not like they were going to turn around and leave right away. I need to get out and move around. This seat is ridiculous."

"Get in the back seat and spread your legs out."

"That's what he said." I hopped over the seat. "Ew this back seat is nast!"

Sebastian looked back at me and tried not to laugh but did. "Leah nice face."

"It's creepy back here." I put my back against the car door and stretched my legs across the seats. It was uncomfortable and I couldn't help being antsy. "I'm going to have to potty soon."

Sebastian turned around dramatically and gave me a glare. "Sweetheart, I told you not to drink that much water because you may not be able to go potty for a long time."

He said this in a soothing agitated voice like he was talking to a child who may or may not know better.

"Sebastian I _know_ but I'm a woman I have a small bladder what do you want me to do? I don't have capacity of the Congo River like you do. I barely drank anything."

He sighed. "We have a long night Leah you may have to go in that empty water bottle back there."

"No it's alright I'll hold it like a champ. I'll Lebron this pee!"

Sebastian didn't react and I was disappointed.

"Dude did you hear me? I said I'll Le-"

"I heard you," Sebastian said with no amusement.

He wouldn't give me credit and I didn't know why I even bothered pleading. "It was a good line. I'll hold it like a champ. I'll Lebron this pee. Boom roasted!"

"It sounds dumb Leah."

"No it -"

Sebastian cut me off. "There's the Ho-bag. Game on. Get back in the front seat."

I crawled back over the seat as the black four door Mercedes cleared the gate and started going south. I hoped Ho would not be suspicious of the brown rundown beater that was following him. Sebastian kept his distance until we got onto a major street and could blend in. I grabbed the camera from our bag of supplies and made sure it was set to go. The sun was starting to go down. The sky looked gorgeous and I wish I could have rolled down my window to take a picture of it. It wasn't the time to do that with us tailing Ho plus the passenger side window was faulty and it literally couldn't be rolled down.

We tailed the Mercedes down Prospect Street. Just like we suspected the Mercedes turned into one of the upscale restaurant parking lots. Sebastian drove past the restaurant and found a place to turn around. We didn't want to go into the parking lot of the restaurant in case it was valet only. I searched the location on my phone to see where Mr. Ho was taking his lady. It was a fancy restaurant boasting the best rooftop dining in Southern California. There goes our idea of snapping a picture of them dining outside. If they're on the rooftop our only option would be to get a picture of them coming out to the car.

Traffic was crazy and it took us at least ten minutes to get back to the parking lot that Mr. Ho had turned into. The parking lot was crowded. They had a valet section that took up half the lot. We debated parking elsewhere and Sebastian was in the process of exiting the parking lot when we saw a spot at the end open up. He backed the Buick in and we looked at each other both wondering what we were going to do next. Our parking spot had no view of the door to the restaurant. There was no way we were going to get a clear picture of the two of them. After bickering back and forth we agreed we would have to go into the restaurant. We noticed the people going to this restaurant were dressed in suits and cocktail dresses. No doubt they had a dress code and we were in our usual attire - jeans, a tee shirt and flip-flops. Since we didn't pack any nice clothes for this trip we had to act quickly. I looked up the closest place to buy dress clothes and Sebastian started to drive the Buick like the piece of crap car it was.

The restaurant was located near a popular strip lined with retail stores. We pulled up to a store that had mannequins dressed to impress. I feared what our bill would be as I got out of the car. Acting fast I grabbed three black dresses that were bearable and hightailed it into the dressing room. Sebastian wined and moaned about getting a suit. He hadn't worn one since he was employed at Smith Avery the architecture firm he worked at after graduating from college. It stirred up bad memories for him and he was being a pain in my ass. We both came out of the dressing room to show each other our threads.

"Damn girl you look fine!"

"Me? Look at you Rico Suave."

"I hate this!"

"You look awesome Sebi shut the hell up you are getting that suit!"

I kissed him on the lips and ran my finger down his stomach.

"It's itchy as hell."

I frowned. "It is part of the gig dude relax. You won't have to wear it again for awhile."

"Again? I am taking this back later tonight."

"Seriously can we do that?"

"If we are keeping this shit I am getting a shirt that doesn't itch."

"Just hurry up we have to get back to the restaurant."

Three shirts later Sebastian was finally satisfied and we walked out of the store looking like we were going to prom. We had no choice but to valet our car once we got back to the restaurant. It was a little embarrassing to say the least. I really wished we were in Bo's BMW it would have fit in perfectly with this crowd. We started laughing when our car slowly made its way to the front of the line. Sebastian winked at the guy and told him it was an experiment.

Since we had no reservations we had an hour to wait until we could get seated. This would give us time to scope out the place and find out where the happy couple was located. The restaurant had a bottom level for dining and a rooftop that had a bar area along with a large dining area. While Sebastian went to stake out the rooftop I took a lap around the bottom level. I didn't spot our target and shyly asked a waitress where the restroom was when she politely asked if she could help me with anything. I nervously walked from the restroom to the front of the bar wondering what I would do if I happened to lock eyes with Mr. Ho. I was surprised when I got back to the front of the restaurant and Sebastian wasn't back from his rooftop trip. I checked my phone and there was a text from him telling me to come up to the rooftop bar.

I found Sebastian leaning against the crowded bar. When I got there he moved me in front of him and told me to sit down. He stayed behind me and started to whisper in my ear.

"Don't look now but Mr. Ho is on the southeast side near the railing."

I turned and Sebastian tilted my head back to the way it was facing. "I said not now!"

"I am just trying to look back at you Sebastian."

He groaned. "Just act like we're actually here for fun not like we're on CSI San Diego."

I sighed with frustration and motioned my hand to get the bartender's attention. I needed a drink.

Sebastian groaned once again. "Please don't ask for a Smirnoff Ice or a blended drink Leah."

I rolled my eyes even though Sebastian couldn't see my expression. It got a smile from the bartender and he asked what I was drinking. Without hesitation I told him I would have a Long Island Iced Tea. I guess that was the most sophisticated drink I could think of in the spur of the moment.

I watched the bartender make my drink curious to see what was in it. I didn't look back at Sebastian because I knew he would have a snarky look on his face. He sarcastically snickered when I had given the guy my drink order.

I took my first sip. "This is yucky."

Sebastian shrugged. "I don't know why you ordered that."

I could never find a drink that I actually enjoyed. I rarely drank so when I did it usually hit me rather quickly. Sebastian would fun of me because I was never able to finish a drink. Sebastian drank his Stella and moved to the right of me since the guy sitting next to me finally moved over. I was giving my drink another chance when Sebastian got my attention by tapping his leg into mine.

"Okay I am going to bend down, look over my shoulder to the far side you will see Ho."

I looked around and saw where Ho and Tang were seated. It was nowhere close to us. "Damn Sebi you made it sound like they were in the same vicinity of us. They are way the hell over there!"

"I know," he mumbled. "But if one of them gets up and walks this way they will see us."

"You think if we zoom in we can get good pics?"

"Maybe we just can't be obvious."

I had my black leather purse with me. It didn't match the elegance of my dress but it was the only option I had. I took the camera out and set it on the bar. "What's the plan?" I looked at Sebastian expecting something detailed.

"Start snapping."

I glared. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Sebastian answered automatically. "Why not they are far enough away they won't notice and everyone around here is in their own world."

He was right this crowd was all focused inwardly. It was full of hoity-toity affluent people. While the restaurant was nice and I am sure the cuisine was delectable I would prefer a hole in the wall mom-and-pop place to this any day. I motioned Sebastian to come closer to me. "Let's at least act like we're on a romantic date to sell this. Can you do this? Let's pretend we just got engaged on the beach and now we're here for dinner. We're planning a wedding and honeymoon in Paris."

"I'm not role playing Leah," Sebastian teased. "Are you saying how I proposed and where we got married sucked?"

"No! It's called acting. We just bought these clothes to pretend we're rich and would come to a place like this. You know I love how you proposed and how we did our wedding. Easy my man."

Sebastian actually proposed to me on the beach in Santa Monica as the sun set. It was romantic and perfect. I slipped my wedding band off and I stood up throwing my arms around Sebastian's neck. I was going to go with my idea and knew Sebastian would have no choice but to play along. Next I grabbed the camera and held it out to take a picture of us. Sebastian laughed at me then grabbed the camera out of my hands. His arm length was longer and we would actually be in the picture he took. He then had me stand by myself and started snapping pictures non-stop. I could tell he was zooming over my shoulder to the right to get Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang. I stuck my hand out to show off my diamond ring. I hammed it up striking a few poses until Sebastian told me we had enough pictures.

I took one last sip of my drink and handed it to Sebastian to finish. Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang were finishing their dessert. We left so we would avoid running into them in the parking lot. I smiled when we walked out the door remembering that the valet had our car. Sebastian tipped our valet guy when he pulled up while I tried to contain my laughter.

# CHAPTER 9

Sebastian turned right when he pulled out of the parking lot in the direction of the retail shops.

"What are you doing Seb?"

"I am taking this suit back."

I frowned. "Are you serious? We can't take our clothes back."

"It was just a test drive. I bought it like an hour ago. I want my $500 back."

"Oh my gosh I am not going in with you." I took out the camera to look at the photos. "What are you going to say when you go in there?"

Sebastian smiled. "I'll just say it hugs my crotch and I feel like it is flammable. I don't feel safe."

I gasped. "Fudge! Sebastian these pictures are horrible!"

"Really?"

"Yeah really. I can't tell if this is an Asian couple, a white couple or a black couple."

Sebastian groaned. "Are you serious?"

"Yep. They are so far away you can't identify them and the lighting sucks. You aren't taking that suit back you have to turn around. We have to go back so we can get a clear picture of the two of them walking out."

"Not one works?"

I sighed. "No! This one is the best and it could be anyone." I held the photo close to Sebastian. "Damn Seb this isn't good. We are screwed."

Sebastian had already turned the Buick around and was in route to the restaurant. "Let's try to catch them. You may have to get out Leah and try to get in position to snap a picture when they get in their car."

Sebastian turned into the restaurant's parking lot. "Damn! That's their Mercedes at the valet station."

Disappointment washed over me. "Gosh this sucks!" I could see Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang getting into their car. "Now what?"

Sebastian didn't respond. He tapped the steering wheel as we were stalled behind a line of cars.

"They are going to be long gone by the time we get out of here," I said. "We have no idea where they are going."

Sebastian shook his head. "Ultimately they will return to the compound. We will have to catch them there."

"How?"

"I'm thinking."

Sebastian turned left out of the parking lot once we were able to go around the cars waiting in the valet line. The only good news was that I was able to avoid the embarrassment of witnessing him return his suit.

"Okay Leah I have a plan."

When he didn't continue talking I urged him along. "Today Sebi."

"We have to get a photo. We need solid proof to blackmail Mr. Ho. We are going to go to the compound and get a picture."

"And can you share what the plan for this will be? How are we going to get the picture?"

"I am going to call Lupe and have her open the windows to the room they will be in."

I rolled my eyes. "And let me guess we scale the wall look in the window and kazaam take a clear picture?"

"Something like that."

I was frustrated with Sebastian and his so called plan. I started thinking about the compound and how we would be able to do this. Sebastian called Lupe. I liked hearing him speak Spanish but at the moment it was annoying. I tried to patiently wait for him to finish his conversation. After a few minutes he was off the phone.

"I told Lupe to wash the bathroom in the room they use and spill bleach all over so the smell will warrant opening up the windows."

"Are they back at the compound yet?"

"No she will call when they get there."

"Okay so where is their room?"

Sebastian smirked. "That's the tricky part. It is on the second floor."

I sighed. "Our luck."

We were silent for the rest of the drive to the compound. Lupe called when we were a few miles away telling Sebastian they had returned. That was good news because I really didn't want to have to wait again in the Buick for them to return. Sebastian parked across the street from the compound.

"We have to be fast Leah we don't know how long they will be up."

I debated trying to convince Sebastian to give me time to get out of my dress and back into my other clothes. I knew he would nix my request so I got rid of my pumps and grabbed my flip-flops from the back. I threw the camera bag and my purse over my shoulder across my body.

"Sebastian do you know what side of the compound they are on?"

"Yes Lupe told me the location now be quiet because she was going to open as many windows as she could." Sebastian punched in the code to the gate. "Leah please be very quiet and follow my lead."

_Of course_ I said to myself sarcastically while giving Sebastian a head bob. There were multiple bright lights aligning the compound. It was eerie there at night. It had a stale feel to it. I didn't know why anyone would choose to build a house like this. _Yes, I would like the one with the government building feel please._

Sebastian stepped on a twig and it snapped in two. He froze and let out a short breath. He gave me a half smile. He pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear, "the room they are in is right up there. See it? The one that is lit up more than the rest."

I saw the room he was referring to. The big window was slid open. "I see it but how are we getting a picture?"

Sebastian guided me so we were up against the wall of the house. "You are going to have to climb up there."

I glared at him. "What? I don't have Spiderman powers."

"There is a trellis," Sebastian replied.

"What's a trellis?"

"That," Sebastian said pointing along the wall underneath the window. "It's called a trellis."

A thin dark wooden waffle looking thing furnished with ivy ran along the compound wall from the ground to the window.

I shook my head. "No way I will be able to climb that, it is way too skinny for my feet to fit."

"Leah we have no other choice. I would do it but you weigh a lot less than me. Come on we have to hurry."

"What if I fall?"

Sebastian smiled. "I will be here to catch you."

I rolled my eyes. "How am I supposed to climb that with the camera."

"Carefully."

We walked along the wall until we were underneath the window. Both of us grabbed the trellis to test its sturdiness. I breathed out heavily and Sebastian put his finger to my lips. I placed my foot in one of the wooden squares. It was scary thin but more sturdy than I expected for its size. I shook my head in disapproval. _Leah the mother fudging ninja._ I took off my flip-flops and set my purse down. I positioned the camera behind my right hip. I reached both my hands up and gingerly brought both feet into two of the waffle squares. I started climbing slowly as I tested the sturdiness of the trellis. It was so close to the wall that I thought of the cartoons with the characters falling straight back. Sebastian positioned his hands underneath my dress giving my ass a boost. I glared at him and he stopped. I thought I was going to laugh when he responded with one more push on my butt after I had turned back to continue my climb. I paused to regain my composure and focus on my climb.

I was getting to the point of no return when I started to get some anxiety. I didn't particularly like heights. I looked down at Sebastian. "Be ready," I mouthed. My bare feet already hurt from being on my tippy toes as I scaled the contraption. I kept on climbing trying to stay focused on my movement. I was getting in a flow when a dry twig of the ivy pierced my hand. "Ow."

"Shhh," Sebastian whispered.

I looked down at him with a scowl. It was taking forever to climb up to the window. When I was over half way up I looked down and started to doubt my husband's ability to safely catch me. He would be able to cushion my fall but there was no doubt in my mind that we would both be on the ground if I fell. I could hear music coming from the window. I was thankful for the noise. I took a deep breath and kept climbing. It might have been all in my mind but it felt less sturdy the higher I got. I looked down at Sebastian nervously. He gave me a thumbs up which didn't put my mind at ease but did motivate me to keep it together.

After a few more reaches I was just below the window. _Now what?_ _How was I supposed to hang on while getting the camera ready?_ My mind started to race as I thought about keeping my balance and not making noise. The music was still playing but it was not that loud. I took my right hand off the trellis and reached over my head to bring the camera strap over it. I let the camera hang from my right shoulder while I placed my hand back on the trellis. I reached up with my arms and feet to get closer to the edge of the window. I went up on my tippy toes to take a peek into the window. _Holy shit my eyes!_ Mr. Ho's naked ass was what I saw. I ducked my head down instinctively grossed out by what was just scorched into my retinas, my knees bent into the wood and my butt stuck out. I couldn't move my hands or feet and the camera swung into the trellis. Scared from hearing the sound of the camera crashing I grabbed the camera with my right hand and hung off the trellis trying to reposition my feet so I could get comfortable again.

I felt clumsy as hell but it was like trying to scale a brick wall it felt like there was no place for my feet and hands to go. When I finally felt stable I glanced at Sebastian. His reaction was what I had expected. He was shaking his head fast and motioning me to snap a picture. He then pointed to his watch. I knew he was right after seeing Ho naked we were minutes from the lights going out. I was so blinded by the sight of his ass and the big dragon tattoo on his lower back that was nearly a tramp stamp that I didn't get a look at Mrs. Tang. She might have been in the bathroom or lying down.

I decided I had to go for it and just start snapping. I grabbed the camera with my right hand and started to climb up closer to the window again. _Don't think just go for it. Going for it!_ I had my hand on the camera button ready to snap. I leaned up with the camera ready. My hands slipped all over. I was used to using two hands to take a picture with our bulky Cannon. _Here goes._ I leaped up conjuring my inner ninja and just as I had my hand on the button a thought crossed my mind. I aborted the action and tried to smoothly bring the camera down but I was so nervous from realizing that our camera makes the loudest noise when we take a picture that I fumbled it. The camera fell out of my hand and the strap jerked off my shoulder. I reacted quickly by reaching out my right hand and taking my right leg off the trellis to try to grab it as it fell.

"What the f-" Sebastian yelled in a quiet whisper as the camera ricocheted off his shoulder and onto the ground.

I dangled from the trellis trying not to slip off completely. My stomach was in my throat and I had tingles running through my body. I finally got both hands and feet back on the trellis comfortably. I nervously looked up half expecting an angry Chinese man to be glaring down at me. I was shaking. I looked down at Sebastian and he was looking up at me with disappointment. I knew I didn't have time to try to sign language why I had dropped the camera so instead I gave him a sign indicating he needed to throw me my iPhone. Sebastian didn't play many sports growing up and his first throw was poorly off the mark. This getting a picture plan was not going well.

Four attempts later I finally had my iPhone in my hand. I made sure the phone's ringer was turned off and opened up the camera app. I took a breath and lifted myself barely over the window's ledge. I held up the phone and started snapping with fury as fear filled every inch of my body. I brought the phone down and glanced at the pictures as quickly as I could. Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang were dancing together. Naked. The pictures were clear the proof was undeniable.

The task was complete now my focus turned to getting down as fast as possible. With a dress on I had nowhere to put the phone. I turned and dropped the phone down to Sebastian. The wood was unkind to my feet and hands. They were aching and I couldn't wait to be on the ground. The descent was better because I was relieved that this nightmare was about over. My fear was slowly leaving me. It was being replaced by doses of endorphins and I felt renewed energy from the thrill of the sting. I was at the halfway point when all hell broke loose. Simultaneously both my feet broke through the wood and my hands desperately tried to grasp on as I started falling. I hit my chin hard as the trellis disintegrated below me. I let out a yelp just like a dog does when they are caught off guard by being bit by another animal. I crashed vigorously on top of Sebastian and we both hit the ground. It happened so fast. Sebastian instinctively rolled us into the nearby bushes. My breathing and whimpering were loud. Sebastian was on top of me. He put his hand on my mouth to silence me. It was all darkness for me and I couldn't hear anything. I assumed Mr. Ho and Mrs. Tang heard the commotion outside their window but the way they were lost in each other's arms they may have been oblivious.

After what seemed like ages Sebastian spoke. "Okay it's clear," Sebastian whispered. "You okay sweetie?"

I leaned up to a sitting position. I shook my head back and forth then wiggled my legs to test my body to see what hurt. Surprisingly I felt okay. "Damn my chin hurts really bad but I think that is the only damage."

Sebastian used his phone as a flashlight. "Oh sweetie it's all red and swollen." Sebastian softly grazed his hand under my chin. "Damn your arms Leah!"

I twisted them around to take a look. They were all scratched up from that damn trellis. "Are you okay I crashed into you pretty hard?"

"Yeah I am fine. You are the one I am worried about. You sure you are okay?"

I smiled. "Shoot I am a mother fudging ninja!"

