River of Secrets. Lynette Eason
small, it had a good number of officers on the force to fight the drug-smuggling trade that was popular along the one thousand miles of coastland where Tefe and other cities connected to the Amazon.
Amy climbed out of the jeep and slammed the door. She walked up the three wooden steps that led to the front door of the police station and pushed her way inside. Standing in the entrance, she scanned the place, taking in the details. She could see several metal desks, telephones, an open door leading to the cells in the back. Then she spotted the Missing posters on the wall next to the Wanted Persons. And there was her mother—thirty years ago, listed as a missing person. Amy felt her heart clench, nausea swirled and she fought it down. The black-and-white picture was grainy and faded, but Amy had no doubt who the young girl was. Sold into prostitution at the age of fifteen. By Amy’s uncle, Raphael Morales. Anger bubbled unexpectedly inside Amy.
“What a legacy you two left,” she spat.
“Excuse me?” a voice asked in heavily accented English.
Amy whirled around and found herself staring at a uniform. She let her eyes travel up…and up. The man before her stood at least six feet five inches tall. Stepping back, she swallowed hard and somehow managed a smile.
She held out a hand. “Hello, I’m Amy Graham. I’m new to Tefe and just thought I would familiarize myself with the city.”
Black eyes narrowed, suspicion glinted, but he held out his hand and engulfed hers. In a lilting Portuguese accent, he asked, “What may I do to help you, Ms. Graham?”
Taking her hand back, Amy cleared her throat, “Please, call me Amy. I…was just looking over your posters.”
“I am David Ruibero, the chief of police for the town of Tefe. Now what kind of interest would you have in my posters?” Not a lot of people outside of the orphanage spoke English. Or Spanish. Portuguese was definitely the language to know around here. She’d had Cassidy tutor her before leaving the States and she’d listened to her language CDs on the plane, but if she had to carry on a full-fledged adult conversation, she’d be in trouble.
“That one,” she blurted. Cassidy had described Maria to perfection. The woman was wanted for harboring fugitives, rebels, murderers, slave traffickers. Amy looked for a name at the bottom of the poster, but it had faded and she couldn’t make it out. The picture, though, was pretty clear. Maria’s thick, brown face looked black in the picture; her eyes were cold stones in a face that looked as if it had been made to be wreathed in dimpled smiles. But no smiles showed here. Her lips stretched tight and flat across her face and her nose looked as if it had been broken once. But she’d protected Cassidy from her kidnappers. That told Amy that there was the possibility of goodness somewhere under all that hardness and hate. She hoped. “Who is she?”
Suspicion remained in the dark eyes, and he hesitated before answering, “Maria Morales. Why?”
Amy gasped, and the room spun. “Morales?” she squeaked.
“Here, sit down. Now, why does that name shock you?”
She slumped into the offered seat and buried her face in her hands. Would the nightmare never end? Would every member of her family that she found turn out to be evil?
David Ruibero had the appearance of a gentle giant, yet Amy wouldn’t want to cross him in a back alley. She had a feeling his softness was all a cover, that he could strike as quick as a snake. Intelligence gleamed in his black eyes. No way was she telling this man that the woman on the wall was her maternal grandmother. “Um, no reason. I think my blood sugar’s a bit low.” She brushed aside his interest in her shock and asked, “Do you know where she is? Have you found her?”
David Ruibero sat back and studied her. “You have your reasons for asking?”
Amy sighed. The man was too shrewd, and she knew her face was an open book. “Yes, I have my reasons. Do you mind if I don’t share them at the moment? I’m still trying to figure out…” she trailed off.
He clasped his hands in front of him. “All right. No. We haven’t found her. Don’t really expect to, to be honest. She’s part of a rebel group that is so deep in the jungle, so well armed and protected that even if we knew her exact location, we’d probably lose too many lives trying to infiltrate. An undercover operation would be the way to go, but we don’t have anyone with the skills to do that on the force…right now, anyway. If we had help from some of your Rangers or SEALs—” he shrugged “—or if one of the rebels could be bought off, that might work, but they are all extremely loyal to their cause—and each other.”
“How do I get the word out that I’m looking for her?”
For the first time since she’d met him, his eyes reflected something other than suspicion. This time, surprise mixed with wariness flashed at her. “You don’t want to do that. That, my dear American, would be very hazardous to your health.”
“Not to mention stupid.”
Amy swiveled her head to see another uniformed officer enter the room.
David said, “Ah, Roberto, how nice of you to join us. May I introduce one of the relief workers from the Amazon orphanage? This is Ms. Amy Graham. She is busy making herself familiar with our little town.”
“Busy setting herself up for trouble, if you ask me. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, lady.”
Amy flinched at the hostility in his heavily accented tone. What was his problem? Probably in his midforties, he was a short, round little man with a bald head and beady black eyes. A salt-and-pepper mustache sat neatly upon his upper lip. He spoke excellent English, too. Most natives didn’t understand American idioms. The one he’d used had rolled smoothly from his tongue.
“Trouble?” Amy arched a brow, refusing to let his attitude intimidate her.
“Yes. Why do you want to go looking for that one?”
Amy swallowed hard. How much did she dare reveal? “I…might have some information about a family member of hers.”
Roberto laughed. “Family? And how would you know about any family she might have? Her family is either dead or soon will be.”
Amy shivered and stood. He gave her the creeps, and the chief wasn’t jumping in to help, although the look he gave Roberto told her the man didn’t normally talk like this in the chief’s presence. She stood, looking back and forth between the men. “Listen, if you know how to contact her, I want to talk to her. Otherwise, never mind.” She focused on David. “Thank you for the information. I appreciate the help.” What little it had been.
Amy stepped toward the door, and Roberto slid in front of her, blocking her exit. Nervousness clenched her midsection, but she met his eyes and raised her chin, keeping silent, waiting on him.
Finally, he stepped aside. “Watch your back, senhorita. This is not a good place to make enemies. Not if you want to live very long.”
Amy sucked in a breath, acknowledged his warning—or threat—with a nod, waved goodbye to David and hurried out the door.
FOUR
Where was she? Juan wondered. He’d planned to ask Amy to eat with him, but she was nowhere to be found. So he’d found a table with Jonathas and Salvador, yet couldn’t help wondering what Amy was doing.
When she didn’t return in time for lunch, he finished up and decided to lie down for a while. He hated to admit that he needed to rest, but his body had flashed neon warnings in the form of a throbbing headache and aching muscles. When he woke up two hours later, his headache was gone and Amy still hadn’t returned. He questioned Anna, who said she’d gone into town to run a few errands. He stayed busy on the wing, waiting for her to get back.
Lucas declared it was good therapy for building his stamina back up. Now, as he worked, his eyes kept straying to the plastic-covered opening, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dark blond head or slender profile. Juan shook his head. He couldn’t allow himself