“He owns it as if by right, and each night he buries all of his equipment in the sand and digs it up again the next morning. I’m not sure, but he may have relatives that sleep on the beach. Each vendor respects the other vendor's rights as long as they maintain their presence on the beach each day.” Jack wiped his face with the napkins. “Why don’t we head up to Corcovado, and in the late afternoon, we can ride up to Sugar Loaf and have a late lunch. What time is your meeting tonight?”
“I have to be there at about six this evening, but I need a couple of hours before to go over my paper and prepare my presentation. Can we get back by four?” Maggie scooped out the maracuja. It was heavenly.
The trip up to the Corcovado and the hike to the top was just what Maggie needed in the way of exercise. Fortunately, it wasn’t foggy, and they could see the beautiful view. Looking down at the Lago and then to Ipanema and the ocean and islands beyond, was majestic. It was a clear day, a soft breeze was blowing, and Maggie was amazed at the amount of work and devotion involved in building such a remarkable statue of the Lord. It was almost as if the whole city of Rio claimed protection under the watchful eye of this statue. It reminded Maggie of the Statue of Liberty overlooking the New York harbor.
They drove over to the parking lot for the Sugar Loaf tram. Going up the tram to Sugar Loaf was not as pleasant. The tram jerked and swayed in the wind. Maggie grabbed Jack’s hand.
“I was going to say, don’t worry, this tram is perfectly safe, but I have no idea if that is true or not.” He smiled and squeezed her hand as he pulled her closer and put his arm around her shoulders. Maggie snuggled in under his protective arm and did feel better. When they got out, they both breathed a sigh of relief but only for a minute as Jack realized the only way to get down was to ride the tram again.
The lunch was good. Jack could not believe his luck that everything turned out so well with Maggie and Meredith. Whatever happened between the two women, it was healing and good. He didn’t dare ask and felt leaving it well enough alone was a good strategy for now. But Jack did have questions now that he had made a move to get himself mostly out of the oil business. Bill would take over, but the other half of his plan was, what to do about Maggie. Would she be willing to live in the country on one of his ranches or perhaps they could purchase another one closer in so she could continue her career in research?
“Jack, what are you thinking?”
“Oh, sorry. I have some news to share about my business. I have turned over the oil company to my brother, Bill. I will help him, of course, but basically, I can go back to ranching, which is something I would love to do.”
“That’s wonderful, Jack. This is something you have wanted to do for a long time, I’m guessing. Do you know which of your ranches you will work will you manage all three?”
“Well, that depends. I could even purchase another ranch and keep managers on the others.” Jack was getting nervous. Would she be willing to drop her college plans?
“That is great. This is a big week for you then. How does Bill feel about all of this?”
Jack laughed. “He says he needed to think about it, but he loves it. He should have been doing this in the first place, but my grandfather, for some reason, felt I should be the one to run things.”
“There’s is something good about being in the country for sure. I love being with my father and his ranch. Timber loves it as well. One day, I will have to have a ranch of some kind since my father wants me to take Stacy.”
Jack helped Maggie out of her chair and they walked toward the door. Maggie looked at her watch. “I hate to say it, but I need to get back, and that means down the tram.” Jack didn’t like the idea much, either.
“Okay, we can do this.” Jack laughed, and they both headed for the waiting line to leave. The wind had died down, so the tram ride was smoother. Maggie did not hold Jack’s hand on the way down, which he felt was a pity. “Maggie, so we plan to visit Raelyn tomorrow then?”
“Yes, I had a strange call from my father. He seemed worried about me and suggested we see her sooner than later. If you are free, tomorrow, let's do that first thing.” Maggie looked over at him with a perplexed look on her face.
“What is the matter? You seem worried as well.” Jack took her hand.
“Well, Jack, if my father says he is worried about something, it's not normally a small event.” Maggie looked up at Jack.
