His chest was so tight it was hard to breathe. “Then call me when she does, and tell her not to do anything until I get there.” He wrote down his cell number for her.
Carmen clutched his hand. “Be careful. It’s dangerous over there.”
He nodded and left. As he ran down the steps, he called the pilot.
“We can be ready to go in three hours,” Captain Johnson said.
Was it going to be fast enough? He hoped so. “I’ll be there.”
He wasn’t letting Zita pay for his mistake.
***
Zita arrived in San Salvador not long after midnight and quickly made it through customs. After calling Maria and getting her address, she caught a cab to their house. On her way, she called Carmen to let her know she’d arrived safely.
“Gracias a Dios,” her mother said. “You mustn’t go anywhere until David arrives.”
Her heart clenched. “David?”
“He’s flying there to help you.”
“No, Mama. He’s caused enough trouble.” She blocked the pain. “I don’t need him here. He doesn’t speak the language.” She couldn’t think of him. She had to keep her mind focused on Manuela and Johanna.
“Please,niñita. You can help each other.”
Zita wasn’t promising anything. “I’ve got to go. I’ve arrived.” She hung up and paid the cab driver.
Maria opened the door and shepherded her inside. “Quickly, it is not safe to spend too much time outside at night.”
Zita glanced behind her as she entered the house. The neighborhood was quiet. “Thank you for staying up. How is Fernando?”
“He woke before I left the hospital. He is going to be all right.”
Zita breathed out a sigh of relief. “What happened?”
“Gang fight. Fernando was in the wrong place.” She handed Zita an envelope. “This is everything.”
Zita opened it and checked the information: passports, visas, tickets in Johanna and Manuela’s names, plus a map of the area. “Thank you.”
“Let me show you where you need to go.” Maria took the map and spread it out on her dining table. She pointed out the laundry where Johanna worked. “There’s a hostel and a market nearby. The gang knows tourists bring in needed money, so they keep violence to a minimum.”
Zita’s skin was tight. She’d heard about how dangerous the areas were, and now she was going to see for herself.
“Fernando talks about his grandmother, Francesca, when he visits Johanna. He set it up so if he couldn’t make it, someone else could go and use that as a code word.”
“All right.” She could remember that.
Maria hesitated. “Zita, you can pass for a tourist, but if you don’t want to draw attention to yourself, you should dye your hair.”
Of course. She didn’t look like a Salvadoran.
“I have a color you can use.” She smiled. “I use it to hide the gray.”
Maria didn’t look old enough to have to worry about gray hair, but Zita took the box she was offered.
“We could do it now, and you can stay the night here,” Maria said. “You can start early in the morning when it is safer.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.” She wasn’t thrilled about the way Maria kept mentioning safety. Could she pull this off? Could she even get close enough to Manuela to speak to her, let alone rescue her?
