“Not really, but I believe in playing fair.” When she didn’t say anything, he took a deep breath and jumped off the precipice. “Okay… My word is resentment.”

“Well, now we’re getting somewhere. What’s your best childhood memory of him?”

Nathan didn’t hesitate with an answer, because it was one of the few good memories he had, and he could probably count them on one hand. “We were fishing. I don’t remember where, some lake up near Yosemite. I reeled in a big one, or what seemed like a big one, you know, to a kid. He was so proud of me. I remember his smile.” He turned toward the window, grateful for the dark interior. “You’re way out of my league, Holly. After ten minutes, you’ve hit the bull’s-eye with me. Am I really that transparent?”

“Not at all. Just truthful.”

“This isn’t easy to talk about.”

“I appreciate you’re confiding in me. To be honest, I expected you to be all business.”

“I thought the same thing about you. I thought all you’d want to talk about was the Bridgestones.”

“I do want to talk about them, but it’s a three-hour drive up to the cabin. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Nathan said nothing.

“It’s a compliment.”

“If you say so.”

“How did you know about the buried money?”

“I didn’t. Not with certainty, but I’m betting the Bridgestones have been dealing in Semtex for awhile. They obviously don’t take checks as payment, so they need to move huge amounts of cash around and it’s not easy to do without someone on the inside of a financial institution. They can’t just fly overseas with suitcases full of cash. They’d need someone they really trust to launder it. They probably do it through bogus third-party loans, so they’d need someone to process the transactions. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have numbered accounts in the Caymans or Switzerland or wherever. They’ve probably been making lots of smaller deposits over the years.”

“So how do we catch them?”

“You probably won’t.”

“If we could, how would we do it?”

He thought about it for a few seconds. “Follow the money trail.”

“It’s a dead end, we’ve looked at it.”

“You have to find their insider.”

Holly thought about that for awhile. “Any ideas who it might be?”

“I’d start with Leonard Bridgestone’s military background. Someone he knew from the Gulf War, someone who’s now working for a financial institution. Whoever it is, he’s getting a percentage for his services. There would be signs. Someone who’s living beyond his means. A huge house. Expensive cars. A stock portfolio, those kind of things. Things that can’t be explained by his reported salary. If nothing turns up, then do the same with Ernie.”

“Good thoughts.”