A Mother's Dilemma

Maggie was greatly looking forward to this vacation. Her daughter, Lisa, had just graduated from college. As a graduation present, Maggie was taking her to the Mexican resort of Cancun. Lisa already had a new job lined up and she was engaged to be married in the fall. Maggie saw this as probably the last chance the two of them would have to travel alone together.

Maggie was intensely proud of Lisa. She had raised her daughter as a single parent after her husband deserted the family when Lisa was only an infant. She had done a very good job of it, if she did say so herself.

Lisa had meant everything to Maggie. She had rarely dated, preferring to devote her time to her career in public relations and to her daughter. At 44, Maggie was strikingly attractive. She could easily have passed for a decade younger than her actual age. She was petite, at 5'2". Her shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair was parted in the middle. Although petite, she had a figure that could turn heads. Friends regularly tried to "set her up." Occasionally she accepted, but usually she demurred. That just was not a high priority for her.

Maggie and Lisa had always been exceptionally close. This graduation trip was one last chance for them to share a unique experience. The first few days was a dream come true for Maggie. The two of them just lounged on the beach a good bit. They did some shopping. (Both of them were expert shoppers and prided themselves on being able to find bargains. They even made a game of it to see who could find the best ones.)

On the third day, Lisa arose first and told her mother that she was going to out for some breakfast. Maggie decided to just stay in bed a while longer. After what seemed like no more than a few minutes, she heard a "click" at the door and assumed that Lisa had returned. She was shocked to see three men burst into the room. Instinctively, she pulled the covers up around her neck and demanded, "What are you doing here? You have the wrong room."

One of the men snapped, "Oh, we have the right room." With that, he tossed Lisa's driver's license onto the bed. "This is your daughter, isn't it? If you want to see her again, you will need to get dressed and come with us right now."

Maggie saw that it was, in fact, Lisa's license. "What is going on," she asked. "What is--"

The same man cut her off. "I told you to get out of bed--now," With that, the other two men roughly pulled the covers away from her. One of them took her roughly by the arm and pulled her out of bed. More calmly now, the man who was doing the talking informed her, "We will take you to your daughter. But you will need to get dressed and come with us." In a daze, Maggie grabbed some clothes out of the drawer and headed for the bathroom. One of the men blocked her path. "You cannot leave our presence. You will need to get dressed here in front of us."

Maggie was just in shock. With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes. Taking off her nightgown, she dressed as quickly as she could.

The leader of the group looked her up and down and began, "Very good. I can see what Pedro sees in you. You are a beautiful woman. We have your daughter. You will now come with us. We are going to quietly leave the hotel. You are to say nothing to anyone. You are to make no gestures to anyone. If you do, you will never see your daughter again. Is that clear?" When Maggie made no response, he roughly took her chin in his hand and raised her face to make eye contact with him. "I said, is that clear?"

Shaking, Maggie answered weakly, 'Yes." With that, the four of them filed out of the room. They had the elevator to themselves. In the lobby, the desk clerk gave a cheerful greeting to Maggie. She looked away and did not respond. The clerk thought that was odd. Maggie was always so pleasant. But maybe she was just preoccupied with what she was going to do that day.

A late model SUV was parked at the entrance. The speaker for the group got in the front. Maggie was pushed into the back, between the two other men. The man in the front said something in Spanish to the driver and the vehicle sped off. Very quickly, they were out of the tourist district. The man in the front turned and nodded to the two men in the back. Before Maggie knew what was happening, one of them had produced a hood and placed it over her head. The other produced hand cuffs, and pushing her forward in the vehicle, cuffed her wrists behind her. She was now restrained and could not see what was happening. Terrified, she felt one of these men fondle her chest. She felt another hand roughly reach between her legs.

Instinctively, she screamed and cried out, "No, please don't!"

Hearing the commotion, the man in the front turned around. In very harsh tones, he said something in Spanish. Maggie felt the hands that had been violating her pull away. Through her hood, she heard, "Senora, I am sorry for this intrusion. I assure you it will not happen again."

From that point, the vehicle continued uneventfully on its journey through the Mexican countryside. This had all happened so quickly. And in the silence that now enveloped them, Maggie's mind raced. Where was she being taken? What would happen to her there? Maybe most importantly, was Lisa okay? And the really scary part was that although she had many questions, she had no answers.