After my sit-down with Roth, there was only fifteen minutes of daylight remaining. Holland and Rix led our contingent into the jungle to find an area where we could set up our tents. Sadly, there wasn’t a large enough area to fit all five of us, and we split into two groups. Rix helped the three Bolivians set up their campsite, and Holland assisted me and Vern with ours. The ex-soldier hacked away at the vegetation, widening an area of twelve square feet for us.

On his departure, Holland said, “When you guys are all organized, head back to camp. We usually have tea—or something stronger, if that’s your preference.”

Once he was out of earshot, I turned to Vern, who was sitting in the opening of his tent and massaging his knee.

“Hurting?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe Diego can find another one of those Matico trees around here.” My testicle could attest to its healing powers. It was back in tip-top shape—that is to say, oval.

“I’ll be okay, but I wouldn’t be opposed to some of that stronger stuff Holland mentioned.”

I hadn’t done much drinking the past couple of years, but after the day we’d had, I concurred. But the edge would have to stay on for a few more minutes. I asked, “Did you know Lieutenant Goytia was going to be here?”

“No,” Vern said, “but I’m not surprised.”

“Why’s that?”

“He has his hands in all sorts of pockets. He would have known about the permits, and he obviously knew the expedition was coming in.”

“Roth said he was forced to give Goytia the lidar scans three weeks ago.” I leaned heavily on the last three words.

“And what, you think he put together a team to look for the ruins, and they took your girl?”

“Gina said soldiers took her, and the timeline is possible. And someone arrived beforehand and grabbed that golden jaguar. Everyone else who knew about the coordinates three weeks ago doesn’t fit the mold.”

Vern took off his maroon hat, revealing a bald spot on the top of his head. “For one, you’re going on Roth’s word.”

“I know when someone is lying to me. He wasn’t.”

“Well, I can tell you that Goytia didn’t take the jaguar.”

“How do you know?”

I stared at him and waited.

After a quick sigh, he said, “When Roth came down for the lidar survey, he showed me the picture of the jaguar. On the picture was a sticky note with the exact latitude and longitude of the statue. He had a set of binoculars and when he was busy looking out the window, I snapped a picture of the coordinates with my phone. A week after Roth left, I paid someone to go and snag it.”