Saint George, North Carolina – Thirteen Hours Earlier – 20:56
After a six hour drive a black Ford Transit van stopped by an inn.
“We’ll stop by here,” said Daniel as he stops the engine, “Pedro, check us in,” he looked at his watch before continuing, “We’ll check out maybe at six in the morning.”
“Bueno,” said Pedro, “I wish they have a good bathtub here.” He said as he got off the van.
“Yup,” agreed Nathan, “You need that cause you’re stinkin', Pedro.”
“Jeff,” said Daniel while giving Jeff some money, “Bring your brother and friend on the restaurant across the road. I’ll just have a cigarette right here.”
Jeff, Nathan, and Samantha got off the van and head across the road.
Samantha saw the restaurant Daniel is talking about, “Ugh,” she sighed, “I just took my lunch there.”
“You ate in McDonald’s, Princess?” asked Nathan.
“You’re so cute,” Samantha giggles as she kneels to look at Nathan, “Yes, it’s kind of my favorite,” she smiled then looked at her locket, “Reminds me of my mom.”
“Where’s your mom?” asked Nathan curiously.
“She’s,” she tried not to look sad and kept smiling, “She’s in a good place right now.”
“Where is that?” asked Nathan.
“Stop asking silly questions, brother,” Jeff said. Samantha immediately gave him a mean look.
“It’s quite far from here,” Samantha answered Nathan, “But you could see that up there.” She points at the sky.
“Well,” Nathan looked above, “At least you had a mother.”
Samantha felt pity for Nathan, “Alright,” she said as she got up, “Let’s have something to eat for now. I’ll show you what foods are my favorite.” She smiled at Nathan.
“I’ll show you mine too,” Nathan smiled.
The three heads for the fast food chain.
Minutes later, Pedro went out from the inn and heads for Daniel. He saw Daniel smoking by their van.
“You think it’s good to see them face to face?” asked Pedro.
“What?” Daniel wondered who Pedro is talking about but in just a second he knew it, “Oh, I think it’s not bad for a surprise visit.”
“And the girl?” Pedro asked.
“What about the girl?” Daniel doesn’t seem to bother.
“Why’d you let her come with us?” Pedro said.
“Ugh,” Daniel said irritated, “We’ll just drop her off where she wants. If not for her I wouldn’t have thought about visiting Miami. And I think it’s not a bad idea seeing how our business runs there first hand. So why not?” He looked at Pedro in the eyes, “She won’t know anything. I trust Jeff, he won’t say a thing to the girl.”
“You trust him so much,” said Pedro.
“Trust begets trust, amigo,” said Daniel, “Jeff could be very useful for us in the future. And I see he’s interested at the girl. We help the girl out, he trusts us more. We’re hitting two birds in one stone here. We help the girl, and we visit our friends in Miami.”
“Hmm,” Pedro thinks about something, “What about hitting three birds?”
Daniel looked at Pedro trying to figure out what he meant, “Spill it.”
“I’m thinking about the girl. You know,” Pedro shrugged his shoulders.
“Tonto!” Daniel exclaimed in frustration, “I just told you about helping the girl and gaining Jeff’s trust. What part of that did you not understand?”
“Jeff wouldn’t have to know,” said Pedro calmly, “We drop her where she wants, Jeff’s good with that. Then I follow her.”
“Jeff would notice what’s going on,” said Daniel, “He’s not an idiot like you.”
“You’re looking at a huge money right there, Daniel,” Pedro insists his opinion, “She looks rich. We can extort money from her family. But instead of giving her back, we sell her in the black market. Dead or alive that girl costs a lot. That’s my way of hitting two birds in one stone, Daniel.”
“You hear what you’re saying?” asked Daniel.
“What?” asked Pedro back, “It seems like you’re going soft as time goes by, amigo.”
“We already talked about this,” said Daniel, “We’ve been under the radar for how many years. Doing that would risk our exposure from the Feds. And the girl's family may not be rich. I mean look at the car she brought.”
