Dead in a Week

by Andrea Kane

Instantly, both Terri’s and Simone’s faces appeared on individual screens of the panoramic setup.

  “I’m early,” Aidan began. “Sorry.”

  “No earlier than usual,” Terri replied. “I signed on five minutes ago.”

  “As did I,” Simone said.

  “Good.” Aidan shot a meaningful sideways look at Philip, who ignored him.

  After clearing his throat, Aidan continued. “Marc, meet Terri and Simone, the other two members of my team. Ladies, this is my brother, Marc. As you know, he’ll be staying on in Europe to work with Philip.”

  Marc, Terri, and Simone exchanged greetings.

  “Terri,” Aidan instructed, “please record this video chat and have Donovan transcribe it all. Place all info on a secure hard drive that everyone on the team has access to and notify us when there’s a meaningful update. We’re racing the clock and we don’t have time to write reports and summaries. We’ll have to let Donovan do this for us.”

  “Already done and in progress,” Terri replied.

  “Then the ball’s in your court. We’re listening.”

  Nodding, Terri clicked her mouse and a new image appeared on her screen—the image of a man. “This is a cell phone picture of the guy who went up to Lauren in the restaurant.”

  Marc looked startled. “How did you get this?”

  The rest of the team sat back and let Terri do her thing, although they’d heard this explanation so often they were bored.

  Clearly, Terri was not. “By knowing the Wi-Fi networks in the area from the scan that Philip did for me, I was able to find traces left by the devices that had connected to the various Wi-Fi networks,” she said. “Once I had device-specific information, it was just a matter of hacking into the T-Mobile systems and coming in over their cell network to the people and devices who were in the restaurant at the same time as Lauren. I just used the device trails I found on Wi-Fi networks to find those same cell phones on T-Mobile’s cell network.”

  “Why T-Mobile?” Marc asked. He wasn’t surprised by Terri’s enthusiasm over her tech work. Ryan practically embraced his computer when he came up with major discoveries. So this was business as usual.

  “There are four main cell carriers in Germany,” Terri reported. “T-Mobile is by far the largest.”

  Marc nodded. “Go on.”

  “After that, it was just a matter of looking into the requisite photo history around that time. We got lucky. Someone had taken a group photo of their friends, all of whom were totally inebriated and celebrating who knows what. In the background were Lauren and the guy she was talking to.”

  “Okay, technology lesson over,” Aidan said. “Tell us where you went from there.”

  Terri was clearly unbothered by Aidan’s abruptness. They were all painfully aware that time was their enemy here.

  “I found a hidden video camera installed by the restaurant owner to spy on the employees. Evidently, there have been a number of inside thefts, which they were checking out.” Terri displayed the video clip. “From this time-lapse video, you can see the kidnapper pocketing Lauren’s phone.” A quick shift and another video clip appeared. “Finally, thanks to a local ATM camera, you can see a black Mercedes van with the back of a woman with a sack over her head being forced into the side of the van and the guy—who’s the same guy we see Lauren with at the restaurant—doing the pushing. I’m running facial recognition on him.”

  “It’s a long shot that he’ll be in the system,” Philip commented.

  “I realize that. I won’t be restricting myself to legal or governmental channels.”

  “Okay.” Aidan knew Terri’s tone. There was more to come.

  “I hacked into the security system of the bank across the street from the restaurant,” she said, her face reappearing on the screen. “There were two kidnappers. The first was the man who made contact with Lauren inside the restaurant. He was approximately one hundred seventy-eight centimeters tall and weighed about seventy-five kilos.”

  “Five ten, hundred sixty-five pounds,” Marc muttered to himself.

  “The second kidnapper was stockier—approximately one hundred seventy-three centimeters in height and one hundred two kilos in weight.”

  “Five eight and two twenty-five,” Marc murmured again, automatically making the conversions.

  Terri took a sip of water, then continued. “Based on the limited audio from the bank’s surveillance cameras, I can confirm at an eighty-seven percent confidence level that the two men were speaking Albanian. That piece of information, coupled with the comparison of his face using various facial databases that link ethnicity to facial features, take us to the ninety-eight percent confidence level that Albanian organized crime is involved.”

