Jack took off. His heart raced in time with his feet. He drove to the Holiday Inn first, but the young woman at the desk didn’t find Eliza’s name in her records. “Sometimes people give different names when they use vouchers.” She frowned.
He was halfway to the car when he spotted her. She was crossing the street, headed back to the hotel. She wore a baggy pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, despite the sweltering Texas heat.
“Eliza!” He jogged toward her. “Wait!”
She stopped and looked his way. But when she saw it was him, she turned and hurried for the front door.
“Please, Eliza.” This time Jack raised his voice. In case she couldn’t hear him. “I have to talk to you.”
“Why?” She stopped short and glared at him. “So you can lie to me again?”
“I never lied to you.” Jack reached her, but he kept his distance. He didn’t want her to feel threatened.
“You did.” She moved to a patch of grass, away from the door.
Jack followed her. He lowered his voice. “Please… Eliza. I told you I was FBI. I told you we were going to raid the Palace, and I said I needed your help.”
The anger in her eyes was fire.
“Tell me the lie.” Jack tried to be patient.
“You told me you were Luke.” Eliza stepped back. “But on the plane… on the plane the other agent called you Jack.”
He relaxed a little. “That wasn’t a lie. It was part of the job. I go by a lot of names.”
“And what about Jack?” Her anger faded. But in its place came an ocean of hurt and distrust. “Is that part of the job?”
“No. Jack is my name.” Giving her that information couldn’t hurt him now. “For real.” She clutched her paper bag and tilted her head back. Her eyes caught the sunlight. Prettiest blue eyes Jack had ever seen. “I want to help you.”
“Why? The mission’s over.” She looked at the Holiday Inn sign. “I’m free now. Right, Jack?”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him. “Just hear me out. Please.”
For a long time Eliza only stared at him. Then without saying a word, she led him through the iron gate to the hotel’s outdoor pool, and to a table in the corner of the patio. She took one chair and he sat opposite her.
“Talk, Jack. You have five minutes.”
Maybe this wouldn’t work. Jack leaned forward on the table and looked straight into her eyes. “We don’t want you here at this hotel. Or at some homeless shelter.” He exhaled. “You deserve better than that, Eliza.”
For a long time she only looked at him. Then she opened the bag and took out three tacos. “Vouchers.” She didn’t make eye contact. Slowly, meticulously she ate one of the tacos. Then another.
Jack looked out at the pool. Agents around the world risked their lives to break up trafficking rings. But only to treat the victims like this? Three tacos? Was that her dinner? Had she eaten anything else today?
“At least at the Palace they fed us.” She was still chewing. “We had a bed every night of the year.” She finally turned her eyes to him. “But I’m rescued now, right, Jack? Except… where do I go when I run out of vouchers?”
She was right. Jack laced his fingers together behind his head and stared at her. “The FBI wants to help you. We’ll get you your citizenship and identification, some cash. Something to start a new life.”
“What if I don’t want to be a U.S. citizen?” She sounded less harsh. More matter of fact. “My home is in Belize. Doesn’t that mean anything to you people?”
“Eliza, your father has men all over Belize. Your life would be in danger every minute, every day.”
“I’m used to that.” Her words were quick and sharp. “I don’t care if I die. Death would be a reward.”
He felt the same way, but he couldn’t tell her that. She was just twenty. Intelligent, beautiful, and despite her horrific past she had her whole life ahead of her. “You don’t want to die. Your life is just beginning.”
“You’re wrong.” For the first time since he’d known her, she didn’t sound furious or jaded. She tilted her head to the sky again. “I thought I would arrive here and become a police officer. Work to save girls like the ones at the Palace.” She paused. “But who was I kidding? I have no family. Nowhere to go, no way to make a living. No friends.” She hesitated. “Yes. Death would be a gift.”
The poor girl. He looked down at a spot on the table. “What happened to your mother?”
“I don’t feel like talking about it.” She sighed. “Do you understand, Jack? Why I’d rather die?”
“Yes.” He clenched his jaw. “I feel the same way sometimes.”
“You?” Her comeback was quick. “Hotshot secret agent. Gorgeous face and body.” She laughed, but it didn’t touch her eyes. “You have life by the tail, Jack. Why in the world would you feel that way?”
No chance he was telling her his life story now. He remained quiet.
Eventually she looked off. “I almost died. Did you know that?” She didn’t wait for him to speak. “I was nine years old and there was a hurricane in the Caribbean. The undertow was the worst I could remember.”
Jack winced. So young. “You went to the beach every day even then, when you were little?”
“Yes.” Her expression grew stone-cold. “My father insisted. I’d been at the Palace for a year by then. I was only nine years old.” She opened her last taco and set it on her napkin. After a few seconds she wrapped it up and tossed it in the paper bag. Her eyes found his again. “That day something grabbed me… like a monster. I actually looked down expecting to see an octopus or a sea creature. But it was the current.” Her
