One Grave Less

woman of mixed race,” said Patrik. “The hair is in that . . .” He looked at Hanna.
    “Dreads,” she said. Hanna made gestures with her fingers down the side of her head as if dreadlocks were sausage curls.
    Maria was thankful they hadn’t noticed her hair when they came across her in the jungle. She had tied it up under a scarf, basically trying not to look like she’d dipped her head in the mud. Her dreads were from her hair getting wet and muddy, but in the drawing it did look like that was her style.
    “Rosetta is a common name,” said Maria. “I explained that to Michaels when he spoke with me and, quite frankly, I found him more than a little creepy.” She fished his card out of her jeans pocket. “Why the heck is Interpol’s representative to the UN interested in some woman serial killer rampaging through the jungle? I think he is stalking me.”
    “We were afraid of that too,” said Patrik.
    “After dinner we visited friends. They had an Internet connection, and Gabina wanted to look up your name. That’s when she told us what she did.”
    “And?” said Maria.
    “We found your husband’s company Web site. He does a lot of large projects,” said Patrik.
    “Yes, he does.” Maria was starting to feel uncomfortable. She wasn’t on John’s company Web site but there might be a hyperlink to her—and her name.
    “We looked for family,” said Gabina.
    “John doesn’t believe in putting kids on the Internet, certainly not his family,” said Maria. “And I agree with that.”
    “We did find this,” said Hanna, grinning. She showed Maria a picture from a powwow.
    Maria smiled. It showed John in costume in the foreground of the photograph looking very striking. The picture showed her in the background also in Cherokee costume. Only John was named, thank God.
    “This is from a powwow last year—a Native American cultural festival.”
    “It looks like fun,” said Hanna.
    “It is,” said Maria.
    “We were thinking that when they tried to kidnap you and your daughter, it was for ransom. That is not uncommon here,” said Patrik.
    “My thoughts too,” said Maria. “I think that Mr. UN-Interpol Michaels may be involved.”
    “What can we do to help?” said Hanna.
    “I suspect he will be following me,” said Maria, “and I need to get across the Amazon River. If I could do it tonight, I might be able to evade him. Do you know anyone with a boat?”
    “They have night cruises,” said Hanna. “You could take a cruise boat. That would be fun.”
    “Are you ready to travel?” said Patrik.
    “We are always ready to travel,” said Maria.

Chapter 55
    Maria asked Patrik and Hanna to meet her in front of the building in five minutes, giving her time to wake up Rosetta and collect their things. She cast a final glance at Gabina before going back into her hotel room. Maria hoped the glance conveyed the sentiment that she would rip her heart out if Gabina interfered.
    “We are going to cross to Tabatinga tonight,” said Maria.
    The little girl looked happy and excited. “Tonight, really?”
    “Yes. Hanna and Patrik are taking us to the dock and you and I are going to take a ride on a tour boat,” she said.
    “Do you trust them?” asked Rosetta, swinging her legs around and jumping down from the bed.
    “To a point.”
    It had crossed Maria’s mind that they had seen John’s construction company and all the big projects he had built and might harbor kidnapping ideas of their own.
    “We are going to meet them out front. But first we’ll go out the back way and get our gun.”
    Rosetta nodded her approval.
    “When we are on the tour boat there will be other people on it, a crowd. That will be good. We have to be alert to danger during the ride in the car to the dock. Are you up for this? We could walk to the dock. It’s only a quarter of a mile.”
    “What about the bad guy?” asked Rosetta.
    “I don’t know where he is, or if he is watching the hotel. I thought it would be better if we ride in a car, but if you don’t feel safe, we won’t.”
    “Do you feel safe?” asked Rosetta.
    “At the moment I don’t even remember what safe feels like,” she said. “I have a gun and I’ll use it if anyone tries to harm us.”
    Maria collected their backpack and tote bag. She put money and a pocketknife in her jeans and extra money in her bra. She turned the air conditioner on so there would be noise in the room and it would sound like it was still occupied if Michaels