Page 55 of Obscurity (Pros and Cons Mysteries #5)

T rue to his word, Tevin’s distraction came exactly fifteen minutes later in the form of a heated argument with one of the catering staff about food safety violations.

His voice carried clearly across the festival grounds as he demanded to speak to management about the “health department violations” he’d allegedly witnessed.

Maya piped in also, her phone raised and camera rolling as she caught all the drama.

Tevin even threw in something about the Dark Watchers being involved, how they wanted to harm people at the festival.

Good job, Tevin.

As security personnel and curious festivalgoers gravitated toward the drama, Olive and Jason slipped away from the crowd and into the trees behind the old mercantile building.

The forest was thicker than it had appeared from a distance, with overlapping canopies that blocked most of the remaining daylight. They moved carefully through the underbrush, using game trails when possible to minimize noise and avoid leaving obvious tracks.

They carefully passed by Brad’s house and continued deeper into the forest.

She paused at one point, realizing there were narrow backroads cutting through the forest. She shouldn’t be surprised.

But, for some reason, organizers had wanted festivalgoers to hike to the site. Why was that?

She and Jason hiked in silence, their earlier conversation still unresolved. But this wasn’t the time to dive into that. That talk demanded their full attention.

“There,” Jason whispered after they’d been walking for about ten minutes.

Through a gap in the trees ahead, Olive saw the temporary camp she’d spotted from Brad’s place. But as they crept closer to get a better view, her stomach clenched with a mixture of anger and understanding.

The encampment was larger than she’d expected.

There were at least two dozen tents arranged in rough rows, with a central area containing what appeared to be cooking facilities and basic sanitation.

Two other large buildings had been erected on the other side.

Each structure had been painted an olive-green color, almost as if to camouflage them.

Clothes hung from makeshift lines strung between trees, and she could hear the quiet murmur of conversations in Spanish drifting through the evening air.

“Migrant workers,” Jason said.

“Living in conditions even worse than the festival accommodations.” Olive felt sick as she took in the scene.

People here were clearly making do with minimal resources. They’d been hidden away where no one would see them or ask questions about their presence.

The question was: Why? What were these people being forced to do in hiding?

As Olive and Jason watched from their concealed position, she noticed details that painted a troubling picture.

The workers moved with the careful efficiency of people who’d been living this way for weeks or months. Children played quietly between the tents while adults prepared simple meals over small camp stoves.

“Hector,” Jason said suddenly.

Olive knew he was thinking the same thing she was.

The missing worker who’d supposedly just “left” without collecting his pay. Had he really left, or had he discovered something that made him a liability?

She knew what her guess was.

“This is bigger than we thought,” Olive whispered. “Way bigger.”

They weren’t just dealing with a fraudulent festival or even simple criminal activity. This was an operation that required a substantial workforce, people who could be kept hidden and controlled, people whose disappearance wouldn’t necessarily be investigated by authorities.

The implications were staggering.

“The mine.” Jason’s tone sounded grim with determination. “Now more than ever we have to check out the mine.”

Olive nodded, watching as the last light faded from the sky above them. The timing couldn’t be better. Full darkness would provide cover for their approach.

Questions tumbled in her mind, the biggest being whether she and Jason were prepared for what they might find when they finally made it inside that mountain.