One Grave Less

refrigerator in his office. He gave Ariel an orange juice. She sipped it and smiled.
    “This is better than the orange juice at the airport,” she said to Lindsay.
    Lindsay and Ariel, as they had with John, took turns telling the account of what had happened to them. It was a long narrative but they were not interrupted.
    Diane listened. Horror and guilt filled her alongside the joy. She held Ariel tighter, stroked her hair, listening to each of them. Lindsay was right. Ariel was extraordinary. The thought of her going from family to family trying to find a way to her was breaking her heart. Why hadn’t she kept looking? Why had she left Ariel in the jungle?
    Lindsay stopped talking, reached across the table, and grabbed Diane’s forearm, squeezing so tightly Diane almost cried out. Lindsay frowned. She was looking sternly into Diane’s eyes.
    “Ariel was taken far away very quickly with the other children. For whatever reason, the engineers of this atrocity wanted you to believe she had died in the massacre. She went to amazing lengths to get back to you. She deserves your unadulterated joy.”
    Diane cocked an eyebrow at her.
    “Your face is easy to read,” said Lindsay. “And I am very straightforward. I owe Ariel. Without her intervention they would have killed me when they found out I wasn’t you. Whatever I can do in my life to make Ariel’s life better, I will. That includes being frank with you.”
    Ariel looked at Diane.“She got a lot stronger after dealing with the snake in the truck,” Ariel said. “By the time we got to the mountain pass, Lindsay set up a good bushwhack.”
    Diane laughed. So did the others. Lindsay smiled and shook her head.
    Ariel and Lindsay finished their stories. Diane wasn’t keeping track of time and she didn’t know how long it took, but it was a long time. She looked forward to telling Gregory.
    “You think you were followed here? Do you know the name of the man who is behind this?” asked Diane.
    Lindsay nodded. “He’s the man who tried to take Ariel from me in Benjamin Constant and Tabatinga. His name is Cameron Michaels,” she said.

Chapter 66
    The weather was in full force outside the building. The wind buffeted the huge museum windows, rattling the glass so much that Diane thought they might break.
    She sat with Frank, David, and the others in the conservation lab, discussing what they were going to do.
    “Those mercenaries of his are outside around the museum,” said Diane. “I thought I saw some movement when we let Cameron in the front door. I wasn’t sure then, but I am now. So, any ideas?”
    Korey and Jonas had none.
    “You have children in the basement?” said John.
    “We have lots of potential hostages,” said Diane.
    “Get Cameron,” said Frank. “He’s the one in charge. He’s the one cutting their checks. Cameron is in here with us. It should be easy.”
    “The mercenaries can easily get in here with us too,” said Diane. “They are so rabid, the possibilities frighten me.”
    She hated speaking like this in Ariel’s hearing, but the little girl absolutely refused to be away from Diane. She had tried to get her to take a nap on the couch in Korey’s office, but she refused, shaking her head vigorously. Diane understood. She could hardly bear to let her go for a fraction of a second.
    “Frank’s right,” said David. “We have to get Cameron before he makes his move.”
    “What does he want, exactly?” said Lindsay. “The package that seems to obviously be some kind of evidence against him? To stop me from telling you of his involvement?”
    It hit everyone at the same time: Of all of them sitting in the room, Ariel was the only one who could put him at the scene of the massacre.
    Diane hugged Ariel tighter.
    “You’re right. We’ve got to get to Cameron,” said Diane. “First I need to alert security that there is a problem.”
    “It would be good to get in touch with Liam. He is very handy in these situations,” said David. “Is he on the premises with Andie?”
    “I don’t know,” said Diane.
    She went to Korey’s phone and called Andie’s office. Fortunately the in-house lines were working. But no one picked up. They were probably in the basement helping with the kids.
    Diane knelt by Ariel. “Baby, I need to get the bad man out of our lives. I want you to stay here with Jonas and Korey. I know you are brave. After what you went through, you are the bravest person in the world. Will you stay here