Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, Ricardo was driving all over the place searching for clues on where the girls may have been taken to.
Every opportunity he got, he asked people if they saw several large trucks going in a specific direction. More often than not, he got false leads, and had to spend hours backtracking.
Eventually, he found himself in Guatemala. However, beyond that, he was having a harder time getting information from people. So in the end, he resolved to just go up every track leading into the jungle he could, in the hopes of eventually finding the right place.
After spending two days doing this, he realized that he was getting absolutely nowhere with it.
However, his drive to find the three girls (especially Lirio) pushed him onwards to find them. Every hour that passed by, the more worried he got.
Eventually, his vehicle could not keep up with his resolve, and it unfortunately broke down. Not just that, it broke down, and then it began to rain on him.
Not knowing what else to do, Ricardo got out and began walking in the direction of the town he just passed, hoping that they at least had someone who knew cars well enough to help him get his operating again.
After reaching his destination, he began grilling everyone for not just information relating to his current situation, but about the trucks as well. To his surprise and relief, he finally got a clear answer.
"Oh? I think I saw something like that. Down the road about 8 miles back there's some road that leads into the jungle. Don't know what for, though. Smoke came from that direction yesterday, but yet again, don't know."
After thanking him for the info, Ricardo sat down in the town's only small diner to eat something, an action he had completely forgotten to do the past two days.
Sitting at his table, he ruminated upon what he was going to do, his heart aching every time he thought of the girls.
Just then, a raggedy-looking fellow in a raggedy-looking grey suit with long, raggedy oily hair stepped in. Without so much of a look he took a seat right down next to Ricardo, and flashed him a crooked smile.
"You look like you got problems, señor. Mind if we talk about them?"
After Ricardo just sent him a heavy look, he still kept smiling and continued.
"You look like you're… missing something? Did you lose something? Something important? Phone, car keys, wallet, your daughter, your hom-"
"How did you know?" Ricardo asked without looking.
"Hm? Call it intuition. I just happen to know things a lot of the time. As for why, eh, I don't know. I just do. Anyway, so we've established you're missing your daughter… anyone else?"
"Why the hell should I tell you?"
"Eh, I don't know. When you think about it, it's really suspicious, isn't it? How I know this information."
The stranger placed his hands on the counter and got up.
"Well, I guess now is as a good a time as any to get going. Thanks for the conversation!"
He left the diner, and Ricardo looked down to where the stranger was. He saw two scraps of paper. Picking them up, one contained an address and a number. The other one had the name of a pastor on it, along with a small note:
The things you're looking for may or may not be here. Good luck.
-S. Becoyo
"Becoyo?"
Ricardo pondered the name for a moment, and then realizing he probably got the best lead he's had so far, asked the owner of the diner for a phone.
"Yes, this is the Pastor… yes, three girls did show up here just yesterday… how did you know? Oh, you've been looking for them? Well… sorry to say this, but they left about three hours ago. Said they were going to try and find a way back to Mexico or something. Sir…?"
Ricardo left the phone hanging as he ran out the door.
"Señor! Your pay!"
However, Ricardo was long gone by the time the owner realized that he had left without paying.
Another short chapter. Oh, well, just setting things up, after all.