Heartless People

THIRTY

You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.

—Naguib Mahfouz.

LAUREN.

As I watched them I could feel my blood boil, but what else could I do? Mina held Ethan, and fed him some shit in a bottle, that only disgusted me more. But he had to eat, and his mother wasn't here.

Pinching my nose, I tried to balance myself. I couldn't even close my eyes, that only made me think of her. How tired she must have been. How well could she fight if she was hungry and tired?

Aviela does not want to kill her. I tried to convince myself of that fact.

"Mrs. Jauregui." I turned to find The Little Engine That Could, standing in the midst of the chaos that was now the NICU, watching me and my family through the glass.

"Officer Scooter."

"Mrs. Jauregui, I gotta ask you a few questions. In cases like this-"

"They send a rookie cop to find my wife?" And they wondered why I didn't trust them.

He sighed, taking a step forward. "You know, I was handpicked to join the FBI right outta the academy! I may not look like much, but Im damn good at my job. In forty-eight hours, your bodyguard was
shot. The same type of shot, with the same type of the round used to assassinate the president. Now your wife was kidnapped out of one of the most highly protected hospitals in the country. There is a
connection here, I can feel it. So help me, ma'am. Help me find your wife. Now everything you say is important."

There was no getting rid of the man. He reminded me of an annoying superintendent I used to know.

"Why didn't you join the FBI?"

"Because this is my city. Im not abandoning it or the people."

Exactly like a superintendent I used to know.

He was going to be a problem. "Before all of this happened, my wife told me she had a strange encounter with you at the station, Officer. So take your morality and get me a real officer. Not one
trying to blame my family."

"Mrs. Jauregui-"

"No. Don't bother. Tell the superintendent I only want the real FBI looking for my wife, nothing less. So respectfully, get the hell out of my face." Grabbing the door handle, I left the blond-headed idiot alone.

Stepping into the NICU, I didn't even bother to speak to my father or mother. Taking Ethan out Mina's arms, she stood up, hand still on the bottle, waiting for me to sit down in the white rocking chair.

"Lauren." My father sighed and I knew that he had seen the officer and me speaking, but I couldn't deal with him right now. I just needed to hold my son. He gave me the hope I needed at the moment.

"I don't understand. How did she know when to get her?" Clara whispered, kneeling right in front of me.

The same way she knew everything else.. her mole. The only way I would find her was to find that rat. But the only person who could have given her so much inside information had to be close.

The only people who were that close were family. So as they huddled around me, my father, my mother, Mina.....I pulled back. Who the fuck was betraying me? The only person I could fully trust was the little person in my hands.

Once I knew who it was, I wouldn't hold back.

CAMILA.

I hated being drugged. It always left a bad taste in my mouth. My father used to drug me in an attempt to make me stronger, immune.