Chapter 8 - THE EIGHTH LOCATION
The route from the private airstrip continued east toward the coast.
Federal analysts compared Green Haven vehicle toll records with Lily’s tracker times.
One truck crossed the Bayline Bridge every six weeks, usually at night.
It belonged to a seafood-distribution company owned by Evelyn’s brother.
The truck’s cooling system could maintain narrow temperature bands.
Its inspections were handled through agricultural permits rather than wildlife declarations.
The eighth location was likely a warehouse near the harbor.
No tracker coordinate existed because Greg diverted to the hospital before reaching the courier.
The judge authorized surveillance, not a raid.
Investigators still needed evidence linking the warehouse to illegal wildlife movement.
Greg offered more.
He said the green boots were called “nursery pairs.”
Children wore them during transfers because roadside officers rarely asked parents to remove footwear from tired or injured children.
The boots’ outer cavities were insulated.
Ventilation ports kept the cargo alive.
Sedative residue reduced movement.
“Cargo meaning what?” Ruiz asked.
Greg closed his eyes.
“I was never allowed to see.”
“Lily felt it.”
“So did I.”
“Why keep doing it?”
“Elena.”
Greg had received video messages every ten days showing his wife alive.
The last arrived four days earlier.
She held a newspaper with that day’s date.
Behind her was a concrete wall painted with a green stripe.
“I deliver, she lives,” he said.
“Did you ever try to trace the messages?”
“They said they would know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I was afraid.”
Fear explained him.
It did not absolve him of strapping unknown living things around his daughter’s legs.
Greg admitted this was Lily’s third transfer.
The first two ended at the airstrip.
He was paid five thousand dollars each time, supposedly to cover Elena’s “care.”
He used some money for rent.
Some for debt.
Some for himself.
His motive was not pure coercion.
He benefited while telling himself every trip kept Elena alive.
Detective Ruiz asked why Lily’s arm was fractured.
“She ran after she heard Mom’s voice from the truck radio.”
“Was Elena speaking live?”
“I don’t know. Lily thought so.”
Greg grabbed her.
She pulled away and fell down the drainage slope.
He did not seek immediate help.
He tried to continue the delivery until Lily screamed that the boot moved against her ankle.
Only then did he turn toward the hospital.
The details supported child-endangerment charges.
Greg’s cooperation might reduce punishment.
It would not preserve custody automatically.
At the hospital, Lily asked for him.
A child advocate arranged a monitored video call after medical and legal review.
Greg appeared in a detention-room screen.
Lily stared at him.
“Did Mom tell you to put them on me?”
Greg’s mouth opened.
“No.”
“Then why did you say she did?”
He began crying.
“Because I needed you to cooperate.”
“You lied with Mom.”
“Yes.”
Lily reached toward the button ending the call.
Greg spoke quickly.
“Your mother hid something in the right heel. She told me if anything went wrong, find Dr. Vance.”
I had not been told about a hidden object in the right heel.
Federal imaging had shown a dense rectangle there.
The sealed lab report listed it as nonbiological evidence.
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Before Lily ended the call, Greg said:
“Elena called it the nest key.”
