Murder on Masaya (Kea Wright Mysteries Book 3)

by RJ Corgan

  “What did it say?”

  There was a pause. Deshi must have been pulling up the original text.

  “They all say the same thing, ‘Cover blown,’ followed by a request for a retrieval team. It appears that the sender was interrupted sending the most recent message. We have not yet allowed any of the messages through our firewall.”

  “When was the last one sent?” Ling asked. Kea’s conversations to Carter had been ridiculously easy to crack, but she hadn’t seen any exchanges in a while.

  “About ten minutes ago, right before the storm.”

  “Right. Let me know if anything else pops up.” Ling glanced around the tent, noticing that nearly everyone was on a device. Carlos had mentioned that they’d lost communication with Kea and the others; if a message did come in while they were down below, it would narrow the pool of suspects to those inside basecamp.

  “One more thing,” Deshi added. “It wasn’t an ordinary encryption. Our firewall flagged it because it’s the same one used by operatives of the Nicaraguan government.”

  CARTER FOUND Maria sitting at a table in the cafeteria, sulking near the dessert trolley. Several of the protestors had recently vacated the room, leaving behind crumpled water bottles, bandages, and junk food wrappers. Judging by the commotion coming from down the hallway, he suspected that they were mustering near the science laboratories. Although given the pounding on the outer Outpost doors, it was difficult to tell.

  Carter sat down beside Maria. “I was just kicked out of the command center for eavesdropping on Deshi’s phone call. My Mandarin’s a bit rusty, but he seems to think Emilio had been sending messages to, and potentially even financing, an environmental group. Although I use the word ‘environmental group’ loosely. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

  “We give to a lot of different non-profits,” Maria said dully. “Mostly for tax reasons.”

  Carter took a package of chocolate pudding and a spoon from the trolley. “You don’t remember one called Salvar la Tierra, do you?”

  “Save the Earth? I think we funded a Kickstarter-like project for them, but it wasn’t much.” Maria wrinkled her nose. “Only like a hundred grand or so.”

  “Only a hundred thousand? Interesting perspective.” Carter took out a dollop of chocolate pudding and let it drizzle slowly back into the tin, pondering the implications of Maria using her family’s wealth, and her brother’s accounts, to finance a rebel organization.

  Kids today, indeed.

  “Let me explain how that might be a problem.” He shuffled the condiments on the table. “Let’s say this saltshaker is you, this peppermill is your brother’s phone, and this giant bowl of sugar is a large paramilitary rebel organization currently being investigated by the government for planning to sabotage the new canal.”

  Maria picked up the sugar bowl and studied it closely.

  Carter, in turn, studied her. “None of this surprises you, does it? You know, all this wide-eyed child act you’ve got going on won’t fool people who can trace your digital activities.” He checked to make sure there was no one at the door, then leant closer. “They’re after missing explosives, but I assume you know that.”

  A mad thought struck him. “Did you cause the rockfall?”

  Maria’s fingers spasmed, spilling some of the sugar. “You don’t get it, do you? During the last protest, they took Alisha from us. She was like a sister to me. They have to pay.”

  Carter struggled to keep up, vaguely remember what Shona had told him. “Your friend died?”

  Maria nodded, tracing patterns in the spilled grains. “They tortured her, used her to force Emilio into brokering a truce. We didn’t find out until after that they had already killed her.”

  “I don’t understand … you’ve been plotting with this Salvar la Tierra group to destroy the canal? For what … revenge?”

  “They hurt us, we hurt them.” Maria sounded almost pleased. “They only care about profit, but we’ll make sure they won’t have any.”

  Carter sighed. “Maria, they’ll just rebuild whatever you destroy. They’ll come after you. I doubt even your family can protect you.”

  “The canal was just a distraction,” Maria said softly.

  “Something must have gone wrong ...”

