River of Secrets (19 page)

Micah bolted to Anna’s office, offered a quick, garbled explanation, grabbed a gun and headed for the jungle.

Amy could sense Salvador’s restlessness beside her. The boy was ready to move and so was she, but she hadn’t hurried up to this moment and didn’t want to start now. Taking things slowly might just be the thing to keep them alive. “Just a few more minutes, okay? I just think we’re supposed to sit.”

“I am tired of sitting. Let’s go.”

“It seems kind of silly, doesn’t it? I just have a feeling…”

“No one has come around the canoes. They are for public use, anyway.”

She chewed her lip for a moment. “Just a few more moments, then we’ll go. All right?”

Salvador gave a grunt and fell silent, his eyes darting around the jungle, keeping watch.

Ten minutes later, with no activity happening, Amy said, “Well, I don’t see any reason to keep waiting. Let’s go.”

The two headed down to the edge of the river where Salvador’s head swiveled, taking in everything around him. Amy was touched by his obvious concern for her safety. She had left the orphanage in plenty of time, so right now she was in no danger of being late to the meeting.

She just wanted to be careful, take her time. She hoped Salvador would be willing to go along with that. He seemed extra nervous, but she attributed that to the situation. Not exactly relaxed herself, she took a deep breath, said another prayer and told herself it would be all right. Wouldn’t it?

Even if Micah would croak if he were aware of what she was doing. The pain of thinking about him zinged through her; she wondered if it would ever fade. With her right hand, she reached for the satellite phone in her front pocket. She could call him. Just one last time. By now he had probably landed somewhere in Mexico on his way to the U.S.

She patted her flat pocket, horror pulling her to a stop. It was gone!

“What is it?” Salvador frowned as he stepped up beside her.

“My phone is gone. It must have slipped out of my pocket!” Frantic, she searched the area around her. Unfortunately, there was no time to go back to the place where she’d fallen and search. She’d just have to rely on Salvador and God to keep her alive.

Salvador maneuvered the larger canoe to the water. Now, he stood holding it, the machete strapped across his back. Amy forged ahead. No turning back now. She headed for the canoe offering a few more prayers as she slung a leg over the side.

Please, Jesus, keep us safe.

Micah knew he sounded like an elephant as he crashed through the jungle. The gun sat snug against the middle of his back, the machete he’d grabbed as an afterthought hung across his shoulder. He hadn’t had time to grab the rest of the supplies he normally would have taken on a jaunt into the trees, but all he could picture was Amy in trouble. The image kept his adrenaline pumping in time with his footsteps. His SEAL training returned full force. His favorite mode of travel was water, however, he felt right at home in this situation, too. SEALs trained for everything, were taught to expect the unexpected and to be ready for anything.

Even land combat.

And if, when, he caught up with Jonathas, he’d make the boy share supplies with him—at least until he had him back in Tefe locked up in a cell. Fury aided his tromp. Adrenaline surged. Thoughts of Amy swirled even while he kept a vigilant eye on the jungle around him. Getting careless now wouldn’t help anyone.

She’d been an unusually beautiful child. At first a little shy, but once she got to know you, a chatterbox without an off switch. Then a wild party girl, a teenager with an attitude, who refused to let the hurting, neglected child she’d been show through.

Never a dull moment with her. Micah had agonized every time she and Cassidy had disappeared for a night of partying. He’d followed them a couple of times and confronted them. They’d both blasted him, incensed that he’d butted in on their fun. He told them he didn’t care; he was going to look after Cassidy even if that meant she hated him for the rest of her life. Of course, looking after Cassidy also meant looking after Amy. Later, Amy’s wild side calmed down and she soon followed Cassidy’s decision to accept Christ, turning her life around.

Micah shook his head and followed the path recently cut by a machete. Salvador had done the hard part of clearing the path, which allowed Jonathas to easily follow in his footsteps. Fortunately, that also made it easy for Micah to do the same.

And Jonathas wouldn’t be expecting him.

