Hunter said, “Did you contact the Mexican authorities?”
“Yes. They were polite, but didn’t seem interested.”
“Maybe she wandered off?”
“No, absolutely not. I held her hand for all but a few seconds, and she was taken in those few seconds.”
“I’ll call some people, see if they can help.”
“Please hurry. I
heard about what you did, saving that other child and I thought…maybe you could find her.”
“I’ll make some calls.” Hunter took Anna’s phone information and shook her hand, telling her she hoped everything would be all right. Anna declined the coffee as Norma brought the carafe and cups into the room.
“I’m sorry to bother you.” She walked away, shoulders slumped, clutching her imitation leather purse in front of her with both hands. She barely held it together, looking like fate had kicked all the heart right out of her. They could tell that it took everything in her will to keep walking.
What do you say to someone in a situation like that, Hunter thought. It had been pure luck that they found Anita and rescued her for Ramona. She watched Norma let Anna out the front door, then thought about who she could call, and if it would do any good at all. Abducted in Mexico? God-o-mighty. The child might as well be on Mars now, and that thought made her uneasy.
Hunter didn’t sleep much that night, tossing and turning because she couldn’t stop thinking about Anna Hoyt’s abducted child. The image of Kelly floated in her mind as she imagined the girl being taken off the streets, and what might happen to Kelly afterward…
The next morning Hunter awoke and stumbled into the kitchen, where Norma sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and eating a Pop Tart. She said, “What were you doing in your bedroom last night, wrestling grizzly bears?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Hunter poured herself coffee, added cream and sugar, and took a cold Pop Tart out of the pack, nibbling off a corner as she sat down.
“That girl, huh? Kelly.”
“Yeah.”
Norma took a large bite off her pastry, chewed, then said, “That’s not what we do. That’s police business.”
“I know, and I’m not charging off on it. I’ll make a call or two, that’s all.”
“Good, eat your Pop Tart, then we’ve got errands to run.”
“Like what?”
“Buy the supplies for a big fish fry tonight. We’re entertaining.”
“Here? No offense, but your house isn’t very big.”
“We’ll have it at the Broke Mill RV Park. The couple that owns it are good people. They said we could do it all there, and they would even get a local band to play music in case anyone wanted to dance.”
“That’s generous.”
“I told you, they’re nice people.”
Finishing up their makeshift breakfast and coffee, they hopped into Norma’s pickup and drove first to the H.E.B. grocery store, where they took two shopping carts and Norma’s list on her iPhone, and made passes up and down every aisle in the store, which wasn’t crowded this morning, to Hunter’s relief. She hated to shop when it was crowded.
They checked out and drove to the Apache Meat Market to buy some meats to cook, so those that didn’t like fish would have something to eat as well. The last stop was at the Walmart Supercenter that had all the paper products, soft drinks, sweet tea in gallon jugs, and red Solo cups they would need, then made it to the Broke Mill to set up the fish fryer and grill.
A dozen people showed up to help arrange and prepare things, with one woman from Comstock named Susie, who was funny and smart and made the best hush puppies from scratch that Hunter had ever eaten. Her husband, Pancho, made a special dry coating for the fish fillets that was mouth-watering, and the men continually asked him for his recipe, to which he smiled and said, “How about those Cowboys?”
With music playing and people in various stages of eating, cooking, dancing, talking, or cleaning, the night felt like a success to Hunter. She watched Norma flirting with one tall, good-looking cowboy, and a dozen others came by to ask Hunter to dance, which she did. Several of them were great partners on the floor, and with the band playing everything from The Killers to George Strait to Waylon, there were plenty of songs to choose from.
Toward the end of the night, when most people were leaving and only a few diehards left, Hunter noticed someone out in the parking area. He gave her a casual wave and remained standing there, apart from the few vehicles left. She felt her neck hairs prickle.
It was the young, good-looking man who had been with Ramona the day when they returned Anita to her. The bodyguard.