Page 44 of Girl in the Water
“It is. And I want to be here. But there’s no one else available to go to Jordan.”
And how could she ask him to stay? He’d saved her. Now he was saving others. Daniela, better than anyone, understood what that meant.
She appreciated and admired what he did. She wanted to do the same thing with her life: help people. But…
Ian gone. Maybe for the whole summer.
She gripped the bamboo spoon a little harder. She didn’t ask when he’d be back. He wouldn’t know, couldn’t predict whether this’d be a hard case or an easy case.
She stirred the food and didn’t understand why she felt like crying. She touched her free hand to the middle of her chest, pressed her palm against the pressure building inside. The air felt too thick inside her lungs, like at the beginning of the rainy season, before the storms descended to shake the world.
Carmen
“I can’t wait to be back in Brazil.” Carmen Heyerdahl held her six-month-old daughter, Lila, on her lap as the plane flew over endless green.
She kissed the little girl’s head.So much for expert medical opinions.Against all odds, Carmen was a mother.
Her happiness was a nearly tangible bubble around her, filled with that sweet, irresistible baby smell.
“Let’s hope we won’t get kicked out this time.” Phil grinned at her, then winked at Lila. “You might as well know, my love. Your mother is a troublemaker.”
Carmen cleared her throat and patted Lila’s chubby little leg. “There were extenuating circumstances. When you grow older, you’ll understand.”
Four years before, they had busted a house of prostitution and saved two dozen girls. The local powers that be, however, had not appreciated their efforts, so they’d been asked to leave.
They’d gone to Africa, only returning to the States when, out of the blue, Carmen had gotten pregnant. Two sets of overeager grandparents had demanded the relocation back to the States and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Carmen looked out the plane’s window, over the green ocean of the Amazon rain forest. “I want Lila to grow up traveling like this. I want her to know the world. I want her to know what’s at stake.”
They were going to Manaus on a volunteer vacation—a lovely concept of people visiting distant places that needed help, donating some time working while they were there. A good way to do some good while traveling inexpensively, since housing and food was usually provided at a reasonable cost.
Phil pulled a blue plastic fish from the diaper bag and handed it to Lila, who immediately stuffed one fat fin into her mouth. “She is going to love this trip.”
Phil’s book on the rubber soldiers had been a moderate hit, possibly going on to bigger fame now that some Brazilian lumber baron, Raul Morais, had decided to finance a fictionalized Hollywood movie based on the story.
Carmen smiled, content, relaxed, happier than she’d ever been. “If this goes well with See-Love-Aid, if it looks like we can handle things with a baby in tow, maybe we can come back full-time.”
She’d missed the lushness of Brazil. Brazil was in her blood. They wouldn’t have to go back to the same little town that had kicked them out. Manaus was a big city. If they liked it, they might come back to Manaus permanently.
Lila tossed her plastic fish, and when Phil snatched it out of the air, the baby giggled, kicking her little feet as if she were riding an imaginary bicycle.
Phil handed the toy back to her, then flashed a handsome, confident smile at Carmen. “We’ll barely be here for any time at all. I don’t see what could go wrong in two weeks.”
* * *
Eduardo
As Rio pulsed with crowds of tourists and noisy traffic rushed on in the summer heat outside, Eduardo Morais pumped into his wife, the frigid bitch, in their equally frigid, air-conditioned apartment. If she still wasn’t pregnant in another six months, he was going to get rid of her and try another. He’d been plowing her for close to six years already. For nothing.
The boring, docile daughter of a business associate, she’d been handpicked by Eduardo’s father, Raul Morais. Eduardo had always done his duty by her, but he had his fun with his mistresses.
His father—fully recovered from the stroke four years ago—was forever on his case about a grandson.An heir.The old man required one male child from each of his sons. He didn’t have any specific instructions on female children.
Unfortunately, neither Eduardo nor his older brother Marcos had been able to deliver the desired grandson yet. Marcos had two daughters. Eduardo had nothing to show for his efforts.
His father was almost as frustrated about the lack of grandsons as about Eduardo’s and Marcos’s lack of ability to produce money with honest work. Because, merda, even though the old man had broken every law to build his empire, he expected his sons to be above reproach and pillars of the community.
They were never going to be that, but theyhadcome up with the money! Eduardo pounded away, fury propelling him as he thought of the past four years, he and his brother trying to find what had been stolen from them.