# CHAPTER 10

Sebastian kept telling me he was ready but we were still sitting in our car outside of the compound. After assessing the damage of my fall we went to print out the pictures. Accept for Mr. Ho's dragon being the centerpiece of the pictures they turned out well. Mr. Ho would not be able to deny an affair with Mr. Tang's wife. I didn't want to explore what kind of relationship they had but it seemed like it was seasoned. Mrs. Tang was a lot younger than Mr. Tang and I wondered if she married for the money then fell in love with someone who she was more compatible with. Mr. Tang didn't come off as a man who would dance naked with a woman.

"Come on Sebi you got this," I grumbled. Sebastian was talking to himself in a voice that was barely audible. It was annoying but also kind of cute.

"I know I am just going over my lines in my head one more time."

"You're psyching yourself out," I warned. "Let's just do this. We have the dirt we got this bastard. He is going to beg for the deal."

Sebastian put his head back against the headrest. "Maybe but I want to be prepared if he tries to flip it? It is mainly pictures of Ho's backside you can hardly tell it is Mrs. Tang."

"You can definitely tell it is Mrs. Tang. It may not be the best angle since her head is leaning into his shoulder but you can tell. And Mr. Tang doesn't seem like an understanding man. I think we could have gotten them getting out of the car together and it would be enough."

"I know," Sebastian sighed. "I am just trying to prepare myself Leah. I want him to be scared. I want to be assured that we won't have a problem with him telling Tang. If he tells Tang about us still working with Bo we're done. Bo's done."

"I know," I said quietly.

I let Sebastian think in silence. We were so different. I was spontaneous while Sebastian premeditated everything. I didn't think I just reacted and that was when I was at my best. My first reaction was always authentic. When I had a lot of time to think about something I started over thinking and would get frustrated. I wanted to take action and react as I went. I had a teacher notice this trait in junior high and she said never apologize for being spontaneous. I wasn't quite sure what she meant at the time but I saw the way she looked at me like she wished what I had was in bottle and she could drink it.

Sebastian opened the door without saying a word and I followed his lead. He called the maid Lupe on the cell phone we gave her to give her a heads up that we were back. I punched in the code to the gate and we walked up to the door. I was full of nervous energy. Sebastian knocked lightly on the door. I gave Sebastian a hug around the waist and put my head against his chest. He kissed my head softly then broke away from my hold. When Lupe let us into the house it felt like déjà vu except this time I didn't have to pee. Sebastian walked in front of me with the manila folder full of pictures in his right hand. I followed with anticipation. Lupe led us into the study and told Sebastian she would go get Mr. Ho.

We heard Ho before we saw him. He was talking in a harsh tone to Lupe. Obviously he was not happy he had late night guests. Ho's face was priceless when he walked through the study door and saw us. Sebastian's face was equally priceless. He cut Mr. Ho off just as he about to launch into a tirade.

"Sit down Ho!" Sebastian said with authority. "Sit down and listen."

Mr. Ho was taken aback by Sebastian's tone and when he started to respond Sebastian cut him off.

"Stop! Look here jerky this is what's going to happen." Sebastian spread the pictures out on the table. "You're going to listen to me today."

I didn't recognize Sebastian. He was commanding the room like a rooster in a hen house. His confidence and appearance as a badass was turning me on.

"So Ho as you know we have been looking for Grace. You see those pictures? Yeah the ones with you and your boss's wife? They can be instantly emailed, faxed, or hell I can FaceTime them to him if you like. If you don't give us what we want they will be sent to Mr. Tang so he can see that his right hand man is banging his wife. Unless you want to cooperate with us."

Mr. Ho couldn't look at the pictures after he saw what they were. Sweat beads formed on his head. Damn Mr. Tang wanted to destroy Bo when he found out he was trying to find his missing girlfriend I wondered what he would do if he did find out about Ho's affair with his wife. Death would be the only viable option. Ho looked like he might faint from fear. He sighed loudly and stood up slowly. He walked toward the window. He's had his underwear in a bind and I was scared of how he would respond.

"Tick tock Ho I have Tang's phone number on speed dial," Sebastian assured him. "I can call or send a picture right now."

Mr. Ho turned around forcefully. "Stop! Just stop! Put those away!"

I was startled by Ho's explosion. His loud voice bounced off the walls. Sebastian didn't budge he kept his eyes locked on Ho. It was safe to say we had his attention.

"I will help you," Mr. Ho said with uneasiness. "I will tell you where the girl is."

Sebastian and I shot each other WTF glances. I was literally holding my breath and had to tell myself to breath. _Mr. Ho knew where Grace was? Is that what he was implying?_ I watched Sebastian change his demeanor and I could tell he was going to play this cool.

"Okay tell us where she is," Sebastian demanded. "If you tell us the pictures will disappear."

Mr. Ho paced back and forth slowly. I wasn't sure if he was gearing up for another explosion or if he was surrendering. I couldn't believe he knew where Grace was. I didn't know what was going on. Was Mr. Tang solely behind Grace's disappearance? Was that why Tang was so mad at Bo for hiring us to find her? Some family Bo had. I was irate inside. Who the hell did these people think they were? Ho's silence was starting to infuriate me and his pacing was making me dizzy.

I snapped. "Where the hell is she? Tell us!"

Mr. Ho stopped and turned toward me although he didn't look at me. "The girl needed to be removed. She is in the hands of a businessman in Juarez, Mexico." Mr. Ho said this like it was a normal everyday occurrence.

"So you had her sold as a sex slave?" I asked angrily. "And she had to be removed, what the hell does that mean?"

"Leah." Sebastian gave me a disapproving look. "Calm down."

Tears were forming in my eyes and I wanted to respond but I decided against it.

"Mr. Ho," Sebastian said. "What is she doing in Juarez? Who has her?"

I always admired how Sebastian could keep his cool no matter who he was talking to or what the situation was.

"She was put into the care of a Mr. Ping that is all I know."

Sebastian frowned. "Did Mr. Tang order this?"

Ho sighed as if all these questions were unwarranted. "I told you where she is that was the deal."

Sebastian glared at Mr. Ho. "But where in Juarez? It's a big place."

Mr. Ho raised his voice dramatically. "His place is called Ping's that's it!"

I jumped in still fuming. "And how do we know you are telling us the truth? How do we know you won't give Ping a heads up that we are coming for the girl and he is waiting with a gun?"

Sebastian turned his gaze from me to Mr. Ho and picked up all the pictures that were on the table. "Mr. Ho if anything happens to Leah or myself the pictures will still get sent to Mr. Tang." Sebastian stepped toward Mr. Ho and got close to his face. "You understand?"

Mr. Ho seemed pissed off that he had to make a deal with us as if we were lowly peasants. He finally muttered a quiet yes.

Sebastian grinned. "I will leave a copy of these pictures with a trusted friend of ours and if they don't hear from us these pictures will go into the hands of Mr. Tang. If we get down to Ping's place in Juarez and there is no Grace these pictures will be sent directly to Mr. Tang."

Ho pointed his finger at Sebastian. "Listen I have no control over what Mr. Ping does with her. She is his now. I give you my word that this is the man the girl was left with and he will know where she is."

"If he doesn't we have a problem."

Mr. Ho grimaced. "When you get the girl I get all the pictures and your word you will not tell Mr. Tang or Bo."

"You have our word," Sebastian said.

"If you do not honor this agreement it will not be good for you." Ho shook his finger at Sebastian. "And when I say it will not be good for you -"

"We'll be removed." I said sarcastically and looked at Sebastian knowing Ho wouldn't look my way.

His threat was weak and scary at the same time. If he had the balls to mess with Mr. Tang's wife I didn't put it past him to do bodily harm to us to protect himself from Tang. They had innocent Grace Yu _removed_ and given to a businessman in Mexico. These people were freaking crazy. I thought of how we even got involved with these people. Nelly and her need to buy cheap drugs in Mexico came to mind.

I waved my empty Smirnoff Ice bottle in front of Sebastian's face and he shook me off as if it didn't count. I went inside to grab another bottle. I returned to the deck where the sun was slowly going down. The view looked like a masterpiece painting. It was such a beautiful night in San Diego but we had been oblivious to our surroundings up to that point. I tried to get Sebastian to stop and take a look at the breathtaking sight but he couldn't be lured. He was in focus mode and rightfully so. In the morning we would leave for Juarez having no idea what we would be in for. We didn't know anything about this Ping character. We knew we couldn't just show up and ask him to give us Grace. Sebastian and I seemed to have discussed every scenario we could think of. If Ping's place was a brothel the best idea we had come up with was to try to sneak her out with a disguise.

The fact that we couldn't bring any kind of self-defense weapon had me worried. Juarez has a population of 1.5 million people and has been called the most violent zone in the world outside of declared war zones. The more articles I read about the violence in Juarez the more I became fearful for our safety. There was terrible violence against females in Juarez and I wondered what kind of hell Grace was living in if she was in fact still alive. It was mind-boggling what I came across online. I started reading snippets out loud from an article about a mass grave found that was full of women's bodies.

"Leah please," Sebastian snapped. "I know the violence down there is horrific. It's not going to do you any good to keep reading all those articles. We have a chance to possibly save one female from enduring violence are you in or out?"

"I'm in I am just trying to do some research on Juarez." Gosh somebody was testy I thought. I loudly closed my laptop.

Sebastian didn't look up from his notes. "Leah you need to call Nelly that's all I need you to do tonight."

I shrugged. "Yeah I will. I'll call her now. You going to call Pauly and make sure he has the Ho files?"

"Yes." He looked up slightly. "Leah are you sure about getting Nelly involved in this?"

I glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Can we trust her?"

"Seriously Bastian? She's my best friend and she already knows we are trying to find Grace." I shrugged. "I am going to go down on the beach and do a walk in talk."

"Whatever just don't go far it's getting dark and make sure she knows how important this is."

I waited a few seconds to see if Sebastian would look up from his notes but he never did. "I will."

I went down the elevator and through the lobby. For a second I wondered if this would be my last night on US soil. The thought made me uneasy and I dismissed it. I took off my flip-flops once I was outside. I let my feet snuggle into the sand.

Nelly answered on one ring. "Leah what the hell girl."

"What up Nelly?"

"Dude I haven't heard from you for like ever."

"I haven't heard from you. How's Falip?"

"He's good."

Nelly didn't elaborate so I assumed their relationship hadn't progressed.

"When are you and Sebastian coming back here? You find Hello Kitty?"

"Not sure and not yet. I am calling because I need a huge favor."

"Okay what is it?" Nelly sounded curious.

"I am going to either call you or text you everyday starting tomorrow. If you don't hear from me by 9 pm every night you need to call Pauly."

"Wait what?"

I groaned. "If you don't get a call or text from me starting tomorrow call Pauly, I will text you his number he is our friend in Orlando. Call him and tell him you haven't heard from us and he will know what that means. That's all you need to do."

Nelly gasped. "What does that mean if I don't hear from you Leah are you guys in trouble? What's going on?"

"No everything is fine." I thought about telling her more but decided she didn't need to know anything else.

"Ah," Nelly laughed nervously. "You have to tell me more than that Leah. I am just supposed to call some guy in Orlando?"

"I just need you to do it Nel. Can you?"

"Okay chill I will. So you're going to call or text everyday. It will be nice to hear from you more frequently."

"Is Gwen there?"

"What you don't trust me?"

"I trust you Nelly but maybe Gwen should be in on it as well. I will contact both of you."

Nelly sighed dramatically. "You think I will forget?"

"Shoot I don't know if you'll be having phone sex or something with Falip and I'll get a 'oh my gosh Leah I am so sorry I totally forgot' from you."

"I am offended," she whined.

"Whatever Nelly I trust you I just want Gwen involved as well. Put her on speakerphone."

"Okay hold on."

Out of the three of us Gwen was the reliable, dependable one. She was the one in college who would tell Nelly and I if our ideas were not very bright ones. Gwen was the mother hen of our house making sure we didn't burn it down.

"Hey Leah what's going on?" Gwen yelled.

I brought the phone away from my ear. "Hey Gwenie pooh. I need a favor. Nelly will give you the details but basically I am going to call or text you two everyday starting tomorrow. If you don't hear from me by 9 pm call Pauly."

"MMM-kay. Why?"

I almost laughed at Gwen's response she always had a sarcastic tone that could make me bust out laughing. I guess what I was asking did sound odd and I realized it at that moment.

"Sebastian and I have to take a trip to Mexico. Remember our little trip down there awhile back? So yeah this is just in case something happens to us."

"Seriously LG?" Gwen's tone changed from playful to serious.

I smiled hearing Gwen call me LG. It was my initials and my old nickname. I rarely heard it anymore. It made me think of my childhood.

"You two are flipping crazy," Nelly yelled.

"It's all good," I pleaded. "We just need Pauly to be informed if we are unable to be reached."

"Is Pauly hot?" Gwen asked.

"No he's a computer geek."

"That doesn't make him not hot," Nelly chimed in. "Don't be hating and why would you hide a Florida potential from us?"

"Stop he's still in college plus I think he has a girlfriend."

"Picture please."

"Ah fine I will see if I have one. Now can you two do what I asked?"

Nelly sighed. "I don't like this Leah. I know you love being risky and adventurous but this is just plain stupid."

"Nelly we'll be fine. I promise. Now can I trust you guys to follow through?"

"Wait so if we don't hear from you by 9:00 that means what you were captured by the cartel or some shit?" Gwen asked.

"Guys seriously I just need to know you two will call Pauly if you don't hear form me by 9:00 pm. I'll tell you all about it when it's over. I don't know how good of reception I will have down there so if you get a call from a weird looking number answer it. If I have reception I will text you."

"What will you text us so we know you're good for the day?"

"I'll text 'LG good' then maybe some emoticons. Some hearts and smiley faces. Is that cool?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Gwen said. "When are you guys coming back to Phoenix?"

"Well _if_ we make it back."

"Shut up Lee!" Nelly yelled.

"I'm kidding. I don't know yet."

I switched the subject so we could leave the call on a better note. Gwen had some drama at her job she shared with us then we laughed over Nelly telling us about her first trip to get a massage. It was typical Nelly and it took my mind off of Mexico for a few moments.

When I got back to Bo's apartment Sebastian was still at the table on the deck. I could tell his mind was in motion. I loved that Sebastian was my partner in crime. We complemented each other well. I convinced him that he needed to call it a night. We had a ten-hour drive to Juarez tomorrow and planned to leave at 6 am. I took Sebastian's hand and led him to the couch. We both sprawled out with Sebastian taking up most of the space. He draped his arm over my body and we snuggled in close to each other. My Cousin Vinny was playing on one of Bo's hundreds of channels. I zoned out while watching it and wondered if a 9 to 5 job would be better for us. It would mean we could do this nightly without having to worry about what kind of danger we would be in the next day.

# CHAPTER 11

It took us two whole days in Juarez to locate the right Ping. At least we were hoping it was our Ping. The establishment we were looking at had the name 'Ping's Comida China' in faded steel lettering. The building didn't look like a restaurant and both of us were leery to learn what was inside. It was a two-story run down building that fit in with the other run down buildings nearby. The neighborhood we were in was dirty and poor. There were rows of cinder block houses that surrounded the small main street like strip we were on. It was a Mexican holiday - Day of the Dead. The Day of the Dead was three-day celebration for those who have died in the past year. There was a parade about to start and everywhere we looked we saw people in colorful costumes. Skulls were the mascot of this celebration and the creativity I saw was impressive. Despite the name of the celebration and some of the scary face paint the mood was festive not somber.

We scoped out Ping's place for two hours. A few patrons went in and out but we saw no young Chinese girls that resembled Grace. To avoid looking like we were out of place tourists we decided to join the celebration and got our faces painted. Sebastian looked like Beetlejuice without the green hair. I felt like Elvira, mistress of the dark. The holiday seemed similar to Halloween without super hero costumes. The parade was a good distraction and once it started we walked towards Ping's place. The building sat back far from the road. We walked slowly on the dirt path staying to the left of the big rocks that outlined the driveway. There was a red Morton style building next door and I assumed Ping also owned it. There were multiple beat up vehicles outside of that building. Our brown mojón fit in perfectly.

The restaurant was completely empty. I guess the parade was a big draw. Sebastian let out a yell to see if anyone would come out. This definitely looked like a restaurant unless it's a front and the brothel was upstairs. I saw a staircase to the left of the kitchen and bar area. A bald chubby Chinese man came out of the kitchen area. He was wearing a white apron and looked very suspicious of us.

"Hi," Sebastian said. "Are you open?"

"No, we closed for parade. Come back in one hour."

Sebastian smiled warmly. "Okay. Is Grace here today?"

"Grace?" The man shook his head. "No Grace here."

Sebastian nodded. "Okay thank you."

Sebastian and I walked out of the restaurant dejected. The cook may not have been up to speed on all of Ping's girls but it had been such a long couple of days that both of us were hoping for some good news. I feared Mr. Ho might have sent us on a wild goose chase to buy himself time to plot his getaway from Tang. This thought aggravated me and made me worry that Mr. Ho had screwed us over. Once we stepped back outside the joyful celebration noise was overwhelming. _At least some people were having a fun time._

"Come on let's go watch the parade," Sebastian said. He held out his hand and I slowly grabbed it. "Cheer up sweetie."

I put a fake smile on my face and started skipping. Sebastian smiled but wouldn't skip with me. He dragged me forward when I stopped behind the crowd of people to watch the parade. We did a loop around the crowd and crossed the street. We stood up on the steps of one of the stores and watched the different homemade floats pass by. I lost myself in looking at the colors and all the fine details.

"Leah!" Sebastian nudged me hard with his elbow. "I think I see Grace!"

"Huh?"

"Look across the street that looks like her." Sebastian pointed. "Right?"

"Where?" I looked at the hordes of people and nothing caught my eye.

Sebastian sighed. "Look behind the first wave of people. See the group of like ten Asian women standing there? They have no costumes on."

I finally spotted them. I was embarrassed it took me so long when I saw them. The group stood out like a sore thumb. "Oh I see."

Sebastian rolled his eyes in frustration. Now I knew why he insisted on crossing the street he wanted to keep his eye on Ping's. One of the girls did look exactly like Grace.

"Damn Sebastian I think it is Grace!"

"Let's go to her before they leave. Come on!"

Sebastian started darting through the crowd when he got to the front he didn't stop. I followed him onto the street zigzagging by the large jack-in-the-box style float that would scare the living daylights out of any child under ten. I screamed when I turned around and was nearly clipped by an eight-foot skull cake.

Once we were finally done dodging parade floats we picked up our pace. We were scared that Grace would disappear into Ping's nearby building and we would miss out on our chance. It happened so fast that I didn't even know what to say once we reached her. I hesitated hoping Sebastian talked. He paused a moment then spoke.

"Excuse me but is your name Grace?"

"Who are you?" She asked.

I could tell by her eyes that it was in fact Grace.

"I am Sebastian and this is Leah," Sebastian answered. "Bo sent us. You are Grace Yu correct?"

"Yes." She kept her voice low and looked around in each direction until she gazed back at us.

Sebastian and I were both surprised Grace was standing before us. I couldn't even comprehend it.

"Come with us we will get you home," I said hurriedly. "Our car is close."

Grace looked at us with confusion on her face.

"I'll go pull up the car as close as I can get it," Sebastian said.

Sebastian started to run and Grace was left looking at me bewildered.

"We're here to take you back to San Diego. Do you need to get anything?"

She paused. "No I guess not."

"Let's go!"

I motioned Grace to follow behind me. She looked toward the group she was with who had not noticed us talking with her since they were still watching the parade intently. We calmly started to walk away. Once we had some distance I started to bop and weave through the waves of people.

Grace tapped lightly on my shoulder. "Walk casually like we are getting a better spot for the parade or I might get noticed."

"Okay."

