Now, though, they needed to look at the evidence.
“Then, we have Yandriel and Luis. They worked with Aaron, they would know what he was doing, and they got the case afterward. Both men were at the scene and could be helping Rodrigo. We all know mob men like having cops on their payroll.”
Gene agreed there, too.
“We just need proof.”
That was the difficult part.
When Ethan’s laptop beeped, he knew one of his searches was done.
As he checked, Gene kept talking.
“I think we’re going to need to lean heavily into any forensics that may pop up with Samuel Padilla. Since he wasn’t put in the water, we might have a chance.”
When Ethan didn’t answer, Gene focused on him. He was intently staring at the computer screen, saying nothing. It was clear he was reading something.
“What did you find?”
Ethan glanced over.
“I think I found it.”
Gene lifted a brow.
“Found what?” he asked.
Ethan turned his laptop and showed his partner. When he did, Gene looked confused.
“What is that?” he asked.
Ethan explained.
“I’m running businesses, and I found one that Rodrigo Cruz owns.”
Okay, but that didn’t answer as to why Ethan looked excited and perplexed all at one time.
“Gene, that’s a sugar cane processing plant. It’s not operational right now, but it’s literally on the water,” he said, showing him the aerial view where they could see a dock where boats came in, and a sandy beach.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
Ethan clued him in.
“The sugar burns had sand in it. What if the killer dragged the body to-and-from the boat, into the sugar processing facility, and out, and the sand was hot, so the sugar was hot?”
Gene paused.
“Where is this?”
Ethan put it on a map, and then he knew what his partner wanted.
He triangulated where the bodies turned up on shore, and they were all in the same area.
“Shit,” Gene said.
Blackhawk did his due diligence.
“It’s been out of business for a while,” he admitted. “Is this where Rodrigo might be planning to start his real estate venture that he’s bribing officials over? This would make a good place to take a body in the middle of the night, torture them, and then have easy access to dump them. There’s an access road thatleads up to it, andMILESof sugar cane and palm trees around it.”