He could follow the path almost absently, focusing his senses on the jungle around him. He traveled swiftly yet more carefully, to the point of being silent, and almost fell over Jonathas. Fortunately, the boy was facing in the other direction, crouched down and peering through the leaves in front of him. Micah stopped, backing up until he felt well hidden.

For a few moments, he simply watched Jonathas. What was he doing? Biding his time? Did he see Amy and Salvador ahead? Stealthily, Micah pulled the pistol from his waistband, hefting it in his right hand, comforted by the feel of the cold steel. Did Jonathas have a weapon? It was highly likely. Assessing the situation, Micah decided it was now or never. “Psst.”

Jonathas whirled at the sound, eyes probing the jungle growth. Micah stepped into the boy’s line of vision. “Hello, Jonathas. Or should I say, Cruz Junior?”

Fear flared in the teen’s eyes before it dimmed to dull acceptance. “How did you figure it out?”

“I went looking for you. I found a bunch of pictures instead.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed twice. “Oh. I left those on my dresser, didn’t I?”

Micah stepped closer. “Yeah, you did.”

Solemn black eyes squinted at him. Jonathas said, “I wanted to tell you.”

“Really? Well, I kind of understand why you didn’t. That would have messed up the plan to get rid of me, wouldn’t it?”

Confusion drew Jonathas’s eyebrows together. “Get rid of you? No, s
enhor,
I had no desire to get rid of you. I was protecting you.”

Micah gave a short laugh. “I don’t think our definitions of
protection
would match up.”

“Seriously, when I saw your picture posted all over town, I finally recognized you in spite of the scars. I remembered you from my father’s house. I thought you were one of
them.
” He spat the word.

“How come I don’t remember seeing you? Not ever?” Micah lowered the gun, still wary, but willing to listen. The truth shining in Jonathas’s eyes was hard to discount.

“I did not live with my father. I only visited when he demanded it. And even then, I did my best to stay out of sight. My mother died five years ago and I’ve lived with her mother, my grandmother, since then. My mother’s family did not approve of my father—or his line of work.”

“So how did you recognize me—and what made you realize that I wasn’t one of the bad guys?”

“Often when visiting my father, I would steal into his office looking for evidence to give to the authorities. I hated the man and wanted him out of my life forever. I figured the only way that was going to happen was if I had something even the police could not deny. So, when I knew he was in a meeting or otherwise occupied, I would go looking.”

“And?”

“And—” Jonathas sucked in a deep breath “—I was hiding there in the office when you came in one day to give my father the money to put in the safe. His office was very big, with many hiding places. This time, I hid in the bathroom and peeked through the door during your transaction. When you were finished, you turned around and had this look of disgust on your face, like the whole thing was something you wished not to do.”

Very perceptive kid. But he needed to get going. Amy still wasn’t out of danger. “So why are you following Amy?”

“Because I don’t trust Salvador.”

That set him back. “Why?”

“Very sneaky, that one. I have been watching him. Not right in the head.” Jonathas tapped his forehead to emphasize his point. “He is the one who was mostly involved in setting up for the picnic. He worked with the dunking booth. I also saw him put something into Romero’s coffee this morning. At the time, I didn’t think anything about it, I thought he was just helping to serve, like he often does. Later, as I was helping clean up, I found the package. It was some kind of powdered laxative. You know, the kind of thing that makes you…”

Micah held up a hand. “I get the picture.”

“So, when Salvador and Amy left the orphanage, I followed them.” He looked back over his shoulder. “We must go. They are getting into the canoe.”

Amy looked back over her shoulder as Salvador gave the canoe a shove into the brown water. Uneasiness rippled through her. Out on the open water, she felt exposed—and watched. Shivering in spite of the heat, she scanned the edge of the trees but saw nothing.

Salvador hopped into the little wooden seat in front of her, grabbing up a paddle and offering the second one to Amy. She glanced at her watch glad to see they still had a good hour before the meeting. Arriving early seemed to be the smart thing to do. If anything about this meeting could be considered smart.

As they drifted with the river, Amy’s thoughts turned to Micah. They always seemed to turn to him. Salvador rested the machete across his thighs, yet his eyes never stopped moving. They passed one other canoe heading in the opposite direction. Amy watched the riders paddle against the current. It was possible, just a lot of work. Her arms already ached thinking about the return trip.

