“No, I didn’t have the files with me at the time,” Samuel explained.

“Did he ever mention a specific code to you?

Something like C-17?” I asked.

Samuel gasped audibly through the phone.

“Where on earth did you hear that code?” he asked, his tone suddenly sharp.

“It was written on the back of a photograph he hid near the road,” I told him.

“Then you actually found his blue marker,” Samuel said out loud.

My mouth went completely dry.