Buried Secrets

by Carol Ericson

  “The thumb drive.” Gabe choked. “I have a video on the thumb drive. Couldn’t touch me. EGV couldn’t touch me. Video from the drone.”

  Gabe’s body slumped, and the blood stopped pumping from his chest.

  As the red-and-blue lights bathed the scene and the sirens wound down to an echo, Jolene cranked her head around to stare into Sam’s face. “The thumb drive? What does he mean?”

  Sam raised his dark eyebrows. “Thumb, drum, crumb. Tucker had incriminating video of the casino property—and I’d bet my life it’s in the vacant apartment next to Melody’s.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  With the police on the scene, a few neighbors had gathered in their driveways. A patrol car squealed to a stop, feet from Sam and Jolene.

  When the officer exited the vehicle, hand hovering over his weapon, he shouted, “What happened here?”

  Sam tipped his head toward Contreras laid out in the street. Jolene still crouched beside him. “Gunshot victim.”

  “Did you shoot him?”

  Sam raised his hands. “No, we just stumbled onto the scene. When we heard the shots, we hit the deck.”

  “Is she with you?” The officer pointed his finger at Jolene.

  “Yes. It looks like he was hit in the chest and stomach. He was gushing blood, but now it’s just pooling around him. He’s dead.”

  The cop’s chin jutted out. “You law enforcement?”

  “Border Patrol.” Sam reached for his back pocket and flipped out his badge to show the officer.

  The EMTs had joined Jolene next to Contreras, easing her out of the way. She sat on the street, knees drawn to her chest and a pair of bloodstained hands wedged on the asphalt behind her.

  Sam kneeled beside her. “Are you okay? My heart stopped when you took off for Contreras, but you done good, kid.”

  Her glassy eyes tracked from the EMTs working fruitlessly on Contreras to Sam’s face. “We have to get that video.”

  “Shh. We will.”

  She sat forward, bringing her hands in front of her face. “There was so much blood. What did you tell the police?”

  “Not much.” Sam glanced over his shoulder at the approaching officer. “We heard the shot and saw him fall. You tell the EMTs anything?”

  “Nothing...but, I mean nothing.” She placed a hand on the ground and struggled to her feet, as the officer hovered over her.

  Sam took her arm and helped her up.

  “Ma’am, are you all right?” The officer’s gaze dropped to her hands, streaked with Contreras’s blood.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you a nurse?”

  “A nurse?” She shook her head. “I just thought I’d see if I could help.”

  “Did you?”

  “No. He was already dead or fast on his way. There was no way to staunch that blood.”

  The officer had a few more questions for them, and by the time he was finished, Contreras had been pronounced dead. The cop held his card out to Sam. “We have your information, Agent Cross. Now you have mine. If you remember anything about the incident or the car, let us know. The deceased is a known drug dealer in Tucson, so his manner of death is not all that surprising. Ma’am, the EMTs can see to your hands. Are they injured?”

  “No.” Jolene spread her fingers in front of her, as if just noticing the blood. “Thanks, I’ll walk over.”

  Sam pressed his hand against the small of Jolene’s back and steered her to the ambulance, calling out to the EMT. “Do you have some solution to clean off her hands? Murder victim’s blood.”

  “Of course.” One of the EMTs ducked into the back of the ambulance and emerged with a clear liquid in a bottle and gauze pads. As Jolene held out her hands, the EMT squirted the solution over her hands and wiped them with the gauze. He did it one more time, removing all traces of Contreras’s blood.

  The EMT handed her a pristine dry towel. “Are you all right, otherwise?”

  “I’m fine.” Jolene hopped off the back of the ambulance. “Sam?”

  “All good. Let’s get back to the car.” He took her hand, and they walked down the middle of the street, the residents still gathered in small clusters in driveways and curbside.

  Sam tipped his head toward Jolene’s. “It came from the car. Did you see it roll by right before the shot was fired? Two shots, one kill.”

