Page 9

Eight

“Paul Sands, Esquire, and I have advised my client not to say another word!”

Carlos Rodriguez’s attorney made the announcement the second Jude and Vicky walked into the interrogation room. He stood, straight as a ramrod, a man of about fifty with silver hair and ice-blue eyes, his hand resting on his client’s shoulder as he stared at the two of them heatedly, those eyes of his seeming to burn ice fire. “There’s nothing for you here,” he continued. “You have nothing against this man. I will see to it that he’s out on bail within the hour. If anything, you’ll go down for entrapment. You, especially!” he said, glaring at Vicky.

She looked at Jude and shrugged with amusement.

Jude held a chair out for her and took the second one on their side of the table himself, heedless of the standing man and simply shrugging as he looked at Carlos Rodriguez. Then he shook his head, smiling as he spoke to the attorney but looked at Rodriguez.

“Your client was in a public bar with no expectation of privacy. Cameras are everywhere in public now, so…he shouldn’t have been surprised.”

“She entrapped him. Believe you me, I’m a Harvard grad, not a no-name lackey, and I’ve represented—”

“Some of the worst scumbags in the world, yeah, I know, I looked you up,” Jude assured him. “But here’s the thing: I’m just not going to have any problem testifying in court; and we will have others willing to do so, too. And you see, your client is on tape and video talking about his efforts to kill us. We believe he killed the judge—”

“What you believe doesn’t mean squat in court,” Paul Sands reminded him. “You angered him. He was saying anything at all, anything he thought you might want to hear. He should have been read his rights, given access to legal assistance immediately—”

“Your client was told he could call his attorney at the time of his arrest. As Special Agent Mackenzie said, we’re happy to see you in court. No matter what an amazing attorney you might be, Mr. Paul Sands, Esquire, trust me, there are laws in this country, laws regarding sexual assault—”

“He never assaulted you!” Sands interjected icily.

“Well, I believe that in the eyes of the law, ‘roofies’ are illegal and considered to be an integral part of sexual assault. But,” she added sweetly, “I wasn’t in there alone. And the problem is your client fell too easily for what he saw as an easy mark. And the man does consider himself better than any female and way above the laws of our country. He’s going to do time. I don’t care what you tell a judge, and I can’t even imagine the tangle of having his son’s conviction vacated so that he can stand trial for murder. But, of course, we can’t forget he also murdered the judge—”

“He was nowhere near that car!” Sands said. “Proving that will be impossible.”

Jude smiled. “Impossible? Because someone out there knows how to manipulate servers. They’re great at encryption and they’re running a murder-for-hire racket. Paying someone is conspiracy to commit murder, and he can go down for first degree murder on that—”

“You can’t prove anything!” Rodriguez said suddenly.

Vicky shrugged. “You are such a narcissist. You really believe you are more powerful than the courts, the judges, and the juries. But—”

“They can die, they can all die!” Rodriguez snapped out.

“Carlos!” Sands said, shaking his head and pressing his hand onto the man’s shoulder. “Don’t talk, please, don’t talk. Leave the talking to me!”

“Even a Harvard education can’t help when you’re representing an idiot with a god complex,” Jude said dryly to Sands. “Your client is going to prison. Drugging women? Rape? Murder? Things he did on video. There’s no jury in the world who will let him go. And, of course, everything he’s said here is also on record, so…”

“Send me to prison,” Rodriguez said. He smiled. “I won’t stay.”

Vicky made a face. “Last I heard, there were a number of cartels and other enterprises out there. You might not stay because…well, we can’t have an officer per inmate in the prison system. It’s just not financially feasible.”

“Now you’re on record threatening my client!” Sands snapped.

Vicky shook her head. “Nope. I just said it the way that it is.”

“We’re done here,” Sands said. “My client—”

“Will be remanded. I guarantee it,” Jude said.

“Because you’ve threatened or bribed the judge?” Sands asked.

“Because I know the law,” Jude said. “But we can leave.” He looked at Vicky who shrugged. “We were here to offer help.”

“To drop all charges?” Sands asked.

“Oh, hell, no,” Jude said. He smiled. “But we could talk to the DA and see if we couldn’t make conditions a little better.”

