At dawn, the sun shone into the jail through a ventilation shaft, impeded only by the motionless blades of a fan. At some point in the night, Sam and Remi had fallen asleep on the two bunks, which each consisted of a shelf like a door on hinges folded against the wall during the day and lowered at night on a pair of chains that held it horizontal.

Sam woke to find Remi sitting on her bunk and swinging her legs. “Good morning,” he said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was thinking how cute you are when you’re lying there in your bunk,” she said. “Too bad I don’t have my phone to take your picture. You could be Cellmate of the Month in women’s prison.”

Sam sat up and pulled on his shirt, then began to button it. “I’m flattered, I think.”

“It’s just an observation, and I don’t have much to look at,” she said. “It doesn’t look as though they use this jail much. No graffiti, not much wear and tear, since the last paint job.”

“Have you seen anybody yet?”

“No, but I’ve heard the front door close a couple of times, so we’re still under guard.”

A moment later, there was a loud knock on the wooden plank door at the end of the cellblock. Remi smiled, and called, “Come in.”

Señora Velasquez opened the door and came in, bearing a tray with two covered plates, some glasses of orange juice, and other good things.

“It was nice of you to knock,” said Remi.

“Nobody said you can’t have any privacy,” said Señora Velasquez. “You just can’t leave yet.”

“Yet?”

“People have been listening to what Father Gomez and Dr. Huerta say about you. I think we’ll all meet in the afternoon, and you can be on your way after that.”

“That’s a relief,” said Sam. “But I’m glad they didn’t let us out before breakfast. That food smells so good.”

“Yes it does,” said Remi. “You’re very kind to us.”

Señora Velasquez slid the tray under the bars, and Sam picked it up and set it on the shelf that served as his bunk. “I wish we had chairs and things,” said Señora Velasquez. “We weren’t expecting anyone like you.”

“Thank you for what you’ve done.”

As Señora Velasquez went out the door, there was no mistaking the sound of a big bolt being slid into place.