I slowed down and tried to walk normally. It seemed like time was standing still. After a few moments I looked back at Grace to make sure she was still following me and I saw fear in her eyes. She was starting to panic. I told her we didn't have far to go. I spotted Sebastian and started to jog knowing the end was near. I opened the back door for Grace then jumped into the passenger seat.

"Go Seb!" _Holy crap we got her!_ I thought of Bo and couldn't wait to call him.

"Stop!" Grace yelled. "Wait I can't go. I can't go I have to go back!" Grace started opening the door.

"Why?" Sebastian asked. "It's okay you are safe with us."

"No he will kill one of the girls." Grace had tears rolling down her face. "He has threatened it before and I have seen it! I have seen it happen! I have to go back."

Grace quickly got out of the car slamming the door shut and scurrying through the crowd. Both of us were silent for a few moments in disbelief of what just happened.

"Damn Sebastian we had her in the car!" I slammed my hand on the dashboard.

Sebastian turned the car off and put his head on the steering wheel. "I know. What the hell just happened?"

"What was she talking about he'll kill someone? Who? How many people does Ping have hostage? Does he have a gun out at all times? We came here to save Grace only how are we supposed to save all these girls?"

"I don't know Leah but it's bad enough that Grace tasted freedom and couldn't go through with."

I leaned my head against the headrest and shut my eyes. "Now what?"

There was a hotel down the street that was less than desirable but Sebastian insisted we stay close to Ping's. It took us awhile to get there since we had to sidestep the main street and go around. There were twelve rooms in what I wouldn't even classify as a hotel. The man behind the bulletproof window told us we got the last room. Lucky us. He slipped the key under the small little crease at the bottom of the window and we went up the flight of stairs to check out our room. The previous night we stayed at a Quality Inn. When we walked in our room I wished I had realized how good we had it the night before. There were two twin beds, a window, and a small stand. It looked liked a jail cell. The man at the front desk mentioned a community bathroom - I couldn't wait to take a peek in there.

I scrunched up my nose. "Honey we're home."

Sebastian rolled his eyes at me. "You see how good you got it Leah?"

"Oh I know I take nothing for granted. I know I live a good life. I am thankful."

Sebastian set our bag of clothes on one of the beds. "Sad to think that there are tons of people who would give anything to have a room like this to sleep in."

"I know." I gave Sebastian a hug and he put his arms around me.

"That being said this is pretty nasty." He forced a slight smile. "Let's remember to bring up our pillow and blanket from the car."

"Deal."

We left our bag of clothes in the room and took off with only our backpack. We walked the street finding a small café to sit in. After ordering a snack we got to work brainstorming. After much deliberation we decided to go with a money angle. Ping would only be swayed by money. If he bought Grace he would likely be willing to sell her for the right price. Sebastian and I discussed persuasion tactics with Ping.

I couldn't shake the fear I saw in Grace earlier. She didn't know how to react when I told her we were there to take her back home. I could tell she felt a tinge of hope that was unfamiliar to her along with an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness. When she realized she had to go back I could tell she was not surprised by her fate. Her shoulders sulked down knowing that the sliver of hope that had infused her a moment earlier was short lived. Grace looked like a different person to me. A lot different from the spunky, upbeat girl I saw in Bo's pictures and the many pictures scattered around her apartment. Her innocence was gone and that angered me. She was far too young to know first hand the cruelness of this world and her life would never be the same.

I was sick of having the same conversation with Sebastian with different outcomes. I put an end to the madness and stood up to leave.

Sebastian glared at me. "Really Leah?"

"Yep," I said confidently. "This is getting tiresome let's go check out Ping."

Sebastian shook his head. "And what's the plan sweetheart?"

"No plan just go and get a feel for the guy."

Sebastian gave me a smile I was all too familiar with. He thought this was a bad idea. "Okay it's all yours sweetie you run the night."

With the smile he gave me I knew he would be sarcastic and act like a big baby. "Stop Sebi. We have our faces painted we can go in there and get familiar at least. We don't look suspicious. It beats staying here and listening to you hash the shit of this over and over again."

"Leah this is a big deal."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah I know. But we have to act sometime and then react. We have to get this thing rolling at some point. I hate delaying it like you love to do."

"It's just we may only get one shot with this guy and if he doesn't go for a money deal then what? We don't even have much cash on us I might add."

"Yeah," I said slowly. "So you want to stay here and work on what? What words to use on this d-bag when you attempt to strike a deal with him? If it doesn't work at least we know Grace is alive and who has her."

Sebastian stared at me for a while and finally broke into a soft smile.

I laughed. "What?"

Sebastian raised one eyebrow amusingly. "You are so impatient Leah."

"No I'm not I just need to get you going sometimes, damn."

"Let a man live!"

I shook my head and smiled. "If I didn't say anything we would be here another four hours twiddling our thumbs. Let's go get some Ping's Comida China."

Sebastian frowned. "Alright let's go."

The streets were still swarming with people when we left the cafe. After the parade ended it turned into a street party. I was glad it was crowded like it was. It made me less nervous because it felt like we were going unnoticed in the sea of people. Ping's place was about half full when we arrived. We were seated in a booth along the left side of the restaurant. Both of us kept glancing down at the menu and around at the scenery. I noticed most of the patrons were older and all the tables had big groups of people around them. We are the only table with two people. Sebastian took the side of the booth that faced the bar and kitchen. I suggested we both sit on that side but I let him have it when he dismissed my idea. Sebastian was a much better observer than I was.

The food smelled really good and I couldn't decide what to get. I was so indecisive with food. Sebastian usually ordered for me so it didn't delay him from eating. I always asked for a few more minutes.

"Ping three o'clock."

I looked around and spotted a man across the room standing with his back toward us. "You sure?"

"I'm guessing." Sebastian looked down at his menu. "He came out from the back and has been stopping at different tables to talk."

A waitress came to our table. She asked us what we wanted in Spanish. I paused thinking of our community bathroom back at the hotel then I pointed at the picture of lo mein noodles and shrimp. I knew anything I ate would be subject to a night on the toilet. I was starving and this dish looked worth it at the moment. Like always once the waitress left I second-guessed my order. Sebastian shook his head and casually scoped the room for Ping's location.

"Do you think Grace stays upstairs or at the building next door?" I asked.

"Not sure. The building next door looks like it is more for storage or operations."

I nodded. "The building is pretty big he probably has an area of rugs for his slaves to sleep on at night."

I glanced over at Ping. He was at a table in the middle of the restaurant. I got my first look at his face. From the range I was at he looked to be in his late 40's, early 50's. He was short maybe 5'4" and extremely thin. He had black hair that was course and jetting out. I immediately thought of Nick Carter's hair from the Backstreet Boys. Except I didn't think it was hair gel just grease. I heard him laugh loudly and speak really fast. The man had a boisterous laugh. I turned toward the window and laughed a little. His laugh cracked me up, it was high pitched and dramatic. He was approaching a table close to us.

"How you like Ping's?" He squealed.

I snuck a peek at him. He had his hands out in the air like a ballerina sticking the landing.

"Come anytime. Ping feed you! Ping feed you!"

The people at the table were eating his act up. In fact Ping had been walking around this place like he was the pope. While trying not to be obvious I took a good look at his face. He looked older up close and I guessed his age was more in the middle to late 50's range. His face had a handful of long hairs sticking out. It grossed me out and I quickly looked away. Great timing as our waitress approached our table with our food. Both of us started eating like we hadn't been fed in days.

"Wow this is pretty good," I raved. "Is yours good? Can I try some?" I already had my chopsticks on Sebastian's plate trying to grab some of his fried rice.

"Ask for a fork?" He barked.

I dropped a lot of rice en route to my mouth. I gave Sebastian an embarrassed look. "Sorry." I immediately went in for another chance at his rice.

He shook his head. "Leah stop. Here let me help."

Sebastian took his chopsticks grabbing a hearty chunk of his dish and brought it to my mouth. I ate it and laughed. He looked around to see if anyone saw him feeding his lady. I opened my mouth like a little kid waiting for more.

Sebastian stared at me for a few seconds before breaking into a smile. "No more."

Both of us ate fast enjoying our first real meal of the day. We packed a case of water and a lot of energy bars. Eating the bars were getting old.

"What do you think of Ping?" I asked in between bites.

"Gregarious. Sounds full of shit like a used car salesman."

I nodded and kept eating my lo mein noodles. Ping disappeared into the back of the restaurant.

"What's the plan, do you want to take a crack at him tonight?"

"No," Sebastian replied. "I want to go get our car and try to get a spot on the road that will give us a clear look at this place."

I dropped my shoulders. "So we're staking out all night?"

"Yep."

It made sense. With the commotion of the crowd outside we would go unnoticed watching over Ping's place. I didn't like being confined to the car but really what other options did we have. I knew Sebastian wanted to get a feel for this place before we made our move. If it put him at ease I would go along with it.

The amount of food they served us was overwhelming. As much as I wanted to keep eating I surrendered knowing I reached my limit. Sebastian who was notorious for never leaving a speck of food on his plate had a small portion of his fried rice left. Sebastian and I debated getting to-go boxes. I argued I wanted my leftovers for breakfast and Sebastian said it would not stay good overnight.

"You'll end up getting sick Leah. Not sure if you noticed but our hotel room has no refrigerator. You are not saving your shrimp lo mein for tomorrow."

I shrugged. "Well fine I'll eat it later when we're staking out." I am not sure why I got attached to my food like I did. I guess I hated to waste anything especially food.

"No sweetie you are not taking it with. All it will do is stink up the car."

I took one more big bite so I felt better about leaving the food behind. "Fine let's go."

We went back to get our Buick then parked across the street from Ping's. A band was playing on stage and people were dancing in the street. A group of cute little kids ran around with sparklers. I kept my eye on them because the adults near them were drinking and hollering amongst each other. Sebastian stayed focused on both of Ping's buildings and mumbled a few things once in awhile. The truth was this stakeout was rather entertaining and I was glad there was a party around us. It made the night fly by.

At 2:30 am the band finally stopped playing. I thought it might quiet down and I would be able to get some sleep but I had no luck. With the band gone the people started singing a capella then all of sudden random instruments appeared. I had to respect the heart of these people they partied hard. At Ping's property there had been a steady flow of people coming and going but nothing was alarming. I assumed they extended the restaurant hours to accommodate the Day of the Dead celebrations. The Morton building was fairly quiet as well. There were a few trucks and cars out front. A group of men had been gathered outside smoking and drinking. All and all it had been a quiet night. While I hadn't seen anything that was relevant I was sure my observant husband picked up on a thing or two.

I started to nod off but screams and music pulled me out of my dream state. It was not until the sun started to rise that the people finally started to depart from the streets. I was excited to finally get some shuteye until I remembered what the beds in our hotel room looked like.

The first thing we did when we got to the hotel was take turns guarding the door to the bathroom for each other while we showered off the face paint and the dirt from the long day. Sebastian motioned me to hurry up and I knew he feared the warm water would run out soon. We left the window open in our room when we left that afternoon and it was freezing. There was a light white cloth as a curtain and I feared soon the sunlight would be bursting in to disrupt our sleep. Hopefully we would fall asleep quickly and it wouldn't effect us. Sebastian and I pulled the twin beds together. In doing so it revealed all dirt on the floor. I stood on my shoes and leaped onto the bed trying not to allow my feet to touch the floor. I clung to Sebastian hoping to get warm. Even though I was shivering it didn't take me long to fall asleep soundly on Sebastian's chest with the rattling of maracas reverberating in my head.

# CHAPTER 12

I woke up the opposite way of how I fell asleep. I was hot and sweaty. Sebastian took the blanket off of himself at some point and it was doubled up on me. I pushed it off and started to rub my eyes. I looked toward the window. It was cloudy out. The weather matched my mood. I just wanted to stay in bed even if the springs were poking through the mattress. I looked up at Sebastian who was sitting up against the wall with the computer on his lap. I decided to stay quiet hoping he would as well. I shut my eyes and turned back onto my stomach.

Sebastian whistled. "Leah come on sunshine wake up."

Sebastian said this quietly and I could tell he was focused on whatever he was reading. I figured I would be able to get ten more minutes of rest before he started to get annoyed that I wasn't getting up. I was not sure if it was the sleep schedule or the food but I didn't feel good.

Sebastian slapped me on the butt. It startled me. "That was too hard!" I snapped at him and flipped over.

"Get up sweetheart we have a Chinese lord to feud with!"

"What time is it?"

"Almost 4:00 pm."

"Really?"

"Really, really Leah."

I slept hard and I had no energy to get up. I grabbed my phone off our bag on the ground. Nelly sent a picture to the group text we had going between the three of us. It was a picture of me at Wal-Mart in a pair of stirrup stretch pants, a bright yellow tank top and Velcro shoes. We would occasionally play dress up when we were bored in college and it would keep us entertained for the night. Nelly and Gwen would pick out an outfit from the adult woman section usually targeting grandma-wear. All of us would have tears in our eyes from laughing so hard as we tried on our outfits. The caption of Nelly's text was 'Baby come back!' with an emoticon of a smiley face with tears streaming down. It was like they thought I was in Mexico on a suicide mission with their sentimental texts. I replied right away so they didn't have to hold their breath long. I guess I would have felt the same way and I thought of how I felt when Nelly threatened to cross the border by herself last month.

"How you feeling?" Sebastian asked.

"Kind of yucky. I need some fresh fruits and vegetables."

"What?" He asked confused.

I glared. "What?"

"I thought you said you would surely be hungry for your leftover lo mein this morning."

"Oh gross!" I shrieked at the thought.

He smiled. "Drink a bottle of water sweetie I don't want you getting sick on me. Stay hydrated."

I plugged my phone in the outlet and grabbed a bottle of water. It was lukewarm but it tasted amazing. I only had a few sips of water while we were staked out in the car the night before. I didn't want to have to pee. I would have given anything for a banana at that moment. I settled for another energy bar.

Sebastian had been up for awhile getting himself all psyched up for Ping. Today was the day we would take action. We were approaching Ping for better or worse. I knew it might be our only chance and my only fear was that our presence would harm Grace. If we couldn't get Ping to agree to a deal what would her fate be? We had to get Grace free. We couldn't leave Mexico without her.

We dressed and walked across the street to the market on the corner. It was November 2nd, which was officially the Day of the Dead. We were in a poor little area of Juarez, I couldn't imagine what the scene was like in the popular metropolitan areas of Mexico. We bought two Gatorades inside and two bags of crunchy Mexican pinwheel chips from the street vendor who was stationed outside. The chips were doused with hot sauce and were so tasty. Sebastian informed me they were called duros. Duros were the bomb and we walked the street feeling like two kids at a carnival. There were booths lined up on the street with people selling different things from skulls to paintings.

With no face paint on I felt different, exposed. I couldn't hide behind a mask and I felt like a true foreigner. The sun was getting close to starting its decent. I told Sebastian we had to head to Ping's soon but he didn't flinch. I feared Sebastian would let another day pass before confronting Ping. He bought a plate of tacos from a vendor and both of us scarfed them down in silence while watching all the people move around in their costumes. There was what appeared to be an altar set up close to us. It had flowers scattered around and even had food lining it. I look around and noticed more areas were being set up like this.

Sebastian whistled to a young teenage girl next to us to get her attention. He spoke with her in Spanish for a while. She handed him a paper skeleton mask before walking away. He held it up to my face and laughed. "You look scary with that thing on."

"I'm sure I do. So is this holiday like Halloween on acid for them?"

Sebastian smirked. "No the girl said this is a happy holiday and everyone's favorite holiday. It's a celebration and they believe the dead are here with them during this time."

"Oh. So what is with those altars is that for the deceased?"

"Yep they decorate the alters with the dead people's favorite food and drink. Look over there."

Sebastian grabbed my shoulder and turned me so I could see the altar set up behind us. It had candles lit around a margarita machine and a bunch of pictures with flowers surrounding it.

"Nice!" I laughed. "This is so wicked. It's kind of creepy all those skulls and the pictures of the dead surrounding it."

"Yeah they place gifts and some of the dead people's possessions on the altar too."

I glanced around and noticed all the people circulating the area. "Wow it's early and the scene is even more vibrant than last night. They like to party!"

"Perfect distraction for us to visit Ping."

I leaned up against Sebastian. "Maybe he will be in a festive mood and let Grace go."

"We'll see." Sebastian nuzzled my hair. "Let me do the talking when we get in there Leah. Okay?"

"Sure. You ready?"

Sebastian nodded while shoving the last taco in his mouth. I followed him as he made his way to Ping's restaurant. Inside it looked like a family had rented out most of the restaurant for their very own Day of the Dead extravaganza. Tables were pulled together and the head table was set up like the altars we saw outside. There were skulls, flowers, pictures, alcohol bottles and food. It was crowded with every table being occupied. Sebastian and I walked toward the front of the restaurant where the bar was. To the back right was the kitchen and to the left an area that led to the stairs. There were so many people that we were having trouble navigating our way to the bar. Sebastian tried to slide by an elderly man but got denied. After waiting patiently he elbowed his way to the bar with me holding onto his belt loop behind him. Sebastian asked if Ping was in and the overweight bartender chuckled saying take a number. The bartender was Chinese and his accent was thick.

Sebastian looked back at me and shook his head. "This is impossible."

I held my breath as we made our way back out of the sea of people. I held on to the tail of Sebastian's shirt. We finally caught our breath in the corner near the stairwell.

"We're going to have to come back tomorrow," Sebastian said. "It's a freaking zoo in here."

My eyes lit up. "Should we check out upstairs?"

Sebastian looked at me like I was crazy.

I glared at him. "Why not? I can just say I got lost looking for the bathroom if anyone catches me. Might as well take advantage of the chaos and check out the rest of this place."

Sebastian was not amused by my idea but motioned me up. "Go for it."

He was daring me to go. He thought I wouldn't. I hesitated then started walking up the flight of dusty stairs.

"Cover me," I whispered before going any further.

When I got to the top I looked down a long hallway before me. To my left was another long hallway. I was suddenly worried. From the outside Ping's place looked small. Upstairs I could tell this place was huge and the restaurant was a small sliver of the building. It was fairly dark and I had a flashback to my grandma's basement. When I was a little kid I would run down to the basement to get an ice cream bar from the freezer and run back up as fast as I could. My grandparent's basement was the scariest place in the world when I was a child. It felt like a real monster lived down there and it had a soul.

I took a few gentle steps down the hall that was directly ahead of me. I stopped and stood still trying to listen for any sounds. I got nearly halfway down the hall when I stopped again. I feared what was lurking behind the doors. A vision of hanging bodies popped into my mind and I decided I was done exploring. I turned and took a step back toward the stairs when I heard a loud creek. I instinctively brought myself up against the wall like a chameleon. A door opened up near the end of the hallway and a ray of light shined against the wall. I stepped laterally inching my way closer to the stairwell so I could start my descent back down the stairs. I was getting ready to bolt just like I did after grabbing my ice cream bar when I heard a loud voice. I froze and kept still with my back against the wall looking straight ahead. The man was speaking Spanish. A jolt of panic ran through my body but I couldn't move. The man had a loud stern voice and it kept getting louder as he approached me. _Don't just stand here._ I slid to my left quickly and then ran. I slammed right into Sebastian. He put his arms around me and yelled at the man in Spanish. He abruptly whipped my body behind him shielding me by putting one arm in the air and keeping one arm on me. It was hard to see because Sebastian had me pinned to his back. I maneuvered and saw why, the Mexican man had a gun pointed at Sebastian's face. They were speaking fast back and forth in Spanish. I only recognized the words Ping and Mr. Ho.

The man relaxed for a moment and took a step back. He pulled out a walky-talky and fidgeted with the button before speaking into it loudly. The man had the same demeanor as the cop who pulled us over during Nelly's Tijuana drug run. He looked cold and evil. He was younger looking and clean-shaven. He was wearing rugged khaki cargo pants and a stained white tee shirt. Since I couldn't understand what he was saying I inspected him thoroughly. The gun he had in his hand was a 9mm Glock. I looked right into the barrel as it moved slightly from side to side.