  “At least we can confirm that much,” Simone noted aloud.

  “Yes, but it’s just a formality.” Aidan was sounding impatient again. “We already knew who we were dealing with. What we really need is to identify the individual himself, not just his ethnicity and dialect.” A quizzical look at Terri. “You said you’re extending your ID hunt beyond searching law enforcement criminal databases. Elaborate.”

  “I’m hacking photos that have been uploaded to Facebook. I have to be very careful not to do too many in too short a time so I don’t alert the Facebook security team to my intrusion. I’ve already enlisted Ryan McKay’s help. He has some expertise in this area and together we need to launch a multipronged query of Facebook to stay under their security radar.”

  “Move fast. Even if you have to risk their wrath. Wrath can be soothed. Dead bodies cannot.”

  Terri sighed. “Aidan, trust me to do my job. Adding Ryan to the mix was smart. He’s good and he’s fast. We’ll get it done.”

  “I know.” Aidan rubbed his eyes as if to take himself down a notch. “I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”

  “We’re all on edge,” Simone said in a calming tone. “But failure is not in our vocabulary.”

  Aidan’s gaze flickered to her. “You arrived in Santa Clara on schedule?”

  Simone nodded. “Yes, and I’ve already had a conversation with Vance Pennington. He’s shaky but manageable, certainly by you. He’ll be flying in from Tahoe for a few hours tomorrow morning to meet with me and to introduce me to the numerous areas within his department. All part of my cover.” A thoughtful look. “Obviously, he’s going to ask me more about what’s going on. Can I share a bare-bones overview of our plans and our progress?”

  “Use your judgement, but yes. You’re better at people than anyone.” Aidan looked concerned, but not about that. “Simone, make sure that Pennington flies back to Tahoe ASAP. Quick daily commutes to the office during family vacations are standard operating procedure for high-level execs. That won’t raise any red flags. Prolonged visits will.”

  “Prolonged visits won’t be necessary,” Simone replied. “Once I’m in place, I can connect with Pennington by phone. You’ll be the one to shuttle back and forth to Tahoe to manage him and his family.”

  “Yup. I’ll get my frequent flier miles all filled up.”

  “What about the photocopy of Lauren’s passport?” Simone asked. “Did Vance get it to you?”

  “Yes. Thanks for reminding me. Terri, contact our guy about making a new passport for Lauren. Pay him extra. We need it yesterday.”

  Terri frowned. “He’s off the grid. It’ll take me a few days to track him down.”

  “We don’t have a few days.”

  “Aidan,” Marc interjected. “Let me handle this one. I’ll call Ryan. He has a guy who’s done this for Forensic Instincts before. He’ll make it happen.”

  “Good.” Aidan gave his brother the thumbs-up. “Then I’ll text the photocopied pages directly to Ryan as soon as you give me the word that he’s able to come through on a dime.”

  “I’ll call him right after this videoconference is over.”

  “So things in the States are covered,” Philip interceded. “Let’s get to the European assignment. Marc and I need to
know which physical direction we should be heading in to locate Lauren. Any insights, Terri?”

  “Of course.” Terri glanced down at some printed pages on her desk. “Knowing the starting point and the time of the kidnapping, I hacked into the Munich camera system and was able to follow the route of the van to A10 southbound.”

  “Not a surprise,” Philip said. “They headed southeast—away from the densely populated areas of Germany. The good news is that they took toll roads, which means there’ll be monetary records of their passage. Not to mention they have to have crossed country lines, at least from Germany to Austria.”

  “And probably from there into Croatia,” Marc said. “A country with great isolated areas with low populations, plus law enforcement that’s not as capable. I.e., they’re poorly paid and easier to bribe.”

  “Precisely,” Terri said. “I plan on accessing the transport records Philip mentioned. That will tell us where they were when. Given the size, model, and number of passengers in the van, I can estimate the driving range on one tank of fuel to be five hundred kilometers to six hundred kilometers.”