“One thing about being a good businessman—you never screw those with whom you do business, because you never know if you’ll work with them again. And you know, some of those people are invisible, and they’re so very good at what they do!” Rodriguez said.

“I don’t know about that. We’re still here,” Vicky said sweetly. “Sometimes you don’t get what you paid for.”

“And sometimes you give people a second chance.” Rodriguez laughed.

“Carlos!” Sands warned.

“Okay, well, your arraignment is coming up and we do have a few things to do,” Jude said.

“Darkness, darkness, darkness!” Rodriguez said, as if he couldn’t shut up. “Criminals have lurked in the darkness from the beginning of time! But there’s a new darkness, one that’s strangely more stygian than any that has come before! One that could decimate the world! Well, the world as people like you know it!”

Vicky shook her head impatiently. “Wow. Right. Gee, we would never have thought of the dark web, Rodriguez. You know, brilliant techs never think of working for the good of others. Whatever—goodbye. Have fun in your cell.”

She stood and Jude did the same. They were almost out the door when Rodriguez shouted out, “I’ll give you the site!”

They paused, looking at one another and turning back.

“Um, too little too late, I think,” Vicky said. She turned back and smiled sweetly. “It’s amazing how news travels. The site has gone down, and a new one will be up by now. Your arrest was public, and I believe one of the news stations reported on it. So…let’s see, whoever is running the site will suspect you were angry that they failed to kill a couple of agents and also that you’ve been arrested and are being interrogated. And, of course, you only think of yourself. So, you’d be quick to talk, or if not quick—because you do so love to hear yourself talk—you’d still spill something eventually.”

“Get me out of general population!” Rodriguez demanded.

Jude walked back to the table and stared at Rodriguez and Paul Sands, who was shaking his head as if he had entered a strange world of pure misery.

“Here’s the deal on that. We’ll speak with the DA and if you admit you killed your daughter-in-law and her sister—manly man that you are—we’ll find out if it is possible to keep you out of the general population for the duration of your long, long—lifelong—sentence,” Jude said, staring from Rodriguez to Sands.

“You think there’s a prison that can really keep—” Rodriguez began.

“Stop!” Sands roared. “Carlos, shut up!”

He could have been about to say “keep me out of the general population.” But that’s not what the man had been about to say.

He was going to let them know he didn’t believe there was a prison out there from which he could not escape.

And it might be close to the truth.

Wherever the man would end up, he needed to be watched—constantly.

And…

He needed to be kept the hell away from the internet.

“Paper!” Rodriguez said suddenly.

“Carlos, we don’t have a deal—” Sands began impatiently.

“Paper,” Rodriguez roared. He stared at Jude. “This guy is a straight shooter. He’ll talk to the DA. And he’s right. So we’ll see just how brilliant his good people turn out to be!”

Vicky quickly had a notepad and pen out of her bag. She pushed them across the table to Rodriguez.

He wrote words and symbols and pushed it back.

“No death penalty and no general population,” he said.

“We will be working on it,” Jude said.

And finally they were out of the room.

Duncan was waiting for them.

“You know the man believes that if he doesn’t get the death penalty, he will escape,” Duncan said, frowning. “Vicky, what did he write on that paper?”

“A way in,” she said. “An encrypted password, but our people can figure it out. Of course, it is possible…”

She paused, looking at Jude. He smiled. He was beginning to understand a lot of it. Maybe there were things he’d already known, but he didn’t work cybercrime—not usually. So this was all a bit different for him.

“There is a site where people have been going to hire these murderers,” Jude explained. “But another will probably go right up. Still, if there’s any hint that a way in with a link to who is running it is suspected, the site will be down in a flash.”

“Then why…?” Duncan asked.

“Because our people are good enough to follow the ghost trail,” Vicky explained.

“All right,” Duncan murmured. “And from what I understand, our director and assistant director and other agencies believe there’s a lot more that can be done than just murder for hire.”

Jude nodded. “National security,” he said quietly.

“Could someone really—” Duncan murmured, shaking his head.

“Yes,” Vicky told him. “All right, I’m going to get this to our people. And…” She paused, looking at Jude. “We’ve got some work to do. We’ve got to get back to the Jacksonville/St. Augustine area. But we’re only a hop away at any time. There is one thing that has to happen here.”

