Chapter Nine: Runaway
So far there hadn't been any sightings of Miguel and Maria. Kay stayed at the hospital overnight, and they released her in the morning. Her arm was bandaged up and in a sling. She sat at home on the couch, right next to the phone, with the news on. She was waiting for any sign of her daughter. Jack and Sam were at the station, constantly calling people. Jack was currently sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.
"We'll find her," Sam said as he approached him. "Don't worry." He patted him on the back.
"I think I'll call Kay and see how she's holding up," he said, picking his head up.
"Hey Sam! We need you over here for a minute!" Luis yelled.
"It looks like we have a call," Sam said to Jack who jumped up from his desk. They both headed over to Luis.
"There's a guy on the phone who runs a hotel in New York. He said he saw Miguel and Maria. He was suspicious because Maria kept yelling 'stranger' but Miguel lied said he taught her that," Luis explained.
"Let me talk with him," Jack said. Luis handed the phone over to him. They talked for a few minutes, and when he hung up, Jack told them that the police all over New York had a description of the car and plate number. They were confident that they could catch Miguel within the hour.
"We're almost at our next stop Maria," Miguel said softly to his daughter. He was so tired from the previous night of driving that he only drove for an hour before he had to stop. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he noticed that Maria was slumped over, fast asleep. She looked so beautiful when she was asleep. A perfect mixture of him and Kay.
Kay, he thought to himself. If you had just let me see her, none of this would be happening. Now I'm going to take her far away and I will be her family. Miguel's plan was to drive all the way to Mexico, where he would buy a small apartment with the money he had been saving up. It was the money Kay had refused to take when he sent it to her.
Miguel turned the radio on for a minute. He heard the amber alert and immediately took a different route. He knew that everyone in the hotels and motels would be looking for him and his car, so he had to stay hidden. After driving for a few more minutes, he turned left onto a dirt road, where he saw some woods to his right. He drove straight off the road, and through the woods, until the space between the trees got too small to fit the car through.
This is perfect, he thought. No one will find us here, and we can rest for a little while. He got out of the car and opened the door to the backseat, where he unbuckled Maria and laid her down across the seat so she would be more comfortable. Closing the door, he then returned to the driver's side, in case he needed to make a quick getaway. He positioned his seat so that it would lay all the way back and quickly fell asleep.
Only fifteen minutes later, Maria opened her eyes and stretched, finished with her little nap. She almost screamed again, after forgetting where she was, but saw Miguel asleep in the front seat. Even though she was only two years old, she was extremely smart for her age.
She silently crept into the front on the passenger side. She pushed all of the buttons until she heard the 'click' that meant the doors were unlocked. Carefully and quietly, she opened the door and jumped out of the car. She left the door open, fearing that the noise it would make when it shut would wake the stranger up.
All Maria could see around her were trees. She was so small and the trees were so big, and she started to cry. She knew she had to get away from the stranger, and that's all she could think about. So she did the only thing she could do; she ran.
She ran as fast as she could, and was constantly turning around. When she couldn't see the car anymore, she stopped crying, but kept running. What she didn't know was that she was running away from the road.
Miguel opened his eyes slowly and rubbed them. He sat up quickly when he noticed the passenger door open. I didn't leave that open, did I? He asked himself. That's when he turned around and saw that Maria wasn't in the back. He instantly panicked. He jumped out of the car and ran, but in the opposite direction that Maria did. He was running towards the road, and didn't realize it until he slammed right into someone.
"That's the guy!" whoever the person was yelled. Miguel found himself turned around, and felt handcuffs slapped around his wrists. "You are under arrest," the man began to say. He read Miguel his rights, and then the other officer realized something.
"Where's the little girl?" she asked Miguel, anger in her voice.
"I…I don't know," he answered her truthfully. The male officer gave him a shove and Miguel fell down to his knees.
"Where is she?" he asked, louder than his partner had.
"I'm telling you that I don't know!" Miguel cried. "She ran away from the car while I was sleeping…" he trailed off.
"Where's the car?" Officer Perez, the woman, asked.
"Over there," Miguel answered, motioning with his head. The man, Officer Mayetta, made Miguel lead them to the car. The searched the surrounding area for Maria, but couldn't find her.
"We've got to get him all the way back to Harmony PD. We'll have to get a rescue team out here to look for her," Officer Mayetta said. Officer Perez called for a search and rescue team, consisting of about ten people, and they showed up within five minute. An ambulance was brought as well, in case Maria was hurt. The team brought their trucks and the ambulance as far into the woods as possible, and began searching for Maria.
Meanwhile, Officer's Perez and Mayetta called Sam Bennet, explaining the situation. Sam and Luis were going to meet the Officers half way to Harmony, and take custody of Miguel.
Maria soon became tired of running and was getting slower by the minute. She was so young, and despite her intelligence, was not looking where she was running. All of a sudden, she tripped on a tree root and fell. But she didn't fall to the ground. She fell straight into a river.
Poor Maria did not know how to swim yet. However, it wouldn't have done her any good, because when she landed in the river, her head hit a rock and she was unconscious. Night was beginning to fall, and the water was terribly cold, as Maria Bennet floated on the surface, the river brining her farther away from safety.