One Grave Less

up, bringing Rosetta with her, and shook each leg.
    “I think I saw some vending machines. Why don’t we go find something to eat?”
    Rosetta nodded.
    “Are you all right?” asked Maria.
    “I’m scared,” she mumbled.
    Maria kneeled down to her. “What are you afraid of?”
    “The man,” she said.
    “I’m keeping an eye out for him,” Maria said.
    “You won’t leave me if they won’t let me go with you, will you?” she said.
    Maria hugged her. “No, baby, I won’t leave you. I’m taking you to your mother. I won’t leave you.”
    Maria didn’t know what she would do if the authorities came and forcibly took Rosetta. How would she keep her promise? She held tightly to her. “I won’t leave you,” she whispered.
    They made another trip to the bathroom, after which Maria bought them some candy and a drink from the machines. Feeling down in her tote bag, she realized she had the gun.
    Shit, the damn gun—savior and trouble.
    “Let’s walk outside a while and stretch our legs,” she said.
    “What’s wrong?” said Rosetta, looking around.
    “The gun,” she whispered.
    “Oh. Where are you going to hide it this time?” whispered Rosetta.
    “Outside in one of the planters, but I have to make sure no one is watching.”
    They went outside and scoped the place. More people were coming in now that it was morning. The airport, which had not closed, was fully waking up. Maria and Rosetta walked around looking for all the places they could be unobserved. They played a little tag in the yard, then sat down in the garden, Rosetta with her doll, both with their candy and drinks. Maria quickly buried the gun in the loose dirt of one of the planters. The groundskeepers would eventually find it, but she hoped it wasn’t until after she and Rosetta left.
    They went back inside and found some quiet seats and waited. Maria taught Rosetta a few phrases in Cherokee, which delighted the child.
    “Tell me about your horse. You didn’t tell me you had a horse,” said Rosetta. Maria told her about Mandrake, her black stallion. They were laughing when Maria saw Cameron Michaels walk into the airport.

Chapter 56
    Diane sat with Liam in the museum lounge with a hot cup of coffee in her hands. Every part of her body ached. Bruises on her arms were already forming. Her black embroidered pantsuit was ruined. She felt defeated.
    When she wouldn’t go to the hospital, Liam insisted on taking a look at the cut on her arm from the gunshot. The butterfly bandage had come loose and the cut was bleeding. It turned out that Liam was a pretty good field medic.
    Now she sat waiting for Frank. Dreading seeing him, only because she had decided to cancel the wedding. How could she marry him, knowing what kind of havoc would rain down upon him and Star because of her? He and Star could have been killed. She couldn’t stand that.
    “Thank you, Liam,” she said. “That was pretty amazing stuff you did.”
    “You softened him up for me.”
    “Yeah, right. I’m sure I did,” she said. “He was going to kill me and I didn’t know how to stop him. What kind of people are they that they’re willing to do what they do?”
    “Some are sociopaths. You know that,” said Liam. “Others are able to set their conscience aside for a lot of money. As I said, these guys are expensive. Who did you tick off?”
    “I don’t know. It’s somehow connected with my time in South America. I don’t know what it’s about, but something happened there that has come back to bite me.”
    She drank more of her coffee, staring off at nothing. Liam sat drinking an orange juice and eating a Snickers bar.
    “Why did you think I could kill him without hesitation?” asked Diane.
    Liam was quiet a moment, chewing on a bite of candy. “I didn’t know,” he said. “But I’d already seen the policemen were too slow and inclined to either hesitate or to act rashly. And your museum security staff work in a museum every day.” He held up a hand. “I know they are trained and they are competent, but they are still museum guards. I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect. This guy wouldn’t have taken them as any kind of serious threat, and he was way faster than they are. You, on the other hand, had already shown him you were fast.”
    “He was toying with me,” said Diane.
    “Yes, he was. If he hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have been in time. However, I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean for you to get a swipe at his forehead. Good move, by the