One Grave Less

Atlanta—they would try to interview Simone and speak with her parents. Garnett must not have filled them in on his interview with Simone’s parents or they would have asked her what job Simone was doing for her. Next time they came back, they would be better prepared, maybe, but it still would be with erroneous information.
    They left and Diane was about to call Andie in to see what she had done with Edmond Carstairs and his flowers when her in-house line rang. It was the groundskeepers. They had found a body.

Chapter 21
    The man standing in the road pointing the gun at them was heavyset with a black beard and hair. His worn, disheveled khaki clothes drooped from his sagging shoulders and under his bulging belly and he dripped in sweat. Another man similarly dressed but with less hair and less beer belly stood off to the side. He also had a gun, but at least it was not aimed at them.
    Bandits.
    They would steal everything, possibly including their lives. Maria slammed on the brakes. She told Rosetta to get down on the floor. The little girl slid off the seat and snuggled up to her backpack. Maria put a hand on the gun beside her, glanced at the little face looking up at her from the floor, and stiffened her resolve.
    The bandit kept the gun pointed at Maria and began walking toward the truck. The other man was edging toward the other side of the vehicle.
    Was Rosetta’s door locked? She must have telegraphed her concern with her eyes, for the little girl’s hand snaked up and hit the lock on the door.
    Maria gripped the gun and kept a frightened look on her face—which wasn’t hard. Perhaps if the man saw she was afraid, he wouldn’t think her a threat. He wouldn’t be alert. She could beat him.
    The second bandit walked around to the passenger side. Whereas the first bandit, with his squinted eyes and the rigid set of his mouth, had the look of someone focused on a task, the second one grinned as if witnessing a joke. He muttered something to his partner.
    “He said, ‘We got two scared birds.’ And something I didn’t hear,” Rosetta whispered. “I don’t think it was good.”
    Maria could see in his face that he was someone who enjoyed scaring his victims. She switched the gun to her left hand to hide it from view between her door and her seat. The second bandit tried Rosetta’s door. It was locked. He said something in Spanish again and moved away toward the rear.
    The first bandit closed in on her. He held the gun up to the window and motioned for her to open the door. She tried rehearsing in her head how she was going to counter him, but she couldn’t make anything work. There wasn’t enough time to think.
    He jerked the door. It was locked. He pointed the gun at her and yelled.
    “He wants you to open the door,” said Rosetta.
    I’m sure he does , Maria thought. She put her hand on the door handle and hesitated. She was going to shoot as soon as the door cleared his body. She flipped the lock with her thumb.
    He jerked the door open partway and then slammed it back hard against her hand, causing Maria to drop the gun. He opened the door again and grabbed at her, pulling her out. She fell to the ground and reached for the gun with her other hand. He kicked it under the truck and aimed his at her head. He was going to shoot, she saw it in his eyes.
    Damn it, if she was going to die, it would be fighting. She was about to grab for his legs when a scream startled them both. The bandit turned his head toward the second man and Maria rolled under the truck and grabbed her gun. She shot the first bandit in the foot. He yelled and fell to his knees. She shot again, hitting him in the thigh. His hand with the gun appeared under the truck as she scrambled toward the front. He pulled the trigger and the sound was loud in the confined area, but she was out of the way. She moved quickly from under the truck. Dirt and plant matter scratched her face and got in her mouth. She ignored the discomfort.
    The screaming coming from the second bandit continued.
    The first one yelled something, but all Maria could make out was “ la niña .”
    That was enough. With the driver’s door open, Rosetta was exposed.
    Maria hurried. Crouching, she moved around from the front to the driver’s side, where the bandit was aiming his gun inside toward Rosetta.
    Maria didn’t hesitate. She fired the gun, hitting him in the head.
    The second bandit was still yelling. She heard what he was saying now. It was something