“Started about twenty years ago by a group of US soldiers,” Mantis jumped in. “Soldiers who lacked any moral compass and who decided that combat pay wasn’t cutting it.”
“They didn’t so much go into business with the local producers of opium in Afghanistan as bully and terrorize them into it,” Viper added.
“With the years of endless rotations into and out of that country, the group grew more powerful than they probably anticipated,” Mantis continued.
“And the allure of that kind of money is impossible for some people to resist, so many kept at it when they discharged. Growing markets in the US and Europe,” Collin said.
“The government knows they’re doing it, knows the origin of the group, but because they’re military…” James let the sentence hang.
Helia struggled to take everything in. Maybe it was the drugs she’d been given, or maybe it was because this situation was so far outside her reality that putting two and two together felt more like putting a round peg in a square hole.
“Was Mark Pena ever even in the military?” she asked. Not the most urgent question, but her mind wanted the baby steps.
“Served a single tour after college,” Leo answered. “Deployed to Afghanistan.”
“But Justin imported from South Asian countries, mostly Thailand and China,” she said. “And you said Kurt worked for a company that had criminal ties, but also to South Asia.”
“If you get a toehold in the drug world, expansion pays,” James answered.
She blinked. “So this DKZ started with opium from Afghanistan, terrorizing a population of people who were already being terrorized by circumstances, and has expanded to other parts of Asia?”
“And South America. America’s appetite for illicit drugs is unequaled. Europe’s not far behind,” Leo said.
“And Trish is involved in this, too?” she asked.
“Seems probable,” Scipio said. “She was responsible for a large portfolio of imports for Mark’s business. And with her showing up out here…”
Helia leaned forward, rubbing her fingers across her forehead before running them through her hair. Collin’s hand splayed warm and steady across her back.
“Okay, so you think Roger, Kelly, and Justin were part of a distribution channel for drugs that Mark and Trish imported into the US,” she said. Scipio nodded. “Two questions, no, three. First, how does that involve Sundaram? Second, how does Kurt come into this? And third, how can we keep Sundaram as clean as I know we are?”
“And fourth, why did someone try to kill you today?” Collin added.
“Yeah, that, too,” she said.
“The second question ties to the first,” Scipio said. “You said Kurt Fisher worked for a company owned by Wei Zhao?” he asked Leo, who nodded. “Wei Zhao competes for market with DKZ.”
“Three months ago, Sundaram imported several food items from them for a large wedding,” Leo said, looking at thecomputer she’d logged on to with the Sundaram vendor database. “That, in and of itself, isn’t interesting. But what is, is the fact that for the past four years, you’ve used a different provider for the same goods.”
“You think Kurt and Wei Zhao were trying to horn in on the DKZ market here in the valley and the DKZ killed Kurt because of it,” Callie said.
“No absolute proof yet, but yeah,” Scipio said. The former FBI agent held his gaze, then nodded, whether in agreement with the process or his deduction, Helia didn’t know.
“So Sundaram is being used, as what, a sort of receiving center for the drugs that Kelly and Justin then distribute?” Helia asked, again feeling like a bottle of turpentine was swirling in her stomach.
Scipio nodded. “Food shipments, especially frozen ones like Sundaram receives, are rarely searched, and the dry ice it’s packed with can impact scent detecting that the packages go through. It’s a good place to hide drugs.”
“Someone at Sundaram would have to be involved then,” Helia said, wanting to cry. She wouldn’t, but to say she hated the idea of her parents’ business being used in that way would be like saying Mount Everest was a little more than a molehill.
“Someone in the kitchen, most likely,” Scipio said.
Callie rose and started pacing the room in front of the whiteboard. “I agree,” she said. “It’s someone in the kitchen. Someone who can receive the packages and remove the drugs before anyone else notices. Which is also where Marcel, the former intern, comes in.”
“What?” Helia asked. This kept getting worse and worse.
“I’m guessing he saw something in the kitchen that he shouldn’t have. Then he disappeared to Vegas, hid in the shadows, maybe waiting to see if anyone came after him, before leaving the country.”
“But he never made it,” Helia said, a wave of loss rolling through her. She’d liked Marcel and didn’t want to think about his body being somewhere in the desert, never to be found, because he’d stumbled upon something criminal at Sundaram.