  Terri clicked her mouse and her face was replaced by a Google map of Europe. “The donut shape in yellow indicates how far the van could travel on one tank of fuel, hence the likely refueling area. Given the route they took, I’ve blacked out Germany, France, and Switzerland and grayed out Italy, Poland, and the surrounding countries that are unlikely given the route taken. Unfortunately, given that I agree with your assessment that Croatia is their ultimate destination, their most probable refueling area would be Zagreb.”

  “Shit,” Marc said. “Zagreb is the capital of Croatia. So much for omitting densely populated areas.”

  “Nevertheless, I suggest you go there as your starting point.”

  “You’re correct.” Philip nodded. “It sucks, but it is what it is.”

  “I’ll text this map to you both,” Terri said. “That way you’ll have it for easy reference. I’ll also text you a detailed map of Zagreb, with local gas stations highlighted. Try the ones that are off the beaten path but not too far from the highway.”

  “Done,” Philip replied.

  Aidan jumped in right there. “I have a strong contact in the Croatian police. Danijel Horvat. He’s a chief police inspector stationed in Zagreb. He’s the head of the Organized Crime Division. He also served on a Europol Organized Crime Task Force. He’s smart and well-connected, and I can always count on his discretion. I’ll call and bring him up to speed. He’ll be ready for Marc and Philip’s arrival, and he’ll be a vital ally.”

  None of the team members looked surprised, although Marc did look impressed. He knew that Aidan had contacts everywhere and in every area of expertise. Still, his brother’s reach was even wider than he’d realized.

  “Having inside help from high-level law enforcement is a great start,” Marc said. “Now we need to figure out what additional resources we need to find Lauren.”

  “None of the dossiers Simone sent me are going to be useful,” Aidan stated. “Excellent people, but not for what we’re dealing with now. We’re crawling into isolated areas of Croatia. We need a small, targeted number of specific assets.” He turned to Philip. “Ideas?”

  “Yes,” Philip responded without hesitation. “Even though most Croatians speak English, we can’t count on that being the case in some of the remote stops we’ll be making. So unless Marc speaks fluent Croatian, we’re going to need one or more people who do, to translate emails, cell phone calls, texts, and any wire-tapping we have to do.”

  “Nope.” Marc shook his head. “Mandarin, French, and Spanish, yes. Croatian and Serb, no.”

  “None of us fits that category.” Aidan’s gaze shifted to Simone. “Can you help us with this?”

  Simone was already scanning her dossiers. “Since Croatian is spoken by over ninety-six percent of the country, I’m focusing on that. I’m also looking for a woman, just in case it’s necessary to have them interact with people. Marc and Philip come across as threatening. A woman will be less so. You’ll get a lot farther with a softer touch.” A hint of a smile. “And I’ll make sure she’s not model material so Philip won’t hit on her.”

  Philip merely arched a brow.

  Simone paused, glancing at her findings. “I have two possible candidates. Aidan, I assume you need this asset to start right away. For how long do you need her and how much are we willing to pay?”

  In response, Aidan asked, “Terri, what’s our financial situation on this?”

  A rare grin curved Terri’s lips. “Money is no object. I hit the jackpot on Wheel of Fortune.”

  “Oorah!” Aidan punched the air with his fist. A quick glance at Marc, and he said, “Frogman, that term means charge. A Marine thing, nothing you’d understand.”

  “I got the term,” Marc returned dryly. “It’s the game I’m lost about.”

  Aidan provided a quick explanation.

  “Nice,” Marc responded. “Share that with Ryan, Terri. He’ll love it.”

  “Good idea.” Terri looked proud and pleased. “He, of all people, will appreciate the intricacies of the app.”

  “Since the sky’s the limit, I suggest we hire both women I’ve selected,” Simone said. “One is more experienced in these types of operations, and the other speaks Albanian as well as Croatian. We have no idea the exact nature of the skills that will be required, or if we’ll need one or both of these candidates. I don’t want to take any chances by being short on resources in a crisis situation. Given that the kidnappers’ deadline is less than a week away, I’ll hire the two women for a full week.”

