I’m certain he’s telling him not to come in since we’re in a position neither of us wants anyone else to see. We hear his hand twist the doorknob, but at the last minute he stops.
“Jorge, get downstairs. We found him.”
“What?” I look at Jorge not wanting to get my hopes up.
“My brother found your father. Let’s go.”
We hop off the bed and struggle to balance in our scramble to get our clothes back on.
“How, Jorge? How did they do it?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out in just a moment.”
Jorge flings open the bedroom door, and we run back to the living room. He grabs my upper arm to keep me from falling down the stairs. It shocks me to see Hisham with them. I never heard him or Noor get home. I glance toward the stairs, and he reads my mind.
“She went to bed.”
Joaquin turns his laptop toward us. “We picked him up on the CCTV as they tried to get into your office building.”
We can all see Papa looks in pretty good shape. He’s upright and walking on his own, but I suspect there’s a gun pointed at his lower back, even if the camera doesn’t show it. The cameras are on the opposite side of the hand he lost. We watch them enter Papa’s office and look around, but they come out empty-handed. Joaquin taps on the keyboard a couple of times and brings up the cameras in the underground parking garage.
“What’re they doing?” I point to men moving across the screen.
“Those are our men. They’re putting trackers on whatever vehicles those kidnappers are using. Joaquin, Alejandro, and I need to leave again.”
“Okay, but do we tell my family anything?”
All four men shake their heads like they’re synchronized swimmers performing a routine. Jorge brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek.
“No, not yet. Not until we have confirmation that what we saw is an accurate feed, and we can get your dad back. Tonight’s already been long for them, and I know they don’t feel like we accomplished anything because there’s nothing we can tell you. I don’t want to get anyone else’s hopes up yet.”
“All right.”
My mind’s too much of a jumble to do more than nod and barely mumble my thanks. Despite still having little to go on—or at least, I think they still have little to go on—who knows what no one’s telling me—our relief is nearly palpable.
“What do I tell everyone when they wake up? Do we wake them now?”
“We let them sleep for now. Tell them the truth when they get up. We got called away, but you know none of the specifics.”
I sigh with resignation. I know Jorge, his cousin, and his brother are doing the best they can. I just don’t look forward to facing my mom and sister. Friedrich won’t be any easier.
“Anne?”
I turn toward the stairs and find Heidi, Friedrich, and my mom on the landing. So much for not waking them. It was likely Joaquin calling out to us now that I think about it.
“The guys are going out again.”
Jorge squeezes me hand. “We’ve made progress, and there’s possibly more information. We’re going to investigate.”
As my family comes downstairs, Hisham speaks to Joaquin, and Alejandro makes a call. I think he’s speaking to their men. Jorge says his goodbye to me. He eases me against him as he presses his lips to mine. He can’t linger over the kiss he gives me because there’s no time, and it’s not the right place. We whisperto each other, not wanting to share any more than what we have to during what should be a private moment.
“Daddy, come back to me. Be careful.”
“I will,chiquita. My first priority is you and everything that keeps you safe and makes you happy. Nothing is keeping me from coming back to you.”
I love you is on the tip of my tongue, but it’s way too soon to say that. I’ve had hours and days to mull over my feelings for him. I know my feelings for Jorge came on strong from the get-go, but it’s because I weighed the circumstances and decided. I don’t expect him to be in the same place as me. I don’t want to say it and make him uncomfortable. I certainly don’t want to say it and not have it reciprocated. I do the best I can.
“Jorge, I care about you more than anyone in the world.”
