“We’re almost there,” Abby said, following the lines on the screen. The vehicle ahead made a turn to the right, and Gage followed. A few seconds later, a stone arch appeared in front of them, overgrown with vines and weeds. As they passed beneath the arch, she could see the road ahead curving off toward their destination.

An animal darted out in the road, panicked, turned, and scuttled away.

“Anteater,” Gage said. “Big one.” It was about five feet long, with a pointed snout and yellowish-white and black fur. “They’re nocturnal,” he added.

Abby’s heart was still racing from the near miss and seeing such an incredible animal in the wild. “So I just learned.”

“They’re actually very shy.”

“With the size of those claws, I’d rather not run into one in the forest.”

In the colored lights on the dash, she caught Gage’s smile.

They drove another quarter mile and came to a long slab of stone topped by arched columns, all that was left of the front entrance to what had once been a grand hacienda.

Ahead of them, Mateo slowed, then continued along the road, circling around the house to the back. Off to one side, outbuildings were now piles of stone covered by vines and bushes that had grown up through the cracks.

They reached what had been the rear entrance, and both vehicles pulled to a stop. They left the headlights on so they could see what remained of the hacienda. From what Abby could tell, there was nothing but stone walls two to four feet high, part of the foundation.

They climbed out of the vehicles, and Abby unrolled the drawing Gage had made from satellite views of the grounds, combined with the information King had left in the safe deposit box.

Edge walked up, and so did Mateo. “Not much left,” Edge said, his gaze tracking the shapes outlined by the headlights.

Abby spread the drawing open on the hood of the car, and Gage clicked on his long-handled flashlight to study it. His gaze went back to the remnants of the house. “Mostly, it’s just the original foundation, the perimeter stones King described.”

The old plantations were built in a similar design, much like the Hacienda San José, with a long, gallery-style front entrance, a rambling single-story residence, and gardens in the rear. According to the brochure Abby had read, there were fifteen bedrooms and suites in the Hacienda San José, probably at least an equal number here.

“How big do you think it was?” Abby asked.

“I’d say twelve to fifteen thousand square feet on the main level.”

“Plus the rooms below the house,” Abby said. “The wine cellar, food-storage chambers, and probably some servants’ quarters.”