CHAPTER FOURTEEN D: THE WOMAN AT THE LAUNDROMAT
The laundromat smelled of detergent, wet denim, and overheated machinery.
A television above the change machine played a weather report with the sound turned down.
Three customers looked up when the deputy entered.
A woman folding towels behind the counter recognized Marisol’s name.
She introduced herself as Lidia and said Marisol had worked a few shifts cleaning machines after closing.
“She wasn’t hiding from the law,” Lidia said before anyone asked.
“She was hiding from a man who kept telling her she had no right to leave her job.”
The deputy assured her that Marisol was not under arrest.
Lidia looked unconvinced.
“People say that before they start asking where somebody sleeps,” she replied.
Jake stood back and let Mara speak.
Mara explained that the cooperative had helped bring stranded children to safety during the storm.
She described Owen’s mother and the red truck without asking Lidia to betray anyone.
Lidia listened with her arms folded.
“How do I know you aren’t working with him?” she asked.
Mara handed her a card with the cooperative’s public number.
“Call the fire station and ask who used our vans last night,” she said.
“You don’t have to trust the people standing in front of you.
”
Lidia took the card and went into the office.
They heard her speaking quietly behind the closed door.
When she returned, her expression had softened but not disappeared into trust.
“Marisol and her daughter are staying with relatives,” she said.
“They are safe today.”
“Can you ask her to contact the deputy?” Mara asked.
“I can ask.”
The deputy gave Lidia his direct number.
Jake turned to leave, but Lidia called him back.
“You’re the waiter,” she said.
He stopped.
“I used to be.”
“My cousin saw what happened at the diner.”
Jake felt embarrassed by the attention.
“It wasn’t a big thing,
” he said.
“It was to the person who got the dinner,” Lidia replied.
She reached beneath the counter and produced a small paper bag.
“Marisol left this here for Beth,” she said.
“She told me to give it to the woman in the yellow coat if she came back.”
The deputy asked whether Lidia would prefer to deliver it herself.
She considered the offer and nodded.
“I don’t want strangers carrying her things around town,” she said.
“But I will bring it to the station if Beth comes there.”
Jake thanked her.
Outside, Mara stopped beside the van.
“That was the first useful thing anybody has told us without being afraid of the consequences,
” she said.
“She was still afraid,” Jake replied.
“She just decided the risk was worth taking.”
