32 SEPARATION ANXIETY



Saturday October 27th

Sam watched as the two vehicles from the Mira Foundation made their way up the winding road to the place she’d called home these last three months. The children around her felt anxious, sad and frightened to be leaving Sam, uncertain about what lay ahead, but happy that Jake was coming with them.

Sam smiled, did her best to project calm resolve. This would be a wonderful new adventure. They’d meet new friends. They’d have a larger home. Jake would be with them. Sam would rejoin them soon.

But inside she felt a gaping loss.

Jake took her hand, squeezed it, gratitude and longing coming through their connection. She squeezed back, grateful for the contact.

Khun Mae and her two girls stood with them, silent. What were they thinking, Sam wondered. Were they sad to see their wards go? Were they relieved? Their faces were masks. No tears were being shed there.

The vehicles pulled through the open gate. They’d brought two – a van big enough for all the children, and a closed-top jeep driving behind.

Sam’s practiced eye picked up subtleties of the vehicles. The way the thickness of the windows distorted light a bit more. The distinctive shape of run-flat tires. The ruggedness of the chassis. These were armored vehicles, designed to blend in with normal traffic, to arouse no suspicions, but also to stand up to small arms fire. To take fire and keep on moving.

They’re careful, she thought. Can I blame them?

The vehicles stopped and four Mira Foundation staff emerged. Two men from the jeep. A man and a woman from the van. The woman moved like a model. The men moved like soldiers. Nexus emanations radiated from all four of their minds.

She stood paralyzed as they loaded the children’s things into the van, paralyzed by jealousy and loss and fear. Khun Mae and one of the men stepped back inside the house. She could see the other two men watching her now. She forced a smile, forced happy thoughts, and stepped forward to hug the children goodbye, to kiss Jake for the last time…

They were still watching her. One of the men turned to the side, focusing on the back of the van, but his body language gave him away. His attention was on her. She must be hiding her fear and loss more poorly than she’d imagined.

But he was wound up so tight… They both were… As if…

Sarai threw herself into Sam’s arms and Sam held her tight, kissed her on the brow, told her she loved her. Then she kissed and hugged each of the children as they filed into the van and took their seats.

“Panda!” Kit said, and she felt it from his mind at the same time. His beloved Panda wasn’t in the small pile of belongings in the back of the van.

Jake turned, but Sam smiled and spoke first. “I’ll get it!” she told them, grateful for something to do.

She turned and she felt the men tense up more. Maybe they were worried she’d make a scene. But she wouldn’t. She’d bide her time. And she’d be with her new family again.

Sam strode into the house and towards the room Kit and the other four boys shared. It was far enough that she couldn’t feel the minds of the children any more, could just feel one mind in here, of one of the men. And he was far enough away that she doubted he could feel her in return. It was a relief to have that privacy.

She didn’t see Panda on any of the beds in the boys’ room or on the floor. She ducked her head down to the floor and, sure enough, there the toy was, under Kit’s bed. She reached under, pulled it up, and stood to take it outside.

Then she heard the voices. Khun Mae and the man from the Mira foundation she hadn’t met. Low. Conspiratorial. Why?

She stepped towards the door softly, reeled her Nexus in and put it into receive-only mode, then closed her eyes, and let her superhuman hearing do the work.

They were speaking in Thai. She heard snippets: “Ten thousand baht… in the American girl’s food… make her unconscious… come collect her.”

What?

She stepped out of the room, into the hallway. They were at the other end, just inside the kitchen. The light lit them from behind, rendering them black silhouettes.

They froze into silence when Sam emerged. The man’s mind radiated alarm. Khun Mae’s posture radiated fright.

“Khun Mae…” Sam started.

Then the man pulled out his gun and started firing.

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