The Monkey Howled at Midnight Read online

  He looked from Pino to Luis. “Someday the land will belong to you, along with the coffee business.”

  “The coffee business isn’t for everyone,” mumbled Luis.

  “No more talk about land sale and business,” said Mr. Estevez firmly. “We’re going to entertain our guests.”

  Luis looked down at his plate but said nothing. Pino shifted in his chair and pushed his food around.

  Maxim cleared his throat. “I don’t think I’m up to a trek into the wilderness tomorrow. I’ll be happy to see a part of it in one of the tourist parks.”

  “Really?” Mr. Estevez raised his brows. “How about you, Mr. Carson?”

  Mr. Carson put down his fork. “I would love to go, but I hope that we can arrange something later. I’d like to get started on that portrait tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”

  “Yes, yes,” Mr. Estevez said eagerly. “We must plan how I should pose. I want the picture to capture my personality. Do you think I should pose in a suit, to show that I am a businessman? Should I be on a horse, perhaps? Or should I be on my boat? Or climbing a mountain, or something else that I am good at?”

  Cody and Otis exchanged glances. This guy had quite an ego.

  “I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” said Mr. Carson.

  “Wonderful.” Mr. Estevez beamed. “Now let’s all freshen up after lunch and then hit the museums.”

  Otis, Cody, and Rae waited for the others in the great hallway. “I’ve got something to tell you guys,” said Rae. She leaned toward them.

  “After I washed my hands I walked back through the living room. I saw a cell phone lying on the floor. I thought it was mine and had dropped out of my pocket when we ran into the room. It never occurred to me that it might belong to someone else. I picked it up and checked the list of calls to see if anyone had phoned. I found country codes in there from all over the world. Sixty-five, eight hundred fifty-two, um … sixty-one …”

  Rae glanced upward. “Sixty-five, that’s the country code for Singapore … and eight hundred fifty-two, that’s Hong Kong, and sixty-one, that’s Australia.”

  “How do you know all this?” asked Cody.

  Rae shrugged. “I just got interested one day when it was raining, so I looked them up.”

  Otis nodded his head. “That’s Rae, all right,” he said. “Random-knowledge queen.”

  “Come on, Rae,” said Cody, shaking his head. “Did you really think that cell phone belonged to you, or were you just being nosy?” He knew that Rae had a way of letting her curiosity get the best of her at times.

  “Well …” Rae reddened. Then she shrugged. “When we left the dining room I saw Luis pick up the phone and put it in his pocket,” she whispered. “He looked really strange—pale and kind of scared.”

  “I wonder why Luis was getting those calls from everywhere. Friends?” Otis wondered aloud. “I noticed something else. Pino and Luis don’t get along very well with their father. It seems like he pushes them around.”

  Cody opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a loud argument. It was coming from behind two heavy doors that led to a room off the hall. One of the voices belonged to a twin. The other belonged to Mr. Estevez.

  “I don’t want to hear about it anymore!” he thundered.

  “But, Dad, it can’t just go on and on and on.”“I’ll bet Mr. Estevez is arguing with Luis about selling land again,” said Rae. “Let’s wait out front. We don’t want them to open the doors and find us here listening.”

  “That’s right,” Otis agreed.

  They went out on the sunny porch. There was a man sitting down on the steps. He stood up when he saw them.

  “I’m Aldo,” he said. “You must be the Carson twins and Cousin Rae.”

  Aldo was an extremely tall young man with a shaved head. Broad shoulders and muscles nearly popped through his shirt. He looked like he could knock down a brick wall without trying hard.

  Cody spoke up. “I’m Cody Carson and this is my brother, Otis.”

  Aldo nodded, then smiled at Rae. “I’ve heard about all of you.”

  At that moment Carlos appeared on the porch. “Did you deposit the check I gave you for helping with the garden?” he asked Aldo.

  “Yes, I did,” Aldo answered with a nod. “I did it last week.”

  “What check? What for?” Mr. Estevez asked as he walked onto the porch.

