Chapter 20

Emilio Montoya and Guillermo Vásquez met for coffee one morning. It was a week after the American teenager had been rescued from the cameramen and their friends.

“You probably have questions,” said Señor Vásquez.

The detective smiled. “I have a few questions, yes.”

“Ask away.”

“How did you know where to find her? You gave me the exact coordinates.”

“It was the locket that Natalia gave her as a birthday gift. It had a chip hidden inside, like an air tag.”

Detective Montoya nodded. “A sensible precaution.”

They sipped their coffee in companionable silence. Señor Vásquez watched a couple of tourists walk by, apparently husband and wife. He wondered if they had any daughters.

After a few minutes the detective spoke again. “When we found her, the first person she asked about was Natalia—”

“Thank goodness Natalia wasn’t hurt,” said Señor Vásquez. “I never would have forgiven myself if something happened to her.”

The detective went on as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “After Natalia, the next person she asked about was you. Not her parents—you.”

Guillermo Vásquez nodded; a wry smile on his face.

“Why did you do it, Guillermo? Why did you give her up? The girl was in love with you.”

“That’s the answer in a nutshell. I sensed that she was falling for me, and I...” Señor Vásquez paused and looked off into the distance. “I was beginning to have ... feelings for her. Carmen noticed it too, and she was hurt. It wouldn’t do. Teenaged whores come and go, but I’ll never find another woman like Carmen.”

“When she was in the hospital, the American begged us to contact you. Begged us!”

“I know, I know—”

“Natalia and Carmen went to see her in the hospital, but not you.”

“It was hard enough to give her up, Emilio. I didn’t want to make it harder by seeing her again.”

“Do you know she cried when we took her to the airport?” Detective Montoya shook his head in disbelief. “She didn’t want to leave without seeing you.”

Guillermo Vásquez sighed. “It’s better this way, Emilio. Kaylee is young. She’ll forget about me after a while and maybe have a normal life.” He paused, his gaze far away once more.

When he spoke again his voice was choked with emotion.

“Kaylee ... she was special. So beautiful, and so smart. And I’ve never met a girl who loved to fuck as much as she did.”

Emilio looked at him, astonished. He couldn’t believe that his notorious half-brother was so upset about a girl.

“Now I have a question for you,” said Señor Vásquez. His voice was steady once again.

“All right.”

“What happened to the video those guys shot out in the woods? With the dogs?”

“It was destroyed. I did it myself to make sure no one got hold of it. I’d hate to think of what the girl would go through if that footage went viral.”

“Good. Thanks, Emilio.”

The men parted ways a short time later. They promised to meet again soon.

Spring had arrived in Wisconsin but it was still blustery and cold compared to Mérida. Kaylee had been happy to see her parents again but she wasn’t happy about returning to her old life. It was deadly dull compared to her life (was it only a few months?) as a teen sex video star.

Her parents had sent her to a counselor because they expected her to be traumatized. Yes, she did have bouts of depression, but she couldn’t tell the counselor the true reason.

“My name is Kaylee and I’m a rape survivor. I get depressed sometimes, but it isn’t because I was raped by dogs. I get depressed because life here is so boring! I need my friend Natalia to lick my pussy, and I need a handsome older man to fuck me silly on camera.”

Kaylee had to laugh when she imagined saying that to the counselor.

The students at her school knew only a little of what had happened to her. They were aware that she had been kidnapped and that she had been rescued some months later. There were rumors that she had been raped, but no one knew any details.

Her friends avoided talking to her about her abduction, and some avoided her altogether. The boys were the worst. They treated her as if she carried some contagion.

She spent a lot of time alone. Her parents encouraged her to go out more, meet with her friends. But Kaylee was unwilling or unable to forget about what she had experienced.

Kaylee’s mother suspected that her daughter might be frustrated sexually. She had seen a lot more of those dirty photos than had her husband, and it was pretty clear that her daughter enjoyed sex with both men and women.

Those nasty photos! When she was home alone, she often took a pair of Kaylee’s soiled panties from the laundry basket and held them to her nose as she scrolled through the images on her phone. Kaylee’s mom was consumed with guilt every time, but she couldn’t stop looking at them.