Truth or Lies? by A. Gomez (book club recommendations txt) 📗

her boyfriend ran away with us and we haven’t seen her since.” Betty was smiling with excitement. “You can trust her, really. She loves me and my sister.”

I smiled down at her, relieved to hear that Betty Lou would have someone that loved her come and take her to a safe home.

Some of the girls’ parents were able to come to the hospital and be reunited with their daughters right away, practically. The ones whose parents couldn’t come, because of where they were located in the U.S., would come late in the evening or early the next morning. It was whatever they could arrange with the airlines. I was lucky and my entire family was waiting for me at the hospital, parents and both my brothers. Belín was with them too. She never left for Dallas or Spain.

“Oh, honey…” my mother quickly hugged me tight, sobbing. My dad came over and embraced us both. He was kissing the top of my head over and over and holding us close. His embrace was so firm I was having trouble breathing.

“I’m okay, Mom, really. No one touched me or hurt me… I promise.” I looked up at my father to reassure him and saw that he was blinking tears away.

“Daddy, it’s okay, I’m okay… well, I may need some therapy but other than that, I’m fine.”

My father sniffled a few times, releasing my mother and me from his embrace. He walked over to Josh, shook his hand and gave him a tight hug as well. I was so happy to see everyone. Both Charles Andrew and Thomas Henry rushed me, nearly knocking me over, giving me the biggest bear hug I had every gotten from them in all our years growing up together. They even kissed my cheek and forehead. They were never the emotional or affectionate type but I supposed having your sister kidnapped by sex traffickers and possibly sold to some random lowlife and never seeing her again tugged on their heartstrings.

“Isabel Grace…” Thomas Henry’s voice was hoarse with emotion. “Isabel Grace, I am so sorry. I don’t know what to say. I’m just so sorry.” Charles Andrew was trying to speak but couldn’t manage it.

I hugged them tight and held them close to me. “I love you both,” I muttered. I wanted to cry but just couldn’t. I didn’t know why. I was so happy to see my family, but since I was so exhausted and preoccupied thinking about the girls, the tears just didn’t come. Belín was the last one to hug me. She kissed both my cheeks and held me close to her, giving me tight squeezes every now and then. Tears pooled in her eyes, spilling over onto her cheeks.

She let go, gazing at me intently. “Your hair is short.” She smiled warmly, gently touching my hair. “Isabel, I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whimpered. “It should have been me. I’ve been in situations like this a lot. This never should have happened to you. Ben feels terrible about it.”

She’d been in these situations? And a lot? And she seemed fine. No sign of PTSD that I could see. I had no idea. I shook my head. “Tell him he shouldn’t. This is not his fault. If anything, it’s my fault for not listening to Conny and leaving when they wanted me to leave. Conny would still be alive if it weren’t for me,” I spoke in a whisper. I should’ve killed that Triad member that was crouching over his body. I had so much regret I couldn’t stand it.”

“Let’s not worry about that now,” Belín said. “You’re home safe and that’s all that matters.”

Just then, Betty Lou came running with her grandmother at her heels. “Isabel Grace! This is my grandmi,” she shouted cheerfully. “She said that my baby sister is at home with her too!” Betty sounded elated. “She said she got some lawyers and the lawyers were able to help her get custody of my sister. Isn’t that great? I’ll be with my grandmi and my sister!” She hugged me as hard as she could. “I haven’t stopped praying, Isabel Grace. You were right about that. I’ll never stop praying as long as I live.” Betty gazed up at me, still holding me.

“That’s so great, Betty Lou! You know, you never told me your sister’s name.”

“It’s Joanna but we call her Jo Jo for short.”

“Jo Jo, huh? I like it. Hey, why don’t you introduce me to your grandmaw?”

“Oh, yeah.” She giggled at my twang and turned to grab her grandmother’s hand. “Grandmi, this is Isabel Grace. She’s the one I told you about… the lady who told me about praying and she took care of me, too.” Betty’s grandmother’s eyes were filled with tears.

“Hi, I’m Abigail. I just don’t know how to thank you,” she said, extending her hand. I took it with both of mine then she placed her other hand on top of mine. “The FBI told me who this Victor Chang is and how he bought Betty Lou and then to hear how you protected her…” She couldn’t finish her thought, her voice strained. She wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. “I just don’t know what I would do if I ever lost Betty and her sister.”

I was speechless with emotion. The only thing I could do was hug Abigail and Betty Lou. We exchanged phone numbers. I told her I would be in touch since we would most likely be going to court for what happened to us. She gave me her address and said I was always welcome in her home. Josh took it a step further and gave the grandmother his number too. He told them if there was ever a problem with the boyfriend that sold Betty, to give him a call. We then said goodbye to each other.

“Honey,” my mother interjected,