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.