Betrayed (15 page)

Evelyn’s nod stamped her approval. “Thank you, young man. That would be of real service.” She gave Vicki a final hug. “I’ll see you later then.”

 “Quite a lady,” Joe commented as Evelyn bustled away. He looked at Vicki. “I guess I should have asked you first.”

“I’d appreciate the ride,” Vicki answered. “In fact, I’m glad you offered. I want to talk to you about Holly. No, not the ‘challenge,’” she added hastily as his eyes flared. Couldn’t she have one conversation with this man without sparks flying? “Though at some point I would like to interview everyone who worked with Holly. This is about . . . well, she wanted to be cremated.”

This had been in the program handed out at the church door, the reason no burial service had followed the funeral and was certainly no news to any of Holly’s colleagues at WRC.

“Holly told me once that if . . . if anything ever happened, she wanted to be taken to the prettiest place I could find, to be part of the flowers and grass and living things there. And there’s only one place I can think of. She’d been telling me for months that the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere is the most beautiful place she’d ever seen. And I—I just kept putting off ever visiting there. Now I was just wondering—”

“If I could fly you out there?” Joe supplied.

“Yes, if it’s convenient, of course.” Catching his sudden frown, Vicki added hastily, “I can pay to charter the plane.”

“I think we can work out something equitable,” Joe said, waving to Bill. “It isn’t that.”

Bill strolled up beside her and expressed his condolences quietly. “Holly was a special person to all of us. We appreciate your letting us know about today in time to change our flight.”

“As I was saying,” Joe cut back in. “We came into town to trade in our ride for a new plane. Well, new for the center. A 1966 de Havilland DHC-2. Bottom line: we won’t be heading back out to the center until we’ve taken possession and finished the paperwork to get the plane in the air. It’ll be a few days, maybe even a week. But you’re welcome to hop a ride then, right, Bill?”

“By all means.” Considering the subordinate relationship, Bill seemed surprisingly tolerant of Joe’s assumption of authority. “It would be our pleasure.”

“That is, if you’re still planning to be in town. I’m assuming that challenge of yours wasn’t as open-ended as it sounded. You do have employment stateside to get back to?”

Vicki stiffened at the dryness of Joe’s tone but refused to be pulled into further debate. “I can wait a few days. I have matters to attend to here in town anyway. Can you let me know when you’ll be flying out?” She addressed the question to Bill instead of Joe.

“Just leave me your cell phone number. And now that we’ve broached the subject—”

“
Con permiso, señorita
.” the mortuary director interrupted. He looked from Joe to Bill as though under the impression that they were Vicki’s escort. “Please, señores, if you will leave us now to handle this, it is less distressful for the family in these arrangements that they are not here. Señorita Aan-droos, we will call when all is in readiness.”

Though he’d been able to rush the funeral services, the cremation arrangements would take a few days, which worked out with Bill and Joe’s scheduling neatly.

Vicki stifled a sigh as the mortician ushered them down the aisle, his crew moving in behind him. The sanctuary had emptied out, the last lingering knots of mourners drifting toward the doors.

She’d probably done this all wrong. Certainly her adoptive parents’ funeral had been very different. But she’d done her best, and at least in this alien country that was also inexplicably Vicki’s birthplace, Holly had been honored and remembered.

The pastor of Union Church met them at the door. He could not have been more helpful to Vicki in the overwhelming confusion of these last days. “You know you have only to call,” he assured her as she expressed her fervent thanks.

Then they were outside, though not on the street, since the Union Church, like any edifice of size in Guatemala, had spacious outdoor courtyards and walkways. As they cut across the grass of one of the courtyards, Vicki caught Bill’s eye and was reminded of their conversation when they’d been interrupted. “You said there was something else you needed to discuss?”

 Bill looked uncomfortable. “I don’t know if anyone’s contacted you from WRC. Maybe this isn’t the right place, but I wanted to let you know we brought Holly’s personal effects in with us from the center. We’ve got them in the Montero. If we’re going to be driving you home, maybe we could drop them off as well.”

Bill raised none of the antagonism his younger employee did. Vicki smiled at him gratefully. “Thank you. I’d really appreciate that.”

“And speaking of Holly’s things, there is just one other matter.” When Vicki reluctantly turned her attention back to Joe, he frowned. “Naturally, what we brought down isn’t all Holly’s things, just what she had at the Center. When I flew her in last week, she had a backpack and her computer, not to mention her cell phone and other personal items. Do you know how much of that has been recovered?”

“Holly’s personal stuff was at the WRC hostel where she was supposed to be spending the night. That’s one place the police investigated because they confiscated everything. They released it to me when they released Holly. I . . . I haven’t even looked at it.”

That was because it had been returned to her bundled up in Guatemala’s ubiquitous black plastic sacking, so evocative of Holly’s death that Vicki hadn’t been able to bring herself to do more than shove the stuff under her bed.

