The Bone Collector

17

I set up my food stall next to a jewellery tent at the Santo Padre town festival. Diana was helping me to unpack all of the baking we had made for this event. Albert slept in a front pack strapped to me while Miguel was taking Cristobal to the festival rides.

Fundraising wasn't my forte but this festival was the pride and joy of the town and everyone, including the Mayans, came to celebrate and eat everything they could. I only had a week before my trial starts and so far I hadn't had ample opportunity to give Angel his gift. As a last ditch effort, I thought a little guilt trip could work. The sign at the front of the table said the charity we were fundraising for - Families Together  - Help us reunite children and their families.

It was a bit on the nose but all I needed was something emotive enough to get Angel to buy one slice. I had a special separated container that held a single serve of each bakery item, the only difference was the root of Water Hemlock that had been added. I had been very careful in grating the roots I had foraged and boiling them down to a sweet smelling syrup. They were highly concentrated and well above the known levels of fatal dosage.

I looked up from putting the last plate down and saw the Mayans approaching us. Bishop hugged Diana and gave me a small nod before talking to her again. One of the men came over to me and held out his hand. I recognised him from the time they kidnapped me and from the funeral, as a few had come to pay their respects.

"You're Nestor's sister right?" He asked and I nodded. "Sorry for your loss. I'm Gilly."

"Thanks." I said weakly, not shaking his outstretched hand.

Thankfully Diana was more engaging and sparked up conversations that included all the men as they crowded around. I plated up the sweets that they asked for and handed them over. I covertly added the special baked goods to the plate I was handing over to Angel. They looked just like the other plates.

"Two dollars." I said to Angel as I held the plate out. "So many families ripped apart, it's a shame."

"Excuse me?" He growled as he pulled the notes out.

I pointed to the sign at the front acting dumb. "The fundraiser, to stop families getting separated."

He grunted and walked off with his plate, hoeing the food into his mouth. I sat back down behind the stall and wiped away all the crumbs so no one got cross contaminated. I checked the time on my watch and just had to wait now. Miguel came back with an excited Cristobal telling us all about the bouncy castles he played on.

He had finally calmed down and was nibbling on chocolate brownie when screaming broke out. Miguel's guards closed in from their watch points on high alert. I saw a crowd of people down towards the stage area and the gossip started to trickle back to us.

"A man collapsed. Is anyone a doctor?" A lady called out as she made her way through the stalls.

We all shook our heads. I wasn't a clinical doctor unless they were dead, only then could I help. Marcus pushed his way through the lines and pinned a stare at me before looking at Miguel.

"It's Angel." Marcus said and both of their eyes flickered to me. "An ambulance is on its way."

I checked my watch and saw 20 minutes had passed since he was at the stall. Yeah, he didn't have a hope even if an ambulance was already here. I had to work hard to stop a smile from forming as I stared back at the men staring at me.

Miguel leant into me closely and whispered, "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"It would appear to be divine intervention." I said just as quietly. "Poor Angel must have had an undiagnosed condition."