Lourdes did not answer that.
'And besides, she's Mex.'
'I'm writing in Spanish.'
'Oh,' said Howell. 'I forgot. You're one of them.'
Lourdes turned and looked up at Howell. 'That's enough,' said Justice Knox.
When he was done, John Lourdes passed the notepad across the table to the girl and pointed to what he'd written: C 1, you read-wr4e? Do you unders4an2
She stared at the note, at the men, then she just sat there within the confines of a complete sadness. I understand you, he thought, I'm as alone here as you are. The men were getting restless. John Lourdes took the notebook and wrote: Be no4 afraid. God and I will See 4o your we/fare.
He passed her the notebook again. She looked at it, then at him with the naked honesty of a child. She took the pencil and began to write, line after line, and when she was done John Lourdes read aloud: Yes, I can read and write. I am much better in Spanish than English. But I can do both. I was not born deaf. That happened when I was ten. Before that I went to the nun's school at Our Lady's Church.
John Lourdes asked the commander, 'What now, sir?'
'Ask why she was going back and forth across the border.'
She watched as he wrote, and then wrote back: Will / be in 4rouble?
He wrote: No.
She wrote: I was carrying money s4i4cl,ed into my c/o4i es.
He read that aloud. The agents looked and talked amongst themselves. The commander instructed John Lourdes, 'Ask what the money was for.'
She answered: My fa4ier ordered me 4o co i4. So / did 4.
Lourdes wondered and wrote: Tie man wl,o brovjl,-I you -/o 4e border, 4I,e one wi-{I, 4e revolver. Wl o is l e?
She wrote with trepidation: He . .. is my fa4l,er. She added: Wl,a4 wi(( happen 4o me now? /fly fa4er saw me Oaken. He will demand 4o know. / will 1,ave 4o exp/ain. / am afraid.
John Lourdes looked at justice Knox, who spoke. He was sober and deliberative. 'Money coming from the south. It certainly is not narcotics. Contraband ... weapons. That's most likely. So we possibly have linkage to a smuggling operation. How deep does it run here and across the border? What political ramifications does it have? We don't want to disrupt them till we know more. That means the girl has to go back. Otherwise they might assume the worst and restructure their operation.'
'Threaten the man through his daughter,' said Howell. 'Jail her. Give her a few days in the pit, then bring the father here.'
'That's a three-wheeled idea, sir,' said Lourdes. 'The father might be nothing more than a pair of boots.'
Justice Knox removed his glasses. He rubbed at the pinch marks on his nose. He asked one of his agents about the immigration statutes.
'There are restrictions, sir, against the morally suspect, the diseased, those engaged in contract labor-'
'The LPC provision,' said John Lourdes, 'that would make the most sense.'
'Yes,' said the agent, 'the-likely-to-become-a-public-charge statute. It would, sir, make sense in her case.'
Knox, after some consideration, concurred. 'Have Immigration write her up for an LPC. Lourdes, explain it to her, then have her released.'
Later, he requested permission to make sure the girl got safely across the border. Knox agreed, and so John Lourdes drove her to the nun's school at the church. He advised her to go there and have one of the nuns escort her home, believing it would lend validity to the LPC charge and assuage any fears or suspicions her father might have as to why she'd been picked up and interrogated by Immigration.
As they sat in front of the church, where the smoky light from the sacristy cast a warm gold upon the night, justice Knox received a phone call at his office from Burr. He wanted to meet, that evening if possible, to negotiate a deal for his client with the BOI, offering in exchange relevant information about a smuggling operation.
The girl pointed to John Lourdes's pocket for his notepad and pencil. She wrote: / do/i4 4 even know your name.
He wrote: John Lourdes. I know yours-Teresa. /4 is a lovely name.
