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I cross the street and duck into an alcove in front of a shuttered boutique to call Isabel. My fingers tremble as I input her number.
You need to keep it together for her sake, and Valentina’s.
“Hello,” she says. My heart jumps at her voice.This is going to happen. Soon you’ll be with them. Stay calm.
“It’s Daniela.”
“Is everything okay? You don’t sound okay.”
“I’m fine. Isabel, please listen carefully. I don’t have much time. Go to the bank and withdraw all the money in the account.”Wait.I can withdraw cash here too. Maybe I won’t need to sell the locket. My heart clenches at the prospect of being able to keep it—at least for a while longer.
“I’m sorry. Not all the money. Leave seven hundred and fifty dollars in the account.”Is that enough? From my research, it should be more than enough to get me out of the country.
“Take my mother’s diamond ring to the pawn shop and get as much as you can for it. Then come back and gather all our important papers, and pack a few things for you and Valentina.”Next comes the hard part.“Then take the bus to Boston and check in at the Hampton Inn near the airport. You’ll need to take the subway there.”
“What are you talking about?”
I already hear the anxiety in her voice.
“I know this is out of nowhere, but you need to be strong, Isabel. Valentina can help translate for you at the bus station and in Boston. But please don’t burden her too much. She’s still a child. And don’t tell her what I’m about to tell you. I mean it. Promise me.” Isabel would do anything to protect Valentina, but when things are bad, she sometimes lets her anxiety spill out all over the place until everyone around her is drowning in it.
“I promise.” Her tone is already shaky and garbled, and I haven’t even started.
“Antonio Huntsman was at Moniz’s office when I got there.”
She gasps.
“He’s been holding me prisoner, but I managed to escape.”
She starts to sob.
“Isabel, please don’t cry. He didn’t hurt me. Not once. If you can’t be strong for me, do it forMamai,and for Valentina. I know you can do this.”
“They’re going to kill you, Daniela, so that you don’t tell anyone what happened. Valentina’s at that age where—” She can’t bear to finish the thought. Isabel was kidnapped and trafficked. It’s always been her worst fear for Valentina. “They’ll take the vineyards.”
She doesn’t say that they’ll kill her, too, because she cares more about what happens to me and Valentina than she cares about herself. And the thought of my mother’s vineyards in Huntsman hands makes her as sick as it makes me. I fight back my own sobs.
“Listen to me,” I say as calmly as possible. “Antonio doesn’t know anything about what happened. My father made a betrothal contract with him. They signed in blood. He gave Antonio the vineyards in exchange for marrying me. He saw holding me captive as complying with his part of the agreement.”
“No!” she says sharply. “No. They are liars. Your father would never give you to them—or the vineyards. Don’t believe it.”
I don’t bother to burden her with the video evidence. “It doesn’t matter right now.” A small sigh twists from my chest. “I’m fine. We’re all going to be fine. Please do as I ask, and wait for me to call you again. I don’t have a passport, so I need to find another way out of the country, and as soon as my travel plans are settled, I’ll call you.”
“What if you can’t get out?” she asks, each syllable quivering with stress.
“I can. Freighters carry passengers all the time. I just need to get to the docks to figure out how it works.”
“Daniela!” she shouts. “That plan is foolish. The docks are too dangerous.”
“Someone I worked with at the mill has done it. Not everyone can afford plane tickets to travel. It’s a new thing.” The calling time on this phone is limited, and I can’t waste it arguing with her.
“Please go. Take the papers and Valentina, pack a few things, go to the bank before it closes, and the pawn shop, and then get on the bus to Boston. Don’t waste any time. They know where we live, and eventually they’ll show up there.” I hate to tell her this, but I need to light a fire under her. “Tell Valentina we’re going on a surprise vacation. Make sure she doesn’t tell her friends anything.” I squeeze my eyes tight at the thought of Valentina so abruptly, without even a goodbye, leaving her friends.I didn’t want this life for you, sweetheart.
“May God be with you,” Isabel murmurs. “May your mother watch over you.”
“I love you, Isabel, and that little girl. There’s nothing on this earth I love more.”Not even my life.“We’ll be together soon.”
I end the call and find an ATM, but I can withdraw only five hundred euros. I’m not sure if it’s a limit on the machine or if it’s a limit set by my bank. There’s only one way to know.
