Page 58 of In a Perfect World

“What do you mean?”

“I was on Rancher Hills land, under one of the sand cliffs, when two guards found me, then arrested me,” I quickly rushed out.“They said no one would believe me if I told the truth.”

“Do you know their names?”

I nodded.“Benito and Hector.”

“Did you tell anyone else about this?”

I nodded again.“I told the guard that escorted me over here, but I don’t think that she believed me.She kind of just brushed it off.”

“Well, that changes everything,” he muttered, thinking out loud.

“There has to be cameras somewhere, Tomasco,” I insisted.“With as dedicated as Mexico is to keeping their borders safe, there has to be cameras along the fencing.Therehasto be.”

“No, I agree,” he said, nodding in thought.“They also have body cams on their uniforms, so there should be a clear record of what happened.If not, then we can question why their body cams were turned off.”

“Do you think that Benicio Cortez will even meet with you?”I asked, the tears coming again, hating how I had left my brother without a word, yet he was the only one here.

“I’ll give him no choice,” he replied confidently.“If I have to go on the internet and make a public appeal, accusing Mexico outright, then I will.”

“Tomasco, I’m so sorry-”

“Don’t,” he quickly rushed out, interrupting my apology.“You have nothing to be sorry about.Am I hurt that you didn’t trust me?Yeah.However, we can work on that later.The most important thing right now is to get you back home.”

I nodded, the tears falling wildly now.“Okay...okay.”

“Sonia’s also losing her shit,” he said, a small smile on his lips.“I’m not sure what set her off, but she was pissed even before they announced your arrest, and if anyone can get you out of here, I’m sure it’s that psychopath.”

There was only one reason why Sonia would become unhinged on my behalf, and Kairo must have reached out to her, telling her what had happened between us.I also knew Sonia well enough that you could torture that girl, and she’d still keep all of my secrets safe.

“Well, maybe if you both demanded to see Benicio Cortez, he’ll be forced to listen,” I suggested.“It wouldn’t hurt to have Sonia as backup, especially since Mom and Dad are truly done with me.”

“Triana, whatever happens next, we’ll get through it together, okay?”he said, his voice cracking a bit.“I’ve got you.No matter what, I’ve got you.”

“I love you,” I mouthed, too emotional to get the words out.

“I love you more,” he said, making the sobs come out harder.“You’re my baby sister, and this isnotgoing to be the end of our story.This is not how this ends.”

I nodded, though not feeling as confident as he sounded.“Okay.”

Tomasco gave me a few seconds to collect myself, then asked, “Before they come get you, you need to tell me everything, Triana.While I’m not keeping score, I’m owed that much.”

Feeling completely defeated, I finally told my brother everything about these past few weeks, and once I got started, I couldn’t stop spilling every thought and feeling from when our parents had first announced my betrothal.Through my tears, I confessed to him like he was my priest, and he listened patiently as I held nothing back.

When I was finally finished, I was a disaster, and no amount of praying was going to fix the mess that I’d made of my life.“I’m sorry for not trusting you, Tomasco,” I whispered.“I just...I wanted to protect you.I didn’t want you getting caught up in my...this mess.”

“Oh, Triana,” he muttered, finally grasping just how big of a disaster this was.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said, feeling spent and helpless.

“Leave it to me and Sonia,” he replied.“We’ll get you home one way or another.”

The only thing left to do was pray that they could.