  “Oh—I asked Aldo to fetch some plants to add to the garden,” Carlos explained. “I didn’t pay an excessive amount.”

  “Good,” Mr. Estevez said shortly. “Some people think I’m made of money. By the way, Carlos—you mentioned a raise. I really don’t think it’s necessary.”

  Carlos’s face was expressionless. “Of course, sir,” he said.

  Rae and the twins cast sideways glances at each other. It was embarrassing to hear Mr. Estevez talk about money with his employee. It should have been done in private. But they had already begun to realize that Mr. Estevez didn’t treat anyone with kid gloves.

  Luis appeared with Mr. Carson and Maxim. “Let’s start the tour,” he said.

  They went from the Museu do Indio to the Museu do Homem do Norte. They saw pottery and woven goods and materials from the native tribes. All day long, Mr. Estevez’s phone kept ringing. “I’m sorry, but I can never ignore a phone call,” he said. “It could always be business, and it could always be important.”

  Pino took out his phone in the Museu do Homem do Norte. “I’m turning mine off,” he said.

  Mr. Estevez looked at him sternly. “You should take the business more seriously. So should your brother. You’ll be running it someday.” Then his phone rang again.

  “No, no, no—it can’t be done,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t give you another chance. You’ve had too many already.” He hung up and sighed.

  “That was a former employee,” he said. “I hate to fire anyone. But he just wasn’t doing the job. I suspected he might be stealing, too. He denied it and I couldn’t prove anything.” He shrugged. “Well, let’s keep on looking.”

  “It’s a wonderful museum,” said Mr. Carson.

  Rae and the twins agreed. They were learning a lot. But they hadn’t learned how to tell the Estevez twins apart.

  Moments later, Mr. Estevez got another phone call. As he spoke, his voice shook with rage. “I already told you everything I had to say,” he snapped. “I am here with friends at the Museu do Homem do Norte and I would like to enjoy my day. I don’t want to hear from you again. Ever.” He hung up.

  “Same disgruntled employee?” Maxim asked.

  “Uh—yes, yes it was,” he answered. He clenched his jaw tightly.

  About half an hour later they left the museum and headed out into the warm sunshine. “What would you all like to do?” Mr. Estevez asked. “We could visit our famous floating dock. It was specially made to rise and fall with the river water.”

  “That sounds really interesting,” said Otis.

  “It does,” Cody echoed.

  “I’d like to see it, too,” said Rae.

  “It sounds like a plan,” Mr. Carson agreed. “Which way do we go?”

  “Follow me,” said Mr. Estevez. He stepped off the curb.

  A black sports car came rocketing through the traffic, hurtling along at a dizzying speed. It swerved giddily along, dodging through traffic like a pony in a barrel race. Horns honked wildly.

  There was no mistaking where the car was heading. It was streaking right toward Mr. Estevez!

  [

  Chapter Four ]

  The Chameleon said good-bye and put down the phone. His eyes had turned from gray to black. He grabbed the snake that was hanging around his neck and flung it across the room. It hit the floor and began to curl itself up into a ball.

  The man could smell a problem coming a mile away. He could sniff the stink of one in the air right now. This guy wasn’t going to cave in.

  He put in a call to his chief contact in Brazil. “Your friend
isn’t going to cooperate,” he said. “I want the problem taken care of. This time, do it right.”

  [

  Chapter Five ]

  “Thank you, boys, for pulling me back just in time,” Mr. Estevez said shakily. “You saved my life.”

  “Anybody get that license-plate number?” Otis asked. The car had sped around the corner so quickly that even his eagle eyes hadn’t caught it. Everyone else shook their heads.

  “There are some crazy drivers in this city,” said Aldo.

  “That didn’t look like some random crazy driver,” Rae observed. “It looked like he was trying to run down Mr. Estevez.”

  “The same thing happened last week, Dad,” said Pino. “Remember when we came out of the bank?”

  “Well, that car wasn’t going as fast as this one,” said Mr. Estevez. “It was just a coincidence.” He took a couple of deep breaths. “There are some crazy drivers in this city.”

