One Grave Less

got for me.”
    That was very cruel, thought Maria, but a man who could carry out a massacre was the essence of cruel.
    “But you didn’t even miss a beat,” said Maria. “You were great.”
    “I’ve been pretending I couldn’t understand English for years. He was nothing.”
    Maria smiled. “You’re great.”
    She sat on the bed until Rosetta drifted off to sleep, listening to the rise and fall of her breathing, wondering how they were going to get to the docks tomorrow. Did Michaels believe her? She thought not. Did he have friends here? Probably.
    The room was darkening and she turned on a lamp and set it on the floor as a nightlight for Rosetta.
    Michaels couldn’t let them leave the country. He was one of the architects of the massacre and Ariel could identify him. Was that why they had some kind of trip wire set for Diane Fallon? Maria remembered that Julio, the man who took her, was talking with someone on his satellite phone about having the forensic anthropologist from Georgia who was asking about feathers and bones. What the hell was that about?
    Something clicked in her mind. What was it? What did the Yawanawa woman say to her after they tranquilized Kyle Manning? She talked about men who came and stole the birds from the trees. Damn, they were trafficking in endangered species, a multimillion dollar industry. So then, did they think Diane would come back to South America to . . . to what? Trace feathers back to their origin? Was she involved in catching animal traffickers? That didn’t seem to jibe with what she knew about Diane. But she didn’t really know her, other than having met her once or twice at forensic anthropology conferences—and the rumors she’d heard about her tragic time in South America.
    Feathers and bones? What about the bones? Animal bones? Human bones? More endangered species, or more mass graves? She didn’t know.
    And then there were the children. The men who carried out the massacre clearly were taking the children and sending them off somewhere for some reason—most likely slavery of some form. Were they afraid Diane Fallon would one day discover her daughter wasn’t dead and come looking for her? Ariel could identify the engineers of the crimes. They had lost track of Ariel until now. They were afraid of Ariel.
    Now they had let a third party in on their secret—her. There was no way they were going to let the two of them get away. So close—just across the Amazon River—and so far. Damn it, she would swim it with Rosetta on her back if she had to.
    Maria was startled by a knock at the door. Rosetta jerked awake and started to cry.
    “Brave heart, Ariel,” Maria whispered in her ear. “We will get to your mother, I promise you.”
    Rosetta grabbed her hand and squeezed.
    There was another knock at the door.
    “Maria?” came a loud whisper. “It is Hanna.”
    Maria went to the door.
    “Hanna, what do you want?”
    “We need to speak with you,” she said.
    “We?” said Maria.
    “Me, Patrik, and Gabina,” said Hanna.
    “Gabina tried to take my daughter. She scared her to death. Rosetta cried herself to sleep after hiding under the bed for an hour.”
    “Gabina told us what she did,” said Hanna.
    Maria opened the door and slipped out into the hall. Patrik was there, and so was Gabina.
    “We are really sorry. When Gabina told us what she did we were horrified and came to see if Rosetta is all right,” said Hanna.
    “She is not. She’s been traumatized. After what we’ve been through, and we finally get a call through to her father, and now this.” Maria eyed Gabina. If looks could sear off flesh, Gabina would be standing there wearing nothing but raw muscle.
    “The paper tacked to the pole, then the man from Interpol. He was convincing,” Gabina said. “I was worried about the little girl. Americans are known to kidnap children from other countries.”
    Maria raised her eyebrows and nailed her with another stare. She noticed the bandage around her hand and the dark spots staining up to the surface. Good for Rosetta. She drew blood.
    “You don’t grab a child the way you did,” Maria said to her. “We were grabbed and just barely got away. And then you do it. Do you have any idea the harm you’ve caused?”
    “I am really sorry. Hanna and Patrik said I was wrong and that the woman didn’t look like you.”
    She unfolded the paper and gave it to Maria. Fortunately the creases across the face distorted the drawing.
    “It looks like a