Chapter 16 - THE EVIDENCE IN THE DUST
David found the farmhouse three days later. He had driven across the border alone, using the maps, the pharmacy records, and the sparse descriptions Torres had obtained. He found the place—a weathered stone building surrounded by overgrown fields, far from any road or neighbor.
He approached carefully, staying low, moving through the tall grass.
The house was empty. But it had been occupied recently.
David stepped through the broken front door. Dust motes danced in shafts of sunlight. Chairs overturned. A table pushed against the wall.
And on the floor—scratches. Deep, jagged marks in the wood. Made by fingernails. Made while someone was being dragged away.
David knelt. He saw the spots—dark and dried. Blood. Near the door. Near the overturned chair.
He followed the trail into the next room.
A bedroom. A mattress on the floor. Sheets torn. And on the floor, half-buried beneath a loose board, a small, silver locket.
David picked it up. It was the one he had given Elena—matching his mother’s. He opened it. Inside was his photograph. And on the back, scratched into the metal with something sharp, three words:
**RIVER CAMP. NIGHT.**
David gripped the locket.
She had been here. She had fought them. And she had left him a clue before they took her.
River Camp.
He pulled out his phone and searched. There were dozens of places by that name. But only one matched the pattern—a remote fishing camp on the Paraguay River, used by smugglers and people crossing illegally.
And it was scheduled to be raided by authorities the very next night.
David stood up. He looked around the empty room one last time.
Voss had taken her there. To flee the country completely. To vanish into the interior.
And he had chosen the exact night before the raid.
David walked out of the house and back to his car. He drove toward the river, his mind racing.
Elena had known the raid was coming. She had heard Voss planning to leave at night. She had scratched that clue into the locket knowing he would find it.
She had led him directly to her.
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She was counting on him to be there.
And she was counting on him to stop Voss before he slipped away forever.