  “What about that disgruntled employee?” asked Otis. “Maybe he followed you. Or maybe it was someone else who knew you had gone into the museum.”

  “I think we should tell the police,” said Pino.

  “No! No police.” Mr. Estevez waved his hand. “I don’t think anyone is trying to kill me. My former employee is no murderer. Besides, he’s in Rio de Janeiro, where most of his family lives. I know, because I paid for his plane ticket and saw him board. I drove him to the airport.”

  “Oh, come on,” said Aldo. “It was just a crazy driver heading for an accident.”

  “It better have been an accident.” Luis glared. He clenched his fists at his side. “Anyone who deliberately tried to hurt my father would have to tangle with me.”

  Later, back at the Estevez mansion, the twins and Rae took a walk in the garden. They wanted to talk over what had happened that afternoon.

  “I’m not so sure it was an accident,” Otis said. “That car was heading straight for Mr. Estevez.”

  “I still think that employee he fired could be the culprit,” said Cody. “Maybe he wasn’t in Rio de Janeiro at all. Maybe he came back to take revenge on Mr. Estevez.”

  “Maybe he did,” Rae agreed. “You know, I’m always telling you not to look for mysteries everywhere, but I have to admit that it looks like something is going on here.”

  “The numbers in Luis’s phone may not be a clue after all,” Cody said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I noticed that Pino and Mr. Estevez had exactly the same model. Maybe they got them mixed up. If the phone I saw Luis pick up really belonged to Mr. Estevez, it’s probably perfectly reasonable to have all those numbers since he does business all over the world.”

  He stroked his chin. “Actually, it might be reasonable if the phone belonged to Luis, also. Both brothers are in the coffee business.”

  “Maybe Mr. Estevez is mixed up in something shady,” Rae said.

  “Excuse me.”

  Rae and the twins jumped. It was Pino. He had crept up behind them so quietly they hadn’t heard a thing.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear you talking about something going on. Nothing is going on here, I can assure you.” He smiled a smile that didn’t make it to his eyes. “My father isn’t the kind of man to get mixed up in something shady. There is no need to worry him about a plot on his life. I don’t want my father scared.”

  “We aren’t going to do anything to scare your father,” Cody said.

  Then Pino smiled a real smile. “Good,” he said. “I’ve heard that you three like mysteries. You’ve obviously gotten carried away. No harm done.”

  But before they turned in for the night, Cody, Rae, and Otis gathered in the twins’ room and shut the door. “I don’t care what Pino says. There is something going on here,” Otis said in a hushed voice.

  Outside the door, a floorboard creaked. There was the sound of footsteps hurrying away. Had someone been listening?

  Moments later, they heard the voice of Mr. Estevez. He was talking to someone on the telephone, and he sounded very angry.

  “Listen to me. I think you were responsible for what happened today. You aren’t going to threaten me and you aren’t going to scare me. I am not going to sell you that land in the rain forest.”

  [

  Chapter Six ]

  The next morning they all met in the garden to have breakfast before the trip. Rae and the twins could hardly wait.

  “I can hardly believe our good luck,” said Cody. “We’re not just going to a park where the tourists go. We’re going deep into the Amazon.”

  “Well, you’re not going that deep.” Luis chuckled. “That’s where the tribes no one ever sees live. But you’re going in deep enough. Can you please pass the fruit salad?”

  Otis handed him the bowl. “I’m glad you’re going with us,” he said.

  “Actually, Luis isn’t going,” Pino said.

  Otis put down his fork. “What do you mean? How can we go if he’s not going?” he cried.

  Rae and Cody waited to hear the answer, forks suspended in midair. Did that mean they weren’t going to the rain forest that day? Why were Luis and Pino grinning?

  “Calm down,” said Pino. “My brother will go with you.”

  Cody frowned. “I’m confused. What’s going on?”

  “I think it’s time to tell them the truth,” his brother said. “The two of us have been playing a little trick on you. You probably know the game. All twins do. We’ve been pretending to be each other. I’m Pino.” He pointed to his brother. “And that is Luis.”

