AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Nineteen
Maceo
It’s been three weeks since we set off on this manhunt. We’ve learned absolutely nothing new. The Colombian people are terrified as soon as you utter Esteban’s name, refusing to say a single word. Some braver individuals approach us and ask to meet, but end up changing their minds last second. Whether they’re being threatened to stay quiet or their nerves get the best of them, I don’t know.
The longer we’re here, the more certain I am that Esteban no longer is. There hasn’t been so much as a whisper regarding Esteban being anywhere in Colombia for the last few days. It puts me on edge. If he isn’t here, then where is he?
Exhausted, I settle into the bed at the hotel we’re staying in for the night. Sleep will have to wait as I grab my phone off the charger. I’ve been without access to an outlet for a week, and I need to check my messages.
My Lord, did Josephine blow up my phone. Warms my heart seeing her messages, knowing I can’t return them, but still connecting with me while I’m thousands of miles away.
Like a lovesick teenager, I skim through her text messages before a video message pops up. I laugh my ass off watching Josephine singing the sweetest happy birthday song and our fur-babies howling along. For a belated birthday present, Josephine promises me a traditional Spanish meal ofpaellaandgazta tarta, along with aspecialsurprise upon my return home. She knows how to get to my heart.
With a smile consuming my face, I dial her number. I need to hear my wife’s lovely voice in real-time.
“Maceo?”
“Josephine,” I coo. “Fuck, beautiful, I miss you so damn much it hurts. Tell me how things are going.”
“Oh, Maceo.” I hear her sniffling.
“No. No. No, baby. Please, stop crying. I’m not there to kiss those tears away.” I release a long-winded sigh. “This is hard, but I’m not staying away for nothing.”
“I know,” she says on a hiccup. “It’s these awful hormones. They ramp up my feelings tenfold. Have you made any headway?”
Ah, hell.A man never wants to confess his failures, but Josephine wants transparency.
“No, nothing helpful. No one is willing to speak to us, and anyone who does seems to go missing right when we’re about to question them. Esteban runs this country so damn tight, the people are living in fear. To be honest, I’m not sure if he’s even in the country.”
Josephine gasps. “Oh, God! Does that mean he’s here in Colorado?”
“No, Pixie,” I say quickly, wanting to calm her down before she gets too upset. “I don’t think he’s in Colorado or the States. He’s just not in Colombia either.”
“Does that mean you’ll be coming home?”
“Soon. We’re finishing up a few more leads then we’ll be flying home. Enough about work. How are you doing? How are my babies doing?”
“Their sex is in an envelope.”
Huh?I rub at my ear. I don’t think I misheard, but what she said makes little sense. “Pardon?”
“I mean the sex of the babies is written on a note in an envelope from Doctor Stoll. I wanted to wait to find out ‘till you got back home. That way, we can share the news together.”
Oh, my heart.I palm my chest where it thumps only for her. This woman slays me. “I look forward to it,mi amor. What else has happened?”
“I drank glucose, threw up, and had to repeat.”
Worried for her, I pinch the bridge of my nose where an anxiety headache is building. “What? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Josephine answers before explaining in detail about the test. “I’ll have the results hopefully in the next couple of days.”
I sulk, angry that I’m missing all this stuff with her and the twins. I want to be home, holding my woman, and sitting with her while she goes through all these appointments.
Fucking Esteban screws up everything.
“Want some good news?”
“Yes, please,” I say, fighting the homesickness from creeping into my voice.