“Carlos Rodriguez has to stay in custody,” Duncan said. “Got it, and our assistant district attorney is on it, too. He will be arraigned in a bit, and no judge in his right mind will let the man out on remand. Trust me, our ADA is good.”

Thanking Duncan again for all his help, they left the local office. Jude called the pilot; they were ready to go.

In the car Jude turned to Vicky. “Do you really think we might have gotten something the techs can use?”

“Well, we got something.”

“Do you think he might have played you? That what he gave you is gibberish.”

“No, for the very reasons you gave me.”

“And those would be?”

She turned to him, almost swiveling in her seat. “I have never met anyone like Carlos Rodriguez. He’s not just all the things you said—a chauvinist, misogynist, and narcissist. He’s got a total god complex. I think the worst to me is that he’s so convinced he’s superior to everyone, he would sacrifice his own son. But! Because he’s so sure of himself—and even if his murder-machine people messed up on killing us—he’s willing to let people follow a real trail. Screw them if we catch them. They screwed up and we should be dead.”

He nodded.

“You think we’re right heading back?” he asked her.

“We aren’t attorneys—oh, wait, you are. Okay, we aren’t working attorneys. We’ve done what we can do in the Nashville area. We need to deep dive now into Marci’s law firm and find out why a sweet young receptionist could have been a danger to anyone, and we have the yacht’s black box pieces and… I need to change clothes!”

“Ah, we never did have time for shopping!” he said lightly.

Vicky’s phone buzzed, and she looked at it quickly, then frowned as she glanced at him.

“What?” he asked her.

“That was from Aidan. They are following the tracks on the dark website, but…he has other information. He says that Paul Sands did represent a man in a Tennessee case who was represented by Wharton, Dixon, and Smith in a Florida case!” Vicky said. “But how—”

“I didn’t like Sands,” Jude said simply.

She smiled at him and nodded. “Right. I mean, why represent a client who is miserable, doesn’t listen to a word, and puts you in a terrible position unless there is something else behind it? But…okay, this could go either way. It’s starting to look as if one of these legal firms is behind all of this somehow—”

“Still a long shot.”

“But an intriguing one. Still, I think we’ve made the right move to head back to Florida. Paul Sands is involved in something big.” He grimaced. “I looked him up. He represents all kinds of gang leaders and cartel members. I think he’s in deep with some of these guys. That’s why, despite his client being half crazy or drunk with what he sees as his own power, he is determined to represent him—even if he knows that he can’t get him off this time. No matter what he says, he can’t get Rodriguez to shut up. And…”

Her phone was buzzing again. She read the message and looked at him, smiling and shaking her head.

“Man, you were busy texting when I was concentrating on a cyber encryption!”

Jude winced. “Yeah, I think I asked if they could look up info on good attorneys in the area. To recommend someone who might go in and find out about proving that Victor Rodriguez was innocent and getting his conviction vacated.”

“Well, Aidan did. He has someone going out to speak with Victor today, a fellow who has worked with the Bureau before when things have gotten twisted.”

“Great.”

Vicky nodded, looking at her phone. She let out a sigh.

“As we suspected, the site is already down, but this is beyond my expertise. They’ve been following footprints, and as expected, they’ve bounded servers across the globe. But with what they have, Aidan says they’ll be a step ahead when a new site takes its place. Whoever is doing this expected they might need to take it down at some point. And while a man like Rodriguez might not have understood it, the message to get back in to a new site would be in the old key. Anyway, they’re on it.”

“And here we are. Back home in no time. Sorry, back home for me—”

“And it’s still home for me, in a way,” Vicky told him.

She leaned back and then turned to look at him again.

“Is there a point when you’re going to talk to me?” she asked softly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’ve been working solo. You were thrown when you found yourself in this position, working the field for a cyber case, for one, and working with me.”

“Hey, you’re proving to be an amazing partner,” he said lightly.

“But are you really okay? Really ready to trust me—as an equal? I mean, after what happened with your old partner, Matt Reid, you’re still blaming yourself.”