“Okay, how about I meet you for a run on the beach at first light?” Jack wanted some time to discuss Maggie's opinion of her father’s plan for them but didn’t feel this was the best time.
“That sounds divine. I am not too thrilled to spend more time with Dr. Woodbury, so once that is over, life will be good.”
“I can come with you tonight if you would like. Then maybe we can broach the subject of Dr. Brickson with him together.”
Maggie nodded. “That might be good. Let me see how things go this afternoon, and I’ll call you if I want you to come with me. It will be a mad rush getting this ready, so if you don’t hear from me, I will just go over by myself.”
They managed to get back to the hotel. Jack dropped her off and headed back into the Petrobras business office to finish up a contract. Jack smiled as the driver headed back into Rio. Everything was turning out so well. After they talked to Raelyn, Jack had a plan of his own he wanted to work on with Maggie.
Chapter 8
As Maggie walked into the lobby, the same little girl Maggie gave the candy bar to ran over to her yelling as a bellhop chased her. He grabbed her arm and started pulling her out toward the side door.
“Stop, let me talk to her.” Maggie took her hand and led her over to one of the sofas and sat down with her standing in front of her. She was talking a mile a minute, none of which Maggie understood. She looked up to the bellhop and asked him to translate for her.
“This is just a street urchin from the favela; you do not want to talk with her.” He looked down distastefully at her.
Maggie touched his arm. “Please translate for me. I know her from yesterday. Ask her for her name.”
He spoke to the girl, and her eyes brightened up as she started talking. “Her name is Sasha. She says her mother is ill and the favela boss wants more money for rent. Her daughter is trying, but she doesn’t make enough money.” He looked down at Maggie and said this happens all the time. Families are pushed out, and their homes go to others willing to pay more money.
“What happens to them, then?”
He shrugged his shoulders. Maggie walked Sasha back outside the front lobby door and sat with her under the palm tree.
“Sasha onde esta a casa?” (Where is your house?))
Sasha stood up, excitedly, and pointed the way. Maggie knew Jack would have a fit, and she didn’t even want to think about what her father would say, but she was determined to follow this child into the favela to her home and see for herself what could be done to help.
The little girl was so thrilled and seemed to be taking her on a path where they wouldn’t be seen. They walked behind buildings and along paths up into the mountain, dodging areas where there were people. Some of the shacks were put together with cardboard and others with sheet metal parts. Finally, she ducked under some clothes that were hanging on a line and motioned Maggie to follow.
The door opened to a tiny living area. There were two rooms. The main room seemed to be where the children slept and ate, and looking through to the backroom, Maggie could see a woman lying on a floor pad where Sasha was kneeling next to her, talking excitedly. She turned back and motioned for Maggie to come in.
Maggie slowly came into the room and smiled at the woman tentatively. She hated to disturb her privacy. The woman smiled weakly and motioned for Maggie to sit by the bed on the floor next to Sasha. Now how am I going to communicate with this woman? What in the world was I thinking? My Portuguese is practically nonexistent.
“My name is Maggie. Sasha told me that you feel sick, senti mal. Can I help? Adjuda?”
> Sasha‘s mother shook her head and spoke to Sasha. She pointed to the door, anxiously talking quickly to her daughter. A loud voice called to them from the street, and someone started banging on the door. Sasha’s mother pointed quickly to a closet and motioned for Maggie to hide. The fear in her face convinced Maggie that for her benefit or the family, she had better hide quick. She reached for her phone for light in the closet and sighed when she saw that it was out of battery. Sasha closed the door after she and Maggie heard the front door open.
Maggie could hear a lot of angry voices, mostly men, and a woman yelled out. She pushed on the closet door and was about to come out to help, but Sasha pushed back, and it shut again. The men left, and the closet door opened. There was a big red welt on Sasha’s mother’s face. Maggie ran over and knelt next to her, wishing so much that she could speak their language. “What is your name?”
She answered. “Brita.”