  “I didn’t see anything but you running in front of me...limping, like you are now. What happened to your leg?”

  Sam squeezed his left quad. “Jammed it up when I jumped from that balcony. Did I overreact? When I saw him grab your wrist...”

  “He was gonna run one way or the other.” She untangled her hand from his, and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Lean on me if you have to. When you saw Gabe grab my wrist, you couldn’t have felt any worse than I did when I watched you crumple in front of me.”

  “You thought Contreras had turned and shot me?”

  “Yes.” She covered her eyes with her hand for a second. “Filled me with panic.”

  “So much so, that you didn’t hear me yelling at you to keep down. That car could’ve made a U-turn and come back at us.”

  “But it didn’t. Much better for a lone drug dealer to get gunned down than three people tied together by one person—Melody Nighthawk.”

  His shoulder bumped hers as he stumbled. “You figured out that was no random killing or drug deal gone wrong.”

  “Someone’s been watching Gabe...or us. Wanted to keep him quiet...about that video.”

  “It almost worked.”

  Jolene glanced over her shoulder before they turned the corner. “What do you think is on the video? It was enough to keep Gabe alive for two years.”

  “We’ll find out. Do you remember when Tucker was babbling about his thumb?”

  “Vaguely. He said so much nonsense.”

  “He said Pinky gave him the thumb drive and that it was in the floor.”

  Jolene stumbled. “You think it’s in the floor of Melody’s apartment or the one next door?”

  “I think Melody gave it to Tucker to hide in the place next to hers. I just hope it’s there and not in some hidey-hole of Tucker’s. Maybe she gave the thumb drive to Tucker, maybe not. Maybe he saw her hiding it in her place, in the floor.”

  “And Gabe...Contreras must’ve given the thumb drive to Melody for safekeeping—putting her life in danger.”

  When they reached the car, Sam pulled out his phone, tapped it and crouched next to the rental.

  “What are you doing?” Jolene hovered over him.

  “The person who shot Contreras knew we were here to meet him. That means they were keeping tabs on him, or someone is tracking us. I’m going to check the car chassis for a GPS device. We have the capability on our phones now—mandatory after several of our agents were personally targeted by the cartels.”

  His ears primed for the telltale beep that would signal a device, he continued his sweep, crawling on the ground, waving his phone beneath the car as Jolene followed him, functioning as his lookout just as he’d kept watch when she was talking to Contreras. They made a good team.

  Satisfied, he rose to his feet, brushing off the knees of his jeans. “Nothing, which means Contreras was being followed, whether he knew it or not. His name change didn’t fool them. They must’ve been watching him for a while, knew he’d been in contact with Melody. Even though he had that video over their heads, they watched him.”

  He opened the passenger door and nudged her inside. Then he limped around to the driver’s side. As he repositioned the seat, she ran her hand along his thigh.

  “Is your leg okay?”

  “Just sore. I’ll be fine.” He laced his fingers with hers and brought her hand to his lips. “We’re falling apart piece by piece, aren’t we?”

  “Nobody else I’d rather fall ap
art with.” She caressed his chin. “I’m glad to have you on my side, Sam—now let’s find that thumb drive.”

  * * *

  BY THE TIME they got back to Paradiso, it was almost midnight. Once again, Sam pulled into the parking lot of Melody’s apartment building. With the car idling, he said, “Maybe we should leave this for the morning.”

  “Are you crazy?” Jolene released her seat belt. “Melody and Contreras were killed for that video. It’s the proof you’ve been waiting for.”

  He cut the engine. “Maybe you should leave this for the morning. I’ll go inside and you can take the car home.”

  “I’m in this, Sam, just as much as you are.” She patted his forearm, tense and corded as he gripped the steering wheel. “I’ll be fine. Nobody’s going to be here. Nobody followed us, nobody is tracking this car.”

  He opened his mouth, and she pushed open her door before he could raise any more objections. She knew he’d been spooked when someone shot at them, but this wasn’t the same. Was it?

