Page 93 of Girl in the Water

“That’s fine. I appreciate the help.” Ian thanked the man, then let him get back to his dinner.

Once the sky turned dark, Ian headed back to See-Love-Aid. Essie was unlikely to go out now. The streets of Manaus weren’t that safe at night, not in this neighborhood. The days might belong to working class people, but the nights clearly belonged to the criminals. As he waited for the bus, Ian picked up a discarded newspaper from the bench, rolled it up, and tucked it into the back of his waistband, pulled his shirt over it. He hated being without a weapon.

The bus came. Four teenagers loitered in the back, one openly dealing drugs, a nasty-looking knife hanging on his belt under his parted shirt. The little shit measured Ian up, marked him for a foreigner, whispered something to the others. They gave tough-guy laughs, like something they might have seen in a movie. Ian figured every one of them probably had at least a knife.

He knew he didn’t look like easy prey, but there were four of them, and sometimes there was stupidity in numbers. So Ian half turned and let his shirt stretch a little over the rolled-up newspaper, gave an eyeful of what would look like a serious concealed weapon from ten feet away. The teens didn’t approach.

Ian got off at See-Love-Aid at the same time as a middle-aged prostitute got on in a cloud of perfume. She eyed Ian with regret, the bus driver with hope, and the teens with a look of don’t-give-me-shit-I-ain’t-in-the-mood.

See-Love-Aid was locked up. Ian had to ring the bell. A minute later, someone shuffled forward to open up—Henry, with a baseball bat.Nowhe was stepping up security.

In his wrinkled T-shirt, his hair mussed, he blinked sleepily at Ian. “Anything?”

Ian shook his head. He didn’t want to give false hope.

“Hey, Carol decided to go back to the States,” Henry said. “We’re giving her a send-off in the morning, if you want to be there to say good-bye.”

Ian stopped. “Anything wrong with the baby?”

“Nah, man.” Henry shrugged. “I guess she’s getting close. Just decided she wanted a US hospital. I guess at this stage, the airlines don’t like if you fly. So once she decided, she needed to get going. Or whatever. I don’t know, man.” He shrugged again. “Maybe what happened with little Lila… I think it spooked Carol.”

Ian didn’t blame her. “When is she leaving?”

“Crack of dawn. Sevenish.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” Ian drummed up the stairs as Henry locked the door behind him.

They’d say good-bye to Carol, then he’d take Daniela to Essie’s apartment. Daniela sounded like the locals. And she was a woman. Essie wouldn’t feel threatened by her.

He’d bet Daniela would have no trouble talking her way in. And then she could take a look around, see if there was any sign of a second baby having been in the apartment. She could ask why the sudden move from Essie’s old place, when she had a good friend next door. Why lie about going to São Paulo?

That lie…That meant something.

So Ian was going back with Daniela to see Essie. First thing tomorrow morning.

* * *

Daniela

Daniela looked up from her laptop when Ian walked in deep in thought, his brow furrowed. She was sitting on the floor, her back to the wall, her legs stretched out in front of her.

“Anything new?” Ian looked her over, as if to make sure she was all right, then, satisfied, he moved to the open window that let in only the slightest of breezes through the screen, and stared out, back to whatever thoughts were flying around in his head.

She updated him on the staff interviews she’d spent her day on, finishing with “Not a single new clue. No one had an affair we didn’t already know about. Nothing.”

“Carol is leaving tomorrow,” Ian said. “Henry just told me when I came in. I didn’t realize.”

“I thought she would have told you.”

“You knew?”

“I saw the ticket confirmation in her room yesterday. I was looking for her and popped my head in.”

He raised an eyebrow, silently asking why she hadn’t told him.

She shrugged. She hadn’t wanted to talk about Carol with Ian, for a variety of reasons. One being that Carol’s leaving meant there’d be another room available. Ian would jump on the opportunity to move out of their shared accommodation.

Daniela made a point to relax the clenched muscles in her shoulders.Focus on the investigation.