Bill Heitland

Their Last Hurrah

A Novel by Bill Heitland

A work visa should have been a shield; instead it was a target. After ICE swallowed her father into a void of secret transfers and missing records, Maria Garcia wondered if the only way to stay alive was to remain a ghost.

She could have ignored the flash drive that cost journalist Jacob Wright and her boyfriend Juan their lives. She could have stayed invisible and survived. But with her father, Rodrigo, still lost in the system, and her mother’s warning burned into her conscience–survival isn’t enough if you’ve lost your soul — Maria refuses to look away.

The drive exposes proof of illegal drug trials conducted on society’s most vulnerable, a powerful U S. senator, and twenty million hidden offshore. When Maria and her mother, Luz, are forced to go on the run, the drive is lost in a muddy field. The only remaining copy belongs to Luis Delgado– until he is arrested by ICE, disappearing into a federal system vulnerable to political pressure.

As the conspiracy widens, Lisa Saunders, an ambitious TV news director, and Ken Hudson, a Chicago journalist, become key players in bringing the story to light. Ambition, fear and self-interest may steer many of those involved. But Maria–and Major Case Commander Grant Carpenter– remain fixed on one goal: recover the data and identify those responsible for the murders before the truth is buried for good.