  She skipped across the parking lot before Sam even got out of the car, taking advantage of his bum leg. She did wait for him at the base of the stairs, palming Melody’s key. She had every right to be here.

  When he caught up with her, he panted. “You don’t play fair.”

  “Can you make it up the stairs okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, let’s get going. We don’t want anyone seeing us hanging around here.”

  She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Too late. There’s a couple standing outside a car in the parking lot.”

  Sam said, “Then let’s do a search of Melody’s place first, as you have the key. When they’re gone, we’ll get into the vacant unit.”

  They reached Melody’s front door, and Jolene unlocked it and stepped over the threshold. Sam crowded in behind her, whispering in her ear, “Don’t turn the lights on. We don’t want to signal anyone. I’ve got my flashlight.”

  Sam snapped the door closed, secured the curtains at the front window and flicked on his flashlight. “We’ve already searched all the conventional places and didn’t see any thumb drive. The cops would’ve scooped up anything like that. It’s time to search the unconventional.”

  “What did you remember Tucker saying about the thumb drive?” Biting her bottom lip, Jolene peered into the dim, disheveled room. Had someone besides the police tossed the place?

  “Besides thumb, drum, crumb?” Sam aimed his light at the tiled floor. “He said the thumb drive was in the floor.”

  Jolene stamped her sneaker against the tiles. “How can something be hidden under tile?”

  “That’s what worries me about any information from Tucker. He wasn’t exactly rooted in reality.” He skimmed the light across the room. “Let’s check the closets.”

  They combed the floors of Melody’s apartment, which were tiled throughout. Jolene skimmed her toe across two squares. “This is new stuff, too. No chips or cracks or loose tiles. In fact, I remember Melody talking about how she’d had a water leak that ruined the wood floors and the management company was replacing everything with tile.”

  “Wood floors?” Sam cocked his head. “Some of these units have wood floors?”

  “I know. You could actually hide something beneath wood flooring. Maybe the place where Tucker was hiding has the wood.”

  Jolene strolled to the wall Melody’s place shared with the vacant unit next door. “That would explain why Melody gave Tucker the flash drive—so he could hide it in the floor.”

  “Then, that’s where we need to be.” Sam snapped off the flashlight and made a move for the front door. “Is that couple gone now?”

  Jolene stepped outside and peered over the railing into the parking lot. “They’re gone. How are we going to get in there?”

  “Give me some credit. If Tucker Bishop can break into an abandoned apartment, so can I.”

  Five minutes later, Sam made good on his promise as he picked the lock on the empty unit and pushed open the door.

  Jolene held her breath against the musty smell, as she stepped inside the unfurnished unit. “If the cops came in here, they didn’t have much to search.”

  Sam’s flashlight lit up a dirty blanket in the corner. “Tucker’s bed.”

  Tapping her toe against the tile floor, Jolene said, “Looks like they replaced this floor, too.”

  Sam crept to the back of the apartment and called over his shoulder. “Not in the bedroom.”

  Jolene followed the light and joined Sam in the bedroom, the hardwood floor stretched out before them like a treasure map. Now they just had to find the treasure.

  Sam slid open the mirrored closet door and lifted a wooden clothes rod from its brackets. “You use this to tap the floor, and I’ll crawl around and use the end of my flashlight. You’re listening for a hollow sound or looking for any irregularities in the seams of the floor.”

  They started in opposite corners of the room, tapping away like a couple of deathwatch beetles. Jolene hit each panel of wood with the end of the rod, cocking her head, listening for different sounds.

  She approached the lone window in the room and rapped the end of her stick against the piece closest to the wall. Instead of the light, tinny sound she’d grown accustomed to, she heard a deeper sound. She tapped again and tapped the panel next to the first one.

  The dark hollow sound had her heart racing and she dropped to her knees. “I think I found something, Sam.”

  He was at her side in an instant, the light from his flashlight playing over the floor.

  “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?”