“I know it is,” Carmen said, choking over the words. “I’m not that person now. But back then I was young and stupid, barely twenty years old, and you have to understand, not only had the Rochas taken the life of my horse, but I had also learned that the land I so loved was only a tiny portion of what was really ours. The great-grandfather of that missing girl had stolen my legacy. My land. And I was livid.”

“Tell the rest,” Helen said, opening her eyes weakly.

“I bent down and tried to talk to her. At first she didn’t respond. She wouldn’t even open her eyes. My mind was spinning; I couldn’t believe the luck that I, of all people, was the one to find the Rocha child, and now she was going to die anyway. I felt sad for the impending loss of such a beautiful being.” Carmen paused, looking pointedly at Quinn. “But then she opened her eyes and looked up at me.”

Quinn had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what was coming next.

“I argued with myself on that beach as I comforted her,” Carmen said. “I knew the right thing to do, but that deeply cultivated hatred burned in me, and I wanted to make the family suffer just a while longer.”

Quinn looked from Carmen to Helen, amazed that they could even be in the same room together. How could Helen just sit there and listen to Carmen talk about finding her granddaughter and deciding to make them suffer longer? What kind of people were these? Something really strange was going on between the two of them, and Quinn couldn’t figure it out.

“Wrap it up, Carmen,” Helen said. “It’s my turn, and we need to finish this.”

Carmen nodded. “I only kept her a day until my conscience got the better of me. For all she’d been through, she bounced back fast. Sure, she was weak and dehydrated—even sunburned—but after some food, water, and rest, she seemed okay. I was so relieved that I almost went straight to the police with her, but I just couldn’t do it. I thought somehow once the Rochas heard that a Crowe had found Nama, they’d accuse me of kidnapping her. I could just imagine the news picking up on our ‘Hatfields and McCoys’ story and splashing our family name all over the headlines, right alongside a snapped photo of them walking me into the jail with handcuffs.”

“So what did you do?” Maggie asked. Quinn could tell by her voice that she was getting very impatient.