One Grave Less Read Online Free PDF Page B

frayed along the edges of the collar and cuffs, and there were holes and tears, but the material was good. They had been expensive clothes.
    In the inside pocket of his khaki vest Maria came across a set of car keys.
    “He has a vehicle somewhere,” said Maria, looking at her young liberator. Of course he would have. He didn’t seem like the kind of character who would be out walking alone in the jungle. Alone. That bothered her too. There was a very good chance he wasn’t alone.
    Rosetta’s eyes grew big looking at the keys. “That would be good. We could drive all the way to America.”
    “Part of the way anyhow, but there are hazards,” said Maria. “Like, what if we run across someone who recognizes the vehicle and knows who’s supposed to be driving it?”
    “It will be good to sleep in,” said Rosetta. “Keep out bugs and snakes.”
    “That certainly has its appeal. But we’ll have to find it first.”
    Maria stood and began stuffing her finds into the knapsack. She kept the guns with her. One was a semiautomatic. The other was something smaller. Maria didn’t know guns. She had serious doubts she could figure out how to fire the automatic. She did look for a safety to turn before she put the gun back in the holster.
    “Now let’s look for the vehicle,” she said.
    She examined the key. It was a modern key with a plastic bow and metal two-way shank. There was no remote on it, only a monkey’s paw that Maria removed.
    She took the map out of the backpack. If she could find a road nearby, she could probably find the vehicle. It wasn’t easy examining the map with the flashlight, standing in the jungle. She noticed she was shaking slightly. She gripped both the map and the light harder. It made her nervous not being on the move. She stopped her study of the map several times and listened. Nothing but night jungle noises.
    “They will not come after us quickly,” said Rosetta, watching Maria closely, as if detecting her unease.
    “Why?”
    “I drugged them,” said Rosetta.
    “You drugged them?” Maria stared at the shadowy little girl.
    “It won’t hurt them, just make them sleep,” she said.
    There were so many questions Maria wanted to ask the girl, but they would have to wait. Drugged or not, the thugs would wake up sooner or later and find that their valuable captive had escaped. She turned her attention back to the map.
    It was crude—a basic map with roads and villages—places that hadn’t made the original map—drawn in. Most roads in the area were mere dirt paths barely wide enough for a vehicle, and the villages were tiny. She looked at the villages that had been marked on the map. One was circled several times.
    “Lugar del Río.” Maria said it aloud. “Is that where we were?” she asked Rosetta.
    “Yes, that is its name.” She didn’t take her eyes off the jungle.
    Maria was beginning to wonder if Rosetta heard or sensed something.
    “Do you know where he might have been coming from—or going?” she asked.
    “They go to Alta for supplies. They know people there. We must stay away from there. Sao Rosa, that is a place they don’t go,” she said.
    No road to Sao Rosa was drawn, but there were initials SR by one of the creeks marked on the map. It wasn’t far. They could get there. But the thing drawn on the original map that most interested Maria was railroad tracks. If they could catch a train, that would take them a long way. The rail line was to the east of them and they wanted to go north. But the extra trek would be worth it. On the other hand, they could connect up with the railroad farther north. They might make it in a vehicle fairly quickly.
    “Do you think we can find a place to clean up in Sao Rosa?” said Maria.
    “Maybe. I’ve never been there. I just know that Luis and his men never go there,” said Rosetta.
    “That may mean that there’s a rival gang there,” said Maria. “That would not be good. But before we decide where to go, let’s see