Page 55 of Laying Low

But it was too late, because the man had started the truck as soon as they were clear, and was driving away with a wave of the hand.

“Wow,” Anthony said.“Thank you, kind stranger.”

“Right?”Reg almost laughed.The oddest things—and the most random kindnesses—could get you through.

Ilia returned with the wheelchair, and they settled Reynaldo, who was huddling miserably into his damp hoodie with a denim jacket buttoned over it and a handmade stocking cap pulled low over his ears to keep him warm, and with Reg pushing the chair and Anthony carrying the bags, they made it into the hospital.

REYNALDO WASadmitted within minutes of their entrance, and Reg stayed back to give his details with the admission nurse.

Nobody asked for an ID or an insurance card—which was a pleasant bit of culture shock—but Reg felt like he should be upfront anyway.

“Hey,” he said, “I… I don’t know how to ask this, but do you have a number for border patrol?”

Her eyes widened.“Yes.You’re not obligated to—”

Reg shook his head.“The boys.They’re being targeted by a gang and by ICE in the States.They’re looking for asylum—and they have an adult and passports and papers and all the things.We were supposed to meet up before we crossed the border.I mean, we hadplansto do this legitimately and to sign all the papers and to….”His voice started to wobble, and he felt his focus spiraling.

“I mean,” he said, trying to get himself under control, “Ihave my passport, but?” His voice wobbled again.“We’re trying to do the right thing,” he finished, feeling stupid.“I… I have a number to call!”

He pulled out his wallet and produced the contact number he’d scribbled down when he’d talked with Dean in the first hotel room, along with the agent’s name.

“Here,” he said, almost tearfully.“This is the name of the Canadian border patrol agent we were supposed to contact.I… our phone ran out of charge yesterday afternoon.”

“How did you get here?”she asked kindly, taking the card and picking up the phone at her desk.

“We, uhm, borrowed a boat?”Which was precisely what they’d done, but he didn’t want to get Eben into trouble, either.“We were planning to return it to its slip in Tillamook Bay when this was all done.”

“Okay, sir.Okay.”The nice woman—in her thirties, maybe, and so very soft, comfortable, mom-like that she reminded him of his mother, in demeanor if not at all in appearance—covered his shaking hand with her own, and he remembered his last shower, two nights ago.“Okay, it’s ringing—”

She paused for a moment and spoke into the phone, asking to be put in contact with Dean’s friend.After a moment, she nodded, and then somebody else spoke, the voice intense and upset.“Okay, sir.He’s right here.”

She held out the phone, rolling her eyes.“Are you Reg?”she asked, and he nodded and took the phone.

“Dean?”

“Oh my God.Oh myGod, little brother, have you scared the holy hell out of all of us.You’re in Sooke Harbor?”

“Yessir,” Reg said, feeling seven years old all over again.

“And you’re all okay?”

“Reynaldo is sick,” Reg told him, his mind flashing back to Chance and that terrible fear they’d all had when he and Chance had been sick.“He’s so hot, Dean, and we had to stay on the boat—Bratva was in Tillamook Bay and ICE was called in the next harbor and we… we had to get him here.We had to.You understand, right?The kids aren’t going to get into trouble, are they?I don’t know.Anthony and I have done everything we could, but we weren’t sure—”

And again, that terrible spinning in his head.He longed for Anthony’s strength, his confidence, but Anthony was in the room with Ilia and the doctor and Reynaldo, and he was on his own.

And then Val was on the phone.Oh God.The oldest, the one who had always, since time immemorial, made everything all right.

“You’re scaring him,” Val said sharply.“Reg, you there?”

“Val?”his voice quavered, hanging on by a thread.

“We’re coming, little brother.Give us two hours.We’ll be there.Don’t let those boys out of your sight until you see us, though, okay?Promise me.”

And oh God.A thing to do.“Yeah, Val.I got it.Two hours.You promised.”

“We’ll be there.And Mom says hi, but I want you to go find Anthony and the boys now.Uhm, Reg?”

“Yeah?”