Brita pointed at the door and made a throat-cutting sign with her hand. It wasn’t hard to understand that. So, these men were very dangerous. After a lot of hand signals back and forth with Brita and Sasha, Maggie understood that she was in grave danger in this favela and that this family was as well because she was here. Maggie got up to leave, and both the women yelled out, “Nao, Nao.”
It was not safe to leave yet, and Maggie didn’t want to do anything that would cause more harm to this woman. It looked like she would be missing her meeting this evening, and she wished Jack was here to help figure out this problem. It was interesting how much Maggie and Brita could understand each other just with sign language and attempts at words.
Maggie resigned herself to spending the night. Brita fell back to sleep and tossed and turned all night with a fever. Maggie used a cool, wet cloth to wipe her forehead and tried to keep the fever down. How could anyone sleep in this place? All night she heard gunshots and people running by the front door. Good grief, what mother would want to raise a child in this mess? There was little food in the house, but at least they had water. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, the fever broke, and Maggie leaned back against the wall and fell asleep.
Jack was humming as he left the Petrobras offices. He and Maggie could spend a few days exploring in Rio. He was looking forward to holding her close and perhaps testing out those lips again. He couldn’t help smiling. Once she finished with her evening meetings, they would be free. He might even swing by and pick her up from the meetings. Jack pulled out his phone and dialed Maggie’s number. There was no answer. Well, she was probably discussing her research.
His driver drove up to the Caesar Parque Hotel, and Jack got out and headed inside to the front desk. “Do you have any messages for me?” The hotel clerk checked his computer.
“No, sir, nothing this afternoon.”
“Okay, thank you.” Jack rode up in the elevator with guests who were a little tipsy this early in the evening. Jack looked over, thinking about what they were in for if they were not careful.
“Are you heading out for the Rio nightlife?” the American gentleman asked.
“Well, maybe, but if I were you, I would not take my wallet with me. Americans are targeted at the night clubs in Rio.”
“What do you do then?” He looked concerned.
“Well, I take a card with me or put some cash in my front pocket.” Jack showed him. The elevator door opened, and the couple got out.
Jack rode up to his floor and stopped at Maggie's door and knocked to see if she was back. There was no answer.
He hurried into his room to shower and change clothes. He wanted to look especially nice when he picked Maggie up. His hotel room phone was ringing. Maybe that was her now.
“Hey, are you back?” Jack paused. “What do you mean she never arrived?” Dr. Woodbury explained that they were waiting for her to come, but she never did arrive. Jack’s heart started beating faster. He knew Maggie would not have missed that meeting on purpose. Dr. Woodbury explained he had called the hotel asking for Dr. Colby, and when he said it was an emergency, they directed his call to Jack’s room.
“Okay, let me call around. Thank you for calling. Yes, I am worried. Dr. Colby would not have missed that meeting. Something must be wrong.” Jack put the phone back on the nightstand.
His cell phone started ringing. He smiled; this must be her. “Hey, what’s up?” He heard Carson’s voice.
“Oh, Carson, yes. I just got a call from Dr. Woodbury. Maggie did not show up at the evening meeting. I am quite worried and have no idea where she is. She is not answering her cell.”
“I’m flying down and should be there in the morning. I’ll call some friends who can begin the search now.”
Jack wanted to help. “What can I do here?”
“Go back down and start talking to the hotel employees and see if anyone saw her today at all. That will give us a head start for tomorrow.”
“Okay, will do.” Jack hung up and changed his clothes again into something more appropriate for search and rescue. He left the room and headed downstairs to talk with the staff.
No one had seen her, but they were all on the night shift. Jack paced in the lobby and then decided to head to the beach and pace there. He couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to her. Rio was a beautiful city, but it had an entirely different underground culture that was very dangerous and could get very nasty. He made a point of avoiding any situations that might subject him to such experiences, but Maggie was not a regular here and had no idea how dangerous it could become.