“I trust you as an equal,” he said, and he was surprised to realize he meant it. “Why are you asking this now? Did I do something?”

“You didn’t tell me about your suspicions regarding Paul Sands,” she said.

“Only because I hadn’t really had a chance!” he assured her. “You were already on to the important part. Whatever that encryption thing that Rodriguez had given you. I was going on a hunch!”

“And your hunches are amazing to me!” she told him.

“Well, thank you.”

They had reached the airport. An agent was there ready to take the keys and the car. They parted ways with him, greeted the pilot, and settled in while he communicated with the tower. After takeoff, he turned to Vicky and told her, “Vicky, in all honesty, yes, it was confusing and difficult for me at first. I do trust you implicitly. And seriously, I’ve never believed in this line of work that an agent’s gender meant anything. A single bullet can take the toughest bully on the block. We’ve all seen it and we’ve all been taught it. And,” he added, managing to add in a grin, “I have a feeling you’ve been through tons of training, and you’re good at self-defense if and when a situation comes to it. But here is something that is true: partners become like…family. And I’d be lying if I were to try and tell you that it was possible not to worry about a partner.”

“Oh, that’s okay!” she assured him. “I worry about you, too.”

“Now that’s good. I don’t want to be with someone who…”

“Doesn’t care,” she finished. “But seriously, Jude, I promise you—I don’t play at being a lone wolf. I will always want backup.”

“And so will I.”

She nodded and looked out the window, then leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

“You didn’t sleep last night?” he asked her.

“Like a log,” she assured him. “I’m just thinking…”

“Here’s my plan. I want to head to our little headquarters, spend time talking with our cyber geniuses, see what they’ve gotten and if they’ve learned anything from the giant room of cyber sleuths working at our main headquarters. They will find something. And anything we say could help them. Then…tomorrow, we’re going to a funeral.”

“Marci Warden is being buried tomorrow.”

He nodded.

“And tomorrow, we find out just who was heartbroken at her death. And,” he added, “just who might have caused it.”

“Because Marci knew something she shouldn’t have known. Even as a receptionist, or…or because she was a receptionist and knew too much about communications going on!”

“Precisely.”

It was a short flight. They thanked the pilot as they exited the plane, and Jude smiled as he saw Aidan was there waiting, standing by a vintage Ford Mustang.

As they walked toward Aidan, Jude saw him grinning.

“Thought you might like this. I, um, got one for myself, and Cary is now happy driving a 1965 fully restored Corvette.”

“Cool, and thank you, yes! Such a great car,” Jude said.

“You should see Cary in the Corvette,” Aidan said lightly.

Vicky laughed and looked at him. “So! You texted Aidan about a car, too.”

“Nope,” Jude said.

“Hey! I thought of this all my own,” Aidan assured her. “After what happened in Tennessee—twice—it seemed necessary. Thankfully, you guys just got scratched up. Maybe it wouldn’t have happened here. Maybe it would be too obvious if a car went into a tree here as well as just outside of Nashville—twice—but we can’t be too careful.”

“No, Aidan, thank you, it’s perfect!” Vicky assured him. “Trust me, after leaping out of one moving car, I’m very grateful to be assured I probably won’t need to do it again.”

“We’ve been working hard at the house to protect our own server and, of course, our own sites,” Aidan said. He shrugged. “Cary is the real genius. I’m still an on-the-scene forensics guy myself. I’ve just had training and some expertise that works well on the cyber situation at the moment. So, is there anywhere you want to go first?”

“Headquarters! Now, please,” Vicky assured him. “Our go-bags were destroyed with the explosion and flames of the car. I’m desperate for a hot shower that is followed by clean clothing.”

“Creep!” Aidan accused Jude. “You wouldn’t take her shopping?”

“Hey, she says she can shop in two minutes. We just wanted to get back here. We figured with everything on the table, talking among ourselves and tomorrow—”

“You head to Marci Warden’s funeral,” Aidan said.

Jude nodded.

“You really think the roots of this thing go back to the Wharton, Dixon, and Smith law firm?” Aidan asked. “Wait. Don’t answer that. We’ll get Cary in on it all. We’ll be at the house by Old Town as fast as you can drive this sucker. Whoever wants to drive. I mean, I can drive—”

“Let Jude take it and get accustomed to it. Being the driver isn’t a thing for me,” Vicky said.

