Page 66 of In a Perfect World

“The story of your capture is making rather loud headlines, and he’s in damage control mode,” he explained.“He needs to minimize the ripple effect that this has cause, which is understandable.”

“So, what’s this offer that he wants you to speak to me about?”

With that question, Tomasco and Sonia leaned in closer, trying to ear hustle as much as they could.It’d be comical if it wasn’t for the fact that my life was barely hanging on by a thread, and I was fairly certain that it was unraveling as we speak.

“He is offering you a chance at Mexican residency,” he announced, flooring me with shock.“He was questioning why you were so close to the border when you live in Masterson County, Ms.Medina.”

“What...what did you tell him?”

“I explained that you were simply exploring our great region, and whether he believed me or not, he still extended the residency offer,” he answered.“My guess is that it’s a PR stunt, Ms.Medina.If he offers you such a privilege, then he ends up looking like the good guy.”

“Is that...is that even allowed?”I asked.“I mean, wouldn’t I have to submit a petition to move out of the RNA?”

“Normally, you would,” he said.“However, given the public interest in your story, it wouldn’t behoove us to deny or drown your request in all that legal red tape.”

Now, while this sounded like all of my dreams were coming true, it was actually a trap, and I almost wanted to cry with how unfair this entire situation was.If I took Miguel Domingo up on his offer, then it’d be a slap in the face of all that Benicio Cortez had done for me.The world would wonder why I’d take Mexico up on their offer after being unjustly arrested by them.It would announce to the world that I’d rather live in a country with corrupt officials than live in Rancher Hills, and I could only imagine the public scrutiny that would bring to the entirety of the RNA.After all, Benicio Cortez didn’t seem like a man that would appreciate being made to look like a fool.I could see Benicio Cortez coming after me to save face, and I wasn’t even sure if I could blame the man.

“While I appreciate the offer, can you please tell Mr.Domingo that I am not interested,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice even and sincere, even though I was falling apart inside.“I don’t feel as if Mexico is the place for me, Mr.Cortez.”

“Glad to hear it, Ms.Medina,” he replied firmly.“And I’ll be sure to pass on your answer to Mr.Domingo.”

“Thank you for calling, Mr.Cortez,” I said, sounding like a robot.“Have a good evening.”

“It’s been a pleasure, Ms.Medina,” he lied before hanging up, leaving me a bit shaken.

“What?”Tomasco asked, his voice sounding worried.

“Yeah, what did he want?”Sonia chimed in.

“He said that Miguel Domingo wants to offer me a Mexican citizenship to make up for what his guards did,” I told them.

“What the hell?”Sonia choked out.

“Are you serious?”Tomasco asked, his eyes wide.

I nodded.“He’s trying to minimize the damage to the country’s public image right now.”

“Why did you say no?”Sonia asked.“I mean, only a few days ago, you’d been ready to risk getting shot to cross the border.”

“Because I don’t trust Benicio Cortez,” I answered honestly.“I mean, how do you think he’d react to me taking Miguel Domingo’s offer after all that he did to get me released?”

Both Tomasco and Sonia leaned back against the couch, their hope for me dying right along with all the hope that I’d lost days ago.Honestly, I didn’t even know if I had a right to complain about any of this, but I couldn’t help but feel like a complete failure.

“Jesus,” Sonia muttered.

After a few seconds of silence, I said, “Well, maybe Hillrom isn’t such a bad idea.”

“We can contact realtors on Monday,” Sonia remarked, all in with this crazy idea.

“I think that we can do it,” Tomasco added.“We can start looking for jobs in the area, and we can roommate for as long as we need to.”

“I just...I just don’t want to be the reason that you guys rearrange your entire lives-”

“You’re not the reason,” Tomasco said, interrupting me.“You’re theinspirationthat we needed to finally do something different with our lives, Triana.”

“Yeah, even if we’re stuck in Rancher Hills, that still doesn’t mean that we can’t carve out a different life for ourselves,” Sonia added.“We can still unstuck ourselves.”

I started to cry.