Edge studied the drawing. “I didn’t think you were planning to use heavy equipment to dig the place up.”
“I’m not,” Gage said. “King’s already found the gold—or at least that’s the premise we’re working on. So there’s an entrance somewhere we can get to without having to dig very deep.”
Abby shined her own smaller flashlight around. “The property is so overgrown, it’s going to be hard to find our way into the lower level, even with King’s instructions.”
“King said he covered the entrance back up when he left so it looked exactly as it had before.”
“In daylight, it will be easier,” Mateo said. “You have come this far. You will find it.”
Gage glanced over at his friend. “Let’s hope you’re right.”
Abby followed the track of Gage’s flashlight as the beam traveled over the low rock walls that outlined the long rectangular shape of the house.
Somewhere—among the dense shrubs, plants, bushes, leafy trees, and undergrowth within the foundation—was a passage that would lead to untold wealth. Abby felt a little kick of excitement just thinking about it.
“Let’s go get some sleep,” Gage said. “It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.” He took her hand to help her navigate the rough ground back to the passenger side of the Hummer.
Glancing over her shoulder, Abby took a last look at the ruins of the old hacienda.WE’ll find it, King, she promised. And prayed she could keep her word.
* * *
After spending the night in Mérida, Edge’s security team showed up in Alux’ob at eight o’clock the next morning. Finished with a breakfast ofhuevos motuleñosthat Carlos had fetched for them from the cantina, Gage walked Abby out to meet them.
Edge made the introductions to his crew. “Guys, this is my brother, Gage. The lady is Abigail Holland. You’ve already met Mateo.” Edge turned to the additional two team members, a man and a woman, both veterans who had served in Afghanistan. “Gage and Abby, meet Trace Elliott and Skye Delaney. Gage, you met Trace at Kade’s wedding. He worked security on the ranch for a while when Kade was having trouble.”
“I remember,” Gage said, reaching out to shake Elliott’s hand. He remembered the man, dark-haired and good-looking, with intense blue eyes.
The woman, Skye Delaney, was average height, her skin suntanned to a smooth bronze. She had softly curling, sun-streaked brown hair, about shoulder-length, pulled back in a low ponytail. Even without makeup, she was strikingly attractive.
Her handshake was firm and strong. Edge had told him Skye had been injured in Afghanistan. Apparently, she had taken shrapnel in one leg, which had also been badly burned, in an attack on her Humvee. From what he had seen so far, it didn’t slow her down.
Abby shook each of their hands. “Nice to meet you both,” she said.
“Trace and I served together,” Edge explained. “I’ve been working with him and Skye at Nighthawk for a while.” Nighthawk Security, where Kade had met his wife, Ellie, a private investigator at the time.
“They’re both former army,” Edge said. “They’re good at what they do, and they’re people we can trust.”
“Welcome aboard,” Gage said. Bringing on more security posed a certain risk, but now, with cartel members in the area, there wasn’t any choice. If the search dragged out, he would have to hire day laborers to help with the work, but he would address that problem when the time came.
Gage turned to Mateo. “Let’s load the gear and head out.”
Shovels, picks, rakes, hoes, metal detectors, a Leica distance measurer, two wheelbarrows, miscellaneous other equipment and gear, along with a drone, were loaded into the Hummers.
Mateo had stocked up on food before his arrival: protein bars, trail mix, peanut butter, crackers, tortillas, cheese, jerky, canned tuna, hard meats, and assorted other snacks and sweets. Coolers held bottled water, even some Gatorade. Handling the details was part of Mateo’s job, and he did it well.
Gage had no idea how long it would take to locate the entrance to the lower level. With temperatures in the high 90s, they’d have to take frequent breaks and be sure to stay hydrated.
He and Abby set off with the boy in one vehicle, Mateo and Edge in the other. Trace and Skye were staying behind to make sure they weren’t followed, then joining them at the site in a third vehicle, an older Jeep that Gage hoped wouldn’t break down on the way.
The narrow, overgrown road deteriorated the farther they drove from town. Noise from the engine startled an occasional white-tailed deer and a couple of colorful parrots. As he rounded a turn, Abby gripped his arm, excited to spot a cinnamon-colored coati, a raccoon-like mammal with a pointed nose and a long, ringed tail.
It took less than an hour on the narrow, bumpy road to reach the old hacienda. Gage pulled through the arched stone gate, and both vehicles drove around to the back. They parked in the shade of overhanging trees, and the engines were turned off.
Working together, they unloaded the gear, while Gage mapped out a search grid covering the area inside the foundation. When the third vehicle arrived, Trace and Skye took off walking, making a perimeter check of the location. They would also be doing vehicle security sweeps while the rest of the team worked.
King’s notes marked the approximate location of the underground rooms, but at the time, he had only discovered the first of what he believed were several different caches of gold.
He’d left Denver for Mexico to recover the first cache and search for the rest, but he’d never made it home. The notes he had left behind were all the information they had.
