“What? Why?”
“I’m sorry,” Trevor said urgently. “But we don’t have time for this now. We need to get the hell out of here. So whoever is coming, needs to follow me now and quickly.”
Trevor took off toward the side of the woods with Eric running next to him. It was rather amazing how silently they both ran through the trees and long grass. They were both big guys, but they somehow managed to run like gazelles. I took just a second to look at both Michael and Adam in turn. There was something different about the way that both of them looked right now. Maybe it was the reflection of the trees in the moonlight against their faces, but I suspected that it was something else—something less innocuous.
“We can’t leave Rob behind,” I whimpered to them both. “Not again; not after everything that we went through to get him out the last time.”
“We aren’t leaving him behind, Lisette,” Adam said sadly. “He chose to stay.”
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe that Rob wouldn’t come. There was no reason at this point that he would stay behind. I wanted to know right now what was going on before I took another step.
“Lisette,” Michael said with a look that was heavy and shot straight into the depths of my chest until I could feel my ribs ache, “we need to go.”
I felt tears well in my eyes. I was overjoyed that Michael and Adam were here, and I was confused and saddened that Rob was not. But if there was one thing that I was able to tell, it was that the look in Michael’s eyes was resolute. Rob wasn’t coming and waiting for him or stopping to discuss the matter would only endanger the rest of us. I still didn’t know why, but I knew that Rob was gone. And I had a feeling that I was never going to see him again.
Michael wrapped his arm around me and the three of us followed behind Trevor and Eric until we reached his car. We all piled in, and Trevor drove away before the guards were able to pick up on our having been there at all. I sat in the back seat and pulled Michael and Adam close to me as I buried my face against the side of Michael’s neck.
“I thought that I had lost you,” I whispered against him as my tears fell onto his shoulders.
“You will never lose me,” he said as he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the top of my fingers. “I told you that I would come find you.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t,” I said. “I found you.”
15
“Sorry to do this to you guys,” Trevor said after we had gotten back to his place. “But you can’t stay here.”
“Why not?” I asked.
I wasn’t trying to overstay my welcome, but the three of us had no place to stay, and he didn’t seem to have a problem with it before now.
“News of illegal immigrants at our border post has been spreading, and now they’re saying you guys are all criminals.”
“We’re not!” I shouted defensively.
“Regardless,” he said. “They’re putting a close eye on everyone who works at this point of entry, which means that border patrol agents will likely be showing up at my door sooner rather than later. If they catch you here, I’ll be fired. And I’ll likely end up in jail and facing charges. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave. I did as much as I could for you. At least you’re all here in Canada together now.”
“Not all of us,” I said with emphasis on the word “all”.
Michael looked over at me sympathetically. He knew I wanted an explanation, but he didn’t look like he wanted to give one. I glanced at Adam to see if he would spill, but he didn’t look like he wanted to tell me either, which was unusual. Normally Adam was the first one to open up and tell me about everything that was going on.
“Thank you for your help,” Michael said as he extended his hand out to first Trevor, and then Eric. “You kind of played both sides for a minute, but you reunited us in the end and for that I am truly grateful.”
Trevor gave him a respectful nod, and then after shaking Michael’s hand, he reached to open the door. He wasn’t kidding about wanting us to leave now.
“Thank you,” I smiled faintly at Eric.
“Here,” Trevor said as he handed me the backpack with all the cash in it as we walked out the door. “At least this is a chance for you guys to start over.”
He was right. I didn’t care if all that we had in the world was a backpack and enough cash to last a few days. As long as we were together and had made it out of the country, that was all we needed to start building a new life. Except—I still needed to know where Rob was and why he hadn’t come too.
We wandered the streets of Quebec until we found a place to get out from the public eye for a bit to talk. The weather was still cold (much colder than it had been at home), but fortunately spring was right around the corner. I had always heard that springtime in Quebec was beautiful. But right now, I only wanted to know about Rob.
“Tell me what happened with Rob,” I said once we had ducked into an abandoned train station.
It was actually beautiful in here. The architecture looked full of rich craftsmanship, and even though the station was abandoned, it was more beautiful and functional looking than most apartments I’d been in.
Michael inhaled deeply and paused before letting out his breath again. For a minute, I was afraid that Rob had been killed. Maybe one of the shots that I heard at the gate had strayed and hit Rob. “Rob chose to stay in America,” he finally said when he exhaled.
“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “You’re not just telling me that to spare me from some awful truth that he got hurt or killed, are you?”
“No,” he said as he shook his head.
“He’s telling you the truth,” Adam said.
“I wasn’t trying to doubt you,” I said to Michael as we sat down with our backs against the wall of the train station. “I just don’t understand. Why would he choose to stay? He wasn’t forced into it or trying to make some sort of sacrifice to keep them from following us here again was he?”
“No, not at all. There’s no way that the American cops can follow us into Canada, and no one forced him to do anything. When Eric arrived, we were skeptical and suspicious of him at first. But he did a decent job of explaining himself quickly and told us what had happened to you and that you and Trevor were waiting on the other side of the path for us. We were ready to go through right then, but then Rob said he wasn’t coming.”
“Is that why you needed more time and sent Eric back through alone?” I asked.
“Yes. I needed to talk to Rob and see what was going on.”
“And?”
“There wasn’t any profound reason, Lisette. It was just as shocking to Adam and me as it is to you. He simply said that he wanted to stay. He said there wasn’t a new life in Canada for him, at least not one that he had envisioned. And that there wasn’t a future with you in the cards either. He just wanted to stay there and start over—without any of us.”
