One Grave Less

smiled and broke off another piece. They ate the bar in silence. Maria chewed slowly, savoring the taste. When the bars were gone they would be hunting and gathering for their food.
    “You want to hear the rest of Harry Potter?” said Maria.
    Rosetta nodded. “I wish we were magic.”
    “Me too.” Maria resumed the story where she had left off—Harry Potter and his friends trying to get past the three-headed dog.
    As she told Rosetta the story, Maria constantly watched her rearview mirror, and she watched out the side windows and as far ahead as she could see. She noticed that Rosetta did too.
    They were going too slow, but they were lucky to be going at all. They were lucky they were in a place where most of the flora was in the canopy and not on the ground.
    Then the jungle was thick again. Leafy branches and fronds pushed against the truck, slapping the sides. More than once she came across a fallen tree or limb that she had to drive around. She was getting tired but tried not to show it.
    Abruptly, they broke through the thick growth into an open area that had been clear cut—and there was a road, a logging road. Relief. They could go faster. At least it wouldn’t be such hard driving.
    “Let’s take a quick bathroom stop,” said Maria.
    They were back in the truck and moving in less than three minutes. Neither wanted to linger. Both were scared.
    Maria tried to be cheerful. She put as much excitement in her voice as she could muster as she told the continuing story of Harry Potter.
    “When we get you home, maybe we can rent the movie and watch it,” said Maria.
    Rosetta nodded. “I would like that. You think Mama has seen it?”
    “A lot of people have. Does she like fantasy?” asked Maria. “You said she likes science fiction.”
    “I think she likes fantasy,” said Rosetta.
    The little girl was craning her neck, looking for danger. It squeezed Maria’s heart to see her always scared.
    The red dirt logging road was the widest and smoothest road they had been on, but even it was primitive—sometimes washed and rutted in places. Good thing it wasn’t the rainy season yet. Maria wasn’t sure she could get the truck through this road if it were wet.
    “Your mama will want to see the movie with you, anyway,” said Maria. “There are a lot of fun movies that she’s going to want to watch with you.”
    Several miles passed before Maria had to make another travel decision. They came to a fork in the road. The smooth wide road went to the east. The other road, less traveled, narrower, rougher, went north—the way they wanted to go. At least it was a road. They went north.
    This route seemed to have a steeper grade and the jungle closed in and got thicker again. Perhaps they were near a water source, a river perhaps. She rolled down her window and listened over the truck noise for the sounds of water. Maybe she heard something. It was hard to tell. She didn’t want to stop the truck to investigate. She rolled up the window, still trying to maintain a speed that would get them to their destination in the shortest time possible. The steeper grade was getting noticeable. They weren’t going over a mountain, but they were definitely experiencing a higher elevation.
    Approaching a curve, she glanced in her rearview mirror. There it was, below them, down the incline of the road, the thing they had dreaded—a vehicle—gaining on them, kicking up dust, moving fast. Maybe they weren’t after them. Maybe they were. Maria pressed the gas.
    “I see it,” said Rosetta.
    They both heard the ping on their roof, then another. They were being fired on. Maria pressed the gas harder. It was to the floorboard. She looked at the needle. They were running out of gas.
    “Get out the guns,” she said calmly.

Chapter 39
    Diane and her party sat at a round table in the rear of the restaurant. Frank came a few minutes late and took a seat next to Diane, kissing her cheek as he sat down.
    Diane smiled at him. He looked good. She would like to dump everything and just go somewhere on a honeymoon. Get married later when things were resolved and calm. Instead, she sighed and introduced him to Steven Mays. They shook hands across the table.
    “So you’re Diane’s intended,” Steven said. “They said you track fraud and computer crimes. That must be pretty high-tech these days. Is it hard to stay ahead of the hackers?”
    Frank agreed he had to work to stay on the cutting edge, and they had a short discussion