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“Yes. We reviewed surveillance footage of him during the flight in. He hasn’t aged well.”
Lassiter chuckled. “Glad to hear that. A man like him is vain. I’m sure it bothers him daily.”
“I hope so,” Laura Lee said.
“Seeing him in person will be different from seeing pictures.”
“I know,” Laura Lee said. “That’s why we’re talking. I trust the team to keep me safe from him, but I know keeping my cool is on me.”
Doctor Lassiter nodded, pleased. To hear her express trust in and unity with the team was gratifying. It was something he didn’t think he’d ever hear from her. “Let’s talk about some strategies for you to do that.”
They spent twenty minutes discussing several ways for Laura Lee to get through the coming meeting. Doctor Lassiter reminded her several times that she wouldn’t be alone with him, and the tracker implanted in her shoulder would give the team access to her, even if he somehow managed to get her alone with him. The team would have hand-held tracker locators and be able to track her to exactly where she was. They would blow the operation to make sure she was safe. He reminded her several times that her safety came first.
“And you’ll be on comms the entire time,” he said. “Arrange a codeword with the team that if you speak it, they step in.”
“That’s a good idea,” she said. “Thanks, Joe. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I do feel better about this than I did before we talked.”
“I’m glad to hear I’m earning my paycheck,” he said with a smile. “Text me after the meeting and let me know how it went and if you want to talk again.”
She took a few minutes after the video chat ended to do some deep breathing and visualization. Then she messaged Garcia to get the room number where they were set up. She brought her backpack with her laptop with her, knowing she’d be assisting with digging into Liu’s finances.
“It looks like they’re using rental property to hide the funds’ transfers,” Garcia told her.
The room was a suite with a kitchen, kitchen table, living room area with a desk, couch, and coffee table, as well as a bedroom with a single king bed visible through the open doorway. BT used the desk. Garcia was set up at the kitchen table with two tablets open in front of him. She set her laptop on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch.
“What do you want me to start on?”
“The Digital Team found three new email accounts that need to be gone over,” Garcia said. “Each email address in or out needs to be documented and the content of the messages needs to be recorded. This first one appears to be a mailbox to correspond regarding rental property, but we’re sure that isn’t what’s being discussed.”
What others may find boring work; Laura Lee found enthralling. A template had been set up for her to record her findings. Reviewing the data she’d entered in this format; she found a pattern that wouldn’t have been obvious otherwise. She showed Garcia what she’d found.
“These emails are not about rent or the availability of property. The street addresses are all in the thousands,” she said.
“Payments,” Garcia said.
“Yes, that’s what it looks like to me,” she agreed. “And these unit available date and rent extension dates look like some kind of code. When looked at in this table, it’s pretty obvious.”
“Good work. Now to trace who each of those email addresses belongs to.”
“Zelda Dobson referenced a network,” she said.
“It makes sense there needs to be a way for West and Liu to sell the services of their assets to interested third parties,” Garcia said.
“And to communicate the expectations to their assets,” BT added from where he sat at the desk. “I’m finding multiple IP addresses accessed the emails.”
“So more than one person has the user I.D. and password?” Laura Lee asked.
“That’s what it looks like. I don’t think the Dobson woman gave you the full story,” BT said. “I’ve traced an access point back to her home internet IP.”
“She logged into this email account?” Laura Lee asked.
“Yes, just last week,” BT reported.
Garcia cursed and then removed his phone from his pocket. He stepped into the bedroom portion of the room and made a call. Laura Lee listened. He told someone to push Zelda Dobson for the information and then get back to him. There was no doubt in her mind that whoever it was he spoke with would do just what he said. His voice was commanding.
Then he dialed again. “Is West still at the university?”
Laura Lee watched him as he listened.