  “Go for it,” Aidan agreed. “I need them to meet Philip and Marc in Munich ASAP.” He turned to the two men sitting alongside him. “You guys are going to have to bring Simone’s candidates up to speed and take it from there.”

  “Done,” Marc replied.

  “One last thing about what Philip and I need in addition to money—although we need plenty of that to grease the necessary palms,” Marc said. “We need tactical support—weapons, transportation, communications. The Albanians don’t play nice. Neither should we.”

  “Good point,” Aidan responded. “Philip, can you arrange the transport and the weapons? Terri will wire the money to wherever you need it to go.”

  “Not a problem,” Philip replied. “I have a weapons guy in Germany who can get us anything we want. As for transportation, I’ll get us a BMW 7 series—nothing too flashy, but it’ll handle well in a chase and move fast should we need it to.”

  “Smart thinking,” Aidan said. “Marc, what are your current weapons of choice?”

  “A Glock 27 nine-millimeter pistol and an H&K nine-millimeter MP5 submachine gun,” his brother replied.

  “Those are easy enough to get,” Philip assured them.

  “Good. Last thing up: communications,” Aidan said. “We need to talk once a day as a team. Philip, you need to pick the best time for your European team to talk, since the rest of us have more flexibility.”

  Philip gave that a quick thought. “Let’s go for zero seven hundred hours Central European Time, which is zero one hundred hours Eastern Standard Time and twenty-two hundred hours Pacific Standard Time.”

  “Seven a.m. in Croatia, one a.m. in Manhattan, and ten p.m. in Cali, respectively,” Aidan automatically translated aloud. “Everyone on board with that?”

  There was agreement from all screens.

  “On that topic, I’ve already overnighted secure iPhones to everyone,” Terri reported. “They’re preprogrammed with everyone’s cell numbers. I anticipated field operatives and included four extras for them, with only Marc’s and Philip’s numbers preprogrammed. They don’t need to know about the rest of us.”

  “And that’s a wrap.” Aidan glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to make a couple of calls—one to Danijel Horvat and one to find out how my daughter’s flight went. I’m sure she kept the passengers on her flight highly entertained. After that, I’m heading over
to Hofbräuhaus to do a little recon of my own. I might get lucky. And FYI, I’ll be taking off for the States later this afternoon. So I won’t be reachable until I land. After that, I’m on call twenty-four seven, running the operation. Contact me in between our daily briefings as needed.”

  His mouth set in a grim line. “Experience tells me that Pennington will be getting new demands from the kidnappers soon.”

  Manhattan, New York

  26 February

  Monday, 4:25 a.m. local time

  Ryan answered the phone on the fourth ring. “Shit, Marc, it’s four something in the morning. And I’m busy.”

  “Then peel yourself off of Claire and get your head into work mode.”

  Marc was referring to Claire Hedgleigh, the Forensic Instincts team’s claircognizant, as she termed herself. She hated the word psychic, although she’d resigned herself to being called that, since no one seemed to understand the difference. She and Ryan had a heated personal and work relationship, a love-hate thing that neither of them understood and had no desire to. It worked, it was hot, and it felt right.

  What didn’t feel right, at least to Claire, was the casual banter Ryan had with Marc when it came to her sex life. Unlike Ryan, who had zero inhibitions, Claire was reserved and private by nature. Just the thought of Marc knowing she was naked in Ryan’s bed made her blush.

  What didn’t feel right to Ryan was being interrupted when he had Claire in his bed. In fact, it really pissed him off.

  “This had better be good,” he warned Marc.

  “It involves the case we’re working for Aidan.”

  Ryan was instantly and totally awake. “I’m listening.”

  “I thought you might be. This falls under the need-to-know. How fast can your counterfeiting guy make us a new passport?”

  “If money is no object, probably a day, maybe two.”

  “Not good enough. You know the kind of deadline we’re up against.” Marc frowned. “Would it help if I had a copy of the girl’s original passport and we want one that’s identical?”

  “Hell yeah. We’re not setting up a new identity, we’re recreating an old one. Text me that photocopy and I’ll set the process in motion. A whole lot of cash and a little bit of arm-twisting—we’ll have what we need within hours.”