now second in command. Matt had worked with him during the five years he was in the Tucson office, where they’d served together on a joint task force for years. Peter was one of the smartest, most dedicated agents Matt had worked with, and because this was a sensitive situation, Matt had asked that he come alone.
“Thank you for coming out here,” Matt said. “I know I was vague on the phone, but I needed someone I can trust before you bring in a team.”
“I’m intrigued, and if it was anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have jumped through hoops. You said there’s a body.”
“Two. That guy over there—I covered him with a tarp because the vultures had already started on his remains—and a young girl.”
Matt led Peter to the truck where he’d covered Amada’s body with a blanket. Peter put on gloves and pulled back the covering to inspect the young girl’s hair, eyes, skin, clothing. Then he closed her eyes and appeared to pray before putting the blanket back over Amada’s body.
“My guess is that she’s from southern Mexico or northern Guatemala,” Peter said. “That’s based on her general appearance and the fact that you said she seemed to understand basic Spanish. The coroner will be able to confirm, and if they bring in a specialist, we’ll learn exactly where she’s from, possibly down to the village. The university has a fantastic program that can pinpoint geography—using primarily DNA and teeth. She’s severely malnourished. I can’t tell you that’s what she died from. But you said she was alive when you found her?”
“This needs to stay between us,” Matt said.
Peter raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “National security issue?”
“No—but confidential,” Matt said. “I have an ongoing undercover investigation in Patagonia. One of my agents and I came out here for a different reason.”
He briefly explained Kara’s theory about the two kids staying at the abandoned church, which was roughly five miles to the west, three as the crow flies. When they saw the vultures circling, they tracked them and found the bunker when Kara fell in.
“My partner found the girl, talked to her. Said her name was Amada. She understood basic Spanish—I say basic because my partner isn’t fluent but was able to get meaning across. The girl’s voice was faint, said she couldn’t move. My agent picked her up and carried her out.” He paused. “My agent is concerned that moving the girl may have caused her death. I said no, but if you can give me any confirmation before the autopsy, it would help alleviate a modicum of guilt.”
“We work closely with the Santa Cruz coroner,” Peter said. “I’ll make sure he does a thorough autopsy and we find out exactly how this girl died. But I can tell you just by looking at her that I highly doubt moving the child killed her. More likely malnutrition, starvation. I don’t think she’s eaten properly in months. They most likely left her behind because she was too sick to travel.”
Matt didn’t know if that would appease Kara, but it might help.
“There’s a bunker?” Peter looked around, then frowned. “Where?”
“A container buried underground.”
Peter sighed, took off his sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then put his glasses back on and said with surprising emotion, “It’s unfortunately more common than you think.” He paused, then said, “The earth has to be dug up, and that’s generally too hard to do in the desert without equipment, so we see more of these bunkers only partly submerged, or camouflaged by the terrain, not underground. But this area here, there’s water, trees, access—they could easily have brought in a backhoe or other equipment. Whose property is this?”
“When I called my people, they said county,” Matt replied.
“Unfortunately, much of the desert isn’t patrolled by the state or federal government. Even if it’s privately owned, most owners don’t patrol regularly, especially if it’s owned by a corporation or part of a multi-acre parcel. These traffickers know the routine. They know where they can go and when. Depending when they originally buried the container, they could have been using it for smuggling for years. Storage for not only people but drugs, guns, cash. Camouflaging it when not in use.”
“Can you tell how long it’s been here?”
Peter walked closer but didn’t go inside. Matt followed. Peter assessed the terrain, the ground, then said, “My guess is anywhere from one to five years, but my team can narrow it down even more, likely to the