Behind the church a group of children greatly varying in age and ethnicity played in the courtyard. Danny situated himself off to the side, watching as they ran about Sr. Rachel like baby pups around their birth mother. Danny stifled a laugh as he watched her trying to listen and attend to each and every one of them at once. The children prattled away, all of them wishing to speak and be heard. They were so wanting, so eager for her attention, and she expertly gave it to them.

After calming them down and organizing a game for them to play, duck-duck-goose if Danny remembered correctly, Sr. Rachel broke away and sheepishly shook her head to him.

Danny smiled at her. “Reminds me of that movie.”

Rachel smirked, pointing to her habit. “The hills are alive, right?”

He chuckled. “Except it’s more of a Hispanic version,” he said, nodding to the children.

Rachel laughed. “Yeah, except there’s no rich father. And nobody’s singing Edelweis.”

“No nazis either.”

Sr. Rachel stood back to study him. “How many times have you seen ‘The Sound of Music’ again?”

“Yeah, you go ahead. Make fun of me. I’m not the one writing my autobiography after it.”

“Don’t remind me.” When Danny sent her a glance, she brushed it off with a wave of her hand. She sighed comically as she looked to her children. “It’s not easy being Julie Andrews… but someone has to do it.”

He smiled. “You do her justice.”

“Ha.” She brushed back her bangs. “Yeah, right. Big liar.” Though she tried to play it off, she had been in the midst of blushing. Danny only took it as a compliment. Perhaps Fr. Jorge wasn’t the only one who could flatter.

Sr. Rachel promptly changed the subject. “How’s the FBI treating you?”

“Not bad,” Danny answered. “We found one yesterday.”

“Where was he?”

“She. Teenage girl. We found her in a friend’s basement, hiding from her parents.”

Her laugh was short. “Not the first time that’s happened.”

“No, not by a long shot,” he concurred. “But it was a nice relief. We were lucky… She was one of the ones who wanted to be found.”

Sr. Rachel had opened her mouth to further comment when she was cut off by a girl of eleven. “Sr. Rachel?”

She bent down, giving the girl her full attention. “What is it, honey?”

“Roberto skinned his knee.” The girl pointed to a sniffling boy, holding his knee, which was bleeding down his leg.

Danny watched as Rachel left his side and moved to help the child. “Ah, Roberto,” she addressed him. “What have I told you, huh? If you’re going to fall down, do it next to me, so I can catch you.”

The little boy managed a small laugh in the midst of his pain, and Sr. Rachel lightly pinched his nose. She pretended to examine the injury. “Well, I’m no doctor. But I think you’re going to survive this one. Kylie? Would you take him inside?”

The eleven-year-old nodded and carefully led him back into the convent. Sr. Rachel watched them until they were well behind the door. When the children’s game resumed without incident, she walked back over to Danny.

“Crisis averted,” she announced, brushing her hands against one another.

“Looks to be that way.” He nodded to the closed door. “Who’s the new girl? I don’t think I’ve seen her before.”

“That’s Kylie. No last name. She came in about three weeks ago.”

Danny nodded. That explained it. Work had mostly kept him stowed away during the time.

“She was nervous, scared, like most of the kids,” Sr. Rachel recounted. “But she seems to be fitting in nicely. The kids like her.” She made a small noise. “She loves Jordan.”

Danny couldn’t help but smile. “She does, huh?”

“Oh, yes,” Sr. Rachel affirmed. “Almost too much. Follows the girl around like she’s a celebrity. Like it’s her job.”

He smirked at the description. “That ought to please her.”

“Jordan makes a show of tolerating it. But you can tell she likes being worshipped.”

At the mention of Jordan, the reason for his trip to the convent surfaced. “I’m glad you said something. That reminds me. I need to see Jordan. I’ve been meaning to have a talk with her.”

Sr. Rachel’s pause was longer than it should have been.

“She’s not here,” she answered.

Danny blinked. “Not here. Okay… where is she?”

At the question, Sr. Rachel’s entire demeanor changed. “She came in late last night.” The nun crossed her arms tightly and spoke in a clipped tone. “It wasn’t the time we agreed on. She wouldn’t tell me where’d she’d been… So we exchanged words. To put it lightly, Jordan hadn’t liked what I had to say. And then this morning I wake up… and she’s gone.”

Danny’s frown turned grave. “Gone?” he echoed. “What do you mean she’s gone? Where is she?”

Sr. Rachel looked to him, her eyes begging him to calm. “I already called the police. They’re looking for her.” When she saw Danny’s reaction, she continued. “Danny, I know it’s your job to find people, but this is far from the first time this has happened. Seems every other day I’m calling the police to go gallivanting after her, and every time I call they’re less and less receptive. They’re tired, Danny. Tired of listening to me. And personally…I’m about as tired of chasing her as they are.”

Danny opened his mouth to demand why she hadn’t told him sooner when a young deacon broke between them. “Sr. Rachel.”

She looked to him, distracted. “Yes.”

“You have a phone call.”

She sighed, irritated. “Can it wait?”

“No, I don’t think so. It sounded important.”

Sr. Rachel looked upset, but then turned to Danny. “Could you watch the children for me?”

Though more than anything he wanted to find Jordan, he took hold of the situation. “Yeah, sure,” he allowed.

The deacon led Sr. Rachel away, and Danny was left as the sole chaperone to the yard full of parentless children.

Standing there, observing the group in their post-church recreation, Danny looked to each of the children’s faces, trying to keep himself calm by recalling their names and past histories. Almost instantly, he made eye contact with Jason Coliandri, Jordan’s little brother.

He nearly did a double-take. Aye carumba, he thought. Jordan hadn’t been kidding. The little stinker had gotten big.

Grinning, Jason waved to him, and Danny waved back. A few other children followed suit, some more shyly than others, in acknowledging him with waves and smiles. Danny waved back to each of them. The kids knew him well enough not to be afraid. Danny was a familiar face around the convent. They remembered him, and he was trusted.

Danny was toying with the idea of going over to Kylie, the new girl, when Sr. Rachel suddenly returned, marching straight toward him.

“What was the call about?” he asked.

Sr. Rachel sent him a look. When he saw her face, Danny frowned.

“What-”

“It’s Jordan,” she said. “The police have her down at the station.”

He merely nodded and grabbed his keys out of his pocket. “I’ll go get her.”

When he turned away, Rachel touched his shoulder. It had the same effect as if she would have yanked him around. “No,” she said. “It’s not what you think.”

Danny studied her. He felt his breath catch in his throat. Only now did he realize how white her face had become.

“Danny, she was arrested this morning. They’re holding her on suspicion of drug trafficking.”