Page 111 of South of Nowhere

The base had left marks on the floor from where it had originally been. “It’s like the bomber moved it there next to the bomb. He wanted it destroyed, along with Mr. Redding.”

“And look. The lock.” Starr pointed.

“Jimmied with a screwdriver. Bomber broke in and did a sloppy job of it, because he didn’t think it would survive the explosion. That’s the ransack. Whatever he took—that’s our answer.”

The drawers were both partly open and Starr shown her light inside. “Papers. Don’t see any wires or timers.”

Shaw mused, “The perp found what he needed, moved the cabinet, set the bomb and then left.”

“What was so important he needed to put this all together to steal whatever was inside?”

“Orwantedto steal, but didn’t manage to find,” Shaw said.

“How’s that?”

“Look.” He shone his beam on the underside of the top drawer, where a sliver of paper was visible.

“Something taped up there.”

They regarded each other and Shaw knew she was thinking exactly what he was: weighing the odds that the paper was booby-trapped versus the value of what it contained.

From it they possibly could deduce the identity of who was behind the levee sabotage—presumably Bear’s employer—and save more lives.

A closer examination revealed it was a large white envelope, about 8 by 10 inches.

“See any wires?” he asked.

They both looked.

None. He reached down and tugged. It came away with nothing more than the sticky sound of peeling tape.

“Phew,” Starr said. Then she opened it, and tugged out the half dozen documents.

Shaw stepped close and together they read.

The documents made clear who was behind the sabotage.

And what the reason was.

And, most important, that it was only a matter of time until the rest of the Hinowah levee came tumbling down to earth, unleashing a deadly flood.

48.

Time Elapsed from Initial Collapse: 16 Hours

Lithium.

The new silver, the new gold…

That was what the levee destruction was about. And why Gerard Redding had been so horribly murdered.

In the command post once more, where the team was assembled, Shaw watched Han Tolifson, wearing latex gloves that were a size too large, reviewing the documents that had been recovered from the bombed mine office.

Shaw was explaining to Dorion, TC McGuire and Sergeant Tamara Olsen, “Redding had some new machine that could detect different types of ores below the surface of the earth. He was testing it and he found Hinowah was sitting on top of a bed of lithium.”

Tolifson gestured to the documents in his hand. “This’s paperwork for mineral assays.” He handed them to Starr, who tucked them into an oversize Ziplock bag. The mayor added, “Looks like the deposits are pure enough for electric vehicles.”

McGuire said, “I thought lithium was only found in South America and Africa. Not here.”

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