The man put the walky-talky back in his pocket and motioned us to walk down the hall toward the room he came out of. Once in the room he put the gun to his side. He said something about Ping. He then looked me in the eye and said something that sounded scary. He was nearly at eye level with me which would make him around 5'8". I stared right back at him not wanting him to sense my fear. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Ella no habla Español?"

"No," Sebastian said.

"Ah okay. Okay I speak English. Mr. Ping will be here soon. Sit."

There was a love seat that looked like it barely survived a tornado and two wooden folding chairs. It was a tight squeeze for both of us to sit on the love seat. We sat down awkwardly and Sebastian stood up right away knowing both of us fitting in it was not going to happen. I sat on the edge not wanting to absorb the fabric anymore than I had to.

The man kept the gun down by his side but started twirling it. He had a muscularly build and looked intimidating. I imagined he could kill an animal with his bare hands or with one kick from his black combat boots. I knew if there were no weapons involved Sebastian could hold his own against this man. That Glock scared me though and we would have no chance against it. The room we were in was nasty. There were boxes scattered around and a small desk stacked with a bunch of crap all over it. There were two windows in the room and they had bars on them. I started hoping Ping would be the same exuberant man he appeared to be the other night when he was greeting patrons in his restaurant.

I hadn't made eye contact with Sebastian. I didn't want the man to pick up on anything and I was trying to act as emotionless as possible. I could hear the floor creek down the hall and the sounds of footsteps. In the doorway Ping appeared. Jolly Mr. Ping with a big grin on his face. He was wearing tan pants and a cream poncho.

"Hell-low!" He shouted. "So what do we have here? Visitors. Eduardo no gun. We don't need gun put away!"

Ping walked toward us stretching out his hands.

"Sir." Sebastian said reaching out his hand. "My name is Sebastian and this is Leah."

"Welcome! Welcome!"

I reluctantly shook his hand and cringed inside as he patted my shoulder then looked me over. He looked from Sebastian to me then repeated. Eduardo holstered his gun and had his arms crossed staring at me. I stood tall with my shoulders back. I did not flinch at all.

Ping finally spoke. "You two married?"

Sebastian hesitated. I was not wearing my ring. I didn't bring any jewelry. Sebastian was debating if he should say yes or no and what the consequences could be for either answer.

Sebastian took a breath. "Yes."

Ping shrugged and smiled. He walked over to look out the window then slowly walked back to us. "So." Ping talked painfully slow dragging out his words and he has such a high pitch that it made it difficult to hear him clearly. He had hands pointed together at his chin trying to take us in. "Mr. Ho sent you?"

Sebastian didn't hesitate. "Yes Mr. Ho told us about you sir. We are here for business."

"Oh, business." Ping sounded amused. "Tell me what Ping can do for you."

Ping was an obnoxious cocky prick. I wanted to kick him in the teeth. His mannerisms and voice were driving me crazy. I was glad Sebastian was able to be so calm and even keeled when he talked to assholes.

"We would like to make a trade," Sebastian said confidently.

Ping laughed hysterically. I looked at Sebastian not showing a reaction to see if he had one in response to Ping's outburst. Sebastian didn't waiver his expression and patiently waited for Ping's laughing to subside.

"Yes we have a business proposal. The young woman Mr. Ho gave you, Grace." Sebastian paused seeing if Ping would acknowledge her.

Ping cocked his head. "You mean Rain?"

Sebastian and I glanced at each other not knowing if he was talking about Grace.

"You want to trade me for my Rain?" Ping laughed again. "She is my best. Perfect Mandarin and Spanish. She very valuable to me. And Ho not give me Rain I paid for her. She's mine!"

Sebastian drew a blank.

Eduardo smiled and stood up straight. "Trade for the white girl?"

Ping tilted his head. "Ah ha. That's interesting. Yes?"

"No," Sebastian said coolly.

Ping smiled. "No? Why not? I think trade fair."

Sebastian shook his head. "She doesn't speak those languages."

"She doesn't need to," Eduardo quipped.

Ping laughed. "Yeah she stays quiet that fine with us. Don't need to say a word."

I was uncomfortably numb inside. I was afraid my gig of acting confident and calm was in jeopardy. There was no way these two men didn't sense the fear that had washed over me.

"No that is out of the question," Sebastian said. "That's not the deal."

"Okay what is the deal?" Ping screeched with anger. "You tell me what you had in mind and I tell you if it's a deal."

My confidence that we would be leaving Mexico with Grace started to dwindle. I felt bad for thinking this but I wanted to get out of there any way possible. Having two lives saved is better than losing three.

"$25,000 for Grace," Sebastian responded. "For Rain."

I was relieved that Ping's reaction to this was not his annoying laugh. He put his hand to his chin and thought on Sebastian's proposal. "Ah." Ping hesitated. He tapped his size 5 shoes on the floor. "Well that can't be deal. How I replace my translator? She speak both and speak it well."

"In this town?" Sebastian asked. "I think with that amount of money you can find a Chinese girl and a Spanish girl that speaks their language fluently."

Ping was considering the deal and it made me wonder at what price he bought Grace from Mr. Ho. Ping started pacing again. Eduardo's body language indicated he was not happy Ping was considering the deal. I was fearful of Eduardo more than Ping. He was the one with the gun and I could tell he had distain for Sebastian. While Ping was in charge I didn't think there would be any retribution if Eduardo went rogue and shot us both.

The room was silent as Ping contemplated his decision. Eduardo hopped off the edge of the desk and broke the silence telling Ping he wanted to talk to him alone. Ping walked out of the room and Eduardo followed him shutting the door behind him. Both of us were silent. Sebastian put his finger up indicating to stay quiet. He waited a moment before pulling me close to him.

"Sebastian what do we do?" I was shaking slightly.

"It's going to be okay just stay calm and alert okay Leah?" He kissed my head. "You good?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I love you Sebastian."

"I love you too. Hey we're getting out alive and we're bringing Grace with us."

I nodded. "What if he says no to the money and -"

Sebastian cut me off. "Leah relax just react and run for your life if something happens don't look back for me."

"Sebastian quit the shit."

"Leah I am serious." We heard footsteps and voices outside the door. "Just follow my lead sweetie."

"Okay." My lip quivered. "I Love you."

Eduardo walked back in with a smirk. Ping followed with his cheesy ass smile. He had his fingers together at his chin and started tapping them. He sat on the desk and looked back and forth at us. His random face hairs creeped me out. _How did they grow like that and why didn't he shave them?_

"I have deal," Ping said.

Sebastian and I waited for him to continue but he just looked at us with a smile. He started tapping the tips of his fingers together again. It was making me nervous. _What kind of crazy deal did this Chinese dude have in mind?_

"Sea-bast-on you look like nice young man. Respectable and honorable. I have deal. You see truck out there?"

Sebastian and I took a few steps to our left to look out the window. Through the bars we saw many vehicles outside by the building next door. There were two trucks that looked exactly the same except one was white and the other was black.

"Yeah."

"You know how to drive stick?"

Sebastian nodded. "Yes."

"Deal is tomorrow you drive that white truck out there over the border. Take to establishment not far into the US. You do that and give me $25,000 Rain goes with you."

"Alright I can do that. Where will Grace be?"

"Stop with the Grace! Her name is Rain! I go over the border in the other truck with Le-ah and Rain with me."

Sebastian thought for a moment. I did too and all I could think about was that I didn't trust these people. Why was driving a truck over the border part of the deal?

"Well?" Ping asked. "This is fair."

"Sounds like a deal to me," Sebastian agreed. "You have Rain's passport right?"

"Oh yes and she will get it when we cross."

I knew Sebastian didn't trust Ping and I got the feeling he was agreeing to this just so we would have a deal locked down.

"Alright let's do it." Sebastian forced a smile.

"Eduardo go call Manuel and tell him his services are not needed tomorrow."

Eduardo nodded his head and walked out of the room.

"What time do we leave in the morning?" Sebastian asked.

"8:00 am. You be ready to go at eight sharp?"

Sebastian nodded. "We'll be here."

"No the girl stays."

My heart dropped. I looked at Sebastian and waited for him to clear this up.

Sebastian's face went pale. "What do you mean?"

"Your woman stays here for the night." Ping tilted his head then put his hands up in the air. "She be safe. I promise she be safe. She stay here. Her and Rain stay here. You come in the morning and we leave."

"No deal. Leah and I stay together."

"This my deal!" Ping glared at Sebastian. "This my deal! Understand?"

Sebastian looked at me. I couldn't believe what was happening. I didn't even look at him I stared blankly ahead at the dirty wall.

"What's the arrangement where will she stay?" Sebastian asked nervously.

"She will be fine."

Eduardo walked back into the room.

"Eduardo go get Rain," Ping said. "Bring her here."

He nodded and left the room again.

"You have stuff on you?"

Ping was looking at me. I was confused. "Stuff?"

"You have personal items on you? Cell phone? Passport?"

I acknowledged that I did. I didn't want to risk getting frisked by him or Eduardo. I was wearing a black sweatshirt over my black shirt that fittingly had skull and crossbones on it. Sebastian and I had laughed when I put it on earlier that day because I joked that I would be able to blend in with the locals by wearing it. I had a small wallet that held my driver's license and a credit card in my sweatshirt along with my cell phone.

"I keep until tomorrow," Ping said.

"No I can take them." Sebastian reached out his hand and grabbed my wallet and phone out of my sweatshirt pocket before I could.

Eduardo walked in with Grace. She didn't react to seeing us.

"My Rain! My Rain! Tomorrow morning you go back to the US."

Grace gave us a quick look. She didn't know what to think. Her demeanor didn't change as though she knew not to get excited about anything Ping said.

"Let's go." Ping called out. "Come with me you two stay night in box."

_Box?_ Everyone started to follow Ping. _Was I the only one who thought this was bat shit crazy? What was going to happen to me?_ With each step my mind wandered into the darkness. I imagined the worst. Sebastian walked behind me closely. I glanced back for a look of assurance from him but there was none. I was hoping he was plotting of a way to keep me from staying in the box. Ping stopped at a door in the hallway. There was a small square window in the middle of the door. It was see through but it hadn't seen Windex in years. I stepped back so my body was touching Sebastian's.

"In you go." Ping twirled his hand in a circle then pointed to the door.

Eduardo unlocked the door. The room was dark and a strong stench seeped out. I forcefully pressed my back against Sebastian wanting him to save me from this. Grace reluctantly walked in and Ping looked at me sternly for not following suit.

"In you go."

I couldn't believe this. That annoying voice! I wanted to kick him in the nuts and run. Instead I stood frozen in place not wanting or feeling like I could move.

Eduardo gave me a death stare. "Go now!"

I didn't move. Eduardo grabbed my arm and I used all my might to get away from his grip. Sebastian launched at him with such force that I crashed up against the wall and fell. I gazed up from the ground and saw Sebastian wrestling Eduardo each attempting to pull the gun from Eduardo's holster.

"Both of you STOP IT!" Ping screamed at the top of his lungs.

I looked over my shoulder at Ping he was pointing a gun at Sebastian. Both Sebastian and Eduardo paused.

"We have a deal. This is the deal." Ping was squealing. "You leave come back at 8 am to drive truck. That's it! GO!"

Both Eduardo and Sebastian got up off the floor. Once standing Eduardo sucker punched Sebastian in the stomach. I could only watch as Sebastian fell to his knees.

"Enough!" Ping screamed. "You get out of here and you get the girl in the box." Ping looked toward me. "Now you go!"

Sebastian slowly stood up. He put one hand in the air to show compliance and kept one hand on his stomach.

Eduardo grabbed me and pulled me up to my feet. He gritted his tobacco stained teeth together. He smelled like a wet ashtray. I put all my weight back and he pushed me through the door. His hands were forceful against me and I fought to get out of his grip.

"No!" I yelled. "Stop!"

It all happened so fast. The door shut and it was over. I felt the life go out of me. I screamed out for Sebastian. I put my hand to the glass and frantically hit the door. There was darkness everywhere. I felt dizzy and that smell! What the hell was that smell? I lowered myself to the floor. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything. I could tell Grace was saying something to me but I was going deaf and my vision was gone.

# CHAPTER 13

"You okay? Leah are you okay? Leah!"

I could hear Grace but I didn't have any energy to talk. I had blacked out and everything was slowly coming back to me. Getting in touch with reality was making me nauseous. _Is this real?_ I was locked up in a small dark room that smelled like; well it smelled like a stench I had never smelled before in my life. My guess was it was a chemical of some kind. It was pungent and I could barely stand it. I couldn't breath. I wanted to gag. I sat up against the wall and took off my sweatshirt. I was burning up.

I gasped. "I'm going to throw up."

I heard Grace stand up and take a few steps back. The smell was extremely strong and I couldn't take it any longer.

Grace rattled a bucket near my face. "Here use this."

The last thing I wanted to do was throw up. There was no way I could do anything to prevent it though. It was going to happen. There went my Gatorade, tacos, and the amazing crunchy pinwheels that I would never have a craving for again. What sucked was after puking I didn't feel any better and the smell was still unbearable.

I wiped my mouth with my shirt. "Sorry Grace."

"It's okay I don't think it made the smell any worse."

The only light in the room was coming in from the tiny square window in the door. It was extremely faint and I could barely see Grace.

"What is this smell?" I asked. _How bad was this for my lungs? Could it be a poisonous gas?_ "This can't be good for us to breath."

"Who knows what they have done in this room," Grace responded.

I groaned showing my distaste for the smell even though I knew it wouldn't help any. "What is this room for?"

"I am sure it has multiple uses but the main one is for solitary confinement. Case in point."

I had a thousand questions for Grace but instead of rattling them all off I held back. The tone of her voice told me she had no interest in hashing out the last few months of life as Ping's property. I thought about how long this night was going to be and my stomach turned over. I had no idea what time it was. It was early evening when we walked into Ping's. I was looking at least another 10-11 hours in the box. I couldn't even tell the size of the room or what it looked like because it was too dark. There could have been a mound of dead bodies to my right and I wouldn't have known.

I did have a burning question for Grace that couldn't wait. "Grace why does Ping call you Rain?"

She sighed as if I was disrupting her. "Because of my last name Yu it means Rain in Chinese."

"Oh."

I put my hand against the wall and used it to pull myself up to a standing position. I picked up the puke bucket carefully. It was hard to see anything. I kept a hand on the wall and took small steps. It only took me only eight steps to reach the back wall. I placed the bucket down and walked back to my spot. I slid down to the ground until I was lying on my back. I used my sweatshirt as a pillow and stretched my legs out. I closed my eyes and tried to rest while my mind attempted to process the night's events.

After what seemed like a very painful hour of silence Grace spoke. "Leah."

"Yeah?"

"What happened for Ping to say I am going home tomorrow?"

I sat up a bit putting my hand underneath my sweatshirt to prop my head up. With the dim light from the window I could only see Grace's feet.

"$25,000 and Sebastian agreed to drive one of his trucks over the border for him."

"Really?" Grace's voice had a hint of disappointment and sarcasm in it.

"What you don't think he will keep his word?"

"He told me when I got here I would be here for two weeks," Grace sighed. "After that he told me I would be home in less than a month. This place is a prison nobody gets out."

Grace had been held hostage for nearly three months so I understood why she wouldn't believe anything Ping said. I would probably feel the same way. I wished there was some way I could get her to believe that it was possible Ping would keep his word this time.

"Well he made a deal with us so." I realized how ridiculous that sounded and stopped talking. Ping had me in solitary confinement. Why wouldn't he keep me here for himself and either use Sebastian for some kind of labor or as a pawn in a business deal. "I guess it's stupid to believe anything Ping says."

My mind raced as I thought of Sebastian. What did Ping do with him? Was he in another room like this? I knew Ping said only the girls stayed the night but who the hell knows with him. I visualized the worst. Ping takes Sebastian out back or drives him out into the desert to have Eduardo shoot him with the Glock. I live in this box by night by day I work for Ping. I'd be dead in a week. I shook my head and wanted to scream.

I started to tear up thinking of Sebastian. He was alone wherever he was. At least I was imprisoned with Grace and not alone. I thought about Nelly and Gwen. They already got the text from me for the day so they would not be alarmed. If Ping aborts the plan and we don't leave this place it wouldn't be until the following night at 9:00 that they would know something went awry. This was too much for me to bear. I felt a nervous breakdown coming on although I had never experienced one before. This had to be what it was like.

"You okay?" Grace asked.

She heard me sniffling and attempting to prevent myself from bawling. I took a deep breath to try to get a hold of myself. "Yeah I am just worried about Sebastian."

Grace didn't make a sound and it made me feel worse. I didn't even get to tell my Sebi-bears bye. If they would have given us a chance to say goodbye I am not sure what I would have said. Sebastian would have said something sweet and I would have been teary-eyed. I wouldn't have wanted to let him go.

"He's probably okay, right?" I asked Grace. I wanted her to assure me Ping was not a monster.

Grace made a clicking sound with her tongue. "Don't know."

"He needs Sebastian to drive the truck. Ping got serious about our deal once he agreed to drive a truck." Grace kept quiet and this agitated me. I wanted her to answer me and give me a ray of hope. I needed something, anything to lift my spirits. "Grace did you hear me? He needs Sebastian to drive the truck."

"Leah do you really think we are getting out of here in the morning?" Grace snapped. "Look at where we are!"

Her voice echoed off the cement walls. Tears welled up in my eyes. I realized how real this was and how naïve I sounded. I was locked up with Grace who had been here for 3 months. She knew what the reality was. We were in hell. I felt claustrophobic and shivered at the thought of this box being my new home. I started to hear soft then harder thumps. At first I thought it was some sort of torture being done somewhere in the building but realized it was raindrops pounding the roof. I let the tears flow as I listened to the rain wondering what our fate was. I was a prisoner in Mexico. I was scared shitless.

After I went through a period of agony from the thoughts that were free flowing in my mind I wiped away the tears that were streaming down my cheeks. I knew I had to attempt to keep it together or this was going to be a long painful night. I took some deep breaths and regained my composure. I decided I would attempt to get information out of Grace. If I was in hell why not find out how bad it was. A flash of lightning lit up our box and I could finally see all of Grace. She was sitting down with her head buried against her knees. I admired her flexibility.

"Grace what kind of business does Ping run? What do you do for him?"

Grace didn't move from her position I could tell this because her voice was muffled. "I translate."

I listened for a moment waiting for Grace to elaborate. It was like pulling teeth to get this girl to talk. "Translate what?"

Grace exhaled. "Ping's business is drug and human trafficking. He has me translate for him."

From the sound of her voice I could tell she lifted her head up from her resting pose.

"He doesn't know mandarin?" I asked.

"Not fluently. His Spanish is non-existent and you've heard his English. I know three languages so I am the lucky one that gets to facilitate all his sick inhumane deals. He brings in women mostly from Asia then makes deals on them."

"How? I mean like how does it work? What kind of deals?"

Another flash of lighting shined in through the window into the small disgusting room. Grace and I made eye contact. Both of us were alert. I was listening intently ready to hear this real life ghost story and Grace for the first time in three months could tell her story to somebody.

"Well typically how it works is an Asian woman usually from a poor rural village in China is promised a new life in America. Of course they jump at the opportunity to get out of there and start a new life in the US. They get shipped here in herds. There are also quite a few young girls who come here after being sold off by their parents. The first time I witnessed the women arriving I was horrified. A big container arrived around back. It was loaded with around thirty women. Ping's men sifted through them. I saw lifeless bodies being checked for pulse then set aside. I counted thirteen dead bodies."

Grace paused to reflect. I put my hands up to my face trying to shake away the vision in my mind of what Grace was describing.

