“These two.” She ran her fingers along the two panels of wood next to the wall. As she pressed on one side, the wood wiggled. “This is it.”
Sam withdrew a knife from his pocket and flipped it open. The blade gleamed in the low light as he inserted it along the edge of the wood. He jiggled it a few times, loosening the piece. He then jammed it into the crease and eased it back, using it as a lever.
The other edge of the wood lifted from the floor. He worked the sides until it popped up, and Jolene grabbed it.
Sam aimed the flashlight into the small cavity, as Jolene bent over the space. “See anything?”
With trembling fingers, Jolene reached into the dark area and pulled out a thumb drive attached to a long ribbon printed with the pecan-processing plant logo where Melody had worked.
She released a long breath. “It’s here.”
SAM DROVE TO Jolene’s place with her squirming in her seat beside him and his gaze pinned to his rearview mirror. That thumb drive she had squeezed in her fist felt like a ticking bomb to him and the longer they had it in their possession, the greater danger they were in...Jolene was in.
When they got to her house, Jolene grabbed her laptop and booted it up at the kitchen table as Sam hovered above her and Chip circled around their legs, sensing their agitation.
She double-clicked to open the thumb drive, and a list of videos popped up, organized by date.
Sam squinted at the dates, which went back about a year. Then he took a deep breath and said, “Let’s dive in.”
Jolene brought up the first video, which showed drone footage of the Yaqui land slated for the casino. “Why did they have a drone out there?”
“To monitor the area. Make sure nobody was snooping around—like us.”
“Or my father.”
Sam squeezed her shoulder. “Keep going. I don’t see anything incriminating yet.”
They studied each video, and Sam noted that most of the coverage was for the border area, along those ridges. Would he have found a tunnel across the border if the shooters hadn’t stopped him? What would he have found in that tunnel?
When the next video started, Jolene gasped and jabbed her finger at the screen. “People.”
Sam leaned in close but couldn’t make out any faces. “They don’t seem to be too worried, do they? They’re not sneaking around.”
The next few videos were more of the same, and then things got interesting.
Sam whistled. “Hello—there’s evidence of digging.”
“Sam, look at the edge of the display. Two people are carrying a tarp—an old, dirty tarp—and it looks like they’re disappearing into the ridge.”
“It’s a tunnel, just like I thought. They’re moving...bodies into that tunnel. They’re digging up the mules who were murdered after transporting Pink Lady across the border and stashing them in that tunnel.” He tapped the screen. “This is all prior to the studies done on the land. They knew the casino was coming and had their own preparations to do.”
Jolene displayed the next video, and the drone zoomed in close to the people this time.
Sam’s pulse jumped. “Stop!”
Jolene paused the video. “You know that man?”
“That’s Ted Jessup, El Gringo Viejo. We need to put these videos in the hands of the DEA, the FBI, the Pima County sheriffs.”
Jolene started up the video again. “I hope the bones are still in the tunnel, but you don’t know where Ted Jessup is, do you?”
“No. Wait!” Sam’s heart slammed against his chest. “Go back a few seconds.”
Jolene dragged back the video that showed Ted Jessup talking with a few other people. A woman. He had his arm draped around the shoulders of a woman.
“Freeze there. Can we zoom in on those faces? That woman?”
After a few false starts, Jolene was able to zoom in on the youthful face of a woman with a long braid over her shoulder, a braid streaked with gray.
“I know that woman. She’s Karen Fisher, the representative of the consortium of financers backing the casino. She’s here in town, and she’s behind everything.”
Jolene blew out a long breath. “We have her, Sam. La Gringa Vieja.”
Chapter Eighteen
Sam straightened his bowtie in the mirror, and Jolene came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, careful not to smudge the collar of his white shirt with her red lipstick. “Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?”
Sam patted the flash drive in his pocket. “We don’t know who we can trust right now. I don’t want this getting lost or deleted or corrupted. You saw what happened to Tucker in custody where he was supposed to be safe.”
“I’m glad we didn’t see my cousin Wade in any of that drone footage, but do you think he could be involved?” Jolene dropped her arms from Sam and rubbed the goose bumps that had risen on them.
“Do I think he knew that land was a dumping ground for dead drug couriers? No, but he knew those people wanted access to the land prior to the casino going up—and he gave it to them in exchange for money and support.”
“Sounds like something Wade would do.” She smoothed the skirt of her glittery white dress over her thighs. “When Rob Valdez’s girlfriend, Libby, ID’d Ted Jessup in Rocky Point as El Gringo Viejo, did she mention a wife or a girlfriend? Where did this Karen Fisher come from?”
Sam shrugged, the tuxedo jacket tightening across his broad shoulders. “I don’t know, but she and Jessup sure seemed cozy in the videos, didn’t they? She’s obviously the face of the financial empire EGV has built up with drug money. Jessup made sure to stay away from the public eye.”
“We could just turn this information over to the cartels, and they’d handle it in their own way. They don’t look too kindly on double-crossers.”
“There’s been enough bloodshed over Pink Lady, and if we can get Karen in custody, she’ll most likely sing like a
