Rafa squeezed his eyes tightly, holding back his tears.
“She trusted you, and you took her from us,” Sérgio said, rounding Vautour so he faced him head-on. “We’re going to take you to her family so you can pay for what you have done to her.”
Vautour laughed. “You think I killed her? She died in a car accident,” he said.
Sérgio shook his head. “She loved you. Turns out you’re like every other caçador de tesouro who’s scoured the Amazon for the cidade. And as for the rest of your crew? We’ll be taking them to the authorities.”
Suddenly, Vautour lifted his arms, struggling, grabbing for Sérgio’s knife and knocking it out of his hands. There was an all-out flurry, everyone running, scrambling, wrestling with each other. Hunter lunged at Rafa, but Rafa managed to sidestep him at the last second, sending Hunter tumbling down the steps. He collapsed at the bottom of the stairs close to Miri and looked up at her. Then at the discarded pistol ten feet away.
They both dove toward the gun, but he got it first. However, as he struggled with the safety, she stood and swung her fist, landing it squarely on his nose. He screamed out, dropping the gun, and she quickly grabbed it and pointed it back at him.
“Don’t even think about it,” she said.
She glanced around at Rafa barreling down the stairs toward her, taking her eye off Hunter for only a second. When she turned back, however, Hunter was gone.
She lowered the gun and handed it to Rafa. “I couldn’t shoot him even if I wanted to.”
Eventually, the ruckus up top settled. Os protetores had all of Vautour’s men tied up. But Vautour had somehow managed to escape.
“Find him. Don’t let him get away,” Sérgio said, as two of his men went off looking for Vautour and Hunter.
Rafa pulled Miri into his arms.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded into his chest. “Yes, but I sprained my ankle.”
He took her face in his hands and stared at her. “I love you,” he said. “And to be clear, I’m not just saying that in the heat of the moment.”
She knew. Because she felt it as well. “I love you, too.”
They sat on the temple steps as the protectors continued to look for Vautour and Hunter. But after an hour, they came back empty-handed. His father would likely get away again. Lucky bastard.
The protectors eventually led Vautour’s men out of the city in handcuffs tied to a rope. Thankfully, nobody had gotten seriously hurt in the scuffle. Sérgio approached Miri and Rafa on the bottom step. He looked down at them and smiled.
“Why did you help us?” Miri asked.
“You’re not here for treasures. Not to take them, at least,” Sérgio said.
“But why did you let us make it this far? All of us, I mean,” she asked.
Sérgio sighed. “To be honest, senhora, we didn’t think you’d make it. Two of you? Alone? We underestimated you. But them?” he said, motioning toward Vautour’s crew. “Well, the Moon City won’t stay hidden forever. These new technologies and photos? We needed to see if they would lead people to this place. And now that we know, we must find other ways to protect the city.”
“How?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet, senhora.”
“Well, if I can, I’d like to help,” Miri said. “I think I’m going to find myself with alotof free time soon, so if there is anything I can do, please tell me.”
Sérgio smiled and nodded, then he looked at Rafa. “You are not like your father.”
“Did you know my mother?” Rafa asked.
“Yes, Andressa Silva. Her family still lives in Manaus. You look just like her.”
Miri nudged Rafa in the side. “See. I told you she was beautiful.”
He took her hand and squeezed it.