"It was horrifying Leah. The men didn't look twice at the dead bodies they just started to get the woman who survived cleaned up and ready to inspect."

"Like cattle," I whispered.

"Exactly. They take inventory to see who they will put to work in their sweatshops and which ones will get shipped off for sex."

"Shipped off where?"

"Lots of different places. That's my job to facilitate where they all go. Some are sold to be prostitutes in Cozumel or Cabo. Some end up on yacht parties thrown by VIP drug runners and from there are permanent sex slaves. Some go to local brothels."

"Damn," I sighed. "That's so messed up. So these girls go willing thinking they will land in America instead they end up in Ping's Comida China?"

"The greatest Chinese food in Mexico," Grace said sarcastically imitating Ping's voice. "He has no regard for human life. Asshole!"

I thought of the girl in the brothel that slipped me the note. I wondered if she came from Ping's. "You said local brothels so just the ones in Juarez?"

"No I meant ones in Mexico. He is the supplier of Asian girls to all the major brothels in Mexico."

"Do you know a brothel called Rasas?"

"Yeah it's in Mexicali."

"The girls all get there by the hand of Ping." I thought of all those poor innocent girls traveling together like sardines all believing they would arrive at the land of the free. It was disturbing. "And on top of all that he runs drugs?"

"Yes I have had the displeasure of talking to cartel, drug lords, evil scary people all to broker high dollar deals. The amount of money is insane."

I thought of how horrible Grace's captivity had been. She was a slave and she had to help Ping run his evil empire. "Did you ever try to escape?"

"Once," Grace said. "It was after I had been here two weeks and I realized Ping's promise of going home was a lie. When it is nighttime here it is still daytime in China so I work around the clock. It wasn't like I was shackled but there is always a man near me. Early one morning I used the bathroom and when I came out there was nobody in sight. At first I walked not looking back then I couldn't help it I started to sprint."

I felt like a young kid getting tucked in not wanting the bedtime story to end even if it was a story that would give me nightmares. "What happened when you ran?"

"I got a block away before Eduardo caught up to me."

I shivered thinking of Eduardo and his evilness. I pictured him grabbing Grace by the neck and shooting her daggers with his intense eyes. "Oh man he is so scary. What did Ping do when he found out?"

"He had," Grace's voice crackled. "He had Eduardo teach me _the_ lesson. I got put in here for three days with nothing but water and a loaf of bread. On day three I was blindfolded and thrown in the trunk of a car. He drove for what seemed like an hour. I was sure I was going to be killed. The trunk was so hot and it smelled."

I heard the agony in Grace's voice and could feel the fear she had that day.

Grace cleared her throat. "When the car stopped he pulled me out of the trunk. He took off my blindfold and my eyes burned from the brightness of the sun. We were in the desert and there was nothing around at all. I was shaking from being so scared that he was going to rape and kill me. He grabbed my arm and walked me over to an area that didn't look significant. There were three small mounds and he pointed to the middle one telling me that was their last translator. That would be me if I tried to escape again. My eyes finally were in focus and I could see what he was showing me. They were shallow graves Leah."

"Oh my gosh!" My heart was racing.

After a few moments of silence Grace continued. "He blindfolded me and put me in the passenger seat. On the drive back he kept putting his hand on my leg. I was so freaked out he was going to take me somewhere to rape me or have me work for sex." Grace's voice started to crack again and she started to cry softly. "He didn't though he drove me back to Ping's. I have been a model servant since. I didn't want to endure any more torture. Being a translator is so much better than what the other girls have to go through."

Grace started sobbing. I crawled over to her. She had her arms wrapped around her legs with her head buried against her knees again. I put my arm around her and put my head to my shoulder. I felt her body shake as she let out all her pain and suffering. I wanted to tell her it was going to be okay but I didn't believe that. How could it ever be okay for her and the other women under Ping's power? I didn't say a word.

# CHAPTER 14

I went back to my side of the box when Grace stopped crying and told me she wanted to try to sleep for a while. No way would I be able to sleep tonight at least not anytime soon I thought. How could I? I had no idea where Sebastian was and what tomorrow would bring. I could only guess what time it was. If I was lucky it was around midnight. That meant I had eight more hours in the box that smelled like death. My puke pail did make the smell worse. It's mixed in and I got a whiff of it every so often. What really sucked and what was heavy on my mind was that I had to go pee and it was pouring rain. It was also getting a little cool in the box. I put my sweatshirt on zipping it all the way up and pulling the hood over my head. Lying down on my back I tried to get comfortable on the hard cement floor.

The pitter-patter of the rain was soothing it made me feel like we were not alone in this small smelly room. I looked up and did my best to imagine I was outside looking up at the stars. I thought about all the times growing up that I would camp out in the Colorado mountains. My brother Adam and I would put our tent outside our grandparents cabin. It would be freezing but we didn't care we had to sleep in the tent. Our dad would make a fire and we would make smores. The latest we lasted in the tent was midnight before we shuffled back into the cozy confines of the cabin.

It's crazy to think back to those days of being a child having no idea what the world was really about. Thoughts were so pure and innocent. It was all about playing. I missed those days. I thought of Grace and how young she was. She was only 19. When I was her age the extreme of my suffering was getting my fake ID denied at the bar. That and getting our ass kicked in volleyball. Losing a volleyball match seemed like the worst thing in the world at the time. That thought seemed so silly while I looked up at the dark ceiling in my Mexican jail cell.

I heard Grace move around. I cleared my throat so she knew I was awake. I stood up and stretched my legs out. I looked out the window even though there was nothing to see. I did see a faint light pass by and I got excited. It seemed like it was a light from a cell phone or a flashlight. I tapped the window.

"Leah don't!"

Grace caught me off guard. "What? I have to pee really bad."

"Don't they won't let you just go to the bathroom they would want a _favor_ for it in exchange."

"Oh. Whoever it was didn't hear me anyway. I can't hold it all night though."

"Bucket." Grace mumbled with sarcasm.

I sat back down in my spot. I wondered where Sebastian was. If Ping let him leave I knew he wasn't getting any sleep in the hotel.

"You slept for awhile," I told Grace.

Grace yawned. I wish I could have fallen asleep and been put out of my misery. I needed fresh air. I needed Grace to open up again so time could go by faster. This time I chose a cheerier subject. "Bo told me you are an avid surfer."

"I was," Grace said. "I started surfing when I was real young, like seven years old."

"Yeah your dad told me about teaching you. He said you got the bug when you saw Point Break. That's funny."

Grace laughed genuinely for the first time all night. "Yeah."

"Bodhi for the win," I laughed. "I remember seeing that movie for the first time and wanting to surf too. I just didn't live by an ocean."

"Wait you talked to my parents?" Grace asked surprisingly.

"Yeah Sebastian and I went to see them."

Grace exhaled. "How are they?"

"They are surviving. They love and miss you very much." Grace was quiet and I searched for what to say next. "They are really sweet. You look a lot like your dad."

"I know everyone says that. How is Bo?"

"Bo is devastated but hopeful. He never gave up looking for you Grace. He is crazy about you. Him and all your friends, Tigger, they are all very sad. You have a lot of people who care about you." I was getting sappy. I didn't want Grace to feel any worse than she already did. "Bo told me how you two met. It's a pretty cool story he said he was really shy talking to you at first. He said it took him weeks to approach you."

"Yeah right Bo shy?" Grace snickered. "He said that?"

"Yes he used the word shy and said you brought him out of his shell."

"Oh Bo. He totally had a cheesy pick up line and everything. He was a total Romeo acting fool that day. Later he told me he was extremely nervous but I didn't get that from him."

I laughed. "Really? Do tell."

Grace sat up. "Okay here goes. I am on lying on my beach towel with my surfboard next to me. I have my eyes closed and I hear a voice say 'excuse me' I look up and squint because of the sun. I sit up and see a nice looking guy. I thought he was kind of cute but nothing special. He asked me if I had any Sex Wax he could use on his board." Grace laughed out loud for a few moments. "The way he said it was so funny because it was like he was trying to say it seductively. I just shook my head slightly and said sorry I don't. Then he said 'my name is Bo.' Then he waits and gives me this look then puts both hands near the ground behind my back. I awkwardly said 'what?' not knowing what he was doing. He said 'oh this is where girls melt. I say my name is Bo and they think it's adorable and they go weak. Go ahead it's okay I will catch you when you faint.' This made me smile so of course he complimented me on my smile. I invited him to sit on my towel and away we went talking nonstop. Him being sweet and cute definitely got me in the beginning but as I got to know him it was his heart. Bo is just good...you know?"

"Yeah I do." It made me happy to Grace become cheery for once. I could tell she was very much in love with Bo.

"He's just everything I look for in a guy but had never found until I met him. I dated some guys who were nice, some were fun, and some were really smart. But none of them connected with me like Bo did. It's hard to explain I guess."

"No I hear you Grace. It's love. Same thing happened when I met Sebastian. You get each other and it's almost magical."

"How long have you been together?" Grace asked.

"Gosh I guess it's been three years now. Time flies."

Grace was quiet and I wondered what she was thinking about. Was she wondering what the future held for her and Bo? Was she wondering what would have been had she not been sold to Ping and her life turned upside down? I thought of Bo's upcoming marriage and cringed. If we did get Grace back to Bo what would become of them? Grace was going to need Bo more than ever. I don't know how she would be able to handle the news that the love of her life was marrying another women.

"Leah can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Is love enough?"

The tone of her voice changed. I was caught off guard. "Is love enough?" Wow what a question. "In what sense?"

"Is it really enough to get you through everything? I don't know, being kept as a prisoner down here really makes me wonder if love is the strongest thing in the world. The thought of seeing Bo again and being reunited with him has definitely given me some hope but I don't know what happens after. You know what happens after when that initial high wears off and life goes on? What am I left with? How do I forget what happened here, what I went through and what these other women still have to go through daily? And fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. If love can't get you through what is there? If tomorrow I don't get out of here and I am reduced to being Ping's translator for life love is not going to do it. I won't survive here."

Grace had a point and she said so much that I didn't know what angle to go with. "Well that's a tough one." I managed to finally say while searching for how I should respond. "I don't know if love _is_ enough but it's needed. Without it you have nothing. Think about it. It's amazing that you have survived being here this long. What got you through? I imagine your love for Bo, for your friends and family. Your love for your life you used to have. Right?"

It was silent for a few seconds before Grace replied. "I guess."

"As far as your love for Bo and how your relationship will go. Who knows but I do know that love is bigger than just being physical with one another and having a connection. Love is not enough if it is just lip service. Love is selfless you know? It's complicated and I probably have no idea what I am talking about, but I do know that love is what makes life worth living. When I fell in love with Sebastian I remember thinking to myself if I die right now my life will be complete because I experienced the greatest thing this world has to offer. And Grace you can feel love in a different way with different things in your life. Like surfing. I can't surf well at all but I grew up snowboarding and I am truly passionate about it. It feels like a kind of love. When I am gliding down that mountain on a fresh coat of powder it is the greatest feeling in the world. Love might not be enough but it's the fire that fuels your heart. I guess my point is that life is worth living. You have to do the best you can with what you got. Don't get me wrong Grace I am not sure how these women do that here. There wouldn't be a hell of a lot to look forward to when you work what 18 hours a day against your will for no pay? I imagine the only thing that would get me by in here is the hope that one day it would end and I would get my life back. Hope and love is the only thing that would get me through."

Grace exhaled and I did the same. I wanted to steer clear of talking about Bo because I felt guilty that I knew his secret and she didn't. I wanted to break the silence so Grace wasn't dwelling. "Did my answer make any sense to you?"

"Yeah it did I'm just thinking about some of things you said."

Grace was a nice kid. She was bright and kind. She was a normal 19-year-old college student. She should only be worrying about exams and what major she wanted to declare. Grace should not have to be a prisoner of Ping's going through this hell. I wanted to get her home badly. One thing was for sure I was not leaving Mexico without her.

The noise from the raindrops softened. A flash of lighting bounced through the box. I looked at Grace she had her head against the wall with her eyes closed. I ached for her.

"I noticed you wear a rosary Grace. Bo said you weren't catholic."

"I'm not. When I awoke in Ping's office I was wearing it."

"I see. What do you remember from the day you were taken?"

"It was after my last class I went home to my apartment and after I shut the door there was a knock. A Chinese man burst through the door and quickly put a cloth up to my face. That's the last thing I remember."

"Do you know who or why someone put a rosary on you?"

"No but one of the ladies here told me when I met her that I was lucky I was catholic and when I asked why she said if you are catholic down here they see you as sacred and will treat you better. The lady made it sound as if you are off limits from any sex labor and such things. I've never taken it off and I tell everyone who asks that I am catholic. Fingers crossed but so far I haven't been subject to any sex trafficking or organ trafficking."

"Wait organ trafficking?"

"Yeah." My silence indicated to Grace that I was still wrapping my head around this. She continued. "Organ extraction for money. Liver, kidneys, pancreas. Ping is starting to add this to his business. In wealthy countries there is a demand for transplants. It's big money."

"Holy shit." I thought I might be nauseous again. A sinking in my stomach overwhelmed me as I thought of Ping taking us to some dirty room with dirty medical supplies and... _damn stop thinking like that Leah!_ I wished my imagination wasn't so good.

"Yeah it's very heart wrenching," Grace said. "I had to do the translation and hide the horror I was feeling as they went into detail."

I cringed and a shiver went through my body. "Okay that's enough I can't hear anymore." I sighed in disgust. "Okay back to that day do you know who did it?"

"You mean who brought me down here?"

"Yeah."

"Ping," Grace said. "He told me he recruited me. He found out about my expertise with Mandarin and Spanish along with my major being international business."

My eyes were getting heavy and tired. I had a bad headache. I was sure it was from dehydration. I felt weak. I was thirsty and hungry. My stomach felt hollowed out from throwing up earlier. My mouth had a nasty taste and I wanted a toothbrush so bad. Worst of all I needed a bathroom! It's the little things that we take for granted when we are without them. This was embarrassing but I couldn't hold it anymore. "I am really sorry Grace but I have to pee."

"Dude go. It's dark so I can't see you and believe me I have experienced a lot worse while I have been here."

I liked that Grace called me dude, the Southern California in her was coming out. I felt my way along the wall until my foot hit the bucket. I squatted down and centered the bucket underneath me. It took a second before I was able to go. I was so glad it was dark in the box at that moment. It was dead quiet so I hummed the ants go marching on song so there was another sound besides me peeing. I was relieved when it was over and paused a bit to air dry. Guys don't realize how good they have it I thought to myself.

I went back to my spot feeling much better. "It has to be pretty late will you be able to sleep anymore?"

Grace yawned. "It would be nice but it's so uncomfortable on this cement floor. Our sleeping quarters have yoga mat thin mattresses. They have very little cushion but I would love to be sleeping on one right now."

I sprawled out in my tiny space and tried my best to find at least a bearable position on the hard ground. I went from my back to my side voting on which one was the best option. I went with my side. "I met Bo's parents."

"What did you think?"

"Mr. Tang's a real peach," I joked. "I don't think Mrs. Tang said anything or even looked at us directly."

"Yeah they are old school. I met them once and that was enough. I feel bad for Bo."

"Me too."

Grace yawned loudly. "I am so glad I didn't grow up in that culture."

"Yeah Bo told us about your parents immigrating to the states so you could have a better life. He talked about your mother being treated poorly."

"Yes she was treated as an object. Women have no value there. Similar to here. Her parents didn't show her any love at all. It's sad and horrible hearing her tell of the memories she has of them. It's awful. She once told me a dog was more valuable than her. It makes me sick."

"Wow I can't imagine what that would feel like to be treated like that. Especially by your own parents."

"I know," Grace said. "My mom said she would never ever go back. She's adamant about that and it makes me wonder how many stories she kept from me."

I had my eyes shut and for the first time all night I felt as though sleep may be possible. I was too tired to talk anymore so I asked Grace to tell me about her favorite movies. I could tell she was fading a little bit too but she went back to Point Break then rattled off her other favorite movies. I felt myself start to fall asleep and for the first time all night I felt a little bit of peace. I tried to make a noise to show my approval when she mentioned the movie Run but it was weak. I had really wanted to talk about the movie because it was rare that I found somebody who had seen it. I couldn't fight the sleepiness that had overcome me. I nodded off as Grace's voice faded as she quietly started to name her favorite Disney movies. It wasn't an ideal sleepover but we were doing the best we could with what we had.

# CHAPTER 15

"Leah! Leah wake up it's time to go!"

I burst open my eyes and attempted to get my bearings. I was happy to hear Grace's voice. I was in the middle of dream where Ping set the place on fire and both of us were preparing to burn to death in the box. It was extremely scary and felt so real. I was semi happy to be waking to reality. At first I couldn't tell why Grace would think it was 8 am. The light coming in the box was maybe a shade or two brighter but it didn't make a difference. I heard voices coming from the hallway and assumed she must be right. I sat up and felt light headed. I didn't do well when I went long periods of time without food. My mouth was dry and of course it still had a nasty taste from throwing up. I tried to swallow. My throat hurt. I wiped the sleep out of my eyes. Grace was standing right in front of the window of the door. She looked like a little girl waiting to see if she could spot Santa and his reindeers from the living room window.

"Leah you ready?" Her voice animated.

I stood up and took a step toward the window.

Grace turned to me. "Whatever you do just stay silent. No matter what Ping says keep your mouth shut. I mean answer yes or no to questions or one word responses but nothing else."

Grace was talking a mile a minute. She was acting nervous and excited. It was the most emotion I had seen from her and part of me wanted to tell her not to get her hopes up. I would be crushed if something derailed her from getting out of here.

"Okay I got you Grace. Just be calm and we'll get through this." I kept rubbing my eyes and stretching out my arms and legs. My body was sore from sleeping on the ground.

"I see movement they're coming! Don't show any reaction okay Leah? Don't act like you are pissed they locked you in here just act like it's normal."

"Okay," I whispered.

The door was unlocked and opened. It was the lovely Eduardo with the same outfit he had on last night. With the door opened more light came through bouncing off the back wall of the box. It showed the stains and dirt that covered the walls. I saw my puke and pee bucket. I quickly turned to face forward. I wish I hadn't looked.

Ping appeared in the hallway with his hands in the air. "Rise and shine!"

Oh the air, it was not fresh air but it was new air and I breathed it in happily. The chemical smell was gone. Although I couldn't really smell anything my nose felt numb. The hall was so dimly lit it that it could have been anytime of the day or night. It was weird being out of the box and being able to walk around. Freedom never felt so good and I was still in this damn building. Eduardo led the way down the steps with Ping behind us. Once I turned the corner and could see daylight I squinted my eyes to prevent them from burning anymore than they already did. I put my hand over my eyes as I walked out the front door of the restaurant. The sky was clear and the ground was wet. I kept my hand up as a shield and looked around at different angles trying to see Sebastian. I started to walk forward when I heard his voice.

"Sebastian!" I screamed.

"Leah I'm here."

Sebastian came from the left side of me and embraced me hard. I buried my face in his chest. All my fears and worries of something happening to him vanished. "Sebastian I didn't know if I would see you again."

"It's okay Leah I'm here." He nuzzled my hair with his scruffy unshaved face. "It's going to be all good sweetie." Sebastian held me close and spoke softly. "Listen to me Leah."

I looked up at him. "You're all dirty." He was filthy and damp. "What happened Sebi did they do something to you?"

Sebastian gently put his hand behind my head and brought me close against him. He leaned his face into mine. "Leah I am fine we don't have much time. When we get to the border crossing do you remember that walking bridge by the car checkpoint where people can walk across the border?"

"Let's go!" Ping yelled.

Sebastian and I stayed in our embrace.

"Yes I do," I replied. "Why Sebi?"

"When we're just about to get to the front of the line you jump out of the truck with Grace and you guys run to cross the border on foot."

"What?" I cried. "Why?"

"Just do it!"