  Before Carter could inquire further, an explosion blew in the Outpost’s outer door. The concussion shattered the windows and Maria and Carter fell to the floor as safety glass rained over them. Dazed, they staggered toward the main exit, only to see a plume of a gas drifting toward them.

  Sprinting in the opposite direction, they encountered Shona and a few of the protestors attempting to lower the shutters outside the entrance of one of the science rooms. Carter assisted with the task of releasing the safety locks and the shutter closed with a clang.

  Seeing the oddly satisfied expression on Shona’s face, Carter added, “They’re already inside the grounds of the compound, they’ll come in through the windows!” He flicked a crystal of glass off his moustache as if to prove his point.

  “We only need a few more minutes.” Shona moved down the hall, carefully navigating her way through the piles of boxes and equipment. “Come along, if you’re coming.”

  KEA MOVED across the interior curvature of the crater, growing more anxious with each step. There was no sign of Luis or Dominic and nowhere for them to hide.

  Unless they had descended to the next level … or fallen?

  Another crack of thunder made Kea duck – not that it would have done any good. The electrical activity was far above her, hovering above Beta level where the warm moisture of the winds mixed with the plume. She continued down the path, swearing that she could hear the wails of the spirits sacrificed to the goddess above the perpetual roar of Masaya’s churning gullet.

  Arriving at the first of the vertical descents, she was tempted to walk to the edge to see if there was any sign of the others. However, the patch of ground in front of her looked so appealing, a down comforter could not have been more attractive.

  I just need to take a break for a few seconds, she tried to reason with her mind. Her legs, knowing who would win the argument, buckled. She planted face-first on the ground and exhaled a blissful sigh.

  That was when she saw the tiny shiny black spikes gleaming in the ash. Curious, she picked one up and felt its bite against the tips of her fingers.

  Plastic. Black plastic.

  Stretching out her hand, Kea found another piece. She recognized it as the cracked face of the Wi-Fi repeater.

  It had been smashed, she realized, which explained the lack of signal.

  Despite the heat, a shiver ran across her skin.

  A faint shout from the cliff edge reached her ears.

  Panic rising in her throat, Kea tried to stand, but fell on all fours, involuntarily crying out as pain from her spent muscles lanced across her chest.

  In response to her cry, the shouting intensified. Kea tried to crawl faster, but by the time she reached the cliff, she could only collapse against the ground and poke her head over the edge, blinking in surprise at a face less than three feet from her own.

  “Oh, it’s you.”

  Chapter 17

  THE STORM clouds dissipated as quickly as it had appeared.

  Ling followed the others out of the tent and watched as the plumes driven by Masaya’s breath returned to their normal tumultuous calm. The team moved toward the ascent station and began to prepare the stretchers. The turbulence was still too great to use the helicopter, but Carlos had said that the pod should be able to transport them all out safely.

  All they could do now was hope that Masaya didn’t blow while they were evacuating. Of course, there was also no telling when others who had been in close contact with Kea might start showing symptoms of the norovirus.

  Kea Wright, Ling thought ruefully, the gift that keeps on giving.

  It was agreed that Francisco would be evacuated last, and the pod thoroughly sanitized. Or inci
nerated.

  Three climbers had abseiled down to search for Kea and the others. Comms below Beta were still down, which was troubling.

  When the Outpost notified the rescue team that it was too turbulent to risk the stretchers, Ling took the first spot in the pod. Anything was better than waiting around, she reasoned. Besides, she had another pressing reason to get back to the Outpost.

  Ling believed that she had collected ninety percent of the data needed to understand what was happening; however, the last ten percent eluded her. She had spent enough time reading through the files to guess Alisha’s fate at the hands of the Policía National and the resulting impact on the rest of the team. While still no closer to ascertaining the identity of the government spy, she assumed that he was after the same thing she was, a connection to Salvar la Tierra. She guessed that they must have suspected Emilio, and subsequently either Francisco or Blanca, the only monied parties of the team. However, since Deshi had informed her that Emilio’s encrypted data calls were now coming from inside the Outpost, she had to get back as quickly as possible.

