One Grave Less

other just like people in other professions know each other. Money exchanged hands for sure.”
    Diane turned to Garnett. “The mercenary who took me said they had someone on the inside of the museum looking for the package. Madge Stewart was discovered in the mailroom sifting through the mail the day before her death. Now, I can’t imagine these guys enlisting Madge, of all people. It is so wrong on many levels. I can’t imagine her even being acquainted with guys like them, but there it is.”
    “They may have killed her. Is that what you are saying?” said Garnett.
    “Yes. They have the means to make it look like an accident,” said Diane.
    “When were you going to tell me?” he said.
    “The first chance I got,” said Diane. “Things have been happening rather fast.”
    He nodded, conceding her point. “That they have. The prisoner is scheduled to be moved to the prison hospital after surgery to repair his leg and arm. However, the DA tends to think that Liam’s warnings are an exaggeration and may change his mind about the move.”
    “They aren’t an exaggeration. You know what he did to Gracey and Pendleton,” said Diane.
    “Yes,” said Garnett. “Gracey is saying your people were in the way and interfered with his ability to stop the guy. He didn’t want any collateral damage.”
    Diane shook her head. “That is so not what happened.”
    “I suspect it was somewhere in the middle,” Garnett said.
    “No,” said Diane. “No doubt the whole episode is on the security tape. You can look at it. All of us were outclassed by this guy. Gracey is just embarrassed because the guy took his gun and shot his partner with it. I will not have him smear my people. I’ll post the thing on YouTube before I let that happen.”
    Garnett stared at her a moment. She knew he was trapped. He had to support his people, but damn it, she was his people too and by extension, so were her security guards. And she was not going to let that little pissant Gracey blame his failures on her security personnel.
    “I’ll have a meeting with Gracey and Pendleton to review the situation. We’ll look at the tape and discuss what to do to avoid situations like that in the future,” Garnett said.
    “I’ll have Chanell make you a copy,” said Diane. She pressed her forehead with her fingers, trying to get rid of the headache. God, she was tired.
    David, Gregory, and Steven were all examining their fingernails or their shirt lapels while Diane was talking to Garnett. They looked up again when she was finished. Frank came over from his conversation with Star, who was now asleep on one of the sofas. Frank pulled up a chair and sat down with them.
    “What do we do now?” he asked.
    “There are small apartments down here that are very nice. We can stay here while the police and the GBI are looking for the van of maniacs. We can continue to investigate like we have been. Liam is going to talk with the authorities in Brazil to hunt for Lindsay Chamberlain.”
    “Lindsay Chamberlain?” they all said together.
    “Who the hell is she?” said Steven.
    Diane realized she hadn’t told them yet.
    “She’s someone who I think was mistaken for me and was kidnapped in Peru and taken to Brazil,” she said. “You know the Interpol warrant for me—I think she may have been escaping her kidnappers’ custody and killed them in the process. If I’m right, she’s in deep trouble. I’m going to do what I can to help her.”

Chapter 59
    Maria watched Cameron Michaels stroll into the airport. Her heart thumped in her chest. It was of mild interest to her that she wasn’t surprised to see him. She had expected it. But she hadn’t come this far to be defeated on the verge of rescue. She steeled herself to face whatever he was planning. He couldn’t prove that Rosetta wasn’t her daughter. For that he’d need a DNA test. By then she could contact Diane Fallon. Rosetta may have been wrong. Fallon may very well have adoption papers. She had certainly begun the procedure. The important thing would be to make sure that Rosetta didn’t get in the hands of Michaels, and for that, Maria was willing to stay in Brazil as long as it took. She was willing to retreat to the rain forest and live there. She was willing to walk the distance to the United States.
    Behind her dark glasses, she watched Michael’s gaze go over the people in the waiting area. Just as his stare got to the place where she and Rosetta were seated, a group of