  “Yeah, we know the game,” said Otis. “But we never caught on. How could we when we can’t tell you apart?”

  The real Pino shrugged. “We thought that as twins you might be able to see other twins the way most people can’t. We wanted to see if you’d figure it out.”

  “Maybe they would have if they stayed around you for a while,” said Rae. She put down her fork. “I can tell Otis and Cody apart, but most people can’t. I’ve known them all my life.”

  “Well, we were just trying to provide a little fun,” said the real Luis. “No more playing games.”

  “No more playing games,” Pino agreed. “Let’s finish up breakfast and get going. Aldo is coming along with us. We’ll drive past the area of the tourist parks and fly upriver. Then we’ll raft for a while and go inland.”

  “We’d better start packing,” said Rae.

  “Don’t worry, we have everything you need,” said Pino. “Just be sure to wear hiking boots, and bring some long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The mosquitoes get really, really bad sometimes.”

  He turned to Mr. Carson. “Can they camp out for two nights?”

  Mr. Carson nodded. “Yes. I’ve talked it over with Mr. Estevez. But be extra careful.”

  “We will. Let’s get going,” said Pino.

  Even though Pino said that everything was taken care of, it didn’t stop the twins from taking their own gear. They had always lived by the Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.” Their cousin was the same way.

  Each of the twins packed a lightweight hammock and poncho in a backpack with mosquito netting. Each of them had their own compass, army knife, bottle of iodine pills (to purify water), extra pairs of socks, and sunscreen. They also packed bandages, plenty of mosquito repellent, matches and a magnifying glass, and a flashlight.

  “Got all your stuff?” they asked when they met Rae downstairs. She rattled off the same list of things that the twins had packed.

  “I brought these, too,” she said, holding up a pair of binoculars.

  “Awesome, Rae,” said Cody. Now they were ready to go.

  “That’s some trick they played on us,” said Otis as they headed downstairs. “We haven’t played that game in years. They are definitely too old for that.”

  Cody shrugged. “I guess they figured we’d enjoy it.”

  Otis wrinkled his nose. “Go figure.”

  They found Aldo sitting on the porch steps. When he saw them he didn’t say a word; he just looked up and nodded
. A few moments later, Pino appeared. He was carrying a camera with a telephoto lens strapped to his shoulder.

  “You’re a photographer? Cool,” Cody said.

  Pino nodded.

  “Shouldn’t you turn the camera around?” Rae asked.

  Pino looked at her blankly.

  “If you carry it like that, the lens is more likely to hit something than if it’s facing backward,” she explained.

  Pino blinked. “Oh—of course. I don’t know how I forgot,” he said, turning the camera around. “I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  They drove for hours, past the lines of people waiting to get into the nature parks. They had gone from a highway to a smaller paved road and then turned onto a dirt road that ran beside the Amazon River. Aldo pulled the truck off the road and parked behind some trees. “Here we are. The second part of our journey is ahead.” He pointed to a plane that sat on an airstrip among the trees.

  “You’re not afraid to fly in a small plane, are you?” Pino asked the twins and Rae.

  “Absolutely not,” Cody answered, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders.

  “No way,” said Otis.

  “Nope,” said Rae.

  Pino looked at the three of them. “Then let’s go,” he said.

  [

  Chapter Seven ]

  They were landing on an airstrip behind a village on the bank of the Amazon River. “People here have a foot in two worlds. Let me explain what I mean,” said Pino. “They still hunt and fish and grow their own food. They know old customs and old ways. But they know all about television and radios and computers and cars and stuff, too. They also dress in modern clothes.”

  “When can we see the native tribes that are just the way they’ve been for centuries?” asked Rae.

  Aldo started to laugh. It wasn’t a funny laugh, either. He was laughing at Rae.

  “Do you think those tribes are on the lookout to welcome us? They don’t want to be found,” he said. “They moved away from civilization, far into the forest. If you were standing next to one and he didn’t want you to see him, you wouldn’t.”