“Not telling the truth is dishonest,” Maroon Jacket said.
“Without these jobs there’s no food. Would you have our families die of hunger?” The second man was agitated. “How will I look into my child’s eyes and tell him there’s no food. That he must die in order to save someone we don’t know.”
“What about Carl?”
“He’s the one who told us to not to tell the truth,” the second man said.
“None of this is right,” Maroon Jacket said.
“You speak the truth. And we won’t make it better by taking food off our families’ tables.” The second man lowered his voice. “Tell me. Do you stand with us or against us?”
There was a long pause.
“Don’t worry, mon. I’ll do what’s right,” Maroon Jacket finally said.
“I knew I could count on you, my friend,” the second man said. “Believe me, nobody wanted this. Nobody feels good about this.”
“How could we?” Maroon Jacket agreed.
“We keep up the search. We do what we can.”
Daniel followed Maroon Jacket, keeping low enough to use the manicured hedges to shield his presence.
The dark-skinned man was thin. His maroon jacket looked two sizes too big, hanging off his willowy frame. His cheeks were sallow and his hair cut short.
Winding along the path, Maroon Jacket started whistling. He bobbed up and down as he walked, taking a large stride for a man of medium height.
Music started playing in Daniel’s head. A steady drumbeat bit out a rhythm.
Daniel pushed through it, focusing on following Maroon Jacket. Daniel’s new marching orders were to get Maroon Jacket talking.
The breeze rustled the Canna, streaking their red tips that lined the path. Daniel moved with ease along the trail without making a sound. He scanned the ground for lizards, plentiful here on the island, and something that could bring attention to his presence.
And then Daniel saw his opportunity. He reached from inside the Canna and gripped Maroon Jacket’s arm, pulling him into the brush and covering his mouth. It all happened so fast Maroon Jacket didn’t have time to scream for help.
This job, Daniel excelled at.
Another second passed and Maroon Jacket was flat on his back. Daniel’s powerful thighs pinned Maroon’s arms to his sides.
“Be very quiet,” Daniel ground out in a hushed tone.
Maroon’s eyes were wide and sweat beaded on his forehead. He nodded as much as he could, considering Daniel’s hand was a vise grip pressing the back of the man’s head into the dirt.
“Where’s the blond girl?”
A split-second of panic in Maroon’s eyes told Daniel the man knew exactly who Daniel was talking about.
Maroon recovered quickly, trying to shake his head but being met with a steel grip.
“Don’t bullshit me,” Daniel demanded. With a free hand he pulled his KA-BAR from his ankle holster and in the next second the blade was against Maroon’s cheek bone. “You want to do this the hard way?”
Another attempt to shake Maroon’s head was met with Daniel’s unyielding grip.
“Then tell me the truth or I’ll slice your skull open and feed your brains to the monkeys.” Rage was building inside Daniel when he looked the resistant man in the eyes—eyes that had become darker. “What happened to the girl? She’s innocent in all this. Is an innocent life a good trade for a few dollars?”
Maroon clamped his eyes shut like that could stop him from hearing Daniel’s words, like it would somehow make them untrue.
Daniel had no intention of using the weapon on an innocent man. He just needed to see if physical force was the right button to push to get Maroon talking.
If he could peel the man’s skin back he’d see a pinball machine of activity under the hood. Maroon was thinking hard.
Daniel glanced at the nametag on Maroon’s jacket. It read, Isiah.
“Talk to me, Isiah. A family is suffering because of what happened here and we know the blond girl didn’t leave on her own free will.”
Isiah closed his eyes like he was praying for guidance.
Daniel tapped on Isiah’s forehead with the butt of his knife.
“No one up there can help you right now. You’re dealing with me now. I’m down here and I won’t stop searching until I find her. I won’t stop asking questions or digging into your personal life until she shows up again,” Daniel said.
Isiah tried to move his mouth to speak.
“You scream and I’ll slit your throat. Understand?” Daniel stared down at Isiah with a look that told the man it wasn’t an idle threat.
Isiah nodded.
Daniel loosened his grip enough for Isiah to speak.
“Are you talking about the runaway?” Isiah asked.
“You and I both know she didn’t take off on her own,” Daniel bit out.
“I don’t know anything.” The man’s expression belied his words. Even if Daniel hadn’t just overheard the conversation between Isiah and his colleague he would’ve known the man was lying.
“You can keep quiet. But I’m not going anywhere. There’s a young girl out there being treated like God only knows what, by people who don’t care that she has a family back home that’s broken because she’s gone. They don’t care that she has a mother who can’t sleep and a father who feels helpless because he can’t bring his baby girl home safely.” Those words had the impact of a physical punch on Daniel as he said them. They hit a little too close to home and his voice shook. Daniel cleared his throat and tightened his grip around the metal handle of his KA-BAR.
Even though Isiah kept his mouth shut, Daniel could see the effect he was having with the man on his face. His features dragged like he hadn’t slept in a while. His eyes had no spark, no curiosity. His muscles had no spring, no fight in them.
Daniel was making progress but he hadn’t hit a home run yet.
He issued a sharp breath as the all-too-familiar feeling of being the one to let people—himself—down tried to cloak him, weighting down his arms. Clara was right. Even if he’d been home, he might not have been there
