“Then don’t think about it. Think about how we’re going to catch him.” She looked him in the eye. “Because I didn’t like the idea of running away from that son of a bitch, either. It made me feel helpless. I can imagine how Elaine must have felt with him after her.”
“But Elaine Wessler wasn’t killed on that cliff path.”
“No, she wasn’t. Why not? Was it because she always took Harley with her when she walked that path? The trainer told Olivia that the bogus call he took from the vet tech was an inquiry about Harley’s K-9 abilities. Were they thinking about the possibility of killing the dog to discourage Elaine from taking him up there? What if Elaine ran into Dietrich and Hayes on that path and Harley was aggressive?”
“All possible,” Lynch said. “But then you have to ask yourself why they even chose to be strolling up there at the same time as Elaine Wessler. Did they realize she had seen them? Or had they just seen her and were taking preventive measures?”
She wearily shook her head. “I don’t know. And surely Elaine would have reported trespassers if she’d actually run across them on the path. All the teachers are super careful of the students. That’s why Elaine asked Mr. Kim to check out a possible intrusion on the private beach.” She shook her head. “But Metcalf said after the murders that there was no sign of a disturbance down there, no footprints, nothing. Whatever they were doing, they cleaned it up as if it had never happened.”
“Oh, you mean like Hayes’s room at that hotel?” Lynch asked sardonically.
“Perhaps.” She shook her head. “What else did you find out from the CIA about Cardona?”
“What we suspected. Cardona was an international player who dealt principally with the cartels in Mexico, but a few years ago he and Dietrich had a profitable arrangement smuggling drugs out of North Africa to Rome.”
“Drugs,” Kendra said slowly.
“It seems to be the tie that binds Cardona and Dietrich together,” Lynch said. “Though Dietrich prefers to operate out of Europe and Russia. He even recently bought a home north of Moscow. But maybe Cardona made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. San Diego is right across the border from Mexico where Cardona did most of his business. They could have had a joint deal with one of the major cartels and then had a falling-out.”
“Here on our doorstep at Oceanside?” She felt sick at the idea. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it,” he said quietly. “Cardona is a big player. What would be a safer place for them to hide a multimillion-dollar stash of drugs than a wonderful, humanitarian school for special kids? No one would suspect it.”
“Because the idea is hideous.” But it was possible and she had to accept it. “And you think Mr. Kim and Elaine might have stumbled across them and were killed because of it?”
“I’m not that far along yet,” Lynch said. “I don’t know what to think. I’m just saying that it could be one explanation.” He grimaced. “But Laurent isn’t telling me everything about Dietrich. I told you before he’s being very cagey. I have an idea Dietrich is on some kind of watch list or Laurent wouldn’t have had the information about him so readily available.”
“Can’t you find out?”
“It’s not that easy. I’ll go back to Laurent if I can’t do it any other way. But we might know more later after I hear from Metcalf.”
“Metcalf?” She straightened upright on the couch. “Why are you expecting to hear from him?”
“After he told me about your get-together with Dietrich on the cliff, I asked him to go back there with a more specific search in mind. Such as places where a cache of drugs or cash could be hidden up on that cliff. Previously, he’d only been searching for Dietrich himself or proof that he was even up there. But now we have a drug connection between Dietrich and Cardona.” He made a face. “He wasn’t pleased at the prospect of going back. He’d just gotten home and was nursing a cold beer. But he said he’d do it. He didn’t even ask if he could wait until morning. He came right here, which is when I knew he was really upset about you.”
“And started yelling at me,” she said. “He was right to not want to go. What do you think he’ll be able to find blundering around in the dark?”