Nora was brushing her hair when she heard a knock on her door. She jumped, then froze. Her nerves were on edge from the past days. Holding the brush, Nora put her cheek against the door.
“Who is it?”
“Gage,” came his deep resonating voice.
She moved to slip the chain and unbolt the door. Nora greeted her brother with a tired smile. “Good morning.”
“How did you sleep?” Gage stepped into the room, hiding a package behind his back.
“As well as could be expected.” She moved back to the mirror to finish her hair. “Not all of the dreams were pleasant, but I expected that. Did you sleep well?”
“Much better since I knew where you were,” he replied.
Nora twisted her hair and coiled it into a bun. “I don’t think we’ll forget the last week anytime soon.” She slipped several hair pins around the coils. “I’m thankful to be out of all that.”
“So am I,” her brother readily concurred. “Are you almost ready to go down for breakfast?”
“Definitely.” She patted her hair, making sure it would stay in place. Nora looked down at her dress, which was ripped at a few of the seams and soiled. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything better to wear.”
“Actually,” Gage brought the box out from behind his back, “I got jeans and a tee shirt from the gift shop for you.”
Nora gave her brother an adoring smile as she accepted the gift. “Thank you, Gage.”
When she stepped from the bathroom a few minutes later wearing her new outfit, Gage thanked the Lord that he had found his sister in the Mexican wilderness.
When they got to the restaurant, they searched the dining room for Anthony. Gage pointed to a table near the back of the room. “There he is.”
“It looks like someone is with him.” Nora stayed by her brother’s side. As they neared the table she recognized the man with Anthony. Nora stiffened, pulling on Gage’s arm.
“What’s wrong?” He placed his hand protectively over hers.
“I’m not going over there,” she whispered adamantly. Nora’s eyes were large and filled with fear as she shook her head, feeling a jolt of terror in her chest. Her knees felt weak.
At that moment, Anthony noticed the brother and sister and stood with a welcoming smile. Why would he be smiling when he was sharing a table with the man who helped kidnap them? José also stood but stayed standing by the table as he watched her.
Anthony came over to join them. “Nora, he’s not one of Rodriguez’s men,” he said gently. “He’s DEA and was undercover in the drug organization. His name isn’t José, but Juan Martinez. You have nothing to fear.”
Nora started shaking, and she crossed her arms, squeezing them. “Are you sure?”
“Remember Greg Nelson?” At Nora’s nod, he continued, “Greg knows Juan. He’s completely harmless.”
“Are you ready to go over there?” Gage put his arm around her and rubbed her arm.
She gave a tentative nod. “I guess.” Nora stepped forward, and her brother kept his arm around her.
“Señorita, I came to see that you are well.” Juan wisely stayed where he was as the threesome approached him. “Forgive my part in not helping you escape sooner.”
“I hold nothing against you,” Nora told him. “Please, forgive my reaction a moment ago.”
Juan’s eyes softened. “It is understandable. You have been through much.”
Anthony pulled out a chair. “Won’t you be seated?”
Nora accepted the chair. “Thank you.”
Juan didn’t stay long after finishing his meal. He said he had some paperwork to finish up from the case he had been working on.
Nora watched the door close behind Juan. “I’m so frazzled; I’m not sure what to do next. Where do we go from here?”
“I figure we need to get your luggage from the mission. I talked to Dot. She said your work is holding your place until you return.” Gage lifted a glass of orange juice to his lips.
“That’s a relief,” she said.
Her brother wrinkled his brow. “May I suggest waiting a few days before going back to work? You’ve gone through a lot to hit the ground running when we get back home.”
“A rest would do me good, I think,” Nora agreed. She chose two slices of pineapple from the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. “I would like to stop by the DEA office in San Diego.”
Anthony’s ears perked up. “In that case, you can meet my sister and her husband.”
Gage’s eyes held a twinkle as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Set up dinner plans for the day after tomorrow, and we can meet them then.”
Nora nodded in agreement as she munched on her fruit.
Nora saw Kate Landers come running out of the house as Gage parked the truck. Not waiting for him to turn the engine off, Nora opened the door and jumped down. She ran around the front of the truck and into Kate’s embrace. The two women hugged for several minutes while they let the tears have their way. They had become close while working together.
Both Gage and Anthony came to stand by Nora.
When Ethan came over, Nora stepped back, smiling through her tears. “Hi, Ethan.”
“Hello.” He looked over at Anthony and Gage.
“This is my brother, Gage,” Nora introduced the men. “He came down to help find me.” The men exchanged greetings.
Ethan eyed Anthony’s arm and face. “How’d you get that broken arm?”
Anthony slid his gaze over to Nora. “It’s a long story. The short of it is, I took a beating from one of Nora’s captors.”
“I’m sorry for that.”
“I’ll heal.”
“We were relieved when we heard you had been found,” Ethan said, turning to Nora.
“Anthony told me you searched for me for hours.” She pressed her hand to her lips, trying to control her
emotions. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Nora scanned the yard where several children were running and playing. “I see the children got here safely.”
“Yes,” Kate said. “They could have used transportation, though.”
Turning to Kate, Nora gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“You were right in the identification of the truck you saw in town; only it had been hijacked several miles down the road.”
“That’s awful!” she replied.
“Yes. Well, everything has turned out alright.” She linked her arm with Nora’s. “The children are here, and you have been found.”
“The Lord is good.”
“Nora,” Anthony began, “I haven’t told you yet, but because of all that we went through, Juan is interested in learning more about God.”
“That’s wonderful!” She looked at Kate. “That might be why all of this happened right there.”
“I hate to have to cut this short,” Gage said, “but we need to get Nora and Anthony’s things if we’re going to get to the airport in time to catch our flight back to the states.”
“I’ll help you.” Kate tugged on Nora’s arm.