  As far as the conspiracy that Kea had mentioned, Ling could find no trace of it. She decided to write that off to Kea’s imagination, or at least outside the scope of her present assignment.

  Ling was certain of one other thing: Kea was trapped in the crater with a killer.

  By the time Ling made it up to the crater rim, she saw the ambulances parked near the descent tower and could hear the distant din from the press corps. The sky, however, was empty.

  “Where’s the helicopter to take them to hospital?” Ling called to Danilo.

  “Slight problem there,” Sharvil’s timid voice tittered over the comms. “They’ve been a bit busy with the protests.”

  “Where?”

  “Everywhere. Managua’s sort of on fire. There are explosions in León and looting’s trending on Twitter.”

  Ling swore.

  A paramedic started to examine her, and it took all her restraint not to punch him in the face.

  Danilo scanned her up and down, ticking things off on his clipboard and grumbling when she mentioned that she had left her pack below.

  “I told you, it’s gone,” Ling repeated. “I mean, it’s at basecamp. Someone will bring it up later or chuck it into the volcano for all I care, along with the hydraulic splitter and the acoustical whatever.”

  “Where’s Kea?” A voice thundered in her ear.

  Turning around, she found Mack standing beside her, trembling with fury.

  “I don’t know.” Ling took a step back, remembering the dossier had compiled on the man: former military with a history of alcoholism and violence. The report also noted that he and Kea had only been fraternizing over the last few months. The analyst estimated the likelihood of the two continuing a stable relationship long-term to be unlikely to none.

  Classic Kea.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” Ling repeated, stepping behind Danilo to place the small man between herself and Mack’s rage.

  “Ms. Zhao?” Danilo, oblivious, shuffled through his pages of lists.

  “Yes, what is it?” she asked, grateful for the diversion.

  Danilo shut the cover of his clipboard with a slap. “I don’t have any record of a hydraulic splitter going down. If there was one down there, they didn’t tell me about it.”

  Mack grabbed Danilo by the shoulder and forcefully thrust him aside. “Where is Kea?”

  “I don’t know,” Ling repeated.

  Her protests only seemed to enrage Mack. “How could you keep me away from her and not ...”

  “I didn’t do anything. In fact, I checked the orders from command. Kea’s name is on the paperwork. She terminated your contract, not me. If you want to yell at someone, I suggest you start with her.” Ling stomped past him, barely registering the stunned expression on his face.

  Sharvil gave a little yelp over the comms. “And this just in, it looks like part of the new canal just blew up.”

  CARTER AND Maria followed Shona down the hallway of the science wing. A loud crunching sound came from behind them as the fire door collapsed under the assault of the police.

  Carter found himself jammed against the other protestors as Shona shoved them into the chemistry lab. The smell of sweat and blood, – and he suspected, urine – combined with the press of bodies from all sides, triggered a primordial sense of fear in Carter’s subconscious.

  This must be how cattle feel.

  As the police stormed the corridor, Shona slammed the door in their face. Then, with a sickening lurch, Carter felt his world shift as he and the other protestors fell against the wall.

  “Sorry about that everyone,” Shona called. “My husband always has trouble with the clutch.”

  As the trailer began to roll away from the Outpost, Carter regarded Shona dubiously. “I mean, this thing goes what, twenty-five miles per hour, tops?”

  “True, but Bree just blocked the street out front with the biology trailer.” Shona glanced at her watch. “Besides, I think the police have their hands full right now. You might want to check the news.”

  KEA FOUND the source of the cries a few feet below the ledge.

  Dominic, his face bloodied and battered, clung to the rock face, mewling for help.

  Kea’s head nodded forward as exhaustion overwhelmed any of her remaining adrenaline. She cast around for the rope, but realized that she had left it in her rucksack. Judging from his grip on the rock with his one good hand, Dominic wouldn’t be able hang on long enough for her to retrieve the rope. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect any applause.”

