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23
Please help me,” the man said, looking to the sheriff. “I didn’t hurt her. She’s safe.”
The other kidnapper nodded. “She is safe. Diego wouldn’t hurt her. He wants to marry her. He just wanted the money so they could go away.”
Jim put his hand on Aaron’s shoulder, and Aaron let the man go. It took everything he had not to hit him. The very thought that he knew where Isabella was and refused to talk was making it hard to contain his anger.
Daniel Garcia fixed the man with a hard stare. “Rudy, Jorge, you were both petty thieves when I first met you. I gave you a second chance to make a good life, and this is how you reward me?”
“Diego can be very persuasive,” the man called Jorge replied. “He was very sure this would work and we would all get money.”
“Money was that important?” Daniel reached for his wallet and threw the contents of his wallet into the air. Bills of varying denominations rained down on the bed. “Take it. Take the money. Just tell me where my daughter is. She’s all that matters to me right now.”
The men exchanged a look. “What will happen to us?”
“If you tell us where she is, the judge will take that into consideration when deciding your punishment,” the sheriff said. “It’ll go a whole lot better for you both if you tell the truth.”
Rudy nodded. “She’s in the mountains. Beyond the old mine road. There’s a cabin way up there.”
“My cabin?” Daniel asked. “My family’s cabin?”
“Yes.” Rudy looked ashamed and bowed his head.
Aaron moved up next to Daniel’s bed. “Where do I go, Daniel? How do I get there?”
“Give me paper and a pencil. I’ll draw you a map.”
The sheriff took hold of Rudy and Jorge. “I’m taking these two down to the jail.” He looked at first one and then the other. “I hope you boys know that if Morales does anything to harm Miss Garcia, you two will be accessories to the crime.”
“We didn’t want her to get hurt,” Rudy protested as the sheriff dragged them away. Jorge was pleading the same and doing his best to keep up with the sheriff’s long-legged strides.
Aaron turned back to Daniel to see Helena giving him a pencil and paper.
“It’s a little tricky once you get up past the mine,” Daniel explained. “Look for the white post I put in as a marker. You’ll take a left immediately. It starts right up the rocks higher into the mountains.”
Aaron looked around at the few remaining men in the room. “Whoever wants to go with me is welcome to. We don’t want any gunfire, however. It’d be too easy for Isabella to get hurt.”
The men nodded. “I’ll tell the others,” one declared. “I know they’ll want to help.”
“That’s fine, but we’ll do this my way,” Aaron said.
He waited for the map, and when Daniel had finished, he handed it up. Daniel pointed to the path. “It’s not an easy road, but if you leave the trail at this point, you can sneak up and surround the cabin. There’s a stream off to the east of the cabin. There’s an outhouse over here and a woodshed to the west of that. Plenty of places to hide, but it’ll be dark, and the road up isn’t easy.”
Aaron nodded and took the map. “Don’t worry. We’ll find her and bring her back. It’s going to be all right, Daniel. I promise.”
Daniel smiled for the first time since Isabella had disappeared. “I know you’ll find her.”
Aaron marched from the room with Jim close on his heels. “What’s the plan, boss?” Jim asked.
“I’m open to suggestions.” Aaron looked at his old friend. “I want all the advice I can get.”
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Daniel, but we need someone who has been up there before.”
“I know the way, Señor Bailey,” Pablo said, coming from seemingly nowhere. “I will take you to the cabin.”
A sense of relief washed over Aaron. “Thank you, Pablo. You are exactly the man I need.” The young teen smiled. Aaron gave him a nod and continued heading outside, where everyone was gathered. “All right. Let’s go make a plan.”
Isabella was hungrier than she’d been in a long time. She’d missed the fiesta supper where her father planned to say good-bye to everyone. She’d had one of Diego’s apples, but the beans wrapped in tortillas looked filthy, and she had nodesire to eat them. Now it was a full twenty-four hours since she’d been taken, and she was starved.
