One Grave Less

to get rid of, it was a wasted effort.”
    Diane retraced her steps back into the exhibit room to retrieve her shoes. On her way out she saw a telltale piece of something sticking out from under one of the cases at the far end of the room. She went over to have a look. Probably building waste that hadn’t been picked up. She took hold of it and tugged. It was a strap attached to a backpack. The pack was half open and Diane could see a bone sticking out—a human bone.

Chapter 5
    The two of them, Maria and Rosetta, the tiny ad-hoc family, stood still in the dark, gazing at the man on the ground illuminated by the flashlight. He wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t be getting up for a while either—maybe never.
    Finally little Rosetta spoke. Her voice shook.
    “He will have things on him that we need.”
    “Yes,” said Maria. “I’ll search him.” She squatted down beside him.
    “I’ll help.”
    Maria shook her head. “I need you to stand watch. He may not be alone. We don’t want to be sneaked up on again. We have to be more alert.”
    Rosetta nodded and took up a post a few feet from Maria and began watching the jungle around them.
    Maria took his knife first, carefully removing it from his hand. Then she unbuckled the holster and gun strapped to his torso. She swallowed any squeamishness she had and began going through his pockets. The back of her fingers and hands brushed against his body. He was warm. She expected him to grab her arm at any moment. Her hands shook. She glanced at the wound on his head. He wouldn’t be grabbing her. A pang of guilt rushed through her. She parried the feeling by thinking about what he had intended to do to them.
    Deep in his front pants pocket she found a billfold that looked like crocodile skin. She opened it.
    “This is going to be helpful,” she said out loud.
    “What?” Rosetta peeked over her shoulder. “Is that real?”
    “Let’s hope. We’re going to need to spend it to get home.”
    The man, Luis Portman, according to the information in his wallet, was carrying about three hundred U.S. dollars in mostly twenties and tens. Maria put his wallet back in his pants and stuffed the money into her pocket. When they had a chance she would secret it in a better place.
    Maria continued searching. She discovered another knife and another small gun in his boot and, in another pants pocket, what appeared to be good luck charms made from animal paws. She also found a slider heart on a chain. It was hers, given to her by John, her boyfriend. So this man probably was one of the gang who pulled her from the Jeep. She remembered the necklace being jerked from her throat and the rage she felt at the theft. The memories hardened her heart against errant feelings of guilt at what she was doing, at what she intended to do, which was to leave him on the ground in the jungle, wounded. Probably a death sentence. She continued her search of his many pockets.
    His clothes were frayed along the edges of the collar and cuffs, and there were holes and tears, but the material was good. They had been expensive clothes.
    In the inside pocket of his khaki vest Maria came across a set of car keys.
    “He has a vehicle somewhere,” said Maria, looking at her young liberator. Of course he would have. He didn’t seem like the kind of character who would be out walking alone in the jungle. Alone. That bothered her too. There was a very good chance he wasn’t alone.
    Rosetta’s eyes grew big looking at the keys. “That would be good. We could drive all the way to America.”
    “Part of the way anyhow, but there are hazards,” said Maria. “Like, what if we run across someone who recognizes the vehicle and knows who’s supposed to be driving it?”
    “It will be good to sleep in,” said Rosetta. “Keep out bugs and snakes.”
    “That certainly has its appeal. But we’ll have to find it first.”
    Maria stood and began stuffing her finds into the knapsack. She kept the guns with her. One was a semiautomatic. The other was something smaller. Maria didn’t know guns. She had serious doubts she could figure out how to fire the automatic. She did look for a safety to turn before she put the gun back in the holster.
    “Now let’s look for the vehicle,” she said.
    She examined the key. It was a modern key with a plastic bow and metal two-way shank. There was no remote on it, only a monkey’s paw that Maria removed.
    She took the map out of the backpack. If she could find a road