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Harv grabbed Estefan’s cell from the glove compartment, handed it to his friend, and got out of the truck. He and Nathan walked several pickup lengths farther up the road. They were well screened from the highway by chest-high weeds and bushes growing along the base of the fence. The fields on both sides of the road had been plowed, but whoever did the tractor work had kept a safe distance from the wire.

Nathan tapped Cantrell’s number and waited, allowing her phone to ring ten times before hanging up.

Within seconds, their phone received a text from Bill Stafford’s number.

ten minutes

Nathan looked at his watch. “Let’s get going.”

“We may lose our cell signal farther down the road.”

“The sun’s coming up. We’re not hanging around here. Besides, the call isn’t that urgent.” They walked back to the truck.

Estefan backed out to the road. “When you guys get your return call, I’ll pull over and get out.”

“Good idea,” Nathan said. “I guess we should’ve done that back there.”

“No harm done,” Estefan said.

A few miles farther south, they entered the outskirts of a larger town that looked to be home to several thousand people. Nathan checked his cell. Three bars. “It’s still early, but with a little luck we’ll find a place to grab a bite. Keep an eye out for a diner or roadside stand. At this point, I’d settle for anything other than an energy bar.” Near the center of town at a major intersection, Nathan looked around and saw what they needed. “Make a right here.”

“I see it,” Estefan said.

They pulled up to a curio and fruit stand where the owner was still setting up shop. Estefan rolled his window down and asked if she was willing to open a little early. She nodded and continued unloading wares from her van.

“I’ll get a good mix of fruit. If she’s got some pork jerky, I’ll get some. Nuts too.”

“Sounds good,” Nathan said. “Offer her a nice tip for opening early but not too big. We don’t want to be remembered.”

“No problem. Give me a wave if you get your call while I’m out there. I’ll delay getting back in.”

After Estefan climbed out, Harv suggested sending a text to Stafford saying now would be a good time to talk.

A few seconds later, Nathan’s phone rang. He issued a single word. “Chromium.”

“I’ve got you on speaker. Bill’s with me.” Cantrell’s voice sounded clear and unbroken.

“We’re secure. Thank you for sending in the recons.”

“You’re welcome. I wouldn’t have inserted you without them, but I couldn’t let you know ahead of time. Their presence in-country is as unofficial as yours.”

“We appreciate it and understand.”

“What’s your status?”

“As we suspected, our messenger is a former kilo grad. A shooter, not a spotter. His name is Estefan Delgado. He’s the man who helped Harv rescue me from Montez’s camp. His father was Pastor Tobias.”

“Do you trust him?”

He exchanged a glance with Harv. “Yeah, we do.”

“What about Raven?”

“That’s where it gets complicated. Estefan can’t tell us with one hundred percent certainty that Raven’s responsible for his father’s murder, but he’s given us a strong argument.” Nathan relayed all the information about the sniper killings in the area.

“Given everything I just heard, I’m tending to agree with Mr. Delgado. It sounds like Raven’s your man.”

“Estefan wants to kill him.”

“And…?”

“The man risked his life to rescue me.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

From the fruit stand, Estefan looked over. Harv simulated a phone to his ear. Estefan nodded understanding.

“If you’re willing,” said Nathan, “we could use some help. We need whatever you can dig up on a man named Paulo Macanas. He’s a landowner who runs some legitimate businesses. He owns a lumber mill in Santavilla and operates some cattle ranches and coffee farms. He also owns several gold mines. Gold is the reason Estefan asked for our help.”

Nathan gave Cantrell a quick overview of what Estefan told them about Santavilla, the gold-mining operation, and the connection to the slaying of Tobias Delgado.

She said, “On the surface, it doesn’t sound like a good enough reason for murder.”

“We thought the same thing and pushed Estefan a little. Because there were multiple shootings in Raven’s old territory, he told us he’d asked his father to see what he could learn. I think it’s fair to assume Tobias discovered something and got himself killed over it.”

“Based on everything you know at this point, is there a national security risk?”

“My gut says no. On the surface, it appears to be a personal issue between Raven and Estefan.” Nathan filled her in on what Estefan had shared about the summit.

“We’ll look into that. So what’s your next move?”

“We’re heading down to Estefan’s house in Managua. His father wrote hundreds of letters about what was happening in Santavilla. We’re going to read them and hope they give us something useful. We’re also going to access some maps and aerials to get a better handle on Macanas’s operation.”

“How much additional time do you need?”

“I don’t know, maybe a few days. We made it clear to Estefan we can’t conduct a prolonged surveillance of Macanas’s operation.”

“I’ve got your current GPS location around eighty-five miles northeast of Managua.”

“We’ve been driving for a while. In a straight line, that distance sounds about right.”

“I want you to give Bill Stafford regular updates. He’ll brief me.”

“No problem.”

“Give me as much lead time as possible for your extraction. I’ll have to set it up again. Unless something happens to change it, your extraction point will be the same coordinates as planned.”

“Are you giving us the nod on Raven?”

“That’s your call. I won’t second-guess you on it.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll have Stafford update you if we find anything on Macanas.”

“Apparently he owns a helicopter. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a helipad at his house. From what Estefan told us, he’s fairly wealthy.”

“I’m making a note. We might be able to do something with it. Try to keep your profile as small as possible.”

Nathan sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Will do. We’ll check in with Stafford after we’ve looked at the letters.”

“When was the last time you two slept?”

“It’s been a while. The road leaving alpha was pretty rough. We should be okay from here on. We’ll catch a few z’s on the drive into Managua.”

“Make sure you do.”

Nathan ended the call. “Any doubts about her at this point?”

“Honestly, it’s hard not to like her.”

Nathan waved Estefan over. “But liking and trusting are two different things, right? Come on, Harv. She didn’t have to arrange the marines. I think it’s a clear statement. Setting that up with JSOC couldn’t have been easy.”

“Easy enough. All she did was make a call or two.”

“You know what I mean. She put troops in harm’s way. Yes, that’s her job, but that doesn’t make it easy. Cut her some slack. She’s earned our confidence.”

“If you say so.”

“Yeah, I do. And so do you.”

Estefan climbed in and handed the box of fruit back to Nathan.

“Good job, Estefan. Keep the change.”

“How generous of you. Our merchant was quite thankful for the tip. She had some homemade pastries, so I bought a couple dozen. We’ll stop for some jerky closer to Managua. I know a good spot.”

“How long to your house from here?”