Page 8 of The Guardian

Raising my gaze, I locked eyes with Gabriela. She looked troubled by the sudden heavy silence in the room. I felt troubled by it as well. There were things going on here that I was unaware of. Having to do with the life Maya and the twins had lived in Mexico. I now realized that the trauma would take a while to dissipate. None of them had spoken about it, but as I could see now, it was there just beneath the surface.

Mrs. Santorini was the one to break this awkward stillness as she came over to the table and asked, “So what cookie is the winner?”

Gabriela smiled a bit and said, “I haven’t taken a vote.” She glanced at Hope then at Alex. “Which is your favorite?”

The twins slowly looked up at her. They did not answer her.

“The Pizzicati,” Maya spoke up.

The teens looked over at her.

Maya gave them a nod. “Go ahead, give her your pick,” she urged as she gave them an encouraging smile.

“The puff ball ones,” Hope said.

“I like the biscuit one,” Alex said.

“Biscotti,” Maya corrected.

“Yes, what she said.” He nodded his head at Maya.

I could see that they weren’t afraid of Maya. I’d already concluded that before. However, her sadness had a definite effect on the kids. “I have to agree with Maya,” I spoke up now. “The raspberry cookie. Very nice.”

“Oooh, so the Pizzicati is the winner!” Gabriela said.

“But you did not vote,” Alex told her immediately.

“But if she adds a vote,” Hope told him. “Then we will not have a winner.”

A very smart summation by the teen girl. She was right, five votes would skew the results.

“But we do,” Gabriela replied. “I too, love the Pizzicati.”

“Awww!” the twins exclaimed in disappointment.

“That is three to 2,” Gabriela concluded as she beamed at them.

The twins both laughed as if they really had liked the voting game.

I smiled as they were just so innocent and charming. And it wasn’t an act like I’d first thought when we were traveling with them. They weren’t like many teens in the world. But they had been raised in an uncommon environment. As far as we knew, they’d been in lockdown since they were babies. Especially not like American teens who were practically dating at fourteen, on their phones constantly or hooked up to a video game. I paused to study them. In fact, I remember them being fascinated by Rain’s cell phone while we traveled in the SUV through Mexico. They had seen them, Alex told us, but they had never held one.

What kind of life had those two old witches subjected them to? I again glanced at Maya. I felt sure she knew every detail. She had been there for several years and the kids considered her to be the person who loved them the most. I then looked around the room again. Catching Gabriela’s gaze. These kids had a lot of things to tell her and I knew she would want to know it all. Not that I thought that was a good idea. Poor Gabriela already felt a twisted sort of guilt. She was not to blame for the twins being taken but even knowing that wouldn’t help her. And Maya perhaps could fill her in as well.

However, I knew one thing, none of it was good. I saw that old house. It looked like it was literally falling down around them. I did feel glad that those old women were already gone when we arrived as I’d never hit a woman before and especially never an old woman. But I still wanted to knock them around a bit for their cruelty to the twins.

Carlos had a drink with Rain and I in Mexico City at the hotel before taking the flight home. He had told us that he regretted not going and getting the kids for the last nine years. I reminded him that his father had been in the way. His father had threatened the kid’s lives if Carlos made any kind of move. He had also said that Gabby would be killed if Carlos interfered. One could say those were just threats and the old man never meant them. But Santiago Castillo never made an empty threat in his whole miserable life. He would have followed through and I reminded Carlos the kids would not have been there to rescue had he made an attempt years earlier.

In fact, Santiago’s standing orders had followed through even after his death. Alvaro and Miguel had gone to Catemaco to do his bidding. As in… kill the kids if Carlos tried to rescue them.

So, when Carlos found out that Santiago had passed away, the very first thing he did was call Rain and I. To arrange to finally get the twins. We had waited for that call as he had explained about the kids years before when we had stayed with him while he was injured.

Gabriela stood from her chair and then wobbled a bit.

I instantly bolted up and steadied her. She was very pregnant and falling would be dangerous to her and the baby at this stage.

“Oooh, dios mio!” she exclaimed. “Thank you! Um Henry, right?”

I nodded at her.