There was no time for details but Sebastian's tone said it all. Grace and I would be fleeing Ping's truck before it was at the front of the checkpoint. He let go of me and we casually turned to walk toward Ping and the trucks.

"We ready?" Ping asked.

"Where is Grace's passport?" Sebastian asked.

"I have it right here." Ping waved it in the air.

"Grace please look at it and confirm it's yours."

Ping opened it up and swung it in front of Grace's eyes. She grabbed it and took a good look at it. She nodded her approval.

"Here Leah take your phone and your wallet."

I looked Sebastian in the eye and gave him a solid head bob. It was my way of telling him I would follow his instructions. I had questions but I knew they would not get answered. My main concern with escaping Ping's truck was if he had a weapon on him and where he was going to put Grace's passport once we got inside the truck. If he kept it in his pocket or in the driver's side door we were screwed.

"Okay let's go!" Ping yelled in his high pitch. "Rain sits next to me."

Sebastian climbed into the white truck ahead of us. He glanced at me before getting in and we locked eyes for a moment. This was it. Grace situated herself next to Ping. I needed to get Grace alone so I could tell her the plan. Ping looked around for a place to put Grace's passport. The nylon pants he had on didn't have pockets. _Yes to his wickedly weird wardrobe!_ Ping looked around and the only option he had was to place the passport in the middle container of the dashboard that was cut out for a radio. He set it there and looked at Grace for a moment to see her reaction. Grace had a blank look on her face like she was oblivious to life as it was happening around her. Exactly how she told me to act.

Ping had Sebastian go ahead of us. The white truck started slowly leaving the dirt drive and pulled onto the street. Ping followed Sebastian onto the road. I started thinking the worst... _Ping has Sebastian's truck rigged to blow up and he takes us out to the desert to kill us or extract all our organs._ I stopped with the bad thoughts but I couldn't figure out what Ping's intentions were. He had to have something more in it for him. Juarez was very close to the US border so we didn't have far to go. It's only eight miles or so. I needed to think of a way to tell Grace the plan was for us to jump out of the truck and run. The truck was too small to say anything to Grace without Ping hearing or suspecting something.

"Sir I need to go to the bathroom. I held it all night and I have to pee very badly. I know Grace, I mean Rain needs to go as well."

"We have a short trip we be there quickly."

"Sorry but I can't hold it! I am going to pee my pants please pull over."

I felt a little like Nelly but it wasn't a stretch I did have to pee. Whenever I was nervous it accelerated my urge to pee even more. Ping threw his hands up and angrily hit the horn on the steering wheel to get Sebastian's attention. He waved his hand telling Sebastian to pull over. He pulled to the side of the road and Ping followed. I motioned Sebastian to come back to us.

"Go ahead get out and go!" Ping screamed.

"Here?" I said. "This is someone's front lawn."

"What's the problem," Sebastian asked. He was standing at the window.

"We have to go to the bathroom."

Ping sighed as if I was annoying him.

"We've been in a box for 13 hours sorry we have to pee," I yelled.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and I knew it was only to satisfy Ping. "I see a gas station up there on the right let's just stop over there."

Ping threw his hands up. "Fine."

Ping pulled up next to Sebastian's truck in front of the gas station. I anticipated Ping coming in with us or having a crazy instruction for how this was going to go down but he let us go in alone with only a stern warning that we had two minutes. I pulled Grace into the small unisex bathroom. It was disgusting and going outside would have been more sanitary.

"Go first," I told her. I turned around so she could have some privacy. "Grace here is the deal when we get to the border when Ping is a few cars back from crossing we are going to get out and run to the walkway nearby and cross the border by foot. Understand?"

"Wait why are we doing that?"

"I don't know Sebastian gave me the instructions. There was no time to ask him questions but I trust him Grace and you have to trust me."

"Okay I have to make sure I grab my passport."

"Yes you do!" I exclaimed. "That is key you can't forget that. You will have to do it quickly. Grab and go. We should have a code word and when I say it we jump out of the truck."

"How about Point Break?" Grace answered.

"Too long how about just Bodhi?"

Grace smiled. "Perfect."

Grace was done and we traded spots.

"So Bodhi and we bolt. I will just say Bodhi. Bodhi!" I practiced a couple times.

I saw Grace go through the motions of grabbing her passport and stepping to the right. "Got it."

"We run till we get to that checkpoint Grace. We don't turn back for anything. Got it?"

"I got it."

Just before I opened the door to step outside the gas station Grace nudged me and pointed to her mouth. She put a frown on and I knew it was her message to me that we had to look emotionless. If we looked empty Ping would think he had the upper hand.

"Now we go!" Ping exclaimed once we were back in the truck.

We drove north going through neighborhoods some looking desolate and others filled with little children playing. I saw a group of boys tossing a ball to each other. They all had smiles on their faces. I wondered to myself what a day in the life was like for one of those kids. I had been thinking a lot about what Grace said last night. How do you survive when the conditions are atrocious? I was in that small dark smelly room for around 13 hours while some people have to endure longer periods of time living like that, years even. I thought of the people who get wrongly accused of a crime and spend a decade or longer in prison for something they didn't do. How did they survive that?

Grace gave me a subtle nudge. I shook myself out of the little daydream I was having. I looked up ahead we were closing in on the border. It was almost go time. The line was fairly long for an early Sunday morning and I guessed it was due to the Day of the Dead holiday.

I started to get nervous as we inched our way closer to the front of the line. I kept my eye on Sebastian for a few moments to see if he was alarmed by anything. My heart was beating fast. I tried to calm my breathing. I knew it was loud but I couldn't help it. Grace gently kneed me and gave me a look. I took a few short breaths and focused my thoughts. I told myself this was easy all I had to do was open the door and sprint. Piece of cake. Anything else that happened was out of my control. Six cars back. My plan was to yell Bodhi when we were three cars back.

Ping grabbed Grace's passport from the compartment and my stomach dropped. _Holy Fudge nuts!_

Five cars back.

Ping flipped the passport open and rested it against the steering wheel. "Grace Rain. Grace Rain! My queen. Reina! I hate to see my Reina go."

Ping's voice was so annoying. I wondered how many times since Grace arrived that she had wanted to go for his throat. I could feel Grace cringe and I knew she was thinking about the passport and how she was going to get it out of Ping's hands.

Four cars back. Oh shit.

Ping stared at Grace. "We were great together huh?"

Grace nodded slightly. I looked ahead at Sebastian and saw him glance in the rearview mirror. He must have thought we should have gone if we were going. _Damn get ready Leah._ It was almost go time. Grace needed that passport.

Ping waved the passport in the air swinging it back and forth like he was fanning himself off. "It won't be the same without you Rain."

Grace wiped her hands on her jeans. I knew she was slightly panicking because Ping had the passport. If he had left it in the middle container it would be easy to grab and go.

"Grace my queen, my queen you are," Ping sang.

Three cars back.

It was time. _Come on just do it Leah. Say the word and make your move. Do it now!_

"This is making me very sad Rain." Ping waved the passport slowing slowly and arrogantly. He started to sing again this time in Mandarin.

"Bodhi." I said it softly to get Grace's attention.

"Huh." Grace made a noise.

"Bodhi!" I yelled and jolted open the door. It happened so fast. In my peripheral vision I saw Grace swipe the passport out of Ping's hand. Once out of the truck I felt Grace on my heels. I heard Ping yell as the truck door slammed shut. We were out! I squealed with excitement as we ran as fast as we could. It was the same loud pitch scream that I let out when I would float down that fresh powder on my snowboard. It was a feeling of being free. I had tears of joy running down my face and a big smile. "Run Grace run we're almost home!"

Grace and I stopped to catch our breath when we got to the line that was only five people deep. We both glanced back to make sure Ping had followed then we embraced frantically. We hugged each other so tight it hurt and we were both sobbing. The emotion of the moment had overcome both of us.

"We did it Grace!" I screamed.

Grace couldn't get out any words. She opened her passport and gripped it tightly. The line was moving fast. I motioned Grace to go ahead of me and looked over at the line of cars. I saw the white truck Sebastian was driving at the front of the line. My excitement turned to worry. My heart started racing again. Sebastian, oh my Sebastian please, please make it through I cried inside.

"Hurry," I said flashing my passport. The guard looked it over and looked me over. He handed my passport back to me and I started running again. "Come on Grace, Sebastian is at the crossing."

I kept running even though I was completely out of breath and slowly losing my adrenaline rush. I looked around and didn't see the white truck. Ping was at the front now. Where was Sebastian?

"Leah," Grace shouted. I turned around to look at her, she had her hands on her knees. She swung her head to the right not having the energy to move her hands from her knees. "Over there."

I kept looking to the right and turning back. I spotted the white truck and Sebastian. He was motioning us to come to him. We took off jogging using all the energy we had left. He ran to meet me. I fell into his arms. He squeezed me tightly for a split second then pushed me off him.

"Come on let's go," Sebastian shouted.

We didn't ask questions all of us ran to the truck and jumped in quickly. Sebastian pulled onto the road so fast I grabbed the dashboard for balance. I looked back and saw Ping's black pickup truck still at the checkpoint. He was standing outside next to the bed of the truck.

"You guys okay?"

I leaned my head against Sebastian's shoulder and exhaled. "Yeah I think we're okay."

Grace looked toward us, her chin still quivering. Tears filled her eyes once again. "I'm okay." She looked out the back window to check for Ping.

"Don't worry Grace," Sebastian said. "Ping's not crossing the border."

I looked at Sebastian with raised eyebrows. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later sweetie."

I leaned up and kissed him. I put my hand on Grace's knee. "Your home Grace and you will be to your real home soon."

Grace couldn't get out any words she was crying as she stared out the window. I put my arm around her and brought her head to my shoulder. "It's over Grace you are free." I looked up at Sebastian. "Is the love of my life good?"

Sebastian looked down at me. "Yeah. As long as you're okay sweetie. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

I saw a sign for El Paso International Airport up ahead. "Nice! I am glad the airport is so close we can get the hell out of here. You already get us tickets?"

Sebastian smiled. "No we'll just get them at the counter. There should multiple flights going to San Diego today."

"What are you doing Sebi?"

Sebastian pulled over into a store parking lot. "I don't want to park this truck at the airport. We'll just leave it here."

"Hey what about the brown mojón?"

"I took care of it," Sebastian said. "Why are you going to miss it?"

I laughed. "Heck no I won't miss that thing."

Sebastian had a taxi take us to the airport it was only a two-minute ride. Grace smiled as she got out of the cab. "I can't believe this is real."

It was real but everything felt surreal in that moment. From our first trip down to Mexico with Nelly and Gwen to us fleeing the country on foot less than twenty minutes earlier. I could only imagine how surreal it must have felt to Grace. Nearly three long months held captive not knowing if she would ever be free again. I would never forget the feeling of breaking that truck door open and running for freedom. The tears of joy and the smile that was on Grace's face was priceless. My experience was on a smaller scale but I believed one reason people fight to survive even when their circumstances are brutal was because the joy that comes from freedom was worth it. I would never take for granted the freedom I had again.

# CHAPTER 16

We booked a 10:55 am flight to San Diego that would arrive at 1:30 pm. It was not a direct flight we would actually have to change planes in Phoenix. It would be such a quick stop that it would not be enough time to have Gwen and Nelly stop by. I sent them a text that read 'it's over' while we were walking through the corridor of the airport. We had over an hour until we boarded which gave us plenty of time to sit down for breakfast. Water on USA soil never tasted so good.

Grace smiled. "I never knew I would be this happy having a bottle of water."

"Cheers." I knocked my bottle against hers.

Sebastian brought over a tray of breakfast burritos and a giant piece of chocolate cake that Grace ordered. She ate the cake before her burrito and it looked like she was savoring each bite. Food in my stomach instantly made me feel better. I smiled at Sebastian who was devouring his burrito with vigor.

When I was on my second burrito I broke the silence. "Sebastian you have to tell us what happened back there."

He smiled widely. "I will hold on a second."

Grace looked around checking out the different people that walked by. I wondered if she was still leery of Ping showing up or if she was merely enjoying seeing all these people living freely. All the emotions she was experiencing had to be overwhelming.

"Do you want anything else Grace?"

She smiled. "Oh no I am so full now, thanks."

"Oh man Grace we need to call Bo." Sebastian said. "Crap I don't have much battery."

Grace beamed. "Oh my gosh I can't believe I am going to see Bo today!"

I kept holding down the power button on my iPhone. "Bastian my phone is completely dead now! Why didn't you charge it for me? It barely had any battery left when you gave it to me this morning."

"Leah I was not in the hotel room last night, I was there for only a short time."

"What were y-"

Sebastian read my mind. "Leah I'll tell you later. Let me call Bo I don't have much battery either."

Sebastian called Bo. "He's not answering."

"He's probably in class," Grace smiled.

"I'll leave a message with our flight number and tell him we're bringing you home."

Grace had a look of wonder on her face as if it was sinking in that she was really going to be returning to the life she left behind. Our flight would be leaving shortly but I couldn't help being on edge knowing that we had yet to complete our mission. Until she was in Bo's arms I would not be able to exhale completely.

"Grace would you like to call your parents?" Sebastian asked.

Grace hesitated. "I do but I would like to wait until I am back in San Diego. I would like Bo to be with me when I talk to them."

Grace was like me she wanted to be home with this nightmare truly over before she relaxed. I could also tell by her voice and expression it was going to be extremely emotional when she reconnected with her parents. I switched my focus to the grime I felt on my teeth. We had our duffle bag and our backpack with us. I looked through the bag and found my toothbrush. "Aw yes!"

Sebastian laughed. "You were missing that huh?"

"You have no idea Sebi. That box smelled so bad I threw up."

"Aw really?"

I shook my head and looked at Grace. She smiled at me and shook her head too. The night in the box was not fun but it happened and it was an experience I would cherish.

"That sucks," Sebastian said. "How are you feeling now?"

"Not bad since getting food and water in me." I looked at Grace. "Come on I'll buy you a toothbrush and we'll go use a real bathroom for once."

I found the toothpaste in our bag and Grace and I walked over to the store across the way to buy her a toothbrush. I told her to get anything she wanted for the plane ride. She scanned the magazines and smiled as she picked up Surfer magazine. We both grabbed some gum. Grace told me to wait a moment when I was checking out at the register. She scanned the candy and brought over a bag of gummy bears.

Grace blushed. "It's for Bo."

I smiled. "Nice."

I brushed my teeth two times. It felt so good. I splashed cold water over my face multiple times. I noticed Grace staring at herself in the mirror. It was probably the first time seeing herself in a mirror in a long time.

"You okay," I asked.

"Yeah," she replied softly. "I'm different now."

"What?"

"I'm not the same person I was before. I'm different and everything is going to be different now. My life is changed."

I thought back to Orlando when my life changed. I felt the same way then. "You're right you are different now. It doesn't have to be a bad thing though. For one thing you are a much stronger person today than you were three months ago, right?"

Grace nodded. "Definitely."

"It's not going to be easy Grace but you can do it. Just be true to yourself. You went through hell and back. And you came out smiling! Be you. You're beautiful, smart, and strong. You proved that nobody not even the lowly of the low in this world could take away the things that make you who you are. Live life fully. You're a survivor girl!"

Grace kept looking at herself. She finally smiled slightly. "Hey Leah thanks. Thank you for everything. Without you and Sebastian I wouldn't be here."

I smiled. "You're welcome. Hey I have some clean clothes in my bag. My stuff is probably rather big for but it's better than what were wearing right now."

Sebastian was sitting at the table waiting for us. I kissed him on the lips and picked up the duffle bag. "We're going to change out of these clothes. And you should do the same you are filthy."

"I will but please hurry up I want to have time to tell you about my night before we board the plane."

"Okay, okay, we'll hurry. Bo call you back?"

"No. I sent him a text message just in case he didn't check his voicemail."

I didn't have a lot of clean clothes to pick from. Grace wanted to be comfortable so she picked out Sebastian's long sleeve Chicago Cubs shirt that I had brought to sleep in along with a pair of my sweatpants. They were baggy and she looked like she was twelve years old. I changed into my only other clean long sleeve shirt and put on my pair of dark jeans. I still felt filthy and couldn't wait to shower.

Sebastian quickly took a turn in the bathroom and when he came out we found seats near our gate. It was Sebastian's turn to tell us what happened to Ping at the border.

"First tell me what's with the dirt," I said. "Did they make you do something for them?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Leah are you going to let me tell you the whole story?"

"Sorry I'll be quiet go."

"After you guys got locked up Ping led me downstairs and tried to get me to eat at the restaurant, 'Eat at Ping's you get full you get full' he yelled in his screechy voice."

Grace and I laughed at his accurate Ping impression.

"I ate at the bar and Ping stayed near me. I talked with him about food and just tried to stay calm. I was going crazy though because I had no idea what would happen to you guys in that box. I stayed in the restaurant as long as I could so I could be close to you. I left around ten o'clock. You don't understand how chaotic it was everywhere last night. It was ten times crazier than the night before. Which was good because it allowed me to check out the trucks with no one noticing."

"Yeah what the hell was with Ping and the trucks?" I asked. "Grace said he would want more than just the money and to drive a truck."

Sebastian nodded. "That's what I wanted to figure out. His whole demeanor changed last night when Eduardo and him returned with the truck proposal. I was suspicious and thought he must want me to smuggle drugs, weapons or some other type of contraband over the border for him. It was fairly dark by the trucks and it started to rain lightly."

I snickered. "You inspected them for hours didn't you?"

"Yes of course I did. So listen. I scope out every inch of the two trucks. I look under the truck, on the side panels, I jump in the bed of the truck, I look at the tread of the tires, I inspect the hubcaps. I take a look at the headlights and the backlights. I look through the window for at least an hour trying to see what I could. I was completely stumped."

"And!" I impatiently exclaimed.

Sebastian smiled brightly. "I am pissed off. I am frustrated and I start to get really worried about you and what will happen in the morning. I don't trust Ping at all and I start thinking worst case scenarios. I stand up and in frustration I kick the tire hard."

I could picture Sebastian doing that. He probably didn't even swear out loud only to himself then kicked the tire with all his might.

"It made a thumping sound. It was odd. I kicked it again and it was the same sound. There was a bounce back instead of sounding empty like they should. I went to the other three tires and it was the same sound. I went back to the black truck which is identical to the white truck the only difference is the color. I kicked those tires and they were empty."

Grace smirked. "Only Ping."

"So the tires on the white truck he wanted you to drive were filled with something?" I asked.

"Yep he had something in them," Sebastian beamed. "So I went to get the tire iron and jack from the Buick. It's late now and it's raining hard so the crowd is fading."

Grace smiled. "You took the tires from the white truck and switched them with the ones from the truck Ping would be driving didn't you? That would explain how dirty you are."

Sebastian nodded. "Yep. It took forever to change them. I took the tire and rims on the white truck and exchanged them with the ones on the black truck. In the pouring rain and lightning. So yes this is why I am all muddy. And this is why I told you to run once you guys were near the checkpoint."

"Wow Sebi I can't believe that," I smiled. "And what about Ping, do the border agents check tires thoroughly on every car? I have never even heard of trying to hide drugs in a tire."

"No they don't automatically check tires," Sebastian laughed. "When I went through the checkout I told them to take a good look at the tires on the truck behind me because the guy had them filled with something."

"Wow." Sebastian never ceased to amaze me. "Dang Sebastian. So you had a busy night."

He frowned. "Yeah it was quite the night."

Our section was being called for boarding. All three of us stood up to get ready to join the line that was forming. I looked around and knew for sure nobody else boarding this plane was as happy as Grace was to be flying to San Diego. Grace had a bounce in her step and a look on her face of a kid getting ready to open Christmas presents. Nobody on our flight to San Diego had gone through more than Grace Yu. When I finally fell into my seat I felt a weight lifted off of me. Not everything was right in the world but one girl's world vastly improved and for that I was thankful.