“If you’re really so determined to launch your own investigation,” Joe went on coolly, “that might be a good place to start. Holly spent a lot of time on that computer. There may be something in there that would give an idea of what was on her mind. And there’s her PDA. I know I’ve seen her with one.”

So now he decides to be helpful
. “Yes, I got Holly a PDA for Christmas a couple years ago. She kept everything that really mattered backed up on it. That’s a great idea. Thank you.”

“Yeah, well,” Joe said, “I probably shouldn’t be encouraging you. But about that computer—”

The two men exchanged glances.

Then Bill spoke up. “You’ve made a good point, Joe. In fact, Vicki, if it would be at all helpful, Joe and I can certainly spare the time to take a look at it ourselves. Maybe when we drive you over? At the least, we could help you sort through which of the files are center business. Likewise with that PDA.”

“Computer. PDA. You wouldn’t be talking about Holly Andrews?”

Vicki spun around as she recognized the new voice. “Michael.”

He closed the distance across the grass quickly. “Vicki, I am so sorry I didn’t make the service. I came as soon as I was free.” He didn’t wait for Vicki’s introduction but thrust out a hand to Bill. “Michael Camden. Defense Attaché’s Office. And you are William Taylor, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Yes, we’ve met. The embassy Fourth of July bash last year.”

“Of course. You have that coffee plantation up in the Sierra de las Minas near the biosphere. Beautiful country. And didn’t I see you at the airport with the WRC party? I’m told you donated the land for the wildlife rescue facility where Holly Andrews was working.”

 “It’s been my privilege to be a part of that effort,” Bill responded. “So you know the area.”

“I’ve been in the area a few times, though I haven’t yet made it out to your facility yet. Sierra de las Minas will be a strategic mission for the unit I'm working with.”

“Really.” Bill didn’t look particularly impressed. “So you’re part of that bunch that’s been buzzing around the biosphere lately, scaring the wildlife. Well, you’re welcome to stop by the center. We can at least give your people some tips in sensitivity and environmental impact on the fauna. And speaking of WRC, may I introduce you to—”

“Joe,” Bill’s companion finished laconically, stepping forward with out-thrust hand. “Center handyman.”

And pilot
, Vicki amended mentally, then stopped. She was
not
going to follow Holly in jumping to the defense of a perfectly capable grown man.

“An interesting choice of profession.” Michael seemed tall next to Vicki, but beside Joe, he would have looked slight except for the flex of muscle as his grip tightened, then released Joe’s hand. “Unusual for an expatriate, isn’t it? I thought that kind of thing was usually hired out locally.”

“It pays the bills.” Joe’s tone was as impersonally courteous as Michael’s, but as Vicki looked from one man to the other, she noticed a similar unreadable expression on their very different features, an equally measuring appraisal in the clash of gazes.

“Well, to each his own.” The turn of Michael’s body was dismissive as he faced Vicki. “You were mentioning a computer and PDA when I walked up. If that’s Holly’s you were talking about, we’d appreciate taking a look at anything you’ve got.”

“We?” Joe asked, making no effort to remain dismissed. “Is that a royal ‘we’ or split personality you’re talking, Camden? Or are you speaking on the authority of a particular department of the United States government? And if so, would you care to specify?” His expression held only detached interest, his tone bland.

Vicki intervened hastily, “It’s fine, Joe. I’m happy to cooperate with Michael or anyone else in the embassy. They are certainly welcome to any information I’ve got.”

To Michael, she added, “Holly’s computer should be back at Casa de Esperanza if it’s in the luggage the police released yesterday. And the PDA. We’re heading over that way right now. In fact, Joe and Bill brought the rest of Holly’s things.”

“Good. I’ll give you a ride over there, and we’ll go through them.”

“Actually, Ms. Andrews already has transportation,” Joe reminded mildly. “With us.”

Michael appeared controlled, his expression neutral, but Vicki had learned his body language enough to know he was displeased. He swung around to Joe. “I’m sure Vicki appreciates the offer. But that won’t be needed now. As I said, I have business to discuss with her. Embassy business.”

“Maybe we should let Ms. Andrews make that decision. Vicki?”

Again the exchange held nothing but courtesy. But Vicki, glancing from one man to the other, had a sudden hysterical fancy of a pair of jungle creatures facing off over a bone.
Except I’m the bone
. Vicki fought an exasperated impulse to laugh.

“Joe, Bill, I’ll meet you two over there,” she decided quickly. “I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting for nothing, but Michael really does have some data I’ve been waiting for.”

“Your choice.” Turning on his heel, Joe headed across the grass. Bill followed.

As Michael led Vicki to his Land Rover, he demanded, “So what do those two have to do with your sister’s investigation?”

“They’re friends of Holly’s from the center. They thought it might be a good idea to take a look at her computer files—maybe see if they offer any clue of what she’d been up to.”

Michael’s dark eyebrows rose. “Well, they’re right enough about that. Though I really don’t think it’s a good idea to have a couple of extraneous civilians getting involved.”