“It’s not a thing for me, either” Jude said.

She grinned. “I know. If it was a thing with you, I’d insist on driving, too, just to show you that it shouldn’t be a thing!”

Aidan laughed and shook his head.

They had no baggage to stow, so they quickly hopped in the computerless car.

“There’s some argument on when computers were first installed in automobiles, and just what they did once they went in. But it’s safe to say that if we pick up anything from before 1965, we’re good,” Aidan said. “Anyway, I’m going with the determination that cars computerized to the extent they can be manipulated as the judge’s car and the car you started out in is something comparatively recent. You’d be surprised by the cars reported stolen because they can be started—and even guided—from afar. But…”

“This is a cool car!” Vicky assured him.

Aidan talked computer systems and car manufacturers as they drove, and they quickly arrived at the house, entering with the code—something that didn’t make Jude particularly happy under the circumstances—and greeting Cary who was busy at her computer as always.

“What’s that face for?” Cary asked him.

“Our entry—our code. It can be hacked, right?” he said.

“We’ll think of some other security measures and, oh!” Cary said, looking at Aidan.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Aidan said.

“Fill us in?” Jude said, arching a brow.

“Clover,” Aidan said.

“Clover?” Vicky asked.

Jude was already grinning, “Now there’s a security system without a computer! Of course, there are things that could be done for someone to break in here, but not with us watching.”

“Okay, seriously—”

“Clover belongs to Aidan’s family. He’s an exceptionally large shepherd/mastiff mix, and he worked with the Seminole police for several years before retiring. He’s huge, and to those he cares for, he’s as gentle as a newborn. But he knows who doesn’t belong somewhere, and he’ll go after that person with all his training intact,” Jude explained.

“Oh!” Vicky said.

“I mean, if you’re all right with dogs,” Aidan said.

“I love dogs,” Vicky assured them. She winced. “And with Clover, we just have the same fears we’d have with a human, that he might be poisoned, that he could be shot—”

“We’ll keep him in, and we’ll go out with him to make sure no one ever tries to throw him a piece of beef with arsenic or the like,” Cary said. “He’s a great dog. I am going to be much happier being here with Clover in the house.”

“We can also rig the windows and doors, just in case someone does figure out where we are and can break into our alarm system,” Jude said.

“I can start on that tomorrow. Right now, I’ll head out to get Clover. Cary, they wanted to throw ideas, impressions, and thoughts around between us tonight, so—”

“Please! Go get Clover!” Vicky said. “I’m not doing anything until I shower and get clean clothing on!” she said.

“All right, then,” Aidan said. “I will be awhile—it’s a bit of a drive. But hey, I’m with law enforcement. Due to exigent circumstances I can speed a bit.”

“Yeah, just don’t go getting arrested!” Jude warned.

Aidan grinned and left them.

“You’re going to love Clover!” Cary assured Vicky.

“I know I will,” she said. “And—I’m off!”

Vicky disappeared down the hall toward her room.

He knew how she felt. He couldn’t wait to change himself. Shower, of course, as if he could shower off wearing the clothing that had been with him when he’d rolled across pavement and dirt and gravel. Couldn’t actually “shower” his clothing, but hell, it would be washed!

“Are you guys really all right?” Cary asked him anxiously. “When we heard about what happened, we were so worried!”

“We got out. Yeah, pavement on flesh hurts. But we survived, and we didn’t even break any bones or get serious lacerations.” He hesitated and shrugged. “I could feel it while driving. I don’t know if I felt it in my mind, or if I could really hear or feel something change. Maybe it was just because of what happened to the judge. I don’t know. But we were fine,” he said.

Cary nodded. “She’s cool.”

“Vicky?”

Cary nodded. “Brave and determined. If I’d been in that car, they’d have had my resignation the next day!”

He smiled at that. “She’s a perfect field agent.”

“More than perfect. She knows what I’m talking about most of the time—she’s savvy in cyber lingo and understands the uses of cryptology, how servers can be bounced about. She’s like…seriously perfect. For this case—and probably tons of cases in the future. But we’ll get you practically perfect by then, too!” she assured Jude.

