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Setting his phone down, he continued sifting through the papers until he found an email from Father Salvador. He took a picture of it as well. He was hoping that Charlie could identify the email address it had been sent from, even though it was a jumble of numbers and letters he didn’t recognize. Scanning the document, he didn’t see a phone number or an address. Just confirmation that Father Salvador would meet her at four in the afternoon when she arrived later on today.
The other papers inside her case were not important. She had sent out a couple of emails inquiring about schools for Emma and had placed a couple of online orders for things for the house that had arrived. She printed out an article written recently in The Catholic Times, and Brady noticed the byline was Father Salvador.
He snapped another photo.
Scanning over the article entitled The Hard Truths and the Pain of Missing Family, Brady’s blood turned cold. The subtitle of the article beneath it said, Life in Mexico in the Age of Powerful Cartels Hell Bent on Smuggling Human Contraband.
As he placed the papers back in the computer bag, he heard a noise behind him. He quickly turned and saw Maggie staring down at him.
“What in the world are you doing, Brady? Are you rummaging through my things?”
He could see anger as if it was a heat signature visible without his scopes.
“I wanted just to verify where you were going. I just wanted to see for myself that this Father Salvador was real. I’ve satisfied myself,” he said as he stood, trying to act less guilty than he felt.
“You’re a horrible liar,” she uttered, her voice shaking. “Brady, this absolutely disgusts me. Have you so little faith in me? Do you not trust me at all? Don’t you understand what this means?”
“Maggie, if it was reversed or if Emma was college age and running off to some place in Mexico, you would demand the same information I wanted to get from you. But you’ve refused. What am I left with?”
“But you snuck in there and looked through my private things. You lied to me. You don’t trust me.”
“I didn’t lie to you Maggie. But you’re damn right, I don’t trust you. I don’t trust where you’re going and who you’re meeting with. I know nothing about this person. I shouldn’t even have to tell you that you’re being foolish, that you’re setting yourself up for something you can’t handle. This is all wrong, Maggie. It’s all wrong. I feel like if I let you go without any information at all, I’ll never see you again.”
“How could you say that? I promised.”
“As if promising makes it so. Come on, Maggie, we’re not living in a fairytale here. But since you mentioned it, you promised me that you would love, honor, and abide by me and Emma. You promised to be my wife, my life partner. You promised to let me love you, to let me take care of you. You promised to tell me the truth when you agreed to marry me. But look what’s happened! This strange person has come between us. That’s all it is. And I would be irresponsible if I just let you go without some frame of reference or some way to get hold of you.”
She crossed her arms. “Well, you said you satisfied yourself. Was that a lie?”
“There’s no information here. You say you’ve met this person, but where’s the verification? Where’s the information about where you’re staying, the address, the phone number of the place? Surely they have phones. They have computers? Fax machines? Why is all of that information not important to you?”
“Because he’s running this clinic with his own money. He’s running the clinic separate from his priesthood duties. And he’s afraid that it will be taken away or it could wind up landing him in jail or picked up by the authorities. He’s afraid of that. That’s why this has to stay under the radar. Otherwise, he’s compromised. He explained all this to me before I agreed.”
“So now, on the morning you’re leaving, you tell me he’s running an illegal underground clinic. What’s gotten into you? How could you have agreed to something so flimsy?”
“Because I trust him.”
“More than me? I’m your husband, Maggie.”
“Who snoops through my luggage, searches my things, tries to invade my space?”
“Because I love you and want nothing to happen to you. Come on, Maggie, are you that stupid that you think I would just do that to be controlling you? I am out for your safety. How many times do I have to answer this question?”
“Well, I can see we have a lot to discuss,” she said with a huff. “But unfortunately, we don’t have time tonight or even tomorrow morning. I’m going to go back to bed and catch up on whatever sleep I can. I don’t want you to join me. You can sleep with Emma. But one thing, Brady Rogers, I cannot tolerate…”
“What’s that?”
“I can’t tolerate you not trusting me. If you don’t trust me and trust the things that are important to me, then I’m not sure we have much of a future, Brady. Maybe I shouldn’t have promised you I’d live here with you and Emma. Maybe I should take Emma when I return and move somewhere else. Maybe you’ve turned into this mountain man, armed to the teeth, holed up here like some kind of a crazy man, worried and protective, trying to battle imaginary evildoers, and it’s gotten to your head. Don’t you understand that killing people and using force is not the only way?”
Brady sat down hard on his lounge chair. The lounge chair had always been a staple of safety, a place where he could relax, a place he was comfortable in. But right now, there wasn’t anywhere on the planet he could hide. Maggie had just told him that she no longer loved him. She didn’t use the words, but then she didn’t have to.
He was going to have a very difficult time explaining any of this to Emma. He prayed to God that Maggie would have a change of heart.