Two men walked up to him and stopped to talk. They both looked Brazilian. “You must be Jack. Carson said to look for you. Let's sit here and talk.”
“Talk?” Jack was worried and getting annoyed. The other man was blond, and there was no question he was American until you heard his Portuguese, which was so native you might change your mind and assume he was of Brazilian-German ancestry.
“Yes, we want you to run down everything you can think of that you did while you two were together today.”
Jack sighed and began at breakfast and their shopping at the feita and then the hike up to Corcovado and the trip to Sugar Loaf, and lastly, back to the hotel where she was dropped off.
The men stopped. “No, we want you to tell us of any interaction she may have had with anyone.”
Jack stopped and thought back to the little beggar girl. He told them what had happened and Maggie’s reaction. He had said they would talk about it and see what they could do to help later.
The men looked at each other. “Is she the kind of woman who would want to do something to help on her own?”
Jack raised his eyebrows. “She is exactly the type of woman who would want to take steps to help, but I thought we had decided to wait until we could do something together.”
“So, you men are friends of Carson?” Jack looked at them both and was impressed with what he saw. These men could take care of themselves no matter what dark alley they walked down.
One of the men answered. “We have history.”
“Look, why don’t we use my room as our headquarters for now?” I have Wi-Fi and a computer set up that might be helpful. The men looked at each other and nodded. They all got up and walked across the Avenida Viera Souto and into the hotel lobby.
Once in the room, Jack ordered up drinks, sandwiches, and snacks for the evening. It looked like it would be a long and stressful night. One of the men took a call on his cell. “Yes, we are up in the hotel now. It seems she had contact with a small beggar girl who made an impact on her. Yes, if we end up in the favela, we will have to contact Claudio to clear the way for anything happening there.”
“We’ve got some contacts we will be checking with tonight. We will work all night and pick up Carson in the morning at the airport.”
The other man took out his cell phone.” I think I will pick up some of the street people and do a little interrogation of my own.” Jack walked back into this bedroom and sat on the bed. If he lost Maggie, he would never be
the same. The threat of losing her put his priorities in place. He knew she was the one for him, and he planned to do what he could to make that a permanent arrangement.
Maggie woke up to the sound of gunfire close to Sasha’s home. She looked over and could see that Brita was sleeping peacefully. Her hair and clothing were soaking wet. The fever must have broke, but she looked very weak, and her color was not good. If only I could get some food for this home. Maggie smirked. If ever I needed Prime delivery, this is the time.
Maggie looked out the back of the apartment at the houses piled up on top of one another. She could see the Corcovado in the background. It was such a contrast to the squalor around her. Maggie sat there trying to be quiet so Sasha and Brita could sleep longer. It was a pretty sad commentary on their life if they could sleep peacefully through gunfire. As beautiful as it was in Brazil, she was missing the ranch in Texas and her wolf, Timber. The associations she had with academia lately was causing her to rethink her plans. Perhaps working on campus was not her best choice. Maybe working in an industry where changes could happen quickly would be the most rewarding. She saw Jack’s smiling face in her mind’s eye. He was taunting her for one more test kiss. She couldn’t help chuckling; she loved that face. She had to agree Jack was a spectacular choice. She leaned back against the wall, smiling as she contemplated his charming face.
Loud knocking and yelling at the door brought her out of her reverie. Sasha came over to her. They must want money. Maggie quickly took some cash out of her pocket and gave it to Sasha as she went into the closet again. She heard men yelling, and it sounded threatening. They were throwing things around in the room. Then she heard the door slam. Sasha came over with tears in her eyes. Maggie took her in her arms and held her as she cried. A small child should be able to cry. This child had to grow up way to fast. Brita was awake now. Maggie tried to communicate that she needed to leave. Both Brita and Sasha shook their heads no, emphatically. Well, what was she going to do? She couldn’t stay here. By now her father had probably been notified that she was missing, which means he was on his way to Brazil. If her cell phone worked, it would have solved all problems.
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