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Gracie Williams
Road alongside Pulhapanzak Falls
Honduras
Gracie looked down at her nails, picking away at the chipped nail polish while she waited. It was a nervous habit from childhood that she’d broken years ago. She closed her hands into fists to stop herself. Liam, Regan and Ben had only been gone for twenty minutes and already the time was dragging on. But she was handling it better than Jax.
Jax paced back and forth along the length of the car Gracie leaned against. The constant movement, while comforting to Jax, was making Gracie more anxious.
“Will you please stop moving? They’ll be fine.” Gracie didn’t really believe it herself, her own nerves were frayed with the waiting, but she had to tell Jax something to calm her.
“How can you stand still? I’m going crazy.” Jax kicked the front tire before turning to walk back. She fell against the car next to Gracie and groaned in frustration.
“I’ve had thirty years of practice waiting.”
“But we’re so close. You know Guy is just down the road, how do you stop yourself from running to him? I can’t even stand waiting for Liam now. What if they don’t come back? What if they’re hurt?” Jax asked.
“I’ll answer your questions one at a time. First, I promised Regan if she brought me, I’d listen and do what was asked of me. That means waiting for them right now. Second, I can barely stand it myself but pacing and worrying will only make it worse. Third, they will come back. I have faith in that. Fourth, they may be hurt when they return. But,” Gracie held up a finger at Jax’s shocked expression, “they will return.”
Jax opened her mouth to reply when a truck driving down the road got her attention. Gracie turned at the sound. Jax reached into her pocket for the pepper spray, wrapping her hand around the canister. Just in case. A beat-up truck, older than Jax, slowed as it neared them. The front seat held three men, hip to hip, while the rear cargo area was empty.
“Señoritas, are you in need of assistance?” the passenger asked in Spanish, his arm hanging out of the rolled-down window.
“No, thank you.” Gracie smiled and answered him in Spanish. “Just taking a break from a long drive and getting some air.”
It wasn’t the lie that Ben wanted them to use but Gracie had a feeling it would work.
“I see. Yes, it will be a beautiful day here. Very well.” The man waved as the truck started to roll forward. It stopped after only a few feet. “Señoritas, don’t take too much time. Someone is setting up a road block back there and there will probably be another one farther up this way, too.”
“Do you know why? Or what’s going on?” Gracie asked. Jax’s impatience at not knowing what was being said was starting to show. She’d already stood up and started shifting her feet under her to pace again.
“No. But it’s never a good sign. You should move on.”
“Thank you, gentlemen.” Gracie tipped her head in their direction. With one final wave, the truck moved away and kept going.
Gracie filled Jax in.
“What should we do?” Jax asked.
“Nothing. We need to stay here.”
“Should we warn them? We could honk just once.”
Gracie contemplated Jax’s suggestion. One honk could be interpreted as a warning. But it could also be taken the wrong way. They were only supposed to honk three times if they were in danger. One honk could send them running back before they were ready.
“I don’t know, Jax. Let’s just stick with the plan. Maybe the roadblock will work to our advantage.”
“Or maybe it will just get us all locked in,” Jax said.
“What would be the purpose? To trap us? We haven’t done anything wrong.”
Jax didn’t answer. She went back to pacing. The short time standing still was doing her in. Gracie gave in and started to pick at her polish again. The roadblocks added another layer to an already unknown position.
Engines roared around them. It wasn’t the casual sound of the truck from earlier. These sounded almost angry. If engines could have feelings. Gracie looked in the direction the truck had gone. Multiple vehicles were barreling down on them.
“Get in the car.” Urgency laced Gracie’s voice. Jax froze in place. “Now!”
Gracie reached for the driver’s side door when Jax started to move. The vehicles flew past, sending Gracie’s hair flying around her face. Gracie opened the door as tires screeched on the pavement. She looked up in fear. One man got out of the car before it sped away.
A gunshot rang out in the distance. The man turned his head to follow the sound and then quickly picked up his pace to reach them.
As Gracie watched him near, almost frozen in fear. She did the only thing she could. She reached inside the car and laid on the horn.