Page 112 of South of Nowhere

Starr said, “I just looked it up online. There’s a caldera—a depression left over after a volcano—not far away. On the Oregon-Nevada border. It’s got the biggest lithium deposits in the world—thirty to forty million metric tons.”

Tolifson was frowning. “Never knew. Why haven’t we heard about it?”

She explained, “Looks like there’re prohibitions on mining up there. A lot of it’s under Indigenous land. In Olechu County? No restrictions at all.” She looked toward Dorion. “So. The reason for the flooding was exactly what you said at first: Vultures. Redding was sabotaging the land to drive people out, then he’d buy it up cheap.” She glanced at the baggie. “There’re also drafts of letters to people who might not be inclined to sell. Very subtle. They say if they want to stay, that’s great, Redding Mining will sell discounted respirators and water-testing kits.”

She shook her head. “Lithium extraction isn’t like deep-shaft copper mining. It’s pumped into big ponds on the surface. Then as the water evaporates the lithium is skimmed off.”

Tolifson said, “What a mess.”

Tamara Olsen said, “He blows the top of the levee to scare everybody into evacuating. Then, when they’ve left, he blows the rest. Minimizes injury and death. When the dust—well, the water—settles, he starts buying up the property. Which means therearemore explosives inside.” She looked to Shaw. “On a timer, you think?”

“Probably not. He’d need to control when it happens.”

Shaw was not surprised to hear Starr’s trademarked “Got a question.”

Tolifson nodded her way. “Go ahead, Debi.”

“So. Why was he killed?”

The very inquiry that had been in the forefront of Shaw’s mind. He suggested, “A lithium-mining cartel doesn’t want any competition.”

Dorion was nodding. “The assay company is offshore. In the British West Indies, I saw.” A glance at the baggie docs. “Less than reputable, maybe. They’re being paid by a cartel to report any big finds.”

Then Colter picked up on the theme. “They like Redding’s plan to buy up land in Hinowah—but they want to cut him out. Bear wasn’t working for Redding. He was hired bythem, whoever they are. Or, possibly, he wasoriginallyhired by Redding but he turned. People like that, it’s usually a question of the highest bidder.”

Dorion sighed. “All of which means the levee’s still at risk.”

True, Maybe Redding wouldn’t push the button. But his new “partners” would.

TC McGuire looked up from his laptop. “I got the video of the security camera from the mine. The drive you collected, Debi? That our boy?”

He spun the Dell around. The camera mounted on the outside wall of the building that contained the workshop that had proved to be Redding’s death chamber revealed a man, head down, baseball cap on, in a dark jacket and slacks. He wore a backpack. On his hands were leather gloves. He was walking toward the fence surrounding the mine.

“That’s him,” Shaw said. The build and beard were giveaways. “Bear.”

The next shot showed him throwing a rope with a grappling hook on the end over the sandbagged fence surrounding the mine entrance and climbing it.

He vanished from view. Fifteen minutes later he returned, used the rope to climb the fence and walked to the road, disappearing into the woods on the other side of the highway.

“Any car?” Shaw asked.

McGuire scrubbed through the video. “No, sir.”

Shaw asked, “That forest. It’s on Annie Coyne’s farm?”

Tolifson said, “That’s right.”

“I’ll follow up on that.”

Tolifson asked Sergeant Olsen, “It’s too late for the bomb curtains?”

“Right. Under other circumstances maybe, but not with the overcast and mist.”

The mayor asked the others, “Plans now?”

Dorion said, “I think the town’s pretty well evacuated. But I can drive through and see if any lights are on. That’ll mean remainers. I’ll pry them out.”

After that, she said, she would get a few hours’ sleep at the motel outside of town.

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