He groaned and said, “Shower for me, too. We’ll be out in a bit.”

As he headed into the shower, he smiled a little grimly, thinking about Cary’s one descriptive word.

Perfect.

And after perfect in his own mind came another thought.

So very perfect that…

He’d been around, he’d had his affairs that had meant something, and he’d had a few nights that hadn’t really meant much more than a few drinks at a bar. He just hadn’t found the person who understood what he did, who tapped into his mind and soul as well as his senses. He’d known, of course, from the time he’d seen her that she was an extremely attractive woman. But she could make him laugh while also holding her own in any situation. She…

…was perfect.

Technically, they weren’t in the same department. FBI agents did have affairs, and he had friends who were with the Bureau who were married to other members of the Bureau, or those working in some capacity with the Bureau. And it could be amazing because of the hours, the secrecy, so much more to the job that had to be understood.

But…

He smiled to himself as he turned on the shower. He let the spray rush over him, lathered, let the water sweep away the long days—and all the dirt that might have adhered to his clothing and flesh.

He toweled dry and dressed while the perfection of Special Agent Victoria Tennant stayed on his mind.

She respected him as a partner. She had pushed for an understanding.

That didn’t mean she found him appealing as a partner in any other way.

And under these circumstances…

“Under these circumstances…what?”

He’d been lost in his thoughts; he hadn’t realized that they had both stepped into the hallway at the same time.

He laughed. “Sorry. Man, I was talking out loud, huh? Um, what else did I say?”

“Under these circumstances. That’s all I heard.”

He inhaled over clenched teeth, grimacing. “Well, our current circumstances. You know, trying to find someone who seems capable of killing at will by hacking computer systems.”

“Oh, well, of course. So, I was thinking if I cooked, do you think you’d eat it?” she asked.

He laughed. “Just how bad are you?”

“Not horrible.”

“Whatever you prepare, I will be glad to eat it,” he assured her.

“I just don’t feel like going out. It’s already getting late. And I don’t really want to have food delivered here anymore. I mean, we can’t function if we get paranoid. I’d just rather go on common sense.”

“Let me know what I can do,” he said.

“I will—but it’s not all that hard. Brown beef, throw in seasoning, and put mashed potatoes on it. Then we have canned veggies of some kind.”

“Perfect,” he said, wincing inwardly as the word left his mouth.

Well, dinner might as well be perfect, too!

She didn’t really need much help. As she moved about competently on her own, Jude sat with Cary while she worked, explaining to him how the cryptogram they’d been given could be used to hunt down the site that had been removed.

She was talking to him, explaining a twist of letters, numbers and symbols when she suddenly let out a startled cry.

“What, what?”

Vicky rushed in from the kitchen to join them.

“I found it—I found the site that was taken down!” Cary exclaimed. “Oh, and it’s on here. First, there’s the offer for ‘anything you need, untraceable.’ It doesn’t exactly say ‘murder for hire,’ but here’s one…it’s on the yacht! And, of course, the email requesting the service won’t exist anymore, but when you look long and hard enough… Well, that’s the thing about the internet. Nothing is ever really deleted once it’s been up. Look, look! Here’s the order on the judge and…” She paused, looking from Jude to Vicky. “Here’s the one that orders the hit on the car you had in Tennessee.”

“What’s the matter?” Jude asked her. “Why are you frowning?”

“I think I’m good at what I do. And we have another office on this, so maybe we’ll find something eventually. But it disturbs me that I can’t find any kind of an order for something to happen to Marci Warden. And it’s frustrating, trying to follow emails and sites and servers that bounce across the world. But no matter where and how I look—no matter what I’m able to hack into—there’s no announcement of any kind or a real name or traceable email. Easily traceable email, that is. And I haven’t found how people are paying for the services, and I’m frustrated because, as I said, the only thing I can’t find…”

“You can’t find the order to kill Marci Warden,” Vicky said.

“Right.”

Vicky looked at Jude and Jude nodded in return.

