“That would be here-” Frank traced his fingers down Diane’s neck to her collarbone.
“Approximately. Yes.”
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
“The size and texture of the attachments make me suspect that this was a rather strong lad.”
“Lad?”
She pointed to the proximal end of the bone. “The epiphysis has only begun to unite, which suggests an age of between seventeen and thirty.”
Frank stood up straight. “So that means that at the place they suspect their teenage daughter disappeared, they found the partial remains of possibly a teenage boy who had been hit with enough force to break his collarbone.”
“Yes.”
Frank frowned. “I don’t like that.”
“No. I shouldn’t think you would.”
“What are the odds that it’s just a coincidence that they find the bones of this boy in a place where they were looking for a missing girl?” he said.
“Slim to none.”
Diane put the insect parts in another envelope, inspected the original plastic bag for more debris and handed everything back to Frank. “It looks like you have a serious problem on your hands.”
Diane was craving sleep as she walked up the steps of the converted old Greek revival house containing her apartment. The dark shadow of herself cast by the dim porch light reflected in the glass pane of the outside door. She looked at her watch-2:10 A.M. She counted to herself. Four hours’ sleep, max. She looked up at the sky. Dark clouds backlit by a full moon.
“Don’t rain,” she commanded the sky. “I don’t want to deal with rain tomorrow.”
Her fingers, made tender from assembling the exhibits, hurt as she turned her door key in the lock. As she climbed the stairs leading to the second floor, her back muscles burned and her legs cramped from stooping and lifting all day. She fumbled with her keys and opened her door to a dark apartment. She reminded herself to start leaving a light on.
She was bone tired, and, to top off the long day, she had offended Leonard, one of the security guards, by asking him not to be rude to the workers. From the set of his mouth she could tell he hadn’t liked being told how to act. She’d figure out something to say to him tomorrow. He’d get over it in time. After Milo, she must seem like an intruder to some of the older staff.
Diane would have liked to soak in a tub of warm water for an hour, maybe two, but settled for a quick shower and crawled into bed and dropped off into the unconsciousness of sleep.
Even in the dark, the foliage blazed a brilliant green. The color was blinding and Diane didn’t know how to find her way through it. Fear burned white-hot in her stomach. Off in the distance, a burst of gunfire startled her into full running panic. Everywhere she turned, vines clutched her legs, pulled at her body. Enormous heavy leaves slapped her face. She fought, trying to push them out of the way. Each slap of her hand against the leaves left a bloodred print. The gunfire was deafening-she must be getting closer. Vines grabbed her shoulders, turning into hands, pulling her away from the sound. “No, no!” she screamed, trying to pull the hands off her. The sound of gunfire came so fast it sounded like ringing.
Diane awoke suddenly, breathless, sweating. The phone on her nightstand was ringing. The illuminated radio display read 3:40. She snatched the receiver off the phone.
“Diane. It’s Gregory. I’m sorry for calling so late.”
Diane sat upright, hearing the familiar British accent, and held her breath. “Gregory. No, it’s all right.”
“I wanted you to know. They turned us down. They’re not going to arrest him.”
Diane was silent.
“We’re not giving up. I’m going to the United Nations next week-and to the International Court of Justice. We won’t stop. We’ll never stop.”
“Thank you, Gregory.” Diane suddenly hadn’t the energy to hold the phone. She lay back down on the pillow, propping the receiver to her ear.
“I wanted you to hear it from me, just in case a wire service might have picked it up. It’s not big news. For now we want to keep it that way.”
“I understand.”
“Are you all right? You sound out of breath.”
“I’m better.”
“Nightmares?”
“Occasionally.”
“How’s your weight?”
“Weight? It’s fine.”
“Are you eating?”
“Of course.”
“You know how it is in our line of work. Even now, Marguerite sometimes has to remind me to eat.”
“I’m better, Gregory, really.”
“Are you?”
“As well as is possible. I miss Ariel every day. I curse myself every day for not leaving in time, and I still break down in tears when I look at her picture.” Tears were now streaming down Diane’s face. She was angry at Gregory for making her talk about the most painful thing that had ever happened to her, but in a strange way she was relieved to talk about it. No one here knew about her daughter. As painful as it was, Ariel lived on only when Diane talked about her with someone who knew her.
“I know,” said Gregory. “I curse myself for not rushing through the adoption papers so you could take her out of the country, or for not arranging to smuggle her out for you. I thought she was safe at the mission. I didn’t know Santos’ men would cross the border, that he would retaliate. . ” His voice trailed off.
“What happened wasn’t your fault.”
“And it wasn’t yours. We were getting too close, hurting him, showing the world he’s a liar and a cold- blooded mass murderer. I thought President Valdividia was stronger. It was a miscalculation I made, and I have to live with that every day.”
“Why is it so hard to have evil men arrested, even with a mountain of evidence against them?” It was a question she’d asked before, and didn’t expect an answer.
“We’ll keep trying. It’s thanks to you and your team that we have that mountain of evidence. You paid a terrible price to get it.”
“I am better, Gregory, really. A year away from everything was good for me. I’m completely off the benzodiazepine. I love the museum. It’s just what I’d hoped it would be.”
“Met any new friends?”
“A great many. Renewed some old acquaintances too. Frank Duncan came by today. You remember, I told you about Frank.” She told Gregory about the bone and the missing girl.
“You were able to handle that all right, then? Examining the bone, I mean.”
“It wasn’t easy, and I don’t intend to do it again. I did it for Frank because he knew the missing girl and her parents. If it hadn’t been for that, I wouldn’t have done it.”
“But you were able to do it-that was good. I’ll call back at a more decent time and we’ll talk again.”
“I’d like that. Thanks for the call. Let me know if anything happens.”
Diane lay for a moment, listening to the dial tone after Gregory hung up. She swung her legs to the floor, replaced the phone on the nightstand and stumbled into the bathroom. She splashed her face with cool water and stared into the mirror, running her hands over the angles and planes of her face. She did look thin. The result of six months of eating nothing but cottage cheese and yogurt because it hurt less coming back up.