The river wasn’t usually a busy place this time of evening, but it wasn’t unusual to see other canoes or people washing their laundry at the edge of the river.

“How far do you think we’ve gone?”

Salvador jerked as though he’d been deep in thought. “Oh, about a mile, maybe.”

The farther they went, the more nervous she became. Was it too late to turn around? No, but if she did, then Maria and Lucia might die. She’d keep going. If she could put her reason for being on the river out of her mind, she might actually enjoy the trip. The jungle was gorgeous, teeming with life. Even the mosquitoes didn’t bother her terribly, of course, she’d sprayed on bug repellent. She had her stash in her backpack for the return trip.

Two pink dolphins cavorted near the canoe, and Amy gasped. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen them, but it was the first time for an up close observation. They were spectacular. She watched them until they disappeared into their dolphin world.

“Okay, Miss Amy. It’s your turn to go swimming.”

Amy turned her attention to Salvador—and gasped. Only this time not in awe. Disbelief made her blink. The boy held the machete pointed at her chest.

“W-w-what?” she stammered.

“Out,” he demanded.

Amy looked into his eyes and shuddered at the coldness there. Stunned, she stared, unable to respond or move as he’d ordered. “Salvador?” she whispered.

“Jump. You will not suffer long.”

THIRTEEN

M
icah kept his eyes peeled on the canoe in front of them. Relief at finding Amy in one piece warred with the worry of what he would do if something happened before he caught up with them.

Part of him just wanted to follow and rescue her, should she need it. The other part of him wanted to catch up to let her know he was there. Jonathas rowed with steady even strokes. “Slow down a little. I don’t think I want them to know we’re here yet. If you’re wrong and Salvador is innocent, we’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“I’m not wrong.” Jonathas set the paddle across his lap. “
Senhor,
what were you doing that day in my father’s office giving him money?”

“I was undercover. That was government money, trying to set your father up. We were hoping the bills would turn up in a human-trafficking sting we were working. We also had guys on a separate, yet connected, undercover mission with well-known traffickers whom your father financed—in return for a huge payoff, of course. With your father’s fingerprints on the money and with it in the hands of the human traffickers, we would have had him on that. We wanted him for murder, but he never did that dirty work, so we were willing to take what we could get while searching for more evidence. Of course, we got ratted out before we could pull it all together.”

Jonathas ran a hand through hair that could use a cut. He nodded, “Yes, I was there that day.”

Shock zipped through Micah. “You were there? How’d you get out alive?”

A small, humorless smile crossed Jonathas’s lips. “I told you my father’s house had many hiding places. One such place was a bomb shelter built underneath the mansion. I was outside on the far end when the first explosion went off.”

“What made you come back into the house?”

“My little brother was there.”

Micah went weak in the knees. The boy who’d died. “I’m sorry. I had him, then the bomb went off. I remember his hand slipping out of mine and the bomb going off. After that…” Closing his eyes, Micah pictured the moment.
The explosion, his hand gripping air, the blinding pain in his head, then nothing.

“I know. I found you while I was looking for Mattie. He was hiding in the fireplace. My father’s money saved the son he tried to kill. That rock fireplace is still standing and Mattie is living with my grandmother now.”

For a moment, it didn’t register. Then awareness shook him harder than a volcano in full eruption. “He’s alive?”

“Sim.”

Swallowing hard, Micah let the answer flow through his entire being.
Oh, thank You, Jesus.
The mission had been a success after all. The child was now living with people who loved him.

“What about Mattie’s mother?”

“I don’t know who she is or how to contact her. For now, Mattie is fine. Anyway, after the second explosion, I ran upstairs from the underground shelter and found Mattie crying in the fireplace. You were lying there, covered in blood.” Jonathas swallowed hard. “I thought you were dead, so I grabbed Mattie and ran for the door, but we couldn’t get out. I thought the only way out was back down through the bomb shelter. When we got out, my father and another man were fighting. You were on the ground not too far away. I still don’t know how you managed to crawl out of the house, but you did.”