“We need everything,” Jude said, turning to Cary. “Okay, we know the Paul Sands has defended many very bad people, but on top of that, Aidan told us there was an association between the firm Marci worked for and the law firm Paul Sands works for. Something is slimy about that guy. He kept trying to defend a madman. And no matter how wild Carlos Rodriguez got, he kept defending him. We must find the connection. As far as working on the ground in the physical world, we’re going to start tomorrow by pinning people down at the cemetery. If we keep at it, somebody will eventually give something up and give us a human clue to follow.”

“I’m on it. I’m so sorry, I can’t help that things take time,” Cary said apologetically.

“Hey, of course!” Jude said. “And that’s why we need to work in the field, too. Face-to-face conversations can still reveal things that a computer can’t.”

His phone rang. He looked at it and answered it quickly. It was Aidan.

“Just me, and I’m coming in with Clover,” he said. “Under the circumstances, I thought I should warn everyone.”

“Gotcha. And dinner is almost ready.”

“Good. Clover will love it!” Aidan said.

The door opened a few seconds later. Aidan had returned with one of the biggest dogs Jude had ever seen. Clover barked and wagged his tail furiously as he entered.

“Clover, you know Cary. And that’s Jude there and Vicky over there.”

The dog seemed to have good sense. He rushed over to Vicky to let her pet him and talk to him, scratching his ears, welcoming him to the house.

The dog had amazing instincts; he turned to look at Jude as if apologizing for not coming to him first and knowing that Jude would understand.

The sad thing was that Jude did understand. He smiled to himself; he could understand the instinct to go right to her!

“It’s okay, pup! She has that effect on people, too,” he said.

His comment caused them all to laugh and Vicky to say, “Hey, thanks. But dogs are smart. They often have an amazing sense of when someone loves them!”

“Hey, I love dogs, too!” he said.

As if aware he might be causing a controversy, Clover ran over so that Jude, laughing, could give him some welcoming pets, too.

Then he hurried back to Vicky.

“Okay, dinner and theories and anything we’ve got!” he said.

Clover woofed in complete agreement.

And it was good. It was amazing what the presence of the dog could do. He could feel it. They were all just a bit more secure.

The massive pup had done that for them. And as they passed the food around the table, Aidan explained what he and Cary knew so far.

“Paul Sands represents not just Carlos Rodriguez, but a number of the big names when it comes to cartels and drug smuggling. Those deaths are usually more normal ones with bodies full of bullets in dark alleys, but without prints or DNA or usable forensics,” Aidan told them.

“Yeah, I looked up his client list. Okay,” Jude said. “So, the man has been a suspect in questionable homicides before. And Sands has kept him out of prison. But I don’t think Sands was aware of Carlos Rodriguez’s forays at the bar—drugging women to make sure they appreciate his godlike qualities. We lucked out in that Duncan Clark had been watching him and had him under surveillance.”

“But,” Vicky said, glancing at Jude, “we don’t think Carlos Rodriguez is behind the AI murders—he was just a customer.”

“And,” Jude said, “it seems that Sands has been representing him all along. He’s a criminal attorney. So, is the connection between the law firms between criminal attorneys?”

“We used facial recognition,” Cary offered, “and as you know, we discovered that Carlos Rodriguez knew and probably did business with the captain of the Lucky Sun . Then we found out that the captain of the Lucky Sun did business with Marci’s law firm—”

“In the criminal law division?” Jude asked.

But Aidan and Cary looked at each other, shaking their heads.

“Maritime law,” Cary said.

“And it could mean nothing, but—”

“Facial recognition is pretty amazing,” Aidan said. “Okay, so, we really don’t know what the connection is, but in searching for Carlos Rodriguez through news reports, security cams, social media, and more, we found this… Let Cary just show you!”

Even while eating dinner, Cary had her computer at her side.

She hit a few keys and then twisted the computer so that they could see the image displayed on the screen.

And there they were.

Carlos Rodriguez, Paul Sands, and the captain of the Lucky Sun , all standing in front of Marci Warden’s law firm, with the door being held open for the trio by Nathaniel Wharton, whose prestigious name headed the law firm of Wharton, Dixon, and Smith.

“See the connection?” Aidan asked.

“Visual, but loud and clear!” Jude assured him.

And in complete agreement, Clover let out an excited, “Woof.”