Break Point

Chapter 17

Raul

"One last chance, Mr. Watts. We just need one more hour. And we promise if we come back empty handed this time, we will go straight to the embassy and Zia will call his parents." I was trying to convince Mr. Watts since the morning to allow us to look for Alex one more time. The weather was far better today and I was pretty sure the southern side of the city would have opened up. It was the only place, we haven't looked for Alex because, the bridge was closed.

A soft knock at the door startled everybody in the room, Zia, Rita, Mr. Watts and I. We looked back and saw Miranda standing in the doorway. Guilt in her eyes.

"I have to confess something." As soon as the words left her mouth, I knew it was about Alex.

"Is it about Alex? Miranda?" Mr. Watts said in a stern voice. "Because if its not, I will hear about it later."

"It...it is about him" Miranda said, looking up from the ground for the first time. She looked so out of place now. Miranda was a queen bee. In all the real sense of the world. Manicured hands and perfect makeup. She reminded me of the girls I used to date, back in England.

Miranda continued, "When we first arrived at the hotel, I snuck into Alex's room. I wanted to talk to him about.... personal stuff. But he wasn't in a chatty mood. He dismissed me. I got furious. I went downstairs for some fresh air and found a local man. He offered me some drugs, so I bought roofies from him." Mr. Watts cleared his throat to that. Rita's eyebrows went up and Zia whispered an I-will-explain-it-later-to-you in my ear.

"I mean I was trying to get it for myself. So that I could sleep well and forget about it. But instead I gave it to Alex. All of them. And we went to this bar across the street. He was so happy in the bar. He acted like his old self."

Zia interrupted her, "We all know how that went"

"Zia let me handle this" said Mr. Watts. "Continue Miranda"

"So we went for a walk at the beach."

"You went all the way across to the south, with him, on drugs?" Rita asked.

"Yes" Miranda said not understanding the sarcasm in Rita's voice.

"Please continue Miranda" Mr. Watts said agitated now.

"So after a while, Alex passed out at the beach and I went to call a cab. When I came back. He wasn't there. I thought he might have gotten a cab and had come back to the room. So, I came back too, it was late so I went straight to bed. And then the next morning...." Miranda looked at all our faces and in an attempt to reassure us and said, "I know where to find him."

Zia

Miranda's testimony left the room in an ominous silence. I started having a million thoughts. He might be dead. He might have been kidnapped. What if he drowned? What if he is alive? But how he survive for two days in a place he knows nothing about?

I felt Raul's hands on my shoulder and I lost myself in the warmth if his chest. The only place safer than home.

The silence was broken by Mr. Watts loud and cracking voice. It was his panic voice. "Go to your room Miranda and write a detailed description of what you did that night. Everything." He raised his voice at everything. "I want the names of all the bars and cafes that you went to with their location. The names of every person you met. And then I will deal with you."

He turned to us then. "Rita go with that girl to every place that she mentions and ask around. Zia, Raul we will go to that beach. If we have any chance of finding him, he will be near that area"

"What if we don't find him?" Rita said.

"We will find him. Because he is my brother, I cannot loose family again." And this time for the first time I meant it. Alex was my family and family always finds each other.