One Grave Less (40 page)

“Perhaps a child died and was dumped with the animals that died. Most of the birds die before they reach the end buyer. They are stuffed into socks and hidden on the bodies of smugglers for transport. I’m sure children die from their mistreatment as well. These are people for whom life is cheap. As we’ve witnessed up close.”

Garnett’s frown became deeper as he listened to Diane. She recognized he had no idea how grim this might be. He was thinking drugs because the fabric was contaminated with it. He could handle drugs. It was a problem everywhere. He wasn’t thinking humans, children, the grimmest of all crimes.

“The rumors about me and David were about us being into drugs. I think that was so we would think in that direction and not in any other. I believe that whoever is head of this criminal enterprise got wind Simone found something that Oliver had discovered and was trying to tell me about it. The guys who attacked Frank’s house were looking for a package that they believed Simone sent to me—something besides the feathers and other items. I haven’t received a package, but I couldn’t convince the guy who took me of that. However, I believe with the way they have been after it, it is something on the level of proof and we have to find it. They believe it exists so I have to believe it too. We find it, we have them.”

“Okay, hold on,” said Steven. “What are you saying was going on, exactly? I’m supposed to be a smart guy, but I’m having trouble connecting the dots. They seem to be spread all over the place.”

“What was the one thing that was always going through the mission? Refugees, mostly women and children. A lot of us were out in the field most of the time, but Oliver wasn’t. I think he got wind that some of the charitable organizations that helped relocate the refugees that Santos and other strong men created were really selling some of them into slavery. They were also, I believe, dealing in rare animals. I imagine it was a multimillion dollar operation on both fronts and Oliver was threatening to bring it to a stop, at least at the mission. That’s why there was the massacre. I think the same people were threatened by Simone. They were afraid that we could put it together and the first thing they tried was to discredit us. That cost the least in terms of manpower. Rumors can be a potent weapon. But they overdid it, or we didn’t react the way they thought, or they found out about the package and had to be more confrontational—something made them change strategy and now they are trying to kill us.”

Diane stopped talking. Garnett stared at her. She imagined he felt out of his depth at the moment. He had been thinking of a local problem, not a global one.

“It makes sense,” said Gregory.

David nodded.

“Not to me,” said Steven. “We would have known if something like that was going on. Look, I hate to always be the devil’s advocate here, but I’m having a hard time with this.” He spread his hands out on the table. “Okay, I concede that with the arrival of Attila and his Huns, Simone being jealous of Diane is not the cause of any of this. Still, all this is so complicated. And, damn it, we were all good detectives. We would have known. If not us, then why the hell wouldn’t David suspect something? There is not a more suspicious person I know.”

“Martine asked that too; then she said we all have our blind spots,” said Diane. “David is good at spotting anomalies. His blind spot is for things that are supposed to be there. The refugees and orphans were supposed to be there—nothing to be suspicious about. And how would we know what an organization did with the children when they placed them? We never had anything to do with that. That was the mission’s work. That was Father Joseph’s work. They just let us work out of their building.”

“But . . .” Steven didn’t finish. He just shook his head. “Do you think Father Joseph was involved? I have a really hard time with that.”

David looked pensive, as if thinking about what Diane said about his blind spot. Assessing what he could do about it.

“He may or may not have known,” David said after a moment. “Father Joe may have accidentally discovered it. Hell, he may have told Oliver, or vice versa. The massacre may have been to shut them both up and cover their tracks.”

“Okay, what about Santos?” said Steven. “We know he did the killings. Why in hell would he do it because someone asked him to?”

“Santos hated Diane and Gregory,” said David. “He was involved in drugs. All of these enterprises are probably related in some way. Criminals tend to know each other just like people in other professions know each other. Money exchanged hands for sure.”

Diane turned to Garnett. “The mercenary who took me said they had someone on the inside of the museum looking for the package. Madge Stewart was discovered in the mailroom sifting through the mail the day before her death. Now, I can’t imagine these guys enlisting Madge, of all people. It is so wrong on many levels. I can’t imagine her even being acquainted with guys like them, but there it is.”