  “Get me out of here!”

  “Where’s Luis?” Kea felt oddly calm.

  “He smashed the repeater.” Dominic’s eyes glistened with tears. “I tried to stop him, but he attacked me, chased me down here!”

  “And you pushed him into Masaya,” Kea finished, her voice barely more than a whisper. It was a statement. She didn’t need Dominic to say anything. His expression said it all.

  She put together the pieces. Using the electrical storm as cover, Luis had taken his last chance to finish Dominic.

  “We were too close to the edge,” Dominic sputtered. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “You should have. He was trying to kill you,” Kea said slowly. “But you know that by now. That’s why you tried to knock him down the rockfall earlier.”

  “Get me out of here!”

  Kea stretched herself across on the ground, searching for a handhold. The overhang meant that he was difficult to reach, but she could just about manage it, if she wanted to. Fatigue must have dulled her intelligence too because she slipped off her daypack and, bracing her arm and a foot against a knob of rock, dangled the straps over the edge.

  She felt Dominic grab the pack, testing it, but clearly not trusting it.

  Which was a good thing, because even with only a fraction of his weight on it, Kea found herself sliding across the plaza. Tiny rocks cut into her cheek as her skin grated across them. She shifted her legs into a new position, more confident in her leverage. As Dominic put more weight on the pack, however, she realized that she wouldn’t be able to pull him up no matter how hard she tried. She was simple too drained.

  It’s only a matter of time ...

  The phrase chased itself around in her mind.

  It was only a matter of time before Ling pieced together that it was Kea who had coordinated the project so that that everyone was in position on Delta level prior to the convenient rockfall.

  Only a matter of time before Ling started to wonder how many other people on the team had been in on planning Dominic’s death.

  Only a matter of time until Ling caught every one of them.

  Would Ling ever realize that Emilio had been in on it too? That they all had?

  She rested her cheek on the ground that now felt as soft and welcoming as a cashmere throw blanket. She couldn’t see Dominic, but she knew he was still there, praying that she would help him.

/>   “We knew it was you, Dominic.” Kea stared at the plumes of Masaya’s breath as they swirled up toward the sky. “We know you were the mole who told the Policía Nacional about the student’s attempt to escape the school. You’re the reason they were captured.” Kea closed her eyes. “The reason they caught Alisha.”

  Although Dominic had stopped struggling, she could still hear his heaving breaths.

  “They tortured her, pulled out her fingernails, but you knew that.” Kea opened her eyes again and stared wistfully into the smoke as if searching for Masaya herself. “Alisha was still pregnant. She told you it was yours, and yet you still turned her in. Just as well that the child belonged to Luis.”

  “I didn’t! I swear I didn’t.”

  “You gave no thought for any of them,” she continued. “Nothing mattered except your allegiance to the President. Did you get a reward?”

  “I didn’t know. It wasn’t me!”

  Kea laughed. “I was there Dominic. I was hiding in the faculty lounge the day the school was attacked. I heard you hand over Alisha, although I didn’t understand it at the time. I couldn’t believe you’d do such a thing.”

  Dominic’s whimpering ceased abruptly.

  She’d caught him off guard. That was something at least. When they discovered Dominic was a government operative, there was no way they could get away with pushing him in front of a bus or cutting his climbing line. There would be too many questions. It had to be something catastrophic. An act of God.

  “Luis set everything up,” Kea confessed. “He kept most of the details from me, to protect me, although I think I’ve figured out what went wrong. I know he brought down the hydraulic splitter during the initial survey; he must have set it up to go off by remote trigger, but he didn’t factor in the hydrothermal alteration. The underlying strata was unstable. Never get an engineer when you need a geologist. It destabilized the whole plaza.”

  Kea felt herself inch further across the rocks, but time seemed to be moving slower, she felt almost listless.

  The gas, part of her brain whispered. You left your mask with your pack.