Page 69 of Never Enough

Steel didn’t even bother to hide his smile. “She’s almost as sassy as Kubrick.”

“She doesn’t need any help or lessons from the sass monster,” Nemo grumbled.

She opened the map to its full extension and surveyed the key. “Here.” She pointed to a spot north and west of Beitbridge along the Mzingwane River.

“How can you tell? There’s nothing there.”

“The Zhovhe Dam is here.” She pointed to a spot along the river. “I was directly west of that. If you follow the main road from Beitbridge up to Gwanda, it’s about”—she tilted her head as she calculated—“two hundred kilometers, so I’m guessing the dam is approximately seventy-five kilometers from the city. That’s not with any promise of accuracy since the river and the road do not run parallel.”

Steel hunched over the map with a pencil. He circled the spot where the dam was located. “It’s close enough. How far inland?”

“Not far. A kilometer. Maybe two. The water from the river was being diverted for artisanal mining at the site, but at the time the mine was formalized originally, they were also in competition with the locals for rights. It’s part of why the whole thing was a bust, I think.”

TB’s head popped up from the seats in front of them as he kneeled on the seat, his arms folded across the headrest. “Why is that?” he asked.

Waters chimed in, “Alluvial deposits in the riverbed are how miners find gold. It’s also how diamonds were first discovered in South Africa. Find diamonds in the riverbed, or whatever mineral you’re looking for, and chances are the vein runs farther. If they’re only a kilometer or two in, they’re following a profitable vein.”

Gem nodded. “Exactly. The mine was meant to be an alluvial site due to its proximity to the river. However, environmental studies done before the purchase of the land and after the purchase of that land showed huge discrepancies between what the projected damage to the water table would be. Theowners decided it wasn’t worth the pushback, so they shut down the site. It’s been sitting there, unused and basically unmonitored, since the nineties.”

Consulting his tablet, TB added, “Midas discovered the mine was purchased by a corporation approximately four months ago. It’s a shell corporation, and—surprise, surprise—that company is owned by another shell, and so on. He’s gone through twenty-two companies so far. Since its sale back in May, whoever it is has been pouring money into equipment. And bribes. I’m guessing a lot of that is going to the local police to look the other way on inspections.”

Again, Gem nodded. “The Kaders are likely behind the purchase since Hemeda and Pilis are there. Not those two in particular. More likely Hemeda’s father, Pharaoh. It’s likely they got a hold of the prospectus from someone on the inside. Using ASM can be lucrative when done right.”

“ASM?” Steel asked.

“Artisanal and small-scale mining,” she defined.

“ASM might be lucrative in certain situations, but definitely optimal if you’re trying to do something illegal,” Nemo surmised.

Gem glanced at him.

He shrugged unapologetically. “Criminals know criminals, tiny.”

He watched her process that comment. Technically, both she and he were criminals, even if their paths were a little less crooked now. She turned her focus back to Steel. “Basically, ASM is supposed to mean individual contractors rather than corporations or conglomerates. There are individuals who mine for a living, but they prefer to work for themselves. They might move locations at will or possibly even work on a limited-time contract for a small-business interest. Maybe even a larger corporation, but they wantthe freedom to set their time frame rather than work the corporation’s timeline. Then there are people who do the work seasonally. A large number of farmers mine as a form of offseason work.”

“And then, of course, there are all the illegal variations,” Nemo added.

“You mean slave labor?” TB questioned.

“Yes,” Gem agreed. “It’s not unheard of for a warlord to use captives to mine and then line their pockets with what’s brought in. Primarily men. It’s more likely that women turn to the skin trade to make money in the camps rather than mine, but I’ve seen women working the veins as well. No one is immune.”

Waters frowned as he made a decision. “Okay. So that’s where we peg the Kaders. Warlords, for all intents and purposes.”

Steel froze Gem with his gaze. He pointed to the spot on the map he had circled. “Proximity to the dam notwithstanding, this is out in the middle of nowhere, so we’re not exactly going to be able to sneak in. How the hell did you get in there without being noticed? You don’t exactly look like a local.”

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Now it was Nemo’s turn to frown. “Kitty cat, I’m not going to like your answer, am I?”

“It won’t work for the three of you. Any of you, actually. Medusa would be the only one able to get away with it.”

He closed his eyes and hung his head. He tried to regulate his breathing, but he wasn’t sure he was being overly successful. “You didn’t.” It was a statement of denial that he knew was going to be answered in the opposite.

Clearly she understood what he wasn’t asking. “I did what I had to do to get the job done. And I already have threebrothers who try to tell me what I can and can’t do, so don’t you start.”

He glared at her. “Oh, I have no problem starting anything.”

“You’re not my mother, either, Sawyer. I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time and making my own decisions.”

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