“They may have killed her. Is that what you are saying?” said Garnett.

“Yes. They have the means to make it look like an accident,” said Diane.

“When were you going to tell me?” he said.

“The first chance I got,” said Diane. “Things have been happening rather fast.”

He nodded, conceding her point. “That they have. The prisoner is scheduled to be moved to the prison hospital after surgery to repair his leg and arm. However, the DA tends to think that Liam’s warnings are an exaggeration and may change his mind about the move.”

“They aren’t an exaggeration. You know what he did to Gracey and Pendleton,” said Diane.

“Yes,” said Garnett. “Gracey is saying your people were in the way and interfered with his ability to stop the guy. He didn’t want any collateral damage.”

Diane shook her head. “That is so not what happened.”

“I suspect it was somewhere in the middle,” Garnett said.

“No,” said Diane. “No doubt the whole episode is on the security tape. You can look at it. All of us were outclassed by this guy. Gracey is just embarrassed because the guy took his gun and shot his partner with it. I will not have him smear my people. I’ll post the thing on YouTube before I let that happen.”

Garnett stared at her a moment. She knew he was trapped. He had to support his people, but damn it, she was his people too and by extension, so were her security guards. And she was not going to let that little pissant Gracey blame his failures on her security personnel.

“I’ll have a meeting with Gracey and Pendleton to review the situation. We’ll look at the tape and discuss what to do to avoid situations like that in the future,” Garnett said.

“I’ll have Chanell make you a copy,” said Diane. She pressed her forehead with her fingers, trying to get rid of the headache. God, she was tired.

David, Gregory, and Steven were all examining their fingernails or their shirt lapels while Diane was talking to Garnett. They looked up again when she was finished. Frank came over from his conversation with Star, who was now asleep on one of the sofas. Frank pulled up a chair and sat down with them.

“What do we do now?” he asked.

“There are small apartments down here that are very nice. We can stay here while the police and the GBI are looking for the van of maniacs. We can continue to investigate like we have been. Liam is going to talk with the authorities in Brazil to hunt for Lindsay Chamberlain.”

“Lindsay Chamberlain?” they all said together.

“Who the hell is she?” said Steven.

Diane realized she hadn’t told them yet.

“She’s someone who I think was mistaken for me and was kidnapped in Peru and taken to Brazil,” she said. “You know the Interpol warrant for me—I think she may have been escaping her kidnappers’ custody and killed them in the process. If I’m right, she’s in deep trouble. I’m going to do what I can to help her.”

Maria watched Cameron Michaels stroll into the airport. Her heart thumped in her chest. It was of mild interest to her that she wasn’t surprised to see him. She had expected it. But she hadn’t come this far to be defeated on the verge of rescue. She steeled herself to face whatever he was planning. He couldn’t prove that Rosetta wasn’t her daughter. For that he’d need a DNA test. By then she could contact Diane Fallon. Rosetta may have been wrong. Fallon may very well have adoption papers. She had certainly begun the procedure. The important thing would be to make sure that Rosetta didn’t get in the hands of Michaels, and for that, Maria was willing to stay in Brazil as long as it took. She was willing to retreat to the rain forest and live there. She was willing to walk the distance to the United States.

Behind her dark glasses, she watched Michael’s gaze go over the people in the waiting area. Just as his stare got to the place where she and Rosetta were seated, a group of young people walked in front of his line of sight and his search shifted to the other side of the room. It would be a short respite. She could make a run for the women’s room, but he would see her for sure.

Rosetta was busy playing with her doll and hadn’t noticed. Maria bent her head down and whispered in her ear, “Don’t get scared, okay, but the bad man is here. It just means we are going to have to work a little harder.”

She felt the little girl go stiff. Maria looked into her face and saw her large brown eyes tear up.

