Chapter 6

Danni paced the floor as the child watched. Her eyes never left her.

“That motherfucker lied to me,” Danni whispered softly to herself.

“This is the final time I do business with Rudy, that’s a sure promise this time. And, the next time I see him I’m going to knock his fucking block off,” Danni vowed.

Despite the fact that Danni had made calculated, cold-hearted decisions when the success of a mission became the top priority, to abandon the girl was out of the question. Despite her outward coldness and the success of a mission is everything attitude, she had too much heart to just leave the girl. Even if it meant jeopardizing her own safety.

Although time was of the essence, she dug into her bag, pulled out her phone and tried calling Rudy. Maybe there was still time for him to find somebody else to look after the child, or at least take her somewhere and drop her off. She didn’t care which, as long as she was out of her hair. She let the phone ring for several long minutes without an answer before she gave up.

“That fucking Rudy picked a hell of a time to refuse to answer his calls,” Danni fumed as she gave up and put the phone bag in her bag.

Since she was stuck with the girl she might as well get used to it and make escape plans for both of them. It would make things a lot more complicated but since it had to be done...

Danni glanced down at her watch and realized the first thing was to get out of this place. She was wasting far too much time. The attackers were still in la-la land but sooner or later they were going be missed and somebody was gonna come around wondering why. No doubt there would have a lot more men this time and they would be very angry.

She walked over to the safe and used the proper combination to unlock it. As soon as the heavy door swung open, she reached in and began seizing documents and several smaller cloth bags, which she presumed was the jewelry Rudy had mentioned. She stuffed everything into a bag and slung it over her shoulder. Then she turned towards the girl who was still silent and starring wide eyed at her.

Suddenly feeling unsure of how to act with a child and a strange one at that, Danni gruffly said “come on kid, get up. You have to come with me.”
She waited impatiently as the girl slowly picked herself up off the floor and stood silently eyeing her as if waiting for further instructions. Danni wondered if there was something wrong with the child who hadn’t uttered a word yet. Maybe the girl couldn’t speak at all? Or maybe she just spoke Columbian? Still, she seemed to understand some English. Well, there was one way to find out.

“What’s your name?” Danni asked

After a brief silence during which Danni was becoming convinced that her first impression was right, the girl began to walk toward the door.

“Sarina,” the girl suddenly announced. “My name is Sarina Roma. What’s yours? Are you gonna take me to my mommy and daddy now?”

Danni stared in disbelief at the sudden gush of words. Her theory had been proven incorrect but it didn’t really matter. They had to move quickly. Some of the Colonel’s men could arrive at any moment.

“It’s Danni,’ she announced. “And yes I’ll take you to your parents but you have to be a good girl and do exactly as I say.”

The words sounded totally ridiculous to Danni because she had no idea of what to say or what do with a child. However, the girl seemed to think they were alright.

“Okay,” she said standing there waiting for Danni to do something.

“Great, you will follow me at all times and do exactly what I tell you. Now let’s go kid.” Danni abruptly ordered, sounding more and more like a drill sergeant.

She walked out the door and headed down the hallway. When she looked back Sarina was following but much too slow for Danni’s liking. It got worse when they reached the stairs which was littered with broken glass scattered among pieces of wood, abandoned furniture and pieces of cement. Danni watched with impatience and frustration as Sarina refused to rush down the stairs after her. Instead, she was slowly trying to pick her way through the debris. One small hand tightly clutched a broken railing to keep her balance. At first Danni felt nothing but irritation but when she saw the open-toed sandals, she realized the problem. Sarina was not only trying not to trip over the debris, she was also trying to avoid stepping on the glass and cutting her feet.

This is not gonna work. Not gonna work at all, Danni fumed for a second but then decided to take matters into her own hands. She reached back from her position below her on the stairs and swooped the girl into her arms, carrying her the rest of the way down the stairs.

“I’ll let you go as soon as we get outside,” Danni explained to the child who was trying to wiggle free from her grasp.

As soon as they were on the street, Danni set her down, grabbed her hand so she wouldn’t get lost in the massive crowd of people still fleeing the rebels and began hurrying away from the building as fast as she could walk. There was still no sign of the Colonel’s men yet. For a block she kept up the pace. Although the gunfire sounded further away now, the smell of smoke still hung in the air. Then she discovered Sarina had gotten so tired she was dragging the girl along behind her.

Danni knew she could have continued all day but it was obvious the girl couldn’t despite her best effort. Still, Sarina’s tiny, thin legs displayed the steely determination in her heart. Spunky as all hell, Danni thought as she watched her struggle to keep up with her without a word of complaint.

It came with the faintest twinge of respect, the first of many signs along their journey that Danni was beginning to bond with the girl. But it would be gradual, so gradual that Danni wouldn’t realize what was happening. In the end it would change both of them.

Danni stopped to give Sarina a rest and look around. There was still no sign of any pursuers. She decided that although they still would have to put a lot more distance between them and that apartment building, they could slow down a bit. It was for the sake of the girl, who Danni realized wouldn’t last much longer if she pushed her very hard.

She saw that there was something in their favor. Since the street was still teaming with panicked people moving away from the distant gunfire, when Danni slowed down to a more normal walk, they blended right in with the horde. It gave them some protection. For blocks, with Sarina clutching her hand so she wouldn’t get lost, they moved with the people until at last they were out of the area.

They arrived at a transit stop where a dusty, rattle trap of a bus was parked. Even though it looked as if it were on its last legs a bunch of people were lined up at its doors. After pushing and pulling her way to the front of the line, Danni ignored the muttered protests and hoisted Sarina up the bus’s steep steps. She stuffed a bill into glass container by the driver, a balding hulk in sandals, shorts and tank top. A battered straw hat and sunglasses completed his attire and he greeted each passenger with a scowl and an impatient tapping of his wrist watch.

Danni and Sarina made their way to the rear of the bus. She grabbed the railing above her head for support but the bus was so crowded that the mass of people in it was enough to keep her from going anywhere. Sarina stood in front of her and clung precariously to the railing at the back of a seat. Her head barely reached its top and her tiny body looked even smaller amongst the crush of humanity. Danni used a couple of well-placed elbows to gain some space and stood protectively over her.

The bus started off with a jerk that almost knocked everybody off their feet. It would have been like a row of dominos going down, except there was no place for them to go. A harsh grinding of gears as the bus picked up speed caused several more violent lurches which resulted in loud curses. Bodies slammed against each other and everybody fought to keep their position.

The driver acted like he owned the road. He continually swerved in and out of traffic as he tried to drive full speed at all times. He used the size of his vehicle to intimidate so he could drive non-stop through intersections and he cursed and swore at any drivers who dared to cut him off. Passengers would scream when he would slam on his brakes without warning or careen around a corner so fast everybody had to fight to stay on their feet.

It was already stifling hot but with everybody packed in like sardines the bus was soon filled with the over powering odors of sweating, unwashed bodies pushing against each other. Nevertheless it was a welcome relief from walking the sun baked streets and much quicker.

By the time the ancient bus neared the end of its route most of its riders had escaped which left Danni and Sarina seated with a few remaining people. As Danni peered through the grimy windows she saw that the bus had taken them back downtown again which was good as it gave them several choices of transportation. Although airplanes were out due to Sarina who police were probably on the lookout for, there was the option of taking another bus. Hopefully it would be a nice, air conditioned tourist bus that would be less crowded and with more comfortable seats. Or they could take a train.