Chapter Twelve E: The Visitor
Emily moved away from the window so the man outside would not see her face.
Samuel remained seated, but his hand tightened around his cane.
A white pickup truck idled near the office.
The driver wore a yellow vest over a gray sweatshirt and carried a flat cardboard box.
He spoke to the motel clerk, who pointed toward Maribel’s room.
“Don’t open the door,” Emily said.
Maribel backed away from the curtain.
“He told me yesterday that Tomas had already gone to another shelter,” she whispered.
“He said I should stop asking questions.”
Samuel dialed Deputy Kent and described the pickup.
Kent told him to remain inside and keep the line open.
A knock sounded on the door.
“Ms. Velez?” a man called.
“I have your brother’s belongings.
”
Maribel started toward the door.
Emily caught her eye and shook her head.
“Please leave them at the office,” Maribel called.
“I need your signature,” the man answered.
Samuel raised his phone so Kent could hear.
“The clerk can sign for them,” he said.
The man outside paused.
“Who is that?”
“A visitor,” Samuel answered.
“Then the visitor can come out and explain himself,” the man said.
Emily saw the shadow of his shoes beneath the door.
She kept her voice steady.
“Nobody is coming outside,” she replied.
“You can wait for the deputy.”
The man stepped away so abruptly that his heel struck the metal railing.
A vehicle door slammed.
The pickup engine revved, and gravel rattled against the motel wall.
Maribel began to cry.
“He knows where I am,
” she said.
Samuel remained on the phone until Kent confirmed that an officer was driving toward them.
Emily walked to the window and watched the pickup turn onto the main road.
She memorized the dent above its rear wheel and the blue rope hanging from its tailgate.
“I should have opened the door,” Maribel whispered.
“Maybe he really had Tomas’s things.”
Emily turned back.
“You asked him to leave them at the office,” she said.
“He chose not to.”
The motel clerk knocked a minute later.
She introduced herself as Rosa and apologized for directing the visitor toward the room.
“He said he was from the evacuation company,” she explained.
Samuel asked whether she had seen identification.
Rosa shook her head.
“He had a vest and a box,” she said.
“I assumed he was delivering supplies.”
Maribel looked at the open doorway.
“Please don’t tell anybody else which room I’m in,” she asked.
Rosa nodded.
“I’ll speak to the other staff,” she promised.
Emily helped Maribel sit on the edge of the bed.
Samuel opened the bag of food and placed an orange on the table.
Nobody ate it.
They waited together until the deputy arrived.