“It’s all right, baby girl,” she said. “I won’t leave you. I will get you home.”

Maria was wondering if she should have stayed somewhere outside while they waited for John. She just thought the terminal would be more comfortable. She could leave now and they could hide. But what if Michaels had people outside? She and Rosetta would be away from anyone who could help them.

They were trapped, but she hoped they were trapped in a relatively safe place. At least, safer than outside.

“Remember and speak only English and the Cherokee I taught you, okay?” said Maria. “He’ll try to trick you, but you are smarter than he is.”

Rosetta nodded. She looked determined and her tears receded.

“You’re the bravest person I know,” said Maria. “I have faith in you.”

Rosetta looked up at her. “I have faith in you too,” she said, and Maria smiled and hugged her.

Maria watched Michaels go into the office. It wouldn’t be long. There would be an announcement over the PA and they would be stuck. She would have to obey the rules of the airport to have any hope of staying on the good side of the officials.

While Michaels was gone she and Maria went to the ladies’ room. They waited in the small lounge connected to the room. It was a place where Michaels couldn’t just come in. Maybe he wouldn’t have them page her.

They waited there for over an hour. She worried about Rosetta getting panicked. She worried about herself panicking.
Calm
, she thought.
Be calm. Be who you are saying you are. Mother and daughter
. Perception went a long way to convince people. That and a truckload of self-confidence from the two of them. They had been pretty convincing so far.

“Maria West. Maria West, please come to the airport manager’s office.”

Rosetta looked at her, fear all over her face.

“We are mother and daughter,” Maria whispered in her ear. “We’ve been strong throughout all this. We’ve weathered the jungle, anacondas, crocodiles, hordes of bad guys with guns, and one scrawny, wimpy bad guy. We can kick this bad guy’s butt too. We are strong. Ready?”

Rosetta nodded. “Ready,” she said.

Maria put on her
I have a right to be here
unconcerned face and they walked out of the bathroom, hand in hand, carrying their backpack and tote bag. Maria was glad she ditched the gun.

It wasn’t far to the manager’s office. Maria and Rosetta threaded their way through several people on her way to the office. The airport was getting crowded. It somehow made her feel safer. Though, really, there was nothing these people could do to help her.

Another woman was on the way to the office just in front of Maria. She was young, dressed in khaki slacks and shirt, wearing turquoise jewelry. She had long black hair in a low ponytail and tanned skin. She looked Hispanic. She went into the office first and held the door open for Maria, smiling at Rosetta.

“Thanks,” said Maria.

“Welcome.” The woman patted Rosetta on the head. “
Papai
,” she said to the man behind the desk who rose when they entered.

Maria couldn’t read the sign on his desk, but she assumed he was the manager. Especially since Michaels was standing nearby in his straw fedora.

“Catia, what a surprise,” he said, speaking English.

Good, he spoke English.

Behind him Maria could see the single well-maintained runway the airport had. One plane was taking off.

His office was modern, a lot of glass and shiny metal. Large photographs of the rain forest and Inca ruins decorated the walls. The woman Catia smiled at Maria’s interest in the photographs.

“Did you take these?” asked Maria.

“Yes,” she said.

The manager beamed. He was Rodrigo Cordeiro, according to the plaque. “My daughter is an archaeologist and a great photographer. Mr. Michaels says you say you are an archaeology student. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Maria said, “I am.”

“Hello.” Catia’s smile widened. She stuck out her hand. “I just received my degree,” she said.

Maria had an idea, a way of ingratiating herself. She started to speak when Michaels beat her to it.

“As you know, I have a serious charge against this woman.”

Senhor Cordeiro tapped the wrinkled paper in front of him.

Maria recognized the flyer.

“This drawing bears little resemblance to this woman,” he said. “And it says her name is either Diane Fallon or Linda Hall, not Maria West.”

“Nevertheless, I am making the charges,” he said. “She is a murderer and a kidnapper of this native child.”