Cold Silence, page 27
Yael’s jaw tightened as she stared at Eric Pierce’s HR file. “Someone from that firm was assigned to locations in the vicinity where the murders took place. Did EG swap cell phones with Eric Pierce, or…” She looked at Alex as details clicked into place. “Swap employee files.”
Alex leaned forward and pointed to the screen. “All anyone would need to do is switch employee numbers and all the wrong info would populate regarding work schedule.”
“We crosschecked work locations with murders and came up with someone EG set up as a patsy.” Yael wanted to curse. “But EG must work at the same firm. He has to know we’re onto him which is why he switched the employee numbers.”
Yael checked the associated banking details with Eric Pierce’s employee number but they lined up with Pierce’s home address.
EG definitely knew they were onto him which was why he’d tried to kill her last night.
She needed to tell Alex that her attacker had taken her family’s portrait. It was only a matter of time before EG figured out her real identity and revealed it to the world.
It didn’t change anything. There was nothing she could do to change it. Worrying about it wouldn’t help them catch this guy. It might get her taken off the task force and she couldn’t afford for that to happen.
“Can we ask a manager if they remember who they sent to Houston over the New Year? Or see if they have another employee number on record for Pierce that someone else is now using?”
Ashley nodded and turned away to make the phone call.
“He probably already covered his tracks. I doubt he’d use the number originally assigned to Pierce. Too easy to trace,” Yael said despondently. She pulled up the list of employees for the company. Over a thousand. She looked at Alex a little deflated. “He could have already deleted his real file or altered the photo and data in the HR database. That’s what I’d do to confuse the issue. Mix up a few random files so we don’t know which are true and which aren’t.”
Alex stared at her, the wheels of his brain clearly in motion. “Presumably he’d switch with someone on the same salary and paying the same amount of tax otherwise Eric Pierce might notice and raise questions with HR. Presuming EG is still on the payroll.”
“He was as of two weeks ago and I doubt he’d work for free.” Ashley put her hand over the phone mic, clearly on hold. “Narcissists don’t like to give anything away.”
“The guy has millions in crypto but draws a salary?” Another agent queried.
Yael frowned. “It’s not that unusual. Even people with money get bored. And maybe he’s using his access to the company’s security equipment or data to further his crimes…”
Alex narrowed his gaze. “Let’s compare all the salary payment transaction numbers from a year ago with the current HR files.”
“Company is gonna get back to me ASAP. I think they are trying to limit the possible fallout from this so they are checking with lawyers every step of the way now.” Ashley brought her laptop and sat down beside Alex. “I’ll crosscheck the details on the DMV.”
Excitement raced through Yael. This could work.
“Let’s go through each record individually. I’ll pull up the bank records for salary payments and you see who we pull up on the HR files. Ashley crosschecks photo on the DMV,” said Alex.
Yael nodded. It was a lot slower doing this individually but less chance of them missing an anomaly.
Shane arrived and came to stand behind her and touched her shoulder. Yael noticed they were surrounded by a crowd of people. Mallory, Jack, and the baby had left.
After the first hour people wandered off to do other vital things. Shane took the seat beside her, watching all their screens intently.
Sloan came into the room. “We have a general description from Borisky of a white male about 5’ 11”, hundred-eighty pounds. Dark almost black hair. Blue eyes. We have a sketch artist working with him as we speak for a better picture.”
“What did you have to give him in exchange?” Shane asked without looking up.
Yael glanced at Sloan. The woman gave her a slightly evil smile. “I promised the Department of Justice wouldn’t charge him as an accessory to first-degree murder. He’ll be charged with handling and selling weapons etc., which would normally mean straight back to prison, no passing go. But the ADA promised a suspended sentence if the picture Borisky helps create leads to an arrest.”
Someone must have explained what Yael and Alex were doing as Sloan said, “If you can get me a photograph in the next couple of hours, I can show Borisky a line up and see if we can get a positive ID.” She checked her watch. “I’m having him transferred to the nearest federal holding facility later tonight.”
Yael clenched her jaw and rolled her shoulders. They were going as fast as they could but it still took about forty seconds per person which meant it might take them all day to work their way through the massive list.
They had a system going. Alex said a name. Yael and Ashley pulled up the matching HR and driver’s license files. It was monotonous and boring after the first hundred.
Shane handed her a Coke and she took a quick sip. She needed the sugar hit.
“Ethan Grice,” Alex intoned and spelled the last name.
Yael’s search came back blank. She sat forward. “Wait. There’s nothing here. No HR file…”
Yael watched Ashley pull up DMV files for the name. The document loaded and horror gripped her insides.
“Shit.” Shane stood and his chair clattered across the floor.
“You recognize him?” Alex asked.
“Yeah.” Yael’s mouth tasted like sawdust. “That’s Laura’s new boyfriend.”
27
“Hey! I found a link between Ethan Grice and two of the victims…” Yael said from her position bent over a laptop in the corner of the small kitchen area.
“What is it?” Shane asked with half an ear tuned into the preparations HRT were making.
“Up until four years ago, victim number three, Derek Vincent, was a correctional guard at Dresden Detention Center where Ethan Grice served time. Vincent was fired for misconduct and fudged the details about that period on his resume. And guess who Grice’s public defender was? One Phillipa Everard who went on to marry a guy called Douglas Laurent.”
Phillipa Laurent was