I took the locket carefully. I thumbed the tiny latch open.
Inside was a small oval photograph of a young woman with dark hair and warm eyes, smiling alongside a younger Maya. Tucked behind the photo was a tiny scrap of yellow notebook paper with a handwritten address and a ten-digit telephone number.
Beneath the number, written in blue ink, were four words:
KRAVEN SALVAGE - OFFICE B-4.
My hand tightened around the locket. Elena Vasquez wasn't just being held in Reno. Kraven had moved her directly to his salvage yard as insurance while his couriers ran the diamonds across the county line.
"Marcus," Sarah said softly, looking out the hallway window. "Red and blue lights."
Two Elko County cruiser cars pulled into the diner parking lot, their emergency lights flashing quietly against the rain. Deputy Sam Vance stepped out first, adjusting his gun belt as he walked quickly toward the front entrance.
I unlocked the door and let Sam inside. He was a veteran officer in his late forties, sharp-eyed and practical. When he walked into the manager's office and saw the piles of raw stones on the desk alongside the printed shipping label, his expression hardened into stone.
"This is industrial-scale trafficking," Sam said, inspecting the label with a gloved hand. "Kraven's been using the highway corridor for months. Federal authorities have been trying to pinpoint his stash site for half a year."
"His stash site is Office B-4 at the salvage yard," I said, showing Sam the paper from Maya's locket. "That's where he's holding her mother. If Kraven's men reach that yard and tell him the delivery failed, he's going to wipe his hands clean and eliminate the evidence."
Sam looked down at Maya, then back at me. "We can't wait for a federal warrant. A child's mother is in active danger."
"I'm coming with you," I said, grabbing my heavy coat from the hook.
Sam looked at me for a long moment, then gave a single nod. "Grab your truck. Follow my bumper."
Chapter 3: Unbroken Cargo
The rain had eased to a steady, cold drizzle by the time four sheriff's cruisers and my pickup truck pulled off the highway, turning onto the dark gravel road leading toward Kraven Freight Salvage.