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I point toward the monitors.

“Bring up the compound.”

Taylor accesses the security system.

Four camera views appear.

The front gate.

The rear fence.

The main house.

The equipment building.

Nothing moves.

“Did law enforcement finish processing the scene?” I ask.

“Yesterday afternoon,” Taylor says. “Vega left a deputy watching the county road until midnight.”

“And after midnight?”

“We’ve been monitoring remotely.”

“Any alerts?”

“No.”

I study the screen.

Something is wrong.

The property looks exactly as it should.

Too exactly.

“Back up the north camera,” I say.

Taylor rewinds the footage.

The image doesn’t change.

“That’s not live.”

Will leans closer.

“What did you see?”

“Nothing.”

Arthur pushes away from the wall.

“That’s the problem.”

The desert is never completely still.

Wind moves dust.