Mama told her that if the men came for Bianca, she must obey or they would all die.
But they won’t take you, my baby, her mother had told her, her hand caressing the gnarled scar that covered the left side of Bianca’s face, left over from the fire that had destroyed their home. God protects us in mysterious ways.
Bianca promised to obey, though she didn’t know what her mother meant. Was it okay that she was ugly because it was God’s plan?
But Mama said they were going to America, that they would be free from the bad men who killed Papa and Juanita. Mama had given all her money to a nice man who promised to take them across the border. It was dangerous, but they would be safe as soon as they got across. Mama would have a job and Bianca and her brother, Angel, would go to school.
Bianca allowed herself to dream that this might be true, even though Angel told her it was a lie. Angel was smart; still, Bianca wanted to believe they would be safe and happy. That dream didn’t last. They walked for miles and miles and days and days. They started as a small group, but it got bigger and bigger and people were not nice. Angel protected her and Mama. He made sure they had food and water.
But then Mama made the nice man angry, and he was no longer a nice man. He hit Mama and took her away. Then he came back and said she had given Angel and Bianca to him to bring to America. He showed them their birth certificates as proof. But he wouldn’t give the documents to them; he told them that if they obeyed, he would give them their papers before they reached America.
And for many months, they did obey. Angel did bad things so they had enough food and water. Bianca didn’t know what was happening, but she obeyed because she didn’t want Angel to be hurt.
Now they were finally in America and Bianca thought that they would have a home. The not nice man said a long time ago that there would be a house for them and they could do work to pay off their transportation from Mexico. Angel was only thirteen, but he was big and strong; he could do anything. Bianca was almost ten. She could cook and clean, maybe even go to school. She could already read better than Angel because her papa had told her reading was important. He used to be an important man with a job in Oaxaca, not far from their small village. She even knew some English because her papa knew how to speak English.
But instead they were living in a bunker underground, and more people were being crammed into their dark space, boys and girls older than Bianca. Some were hurt. One boy had a broken arm... Bianca squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to remember what happened to that boy with the broken arm and sad eyes.
That’s when Angel came up with the plan. He said trust no one but him. Do not trust the police, do not trust the bad men, do not trust anyone in the bunker, even if they were crying. And tonight, she had put all her trust and faith and prayers into her big brother.
Angel had never let her down.
She waited until she heard the whistle. Then she crawled very slowly across the dirty floor. Angel had warned her not to wake anyone up. Not the bad men and not her friends.
No one is your friend.
She knew that to be true. A while ago one of the girls planned to escape and another girl told on her.
Bianca never saw that girl again.
Bianca didn’t want to leave everybody behind. But she didn’t want to never be seen again.
She knew what that meant. That would mean that she was dead.
Instead she crawled slowly. She heard the steady breathing of sleep. She heard the snore of the bad man. She was very, very quiet.
Angel said bring nothing. She pushed her tiny stuffed bunny down the front of her pants. Her papa had given her the bunny years ago. It was dirty and stinky, but Bianca would never, ever let it go.
She crawled up the ramp to the opening. The ramp was made from metal and packed dirt. There were rocks that cut into her hands and knees. She bit her cheek so she wouldn’t cry. They’d been here for more than a week. Before here, they were in a similar bunker somewhere else. A day’s walk, maybe. They were allowed to go outside only at night to pee, but someone always watched them. She hadn’t seen Angel in three days, and she thought that he had been taken elsewhere. Or worse.
That he had been killed, like the boy with the sad eyes.
But then she heard the whistle and knew that her brother had come back for her. She should never have doubted him.
Bianca knew she had to be very, very quiet. The men that had brought them here slept outside, under the stars. They often drank alcohol late into the night, and sometimes they didn’t sleep deeply.
No moon tonight. She saw stars everywhere; they were in the middle of the desert. How would they get away from here without a truck or food or water? But she did what Angel had commanded her to do.
When you hear my whistle, leave quietly. Do not wake anyone up. We cannot trust anyone. Turn right. Keep walking and don’t stop, no matter what you see or hear. I will catch up to you.
What if you don’t? What if they stop you?
Just keep walking, Bianca. Do not stop.
She turned right. She saw no one, but it was very hard to see because it was so dark.
But there were stars, so many! Papa said that the stars were God’s glitter to make the dark not as scary. And the fear...it was better to be free and scared than trapped and scared.
So she walked. Behind her she thought she heard something, but she kept walking.
What if there were wild animals?
Suddenly, Bianca tripped over something big and solid. She landed with a thud on the hard ground. She tried to stand up and felt something wet. She jumped away, fell again, got back up.
Someone grabbed her from behind and held their hand across her mouth tightly. She tried to scream, failed and bit the hand.
“Bianca!”
Angel. She relaxed, and he let go. She turned and hugged him so tightly.
“What happened?”
“Quiet. We have to get away from here.”
She turned to look at what she had tripped over. It was dark, but her eyes were used to it because of living underground for so long.
It was a man.
He wasn’t moving.
“Angel, did you...?” She couldn’t ask. She knew he had.
“Now, Bianca. Hurry. They’ll be coming for us.”
She took her brother’s hand and they ran.
Chapter 4
Early Friday afternoon
Santa Rita Mountains north of Patagonia, Arizona
FRANK BLOCK KNEW THAT it would take hours for his drone to survey the mountain range near where Emma Perez was killed back in March, so he found a place to park, then hiked to a ridge that would give him the best range to fly his drone. He would stay here the rest of the day, eat and sleep, then first thing in the morning head to the next position on the grid he’d marked on his map.