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“There has to be a double meaning to the phrase my dad taught me. Did the investigator on their case know about this years ago?” Zack’s mind spun with questions that seemed to trail off without any answers.
“P…P…” Naya tapped her finger against her chin. “What if Powells was supposed to tell someone?”
“It’s possible. Clearly it didn’t do any good. From what we learned about Powells, he was trying to save his own skin.” Zack leaned forward on the couch, his hands clasped.
“No one must have thought to ask more questions. Or they kept coming to dead ends,” Naya said.
“Which means the method of hiding the activity couldn’t seem totally out of the ordinary.”
“Exactly.” Naya set the map on the table. “Someone would have to know how to get the job done.”
“Without sounding any alarms.”
“Like Sylvia,” Naya mumbled.
“Will’s secret lover?” Zack sat down and leaned forward. “But she’s too young to have played a role in this when my parents were alive.”
“I know.” Naya bit her lip. “Hear me out on this. She’s been advocating with Green Warriors but works at Ethos. Ingram knows her. Tucker confirmed she was the one who put the note on my car.”
“How do you know Tucker was telling the truth?” Zack narrowed his gaze. Based on what she’d shared about this guy before, he didn’t seem to always be on the up and up. And he could have tried to protect himself by finding a scapegoat.
“He described the woman before I even showed him a picture that matched the description. And he seemed nervous to say anything. Like it would put a target on his back.”
That guy needed to get his priorities in check. It’s a good thing Zack hadn’t been around to witness the way Tucker had treated Naya when they’d been a couple.
“That means there’s more than one person involved in this scheme.” Which made sense given the scale of the situation. “Especially if this has been going on for years.”
“How many, though?” Naya sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. “And who’s the driving force behind it all?”
“I don’t know, but Sylvia would have the means to carry out her role in it at the moment,” Zack said. “If she knows Ingram and she was working with Will, the two of them could have easily been behind the current attacks.”
Naya put her hand over her mouth and pulled in a breath. “What if she killed Will?”
“All the more reason to hand everything over to the cops.” Zack held his breath, waiting for the rebuttal. “We have no idea what set off Sylvia enough she murdered him.”
“I forfeited the story.”
Zack wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “You did?”
She sighed. “I’m sorry for not wanting to see things from your perspective. You and Ingram were right. I was being prideful and thought I had to prove myself. But it’s not worth it when so many people have gotten hurt already.”
“Hey.” Zack held out his hands. Naya placed hers on top of his and they both stood. “You are incredibly talented. The last thing I want is to see that gift go to waste because you got hurt.”
“I know.” Water pooled in Naya’s eyes. “You’re a great guy, Zack. I’m grateful to have you in my life.” She squeezed his hand. “Was there anything else in the box?”
Zack reluctantly pulled away and picked up the wooden container. Nothing else was visible, so he shook it gently. The wood clanked and separated slightly. He took out what had appeared to be the bottom of the box.
“There’s a whole other stack of papers.” Zack pulled out one that was a photocopied page with pictures on it.
Naya leaned over his shoulder. “The sandbags.”
“That’s how they’re dumping the waste.” Zack couldn’t believe it had been that simple. “And I bet the map is the drop-off point.”
Zack pulled out his phone. Time to tell Wilcox what they’d found and get a crew to investigate the pinnacle.
Because Zack had a feeling the truth had been hidden in plain sight the whole time.
TWENTY-EIGHT