Read Matt Drake 11 - The Ghost Ships of Arizona for Free Online

had survived that dreadful night in Hong Kong, that hotel battle, the long chase across the rooftops, the alley-fight afterwards.
    Some had not.
    Komodo took the blow that had been meant for her. Why would he do that? The man had a future. A girlfriend. A life. What did she have? Nothing but a twisting gut-full of guilt and angst. Nothing but a long downward spiral. Grace was her only salvation. The young woman she had saved from the dreaded hand of the Tsugarai clan was her future, her absolution and her gift all rolled into one. Grace was already far beyond the broken, quiet figure she had saved—the girl was forward, boisterous, even offensive at times. If it had not been for the inescapable sojourn to find her parents’ graves and the agony it bestowed then Mai thought she would already be as close to “normal” as she was ever going to get and fully able to make her own next decision.
    Mai shielded her eyes again, now ignoring the twist in her gut. They stood together at the edge of a vast graveyard. Built on the side of a green hill the cemetery descended in steps, each one crammed full of square or rectangular gravestones, mostly gray in color, bordered by trees and dotted by tiny individual lawns. Flowers lay everywhere, adding color to the otherwise austere scene. Narrow paths ran down the center of every step. Mai couldn’t help but lose herself inside a miasma of gloom as she appraised the cemetery.
    No gravestone should ever need to have a teddy bear clinging to it.
    Tears formed in her eyes and she led Grace downhill as fast as she could. They had already acquired a map from a groundsman and knew where Grace’s parents were buried. Mai thought about them giving up when their daughter vanished. She could never imagine what it must be like for a parent to lose a child and never know . . .
    Such morbid thoughts , she reflected, are surely a part of why this is all happening to us. Snap out of it.
    There had to be a way to live again.
    But today was always going to be drenched in sadness. The steep slope took her attention for a while, the angle making her stomach hurt yet again. Grace stepped lightly before her, concentrating on the ground. Today, the dark-haired Japanese girl was dressed in loose pants, flat shoes and a simple white blouse. Her hair was clipped back, away from her strained face. Hers was a head that had seen too much and a body that had lived too hard. The next few years should be peaceful to allow her time to catch up. Mai doubted the girl would see things the same way. Headstrong, and thinking she had already experienced the worst of the world she would crave to be out in it.
    And Mai didn’t really blame her.
    They descended together, step after step, until the green hillside rose behind them, the summit high above. Gray headstones stretched to both sides. Mai paused to consult the map, pinpointing their destination which in fact proved to be at their very feet.
    Mai stared at the gravestone. Grace looked ahead with a positive expression, determined to search on. When she started to move off Mai cleared her throat.
    “We are here,” she said, taking hold of Grace’s hand and showing her.
    Grace stared, face slipping as if she’d been struck in the face. All of a sudden the bravado vanished and what was left was a scared little girl, a child adrift, finally confronted with the reality of what had happened to her parents.
    “Sit.” Mai pulled her down before she collapsed. They had brought nothing with them. Neither Mai nor Grace held to any accepted ceremonies, not anymore. Mai felt almost as if her belief in decency and morality had been wiped clean. A ceremony couldn’t hope to change that.
    Grace knelt on the dusty path, staring at the headstones. A respectful sun beat at their backs, not too hot but simply dispensing warmth. The day was silent, inconspicuous, as the two women paid their respects to yet more who should not yet be dead.
    *
    Back at the hotel Mai gave Grace some