Bo had his arms crossed and an uncertain look on his face when I spotted him through the security checkpoint. His face was all perplexed probably from the millions of thoughts that were running through his mind since he received Sebastian's message. He was looking around and I wondered if he had checked the monitor to see that our plane was arriving 20 minutes early. It didn't look like he did because he was not looking in our direction. We were in a sea of people when we passed the security checkpoint and crossed into the main area. Grace was smiling in her oversized clothes when she spotted Bo. She started to run towards him.

Bo turned and gasped. "Ah!" His arms instinctively flew open.

Bo hugged Grace picking her up off the ground forcefully. We could hear them both shriek with joy and relief. Bo was shocked and overcome with emotion. Sebastian and I stood back letting them have their moment together. I couldn't help but cry myself watching them cry and rejoice together.

"We did it Leah," Sebastian whispered in my ear. "We did it sweetheart."

I couldn't believe it was over. When we started our quest to find Grace I had major doubts we would find her and if we did if she would be alive.

"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound." I said. "This feels unreal."

"I know." Sebastian kissed my head and rubbed my back with his hand. "I love you sweetie."

Sebastian brought me close to him and wrapped his arms around me. We hadn't even had a chance to talk to each other. All three of us had sat separately since our tickets were purchased last minute. We both slept the whole way. I felt mentally and emotionally exhausted.

"I love you too Sebastian." I wiped my tears with his shirt.

Bo and Grace finally walked over to us. Bo had a huge smile on his face. It was a smile I had never seen before. He looked like a different person.

"I don't even know what to say to you guys," Bo exclaimed. "I am just so ecstatic. You don't even know how happy I am and how extremely thankful I am."

I hugged Bo. I would have liked to be able to say something but I was crying.

"Our pleasure man," Sebastian said as he embraced him. "You just take care of this girl she is pretty special."

Bo nodded. "I will."

Grace had tears streaming down her face. The floodgates were opened and Grace fell into Bo's arms. He found a bench and he held her. Sebastian and I found the bathrooms then found the magazine rack in the store next door.

After awhile Bo whistled at us from outside the store. We followed him through the airport and to the parking garage. He let us know they called her parents and he was going to drive Grace to Los Angeles that day so they could reunite. Bo held Grace's hand the entire way to the car. I wondered what was next for them. I knew it would take Grace awhile to adjust to being back home and it would take awhile for her fresh memories of being held captive in Mexico to fade. I wanted to know what Bo would do. In two months he was supposed to walk down the aisle and marry a woman hand picked by his father.

Grace requested that Bo take her straight to In-N-Out Burger and he gladly complied. We went through the drive through and I was giddy in anticipation.

"Relax Leah," Sebastian laughed.

"You don't understand how excited I am to be here. In the US, at In-N-Out, about to have a burger, fries and a shake. Less than, what eight hours ago I had no idea what the future held."

"You're telling me," Grace smirked. "This is paradise."

Bo looked at Grace and I could tell he wanted to know everything about her time away but may not be comfortable hearing it. I believed Grace would eventually tell him what she went through it just might take her some time. I imagined she would want to keep certain things to herself. Things she doesn't even want voiced, things she would never want to think about again.

I sunk my teeth into my burger and let out a huge sigh. "Yes!"

"Perfecto!" Grace yelled.

It was quiet on the drive to Bo's apartment while we ate our food in peace. When we were getting near his condo Bo told us they were going to pack a bag and be on there way to Los Angeles. He said we could stay at his apartment as long as wanted to.

I was embarrassed when we walked into Bo's condo the one that he had turned over to us spotless. I had left my pajama pants on the couch along with my bra and the kitchen counter had beer bottles scattered all over it. Bo went straight to his room to pack a bag and I tidied up the kitchen. Grace scoped out the apartment like it was the first time she had ever seen it. She walked out on the deck and took in the view. I joined her.

"It's beautiful here," I said. "I never thought last night when I was peeing in a bucket in the middle of the night we would be standing here today."

"I know right!" Grace exclaimed. "It feels like I am dreaming."

Bo peeked his head out. "I'm all ready to go."

That was fast. Our time together was quick and I felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend that I knew I would never see again. I wanted to tell her that love may not be enough but everything would be okay. I wanted to tell her she was young and she would fall in love again if Bo didn't end up being the one. I wanted to pull Bo aside and tell him not to break her heart. I wanted to tell him that he was a coward if he went through with the arranged wedding. Instead I walked with them to the front door.

"Again I am truly thankful for your help," Bo said. "You guys are the best!"

Bo shook Sebastian's hand and I gave him a hug.

"Grace I wish it was under different circumstances but it was a pleasure meeting you," Sebastian said embracing her.

"Thanks for everything Sebastian."

Grace let go of Sebastian and looked at me. I tried to keep myself from crying again.

"Thank you Leah," her voice quivered.

I hugged her. "You're welcome Grace."

Both of us wiped our eyes.

"I won't ever forget you Leah and our night in the box."

"Yes," I laughed through tears rolling down my cheeks. "We will always have the night in the box...and Bodhi."

"Ha yeah and Bodhi."

Sebastian and Bo looked at each other. They both shrugged and smiled.

"Okay let's hit the road Grace." Bo picked up his suitcase.

"Take care guys," Sebastian said.

"Bye Grace, bye Bo." I wiped my eyes again with my hand. "Drive safe."

"See you Leah."

"Oh yeah." Bo turned to look at us. "If you leave before we get back from L.A. just leave my keys at the front desk."

"Will do," Sebastian said. "Thanks Bo."

"No thank you. Talk to you guys later."

Sebastian and I walked out to Bo's deck overlooking the ocean. Finally we could breath easy. I hungered to dip my body into the ocean and cleanse myself of Ping's Comida China. Sebastian's eyes were blood shot from lack of sleep. Even though he looked dreary eyed he had a grin on his face. It was all over and we managed to come out unscathed.

"Come on Sebi lets go jump in!"

"I need a hot shower Leah."

"Just jump in the ocean with me it will feel so good."

"I have mud caked on me everywhere. I want to shower then I will go down to the beach with you."

"I'll be down there," I groaned.

"No I am not letting you out of my sight. Get over here." Sebastian wrapped his arms around me. "You are so beautiful sweetie." He showered me with kisses. "You smell amazing."

"There's no way!" I laughed.

He sniffed my neck. "You smell like you. I do detect a hint of being locked up in a small Mexican cell overnight but I can smell your scent and I love your scent."

"I have missed you!"

Sebastian groaned. "Me too! You have no idea how much torture last night was without you." Sebastian's frown turned to smile. "So now that's it's over I want to spend a couple days hanging out in Cali before we head back to Phoenix. Plus I want to wait until Bo gets back so we can get our money before we leave."

I hugged Sebastian tightly. "That sounds perfect. I want to relax, lounge on the beach, and enjoy life."

"Cool. I am going to shower can you throw in a load of laundry? I don't plan on being here much I want to be out and about as much as possible before we go home." He started to strip off his clothes as he walked back inside. "These clothes should just be burned."

I laughed. "No you have to keep them as memorabilia."

While Sebastian showered I put on the swimsuit I felt guilty about packing. I brought our duffle bag into the laundry room and dumped it into the washer not wanting to touch the items. I didn't want to feel any of Mexico on me. I held my breath the best I could so the smell didn't send my thoughts back to that hell we had endured. I put two cups of detergent in. Before shutting the lid something caught my eye. I carefully moved one of my shirts out of the way to pick up the small piece of paper. I unraveled it and saw it was from the girl I encountered in the first brothel we went to. She had desperately wanted me to send a message to the people at the address listed.

"Hey Sebastian look at what I found."

"I can't understand you Leah!"

I opened the sliding door to the shower. "Remember this? I forgot about it."

"What is it? Hold on I'm almost done."

I waited patiently for Sebastian to shut off the shower.

"Damn that shower felt good. Okay what is it?"

"The piece of paper that chick in the brothel in Mexicali gave me. She begged me to make sure to send a note to this address on here saying she was alive."

"What's the address?"

"It's in San Clemente. Her name is Li Hua Mui. She has something written below in Chinese." I held up the piece of paper for Sebastian to see.

"Well let's get an envelope and mail it out tomorrow."

"Deal."

I went to the kitchen to pack a cooler to take down to the beach. When I went back into the bedroom Sebastian was laying face down on the bed with his towel around his waist. "Tired my love?"

"Exhausted." He slowly flipped over. "I don't think San Clemente is that far from here why not go see whoever is at that address in person?"

"I guess we could."

"Look the address up on my phone. This way we can give them more details on her location and it's just better hearing this sort of news in person than a letter."

I waited for his phone to return search results. "It's only like an hour drive. It's along the coast. Let's do it."

"We'll have a nice morning drive then we can hit the beach, have lunch, we can even keep driving and hit our favorite spot in Santa Monica. We can see if our vacation rental is available."

I smiled. "Yes let's do it! Now come on you promised me the beach. Get up. Get dressed or go like that."

It was sunny and 70 degrees. I knew the water would be freezing but I was going in. The other night while being locked up in the small, smelly room I thought a lot about what I would miss if I never saw the light of day again. I would miss running into the ocean and running back out while the cold of the water chased me away. I shed my towel when my feet hit the sand and I started running toward the water. The ice-cold water zapped me but I didn't slow down or run back to the beach. Instead I kept going at full force high stepping into the water and falling when the force of a wave knocked my whole body in. The cold was electrifying. I joyfully jumped up and screamed. I looked at Sebastian who had a huge smile on his face. I felt alive and free! Life in all its twists and turns was definitely worth living.

# CHAPTER 17

Before opening my eyes I savored the moment. It had been awhile since I experienced a peaceful night's sleep. I felt rested and fresh. I opened my eyes and turned to Sebastian. He was still out cold. After my dip in the ocean the day before we went back up to Bo's with the intent of getting ready for a night out on the town. When I got done taking a shower I found Sebastian in bed watching a movie. We ate leftovers we found in the fridge and were both sleeping by 7:00 pm.

I wondered what time it was and how long I had slept. I unplugged my phone and turned it on to see. It was completely dead yesterday. I finally plugged it in when I got back from my swim in the ocean. I leaned up and gazed at Sebastian while my phone booted up. He was sleeping so peacefully. I kissed him gently. I grabbed my phone. It was 8:17 am.

"Oh shit!" I screamed.

Sebastian jumped. "What the hell Leah?"

"Holy shit! I have like 600 texts from Nelly!"

My stomach turned and my head started to get dizzy. "Shit Sebastian."

Sebastian was now fully alert. "What Leah? What's wrong?"

I swallowed slowly wanting to be anywhere but there. "She, she fucking called Pauly!"

"What?" Sebastian yelled. "Why the hell for?"

I pretended to scroll through her many texts but I already knew why. She wrote a book.

"Leah why the hell would she call Pauly?" Sebastian nervously grabbed his phone of the nightstand. "Tell me!"

"Yesterday before we flew out I texted her 'it's over' while my phone was starting to die. Nelly must have interpreted that to mean we were in big trouble."

"Fuck Leah!"

"What?"

"If she called Pauly that means he sent the files to Mr. Tang and Bo!"

My face was flushed. I felt like I was going to collapse.

Sebastian reached for his phone. "Shit this gets better. Get dressed and grab your purse! We have to get out of here!" Sebastian scrambled to find clothes. "Now! Leah come on move!"

I looked around then ran to the dryer. I grabbed a shirt and jeans. Sebastian put the backpack on and threw me my purse.

"Leah let's go!"

Sebastian forcefully locked the door and jogged down the hall. I followed him working hard to keep up with his pace. We took the stairs instead of the elevator. Once we reached the garage both of us hurried to Bo's BMW. Sebastian peeled out of the garage. Two cars pulling in honked their horns.

"Sebastian slow down!" I screamed.

He didn't slow down until he was a half a mile down the street and Bo's apartment complex was out of the rear view mirror. I stayed glued to my seat.

Sebastian exhaled. "Look at my fucking hand." He held out his hand it was shaking. He looked at me with fear. "Leah we had to get of there like that because Bo text me 'GET OUT OF MY CONDO NOW!!!' it was from last night at around midnight."

"Why what else did he say?"

"Leah that was the only text I saw and we bolted. Here take my phone see what else he said."

With my hand shaking I grabbed his phone from him. He had missed calls from Bo and Pauly. The only other text messages from Bo were more warnings to get out of his place and to call him. Pauly sent him around 20 messages asking if we were okay. When he didn't get a response Pauly sent a text that he was following instructions and would send the files.

"Call Bo," Sebastian said. "You know what this means right?"

"Yeah Bo's dad knows about Ho banging his wife, he knows Ho is the one responsible for Grace's disappearance."

"It means Ho is coming after us."

"You think? Bo's not answering."

"Leave him a message to call us as soon as possible then text him that. Also text Pauly we are alive and back in the states. And yes I do think Ho is after us. Bo urgently texted to get out of his condo...yeah Ho or his dad is coming after us."

I thought of Ho and his threats he made to us when we made the deal with him. Bo sent us the text last night. I shivered at the thought of Ho busting down the door while we slept soundly. We were silent for a few moments. "What's the plan where are we going?"

"Getting far away from San Diego for the time being. Pull up the directions for that brothel girl's address we can still go there. Once we do that if we haven't heard from Bo we can continue on to Los Angeles."

I pulled up the address on my phone and set it up in Bo's GPS. I didn't want to look but I made myself scroll through all of Nelly and Gwen's text messages.

"I have to call Nelly and Gwen to tell them I'm okay."

Sebastian rolled his eyes at me.

"Sebastian it happened what do you want me to say? She was scared."

Sebastian shook his head. "I am more pissed off at you."

"Why?"

"It's over? You text to Nelly it's over?"

I shrugged. "I needed to say something quickly I had like 4% battery and I just wrote it. It's over usually means like it's done all is...all is well. Fudge!"

Sebastian snarled. "It's over, we're coming home would have worked a little better."

Still twitching from nerves I tapped the call button on my phone.

"Leah!" Nelly squealed.

"Nelly it's me."

"What the fuck?"

"We're okay."

There was silence then I heard Nelly talking to Gwen. "Fuck Leah we thought you were captured or dead!"

"Are those tears of joy or anger and I thought you were making strides with your language."

"Not funny! Fucking Leah I am going to fucking kick your ass when I see you. And tears of both you had Gwen and I so fudging scared. We were up most of the night by the phone not knowing what else we should do."

"I'm so sorry we were at the airport and I wanted to text you quick but I didn't have time to go into details. My phone was about to die."

"So you say it's over?" Nelly cried. "That sounds like you were exclaiming there was nothing left to do it's the end for you."

"Sorry Nelly. I didn't realize you would take it like that."

"Seriously!" She snapped. "It's over? You could have at least elaborated."

"I wanted to get a text sent to you guys and my phone was dying. I meant it as it is all over now, it was done, we were finished with the mission."

"Whatever," Nelly sighed. "So you found the girl and your back in where, California?"

"Yeah and I will tell you the details when we get back I have to go now."

"And when will you be back?"

"By the end of the week."

"Fine."

"See you soon Nels!"

"Bye bitch."

"It's b-zitch!" I said it sarcastically hoping she would lighten up.

Nelly laughed then caught herself. "You owe us Lee!"

"I know I will make it up to you."

"You better."

"I will! Talk to you later Nels."

"Later."

Sebastian stayed silent while he continued driving along the coast. He opened up the windows and the sunroof. I sat back with the wind whipping through my hair pondering the possibilities of Ho coming for us.

We were getting near the address the Chinese girl from the brothel gave me. Looking at the map we were less than 15 miles away. I shut my eyes for a few moments and thought about what we would say to the people who would answer our knock on the door.

"Sweetie," Sebastian said. He rolled up the windows so it was easier to hear. "Don't freak out sweetie but I am pretty sure we are being followed."

"Are you serious?" I looked in the rearview mirrors. "Ah Sebastian."

"Don't panic okay Leah?"

I took a few deep breaths in and out. "Okay. The one right behind us?"

"Yeah the big maroon truck. It's keeping about a five car length distance between us."

I fidgeted in my seat and glanced back over my shoulder out the rear window. "What are we going to do?"

"I noticed it awhile back. The truck kept changing lanes when I did. I have been testing it going different speeds. They are definitely tailing us."

"Can you pull over?"

"And what Leah? They will follow us."

"What if you go into a crowded area?"

"I don't think they will care sweetie. There is nowhere to stop here anyway. Can you try to get a good look at the driver?"

I looked back. "There are three guys I can't tell details Sebastian. They are back there a little ways. It's probably Ho and two of the bodyguards. "

"The backpack. Check it we should have the binoculars in it."

I leaned over the seat and grabbed the bag. I sifted through it and found the binoculars. I tried my best to steady my hands while I peered through them at the men in the truck behind us. My heart sank. I quickly dropped the binoculars down and faced forward. My voice quivered. "Eduardo."

Sebastian gripped the wheel. He listened to the lady from the GPS and exited off highway 5.

"You're still going to the address?" There was panic in my voice and the face of Eduardo etched in my mind.

"Where else should I go Leah? If we're off the main road I can try to lose him."

I clutched onto the overhead bar. I braced myself for the worst. "Do what you have to do."

Sebastian drove at a steady pace. The truck was keeping a safe distance. Following the GPS directions was taking us into an industrial section of San Clemente. Traffic started getting sparse and it made the truck obvious. We were approaching a stop sign. I gripped the bar tightly and clenched my teeth.

Sebastian kept his eye on Eduardo in the rearview mirror as he slowly stopped. A car was coming down the road at the intersection to our right so we had to wait our turn. Sebastian gripped the wheel and rang it back in forth nervously. Eduardo waved his hand out the window. Both of us froze. The maroon truck tapped into Bo's car and Eduardo waved again.

"Hold on," Sebastian said quietly. He slowly accelerated and drove straight. "Get ready to hold on tight."

"Okay," I murmured.

Sebastian took a right turn. The GPS lady's voice was becoming unbearable. Another turn and I wanted to punch the GPS screen. "Shut the hell up!" I reached to turn it off.

"Don't!" Sebastian snapped.

I glared at him. "She's annoying."

"We need her."

We were in the middle of an industrial park. There was a big building with the name of a welding business in big letters.

"Hold on!" Sebastian yelled.

After making a turn Sebastian gunned it. The sound of the engine helped drown out the GPS voice. Sebastian weaved through turns zigzagging through the industrial park to our final destination that was fast approaching. Eduardo struggled to keep up.

Sebastian made the final turn. It was some sort of car junkyard. There was a small rundown building at the end of the way.

"Run in the building when I stop the car."

I clenched my legs. I needed to pee. "Okay!" I yelled. I gripped the door handle tightly.

Sebastian slammed on the brakes. With adrenaline pumping through my whole body I pushed open the door. I slipped on the gravel when I shut the car door. I regained my footing and sprinted towards the entrance. Sebastian burst open the door. The bells that hung from above clattered together loudly. Seven of the hardest Chinese looking dudes I had ever seen stood up. They looked like a biker gang with cut off jean jackets and tattoos. In any other scenario I would have needed new underwear but in this moment I was happy as hell to see them.

The scariest one put his hands out with his palms up. The silver gun on his side was shiny. "What's the problem?" His Chinese accent was thick but his English was perfect. "You better talk!" He put his hand to the gun.

"Leah tell them the name!" Sebastian shouted.

"Oh ah, um Li Hua Mui sent us!" I stammered. All seven men had the same reaction their faces flushed like they saw a ghost. I tried to steady my voice. "Li Hua Mui."

"Li Hua Mui." Two of the men whispered pronouncing the name much different than I did. In a synchronized motion they all took a step toward us and growled in disgust.

Sebastian had his hand against the door checking out for Eduardo. "Look we need your help! We can tell you where she is."