“We’ll be just a minute,” Nora said over her shoulder.
The flight to San Diego was uneventful. They arrived in the afternoon, and Nora declared the evening and dinner with Anthony’s family was wonderful.
That night she went to bed with a smile on her face.
In the wee hours of the morning, Gage was awakened by screams coming from the adjoining bedroom. He threw the covers back and barged into Nora’s bedroom. She was curled up in a fetal position, crying in her sleep. When he reached his sister, she was shaking uncontrollably.
Gage lifted her and leaned her against himself. “Nora.” He rubbed her hair back from her face. “Nora, wake up. Wake up!”
Her eyes flew open, and she began pushing him away. “No! Get away from me!”
“Nora! It’s me, Gage.” His chest constricted when he saw the fear in her panic-stricken eyes. She continued to struggle. “Sis, don’t be afraid. You’re safe.”
When she realized the man with her was her brother, Nora stopped fighting and clung to him.
“Gage!” she sobbed.
“Shh…” He soothed. “You’re safe.”
“I’m so scared.”
“It’s okay, Nora,” he encouraged as he tightened his arms around her. “It’s okay.”
Still shaking, Nora cried out a heartfelt prayer. It was a little while before Gage felt her settle down and relax against him in sleep. Not wanting to wake her, he sat there, continuing to hold her. Gage spent the time praying for his sister’s healing from the harsh experiences she had endured.
The next morning, Gage drove Nora to the DEA office building. They got directions for Greg and Grant’s office and headed that way.
One of the men, Nora wasn’t sure which since she had been in a daze the last time they had met, was sitting at a desk talking on the phone. He motioned them in and quickly got off the phone. “What a pleasant surprise!”
Nora took a step closer, holding a covered plate. “I came to thank you and your partner for not giving up looking for me.” She offered the plate of warm cookies she had made with Rosalyn earlier in the day.
Anthony’s sister had taken a liking to her and had offered Nora the use of her kitchen when she had expressed her desire to do something for the men who had found her. “I made these as a small token of my gratitude.”
Both Greg and Grant eyed the plate of cookies.
Greg could see by the condensation on the plastic covering that they were still warm from the oven. His mouth watered. “Thank you. It isn’t every day we get a plate of homemade cookies for appreciation.”
“Yeah, really.” Grant came to stand beside Greg.
“I’m grateful to both of you for your persistence and determination.”
Grant looked down and scuffed his shoe on the floor. “It’s Nelson you’ve got to thank for that. I was about ready to hand over jurisdiction of the case to the local LEO’s.” He glanced back up to see the girl’s reaction.
Nora’s eyes softened, and her voice caught when she said, “I’m glad you didn’t.”
Gage gripped his sister’s elbow, thinking how close he had been to losing her.
Greg lifted his head, leveling a gentle gaze on hers. “So am I.”
That night, Nora was exhausted as she dragged herself from her seat on the airplane that had landed at the SeaTac airport moments before. She let Gage take her carry-on. She grabbed her bags as they were about to pass at the baggage claim.
“Here, let me take that,” Gage told her as he reached for the luggage.
“Thank you.” Nora gratefully handed it over, and her brother held onto her things, holding both handles in one hand.
Feeling dead on her feet and in a daze, Nora followed her brother out of the airport. The noise was deafening as a 777 passenger jet flew in to land. All Nora wanted to do was to curl up and sleep for about a week. Her poor body had taken a beating on this trip. She had left the states feeling energized and excited but came back feeling much older and more sober.
As they entered an elevator that would take them to the car garage, Nora asked, “Who’s picking us up?”
Gage tried to hold back a smile as he said casually, “A friend.”
The door dinged open, and the sound seemed to echo, bouncing off of the concrete ceiling and floor. Brother and sister paused for a car to go by, then crossed to get to the parking area.
“There we are.” Gage pointed to a car several spaces down.
Nora looked ahead and saw a girl running towards her with outstretched arms. “Dot!” she squealed and hurried to meet her.
The next moment the friends embraced each other.
“Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Dot’s voice was shaky.
Hugging her friend tighter, Nora said, “It’s so good to see you!”
They backed away as Dot said, “Everyone was so worried when you were missing.”
“I’m okay now. Thanks to Anthony, I was able to get out of there, mostly unscathed.” She touched her face where she had received one of the punches intended for Anthony.
“Do you have the keys?” Gage asked Dot.
She handed them over to him, not ready to leave Nora just yet. Dot turned back to her. “When I had to come back, Anthony kept me updated about what was going on down there.”
“I don’t know what would have happened to me if he hadn’t shown up,” Nora told her.
“Are you two ready? I’ve got our bags in the trunk and the car running.” Gage broke their reverie.
“Coming,” Nora called.
Greg leaned a shoulder against the door jamb of the task room, watching Anne gather her things. “I see you can’t get out of here fast enough.”
Anne whirled around, her eyes large. “Oh, you scared me! I wasn’t expecting anyone.” “Obviously.” His eyes smiled.
“How was the mission?” she asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
“We got Rodriguez and found the girl.” He couldn’t keep a little note of pride from the words.
She grimaced. “Was she hurt badly?”
“No.” His voice hardened, “Thankfully, they didn’t use any drugs on her.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she sighed. Anne slipped a laptop into its computer bag, then stepped back to study him. “Something about you has changed. What is it?”
He shrugged, but the casual gesture wasn’t lost on Anne. She saw the pain flicker across Greg’s eyes. “I’m learning to accept Cassie’s death. If what those verses you had me read the other night are true, and I put my faith in Jesus, then I can have the hope of seeing her one day.”
“Don’t give up,” Anne encouraged. “You are on the right path, but remember, this isn’t about Cassie. This is about you finding redemption and peace through Jesus. Learn to honor Him with your life.”