“But she left it in Virginia,” said Pedro, “That’s an old car but no one would leave it like it’s a used toilet paper. Unless you can buy a car like you’re buying a toilet paper. Who’s the idiot now, Daniel?”
“I’m still not convinced, Pedro,” said Daniel, “What’s more important is a steady income without the Feds on our tail. And gaining trust from that young kid.”
“I don’t know why you have high hopes on Jeff,” said Pedro, “If you can have a lot of money in a snap you can build an army.”
“Money cannot buy loyalty,” Daniel gave a mean look at Pedro, “You can always hire people. But the moment you let your guard down there’s always someone who wants to be on your position. Stabbing you at the back. Someone like Jeff, he would take the stab for you.”
Meanwhile, the three just finished eating.
“Uhhh,” Nathan looks unease, “I think I need to poo.” He immediately ran towards the bathroom. The two are left in their table.
Samantha looks at Jeff, “You’re not following him?”
“He’s a big guy, Sam,” Jeff said.
There was a short silence before Samantha started talking, “Thanks by the way.”
“You have to thank Uncle Daniel, not me,” Jeff said. He gazed at her, “So uhh,” he immediately looked away when she looked back at him, “Why go to Miami?”
Samantha looked by the window, “I uhm,” she smiled, “I don’t know. Really, I don’t-” she suddenly looked serious, “You know how difficult it is to find a person?”
“A what?” Jeff asked.
“A person who,” still looking blankly at the window, Samantha continued, “A person you can relate with. In some ways, feel what you feel. And uhm,” she smiled, “forget any problems in your mind while you’re with this person.”
Jeff blushed and don’t know what to say, “I – I don’t understand.”
“I met someone in Miami,” she nodded and smiled, “And for the first time after a long time. I – you know, the things to think about. Problems to deal with. With him I uhh – I felt like all of those doesn’t seem to matter for a moment.”
Jeff looked a little disappointed but tried to hide it, “So uhm,” he looked at her eyes. She’s still looking at the window, “That’s why you want to go to Miami?”
“Yeah,” she smiled.
“I see,” Jeff nodded, “Well, that guy must be something I guess.”
“I do think so,” Samantha said, “I just wanted to know him a little bit more.” She smiled.
“You think he, uhh,” Jeff hesitated a bit before continuing, “You think he feels the same way?”
Samantha took a pause. Smiled but with worries in her eyes, “I hope.”
“What if he didn’t,” Jeff shrugged. Samantha suddenly looked at him like she wants to know what he meant, “I – I mean he could’ve taken your number if he’s, you know, into you. And you don’t have to call me to help you sneak back in Miami.”
“Like what you did when we met?” Samantha laughed at Jeff. Jeff looked awkward, “I don’t know. Maybe he’s just not that type of person.”
“Yeah, like,” Jeff got a little more serious and looks straight at her eyes, “I did.”
Samantha immediately figured out what Jeff meant. And for a second she didn’t know what to say, “You uhm – you mean?”
“I like you, Sam,” Jeff said straight at Samantha’s eyes.
Samantha froze in shock. Her jaw dropped and she doesn’t know what to say or do for a moment. Her eyes looked at him with mixed worry and confusion. Then she speaks almost in a faint voice but her lip’s movement helped Jeff know what she’s saying, “I’m sorry.”
Moments later Nathan got back. Jeff immediately stood up without showing any emotions in his face, “I understand,” he said and heads for the door, “Let’s go Nathan.”
“What about, Princess?” asked Nathan innocently.
Samantha tried to smile at Nathan, “I’ll catch up.”
“Alright,” Nathan gladly said as he follows his brother out.
Samantha sighed. She placed her both hands at her forehead, closed her eyes and said, “Great. Now what, Samantha.”
Few minutes later she went to the inn. Daniel is still outside sitting by the opened sliding door of his van. Daniel greeted her with a smile and told her that he rented a separate unit for her and gave her the keys and unit number. Samantha thanked Daniel and heads for her room.
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