Ruby Cairo 1992

After the plane crash in Veracruz that takes Johnny Faro’s life, Bessie Faro discovers that his air cargo business is deeply in the red. At the Veracruz airport terminal, she uncovers a packet of baseball cards Johnny had marked, and when she decodes the markings, they point to a bank account tied to the card’s player, Onix Concepción. When she tries to withdraw funds, she’s told the account isn’t accessible, and the mystery deepens.

Back home, she uses an international bank directory at the local library to decode Manny Sanguillén’s Pirates card and identifies another account in Panama. With durable power of attorney secured, she embarks on a whirlwind pursuit to recover her husband’s money, determined and undeterred by the distance and danger ahead.

Her quest takes her from Panama to the Bahamas and then to the Cayman Islands, where she manages to recover tens of thousands of dollars from each account. In Germany, she attempts to close Don Mueller’s Berliner Bank account, but ends up with only 750 DM. The cashier then reveals that 74,000 DM in cashier’s checks were paid out to a company called EDK Technik in the former East Berlin. At EDK Technik, a manager explains they make ink for ballpoint pens, a detail that leaves Bessie puzzled about Johnny’s purchases and intentions.

Athens becomes the next clue as she learns that Johnny’s account has already been closed. A safe deposit box there contains only a Bill Mazeroski card, which fuels her growing suspicion that Johnny might still be alive. A shipping company later hints that part of Johnny’s funds were cashed out and the rest wired to Cairo, keeping the trail hot.

Her search leads to Kolatos Shipping Company, where she discovers that a boat is headed to Cairo with grain for a food aid effort. She accompanies the cargo to Egypt and notices a dock worker stained green by the grain. Sneaking onto the truck, she uncovers containers of thionyl chloride hidden beneath the grain, manufactured by EDK Technik, linking the money trails to a more dangerous operation.

Bessie then befriends the relief effort’s coordinator, Fergus Lamb, who helps confront his Operations Manager about the smuggling. The revelation shows that the false grain shipments are financing the chemical weapon program, a truth that intensifies the stakes and the danger surrounding Bessie’s mission. The pair’s bond grows as she presses on, now driven by the urge to find Johnny himself.

A local Immigration Agent joins her quest and helps locate Johnny, who confesses that he had been skimming from the chemical-weapons traders, which forced him to disappear. When Bessie confronts him, he attempts to compel her to stay, but the pursuit catches up in a crowded square, and he is killed by the men who have been tailing them.

With Johnny gone, Bessie returns home to her family, her resolve tempered by the journey she has endured. The film closes with a sense of closure as Fergus arrives to reunite with her, bringing a fragile but hopeful note that life can begin anew after extraordinary peril.