CHAPTER 9
Hunter met Raymond at the Border Patrol Station at seven AM and they went into the PAIC’s office to brief Carl on the marijuana information. Before they got very far, Carl stopped them and called the Presidio PAIC. Once they got him on the speakerphone, Raymond and Hunter only had to lay it out once to get the okay. The agents they requested were available and both PAICs said they would contact the agents and have them ready for tonight. Smooth as silk.
As they left the PAIC’s office, Raymond said, “I’m going to the cafe for some breakfast, you want to come?”
“Are you going to talk about Iowa Football?”
“Well, sure. Chris gave me some secret information last night, so I knew you’d want to know.”
“I can hardly wait.”
“See, I know you too well.”
“Save me a seat. I’m gonna check on a couple things, then I’ll be there.”
Raymond drove away and Hunter went to the ICE Anti-Smuggling office to talk to the Supervisor. He was sitting at his desk and working on next week’s call-out schedule when she walked in and sat down.
“Hey, Hunter.”
“Hey, David,” He put the papers away and gave her his full attention. She said, “Have you got anything on those dead kids?”
“I can let you look at the file, but there’s not a lot in it. Nothing on the infant at all, but we did find out a little about the two girls. They were sisters.”
An image of the dead children holding hands flashed in her mind. “Uh-huh,” was all she could say.
“They’re from a small village near Batopilas.”
“They Tarahumara?”
“Well yeah. How’d you know?”
“We’ve been catching some lately.”
“That’s what they are, or were. Several others from groups caught over the last six months have been ID’d as from that area, too. Others in their groups seemed to be from the larger towns down there. Anyhow, that was what the Mexican Consul found out for us.”
“What about the smuggling group?”
“Maybe Grupo Delta.”
“Yeah, I found out about them at EPIC.”
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“I was in El Paso for other business and it was nearby.”
“If you want to keep up on this case, Hunter, I’ll make sure you get anything new. I know it’s kind of personal.”
“Thanks, David,” She nodded. “What about forensics, anything there?”
“Sheriff’s office says they got nada, nothing.”
“You get a copy of their report?”
“Finally. It’s here on my desk,” David rummaged through the In-Basket, pulled out a single sheet and handed it to her.
Hunter read it. “They didn’t find any classifiable prints, didn’t make plaster casts of the shoe tread imprints, and were negative on any trace materials gathered from the victims. Just great.” She hesitated a moment, re-read the report, then looked at David.
“There’s no mention of the whittled twig I found.”