I glanced back and saw the maroon truck pulling to a stop. Sebastian grabbed me bringing me behind him away from the door and near the wall.

The main man pulled his gun out of his holster and cocked it back. He kept it pointed at us while he briskly walked closer to us. He lunged grabbing Sebastian's neck. "Well you better start talking! Where is my sister?"

"Those fuckers have her!" I blurted out pointing at the door. "They're the ones who have her in Mexico at a brothel!"

The man let go of Sebastian and turned toward the door that was swung open. In unison the six other men pulled their guns out. Sebastian pushed me to the ground. Loud fast Chinese and the bells ringing was all I could hear. Sebastian yelled at me to stay down. I stayed low but peeked up.

Eduardo riffled off words in Spanish before speaking English to the Chinese men who with their seven guns had forced him and his two men to place their guns on the ground. "My beef aint with you!" Eduardo yelled. "You got the wrong guys!"

The Chinese man kept his gun on Eduardo and turned toward Sebastian. Sebastian spoke forcefully. "Look man we got caught up in the middle of something we're not supposed to be a part of. We went to Mexico looking for a girl that went missing and we came across Li. She was desperate for us to give you the message that she was alive. She is in a brothel called Rasas in Mexicali these guys are after us because we freed one of their girls."

The Chinese man looked back at Eduardo and shook his head. Eduardo started yelling trying to plead a case.

"Shut up! Jian grab that wire and tie their hands together."

The youngest looking one of the group grabbed a roll of thick wire.

The leader looked back at Sebastian. "We are indebted to you two for getting us our sister's message. Now go, get out of here! We will take care of these three."

I stood up and nodded my appreciation to the Chinese men.

Sebastian grabbed my hand and kept me close to him while we walked to the door. "Thank you."

Eduardo's blood was boiling. I walked past him slowly and glared at him. He growled and started to speak but the Chinese man interrupted him. "No! You don't speak or I'll shoot your ass. You'll need to do a lot talking in a few minutes you wait until I tell you to speak."

Sebastian let go of my hand and looked at Eduardo. He smirked and punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. "PEDENJO!" Sebastian opened the door for me. "After you my lady."

I looked back at Eduardo on his knees before I hurried to the car feeling like I was a king slayer. "Holy shit Seb! Did all that just freaking happen? That was awesome. Nice punch!"

"Relax sweetie." Sebastian calmly reversed the BMW then gunned it down the gravel road. "That was pretty fucking crazy."

"You think! Thank Long Wang for those seven Chinese men or we would have been toast."

Sebastian grimaced. "Long Wang, who is Long Wang?"

I laughed. "Long Wang is a Chinese god. It's the only thing I remember from taking a class about China in college. I thought the name was so funny."

"You are so mature," Sebastian snickered. "What's he a god of?"

"I don't remember much more than the name. Oh wait I think he is the god of the ocean or rain."

"That's fitting," Sebastian said. He had his cell phone at his ear.

"Who you calling?"

"Bo I missed his call."

I listened to Sebastian talk to Bo and tried to figure out the details by only hearing one side of the conversation. It was a short call.

"Bo said to go to the compound it's the safest place for us to stay."

I sighed. "So Ho is still coming after us?"

"No. Ho personally can't harm us his dad has him taken care of. It's the unknown people Ho is associated with that he's worried about. Bo had no idea who Eduardo or Ping was but from the sound of it his dad didn't give him any details. He only gave him strict instructions for us to stay at the compound. He assured Bo he would give us safety from any of Ho's associates in Mexico."

"So do you think Ho contacted Eduardo when the files were sent? Giving him instructions to take us out."

"That or after Ping got locked up from the contraband in his tires he got word to Eduardo to go get revenge."

"I don't want to go to the compound I wanted to do our drive up the coast."

"I know me too."

We were nearly back to the interstate.

"Laguna beach is so close."

"I know. I kind of like staying alive though and I don't need anymore encounters like the one we had back there."

"Agreed."

Sebastian sped down the interstate wanting to get far away from Eduardo. Both of us were so wound up from what happened that we went over every detail from when we noticed Eduardo was tailing us to Sebastian getting revenge. We ate a big lunch near the beach before arriving at the compound.

Lupe answered the door with two serious looking bodyguards at her side. I didn't recognize them. Sebastian was friendly to Lupe exchanging a few words in Spanish while we walked inside.

Sebastian frowned. "Lupe says we're safe here but we have to obey Mr. Tang's rules."

Lupe nodded toward the bigger bodyguard. Without looking directly at us he spoke. "Cell phones and the keys to Bo's car."

Sebastian didn't hesitate. He handed over the keys and his cell phone. Lupe shook her head slightly and rattled off a fast sentence. Sebastian motioned me to hand over my phone. I dug it out of my handbag and held it out for the intimidating bodyguard. His shirt was so snug on him that I thought the armpit of it would rip when he quickly extended his hand to snag my phone from me.

"What's going on?"

Sebastian shrugged. "No idea. Lupe doesn't know either only said to do what they tell us and there would be no trouble."

Lupe and the two men escorted us the east side of the compound to a room that had a floor to ceiling door. It felt like we were in a castle. When we entered Lupe pointed out the bathroom and where the towels were kept. She then showed us the area adjacent to our room that had access to the backyard where there was a pool, a gazebo and a large garden. Lupe showed off the amenities as if they were her pride and joy.

Sebastian nudged me. "Look, they replaced the trellis you annihilated."

"Oh my gosh that damn trellis," I whispered. "That hurt!"

Lupe escorted us back to our room. Before leaving one of the bodyguards told us Mr. Tang had one rule for us to follow - we couldn't leave the compound and we needed to stay in the east wing. He assured us there were cameras watching our every move. I looked at Sebastian and knew he was thinking the same thing I was. Why didn't we hit the beach instead of rushing to the compound and what trap did we just walk into?

Waking up in the compound was like waking up at a distant relative's house or the house of a friend of a friend's cousin. You know you don't belong. It's uncomfortable, awkward and you can't wait to leave. Neither Sebastian nor myself slept well. The bed was super soft but the pillows were the size of a boulder. The only nice thing about the room was the dark red walls and the heavy shades that masked all the light. It was pitch dark when I woke up from my restless nights sleep. I removed Sebastian's shirt that I used to cover the alarm clock. It was just before 9:00 am. I was sick of being in that bed with those awful pillows so I went into the bathroom to shower. The bathroom was luxurious with a large walk in shower. I stayed in the hot shower until Sebastian came in and said Lupe was here to fetch us for breakfast. I put on the same clothes from the other day since we didn't have anything else.

Venturing out of the east wing and into another section of the compound was a delight. My eyes scanned the place trying to soak in all the details of the stale confines the Tang's call a home. While Lupe and Sebastian had a conversation I studied a painting on the wall. It was red, black and gold with Chinese symbols. It was eye catching and the only item I had seen in the house that I actually liked. Another maid helped Lupe in the kitchen. They brought out a smorgasbord of breakfast items. I put together a breakfast burrito with eyes bigger than my stomach. It all looked so good. I bit into a chocolate chip muffin and let out a gasp of pleasure.

"Seriously sweetie?"

I laughed. "What? This is delicious. I haven't eaten like this in awhile. I want it all!"

"Relax," he smirked. "And wipe the chocolate off your face."

One of the bodyguards got up in a split second and motioned to the other bodyguard. He had a finger to his ear. "He's here."

Both of them darted out of the room. Sebastian and I instinctively rose out of our chairs. I looked nervously at Sebastian. "Oh no is it Ho?"

Sebastian started walking after the men. I followed him cautiously. From the large window at the front of the house I could see a shiny Mercedes pull up. I waited patiently for the men to get out. I breathed a sigh of relief it was Mr. Tang and what I presumed was another bodyguard.

A bodyguard walked toward us. "Please wait in the study Mr. Tang will address you in a few moments." He put out his hand to direct us to the hallway that the study was at. "The second door on the left."

We obeyed the orders glancing behind us while we slowly walked to the study. We barely had a chance to say two words to each other when Mr. Tang walked in all high and mightily with a three-piece suit.

"Good morning."

Both of us nodded as a response not knowing what the hell was about to happen. Was I now going to be a slave of Mr. Tangs? It wasn't a cheery good morning greeting and my nerves were going crazy.

Mr. Tang's bodyguard set his briefcase on the counter at the back of the room. Mr. Tang cleared his throat. "Please have a seat."

Sebastian and I sat down on the couch next to each other. I kept my leg against his wanting to stay close.

"I know I can say with confidence you were treated properly during your stay here and your needs accommodated. Yes?"

"Yes Mr. Tang you have an extraordinary place," Sebastian said.

I only smiled in response knowing he prefers to speak to men. His demeanor never changed. It was a permanent look of a serious no nonsense man of power.

"Good. Now I have something for you for your troubles. I can't put into words how grateful I am for you bringing my employee's shortcomings to the forefront. For your valor and honor I give you this compensation. I can't stress enough how I need you to keep all of this confidential. Your findings need to remain confidential at all cost."

Mr. Tang locked eyes with Sebastian for at least thirty seconds. It was a stare down from hell. I got chills. Finally Mr. Tang tapped his briefcase and motioned his bodyguard to take it to us. The bodyguard set it down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Mr. Tang continued his speech. "You will be given transportation to the airport and can go to the destination of your choosing. You are safe from my employee's associates and take my word when I tell you that this employee is by no means available to seek you out."

My stomach turned. What did he do with Mr. Ho? Now I understood how Bo could not disobey his father. The way he spoke, the tone of his voice, the sharpness, his mannerisms, he oozed control and power. It was like he was hypnotizing us with his words.

"Look into the briefcase," Mr. Tang beckoned.

Sebastian slowly released the two clasps. It was full of money. It looked like fake money it was that crisp and clean. Sebastian took out one stack and inspected it closely.

"Now I consider this matter closed." Mr. Tang shot us a laser gaze. "Do we have an understanding?"

I bopped my head up and down letting him know I was complying. Sebastian said a quiet yes.

"Good. Please gather your belongings and I will have you driven to the airport."

"Sir we have belongings at Bo's apartment that we need to get."

Mr. Tang tightened his lips looking at us with disapproval in his eyes.

"It's not much we can have it packed up in 10 minutes."

"Fine I will give my driver a key to Bo's you can stop there on the way."

"Remember this matter is over there will be no other contact with any party. You live your life and my son lives his. I don't see you again."

Sebastian nodded with a surprised expression. "Yes."

I didn't think it just came out. "So does this mean Bo can marry Grace?"

I thought Mr. Tang's eyes might pop out of his head.

"No! The wedding is scheduled and will go on accordingly."

I flinched and leaned back in the seat of the couch. "Oh I just, I mean you said Bo can live his life so I assumed maybe you were allowing him to be with Grace."

"Grace and her family have been given more than a fair consideration for their troubles. This matter is closed."

"Understood," Sebastian quickly said. "Thank you sir."

Mr. Tang moved his head ever so slightly as he motioned us to leave the room. A bodyguard was waiting at the front door with our cell phones. Lupe and the other maids were nowhere in sight.

At Bo's apartment we gathered our stuff somberly. The feelings from the entire ordeal crashed all around me. From when we walked into Bo's apartment for the first time, to when we returned late into the night from our failed Mexico trip, to returning with Bo and Grace a few days earlier. I walked out on the deck and cleaned up the mess we had made. It was over. It seemed so final yet lacked the closure I desperately wanted to feel.

"Come on Leah let's go," Sebastian called from inside the sliding door.

We accomplished our mission. We found the girl, we got paid for it, but leaving didn't feel rewarding to me. Something was missing. Maybe in time it would all surface and I would feel satisfied. I get too emotional and attached. Oh how I wish I didn't have to get like that. It felt like we were leaving someone's world never to return and it made me sad. I knew tomorrow we would wake up and there would be nothing left for us to do. Not that I wanted to stay in this crazy messed up world that had engrossed our lives for this short yet long period of our life - it was the feeling that we didn't change it.

"Leah," Sebastian pleaded. "Come on let's go home sweetie."

# CHAPTER 18

"Quit sulking Leah and please get ready."

I rolled my eyes at Sebastian. "No this is so dumb."

It was early on Saturday morning. Too early for me to be up getting ready for something I was thoroughly against. I was debating internally if I should let Sebastian go without me although I knew he wouldn't let that happen.

Sebastian sighed. "Oh relax Bo is a big boy and if he wants to go through with the arraigned marriage to a women he doesn't know so be it. Look on the bright side we'll probably get to eat lobster."

I glared at Sebastian. He knew how pissed I was about attending this wedding. "I am not going!"

Sebastian switched his demeanor from playful to serious obviously understanding my stance was not changing. "Leah come on stop pouting we're going."

"I am not pouting Sebastian I am standing up for what I believe in." I knew I was pouting but I hated knowing this wedding was happening and there was nothing I could do about it.

"It's going to happen if we go or not Leah. You know Bo had to have gone through a painful time having his father allow us to attend."

"Or he doesn't even know Bo invited us and Mr. Tang will have our heads on a stake before the ceremony. Sebastian he is being forced to marry a girl he doesn't know when the love of his life is what? Moving on? Who knows what state of mind Grace is in right now or if Bo even freaking told her about the wedding yet!"

Sebastian rolled his eyes at me. "Leah we've been over this. We are going to support Bo even if we don't believe in their customs."

My glare softened. "I just hate the thought of attending this wedding it feels so fake and wrong. I feel like an enabler."

Sebastian snickered. "Leah just because we are going doesn't mean we agree, we are supporting Bo and I think he really needs us to be there."

"Yeah and what about Grace?"

I knew Sebastian didn't know the answer to this. He talked to Bo a week after his dad had sent us packing. Bo had called to thank us again and make sure his father gave us the cash. It was a short conversation. Bo let him know Grace was doing well while getting acclimated to life back in the states. Bo offered no specific details about Grace other than she was well and looking forward to going back to school for the second semester. A few weeks later the wedding invitation arrived in the mail from Bo. I couldn't believe it.

Sebastian shrugged. "Don't know sweetheart. She's a strong girl. She's survived Ping's hellish playhouse she can survive getting over Bo."

I guess that put it in perspective but I couldn't believe this girl had to go through all this heartbreak. Sebastian leaned down and kissed me before going into the bathroom to shower. I didn't get how some people could do what they do and sleep at night.

We went to Hawaii after we left San Diego. We wanted to lay low and enjoy some of our reward money. It was blissful and I didn't want to leave. Especially to come back just to take a return trip to San Diego the place I could do without visiting for a few years. I pulled myself off the bed and staggered over to the dresser. I didn't have the heart to pack but I reluctantly picked out my clothes for the trip. At least I got us out of the rehearsal dinner. Bo wanted us to fly in the previous day for the opening festivities. I squashed that plan. No way in hell I was going to spend anymore time than I had to around the Tang's.

"Come on shower Leah we have a plane to catch." Sebastian had his towel wrapped around his waist and grabbed a pair of underwear out of our dresser.

"Ugh this is horrible."

"Gosh Leah I knew you were dismayed by this wedding but I didn't think you would take it so...so personally."

"I guess I'm a romantic. I believe in true love and this arraigned marriage is such bullshit to me."

"I know I get that but it's life. This is their culture people live differently. Shoot a regular wedding is usually bullshit."

I shrugged. "I guess but this is different. I think it's because of Grace. It was a short time but that night locked up even though the circumstances were bad we bonded. I got to feel a little of her pain and her struggles she was weighed down with. I was with her when she got set free and I saw her experience a wide range of emotions. She's pretty amazing to have survived like she did and not let it destroy her. Now this thing with Bo I really worry about her. And Bo, when I talked to him it was clear he didn't want the life that was in front of him. He doesn't want this. Both of them genuinely seemed to be in love with each other. But it is being robbed from them and Bo is letting it happen. That's what I am pissed off about Bo has a choice in the matter."

Sebastian sat down beside me on our bed. "It's Bo's life sweetie he has to live with his choices. Look at me Leah." He tilted my chin toward him. "This is out of our control. I know it will be hard for you to mask your disgust but let's go try to have a good time, eat some good food, and then we'll drive up the coast like we didn't get to do before. Deal?"

A smile swept across my face. "We spend the day at the beach tomorrow?"

"Sure. We'll hit Laguna Beach then head to Santa Monica."

"Will you surf with me?"

"Ah I don't know about that the water will be cold it's January, but I will watch you and be ready to warm you up when you come to shore."

"Okay deal. I am not going to like today but I will try to make the most of it."

"We always manage to have a good time together wherever we go."

Sebastian kissed me on the cheek. He slapped my butt when I got up to make my way to the shower. I looked back sternly then broke into a smile. It's not my nature to sulk. I would go to Bo's forced wedding and enjoy the time with my husband. I would eat the expensive food and drink myself happy. Do the best we can with what we got. This made me think of the conversation I had with Grace. _Is love enough?_

It was a sunny day in San Diego and I gazed out the window taking in all I could of the surroundings when our plane landed. It reminded me of the first time we touched down at this airport not so long ago when Bo hired us to find his lost girlfriend. The two of us were all giddy to be chauffeured around like we were VIPs. Just like that time Bo said he would have a car waiting to take us to our hotel. The wedding was at sunset. I pulled my phone out of my bag. It was almost noon. We would have time to eat a nice lunch and take a stroll on the beach before we had to go to the compound for the wedding I was dreading to witness.

Sebastian slept during the flight. I couldn't sleep not only was I not tired but my mind was busy thinking about Bo and Grace. I was trying to get in a carefree mindset but I just couldn't shake my mood. Sebastian sensed it.

"Come on we will throw our stuff in the hotel room when we get there and go down to the beach to get you a margarita."

"Okay." I tried to sound a little bit excited but it didn't work.

Sebastian frowned. "Sweetie please."

After using the restroom we walked out of the airport hand in hand. The San Diego ocean air felt nice on my face. Maybe the beach would lift my spirits I thought to myself. Both of us glanced around for a black Lincoln Town Car. We didn't see one.

Sebastian nodded his head to the right. "Over there."

I looked in the direction Sebastian was referencing. There was a white limousine down the way with a gentleman in a tux holding a sign that read 'S. & L. Reyes.' Why does a limo always make you feel like a ten year old kid? I tried my best to hide my giddy expression from Sebastian.

"Everything is first class with the Tang's Leah. I am sure this wedding will be pretty spectacular."

"I guess." I said nonchalantly. I did not want to cave and show even the hint of excitement over this forced wedding. "What?"

"Nothing I can tell you want to smile."

I smirked. "Whatever it's just a limo and all the money in world can't buy Bo's happiness. It's all just material objects that appear beautiful but how happy is Bo going to be at the end of this day?"

"Relax Mrs. Reyes we are in paradise let's enjoy the beauty." Sebastian put his hand around my waist. "This limo is making me happy and there is enough room we can get fresh."

Now I knew Sebastian was desperate to turn my mood around. "Oh behave Mr. Reyes and get fresh?"

The driver took our bags from us and opened the door. "Mr. and Mrs. Reyes."

"Thank you sir." Sebastian gestured for me to get in first. "After you my lady."

He said this in a sexy voice. Maybe this weekend wouldn't be so bad. "Why thank you Mr. Reyes." I stopped as I was getting ready to duck into the car. "Well color me happy there's sofa in here for two."

Sebastian tilted his head. "Stop flirting with me and get in the car pretty woman!"

I ducked into the limo and was caught off guard. We were not alone. Sebastian almost sat on me.

"Dang Leah scootch over sweetie."

I was shocked at the sight

"What?" Sebastian said stunned. "What is this?"

Bo and Grace were in the limo along with another young couple.

"Hey guys," Bo said with a laugh. "Surprise!"

Sebastian and I were speechless. We looked wide-eyed at each other then at Bo and Grace. A smile illuminated both our faces. The look that was on Bo and Grace's face was a look of pure joy.

"I did it Leah," Bo said boldly. "I walked away."

Maybe love is enough.

