McKenzie is AmazedAs quickly as she had entered, Maria left the room, having caused relatively little damage. McKenzie was confused and wondered what was going on. Was this part of a physiological ploy to intimidate him?Before McKenzie had a chance to work it all out, the cabin door swung open again and Maria stood, statuesque, framed in the doorway. She was dressed to kill in her bright red mini dress. Smoke rose from an extremely long cigarette delicately held in her perfectly manicured fingers.“You intrigue me” she purred, toying with his mind and emotions. “I have been instructed to kill you for my pleasure, but before I do, I want to know who you are.” McKenzie remained silent, giving nothing away.“There is a smell from you that reminds me of my father back in Brazil. Maybe you are my father?” She let her question hang in the air. “I hate him! He abandoned me when I was a child.” Maria’s lip was quivering. “He didn’t come to look for me when I was taken in the jungle.”McKenzie’s mind raced back to twenty-five years ago when he had been part of a search party looking for a lost child deep in the Amazonian Rain Forest. Could it be?“How come you have a Spanish name if you are from Brazil?” quizzed McKenzie at the risk of upsetting Maria still further. He hoped to lift a corner of the mystery that veiled Maria de las Flores’ life.“My captors took me to Colombia. Don Pedro wanted a daughter without the complications of a mother. He described exactly what he wanted and sent his men to find her. Unfortunately, his description matched me exactly and I became the daughter of the leader of Columbia’s most feared drugs cartel. He renamed me and became my father ….”For the first time McKenzie saw Maria as that frightened little girl, lost and alone.“You talk too much McKenzie!” Hollered Maria, as she threw back her raven-black hair from her angry face and stormed out of the cabin. She was annoyed at allowing herself to open-up to someone she barely knew. It was that smell; manly, even fatherly. She had not smelled it for twenty-five years….. Malachi 4:6……He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parentsTo find out more about this bible passage, follow this link to ‘Get Ready’: http://www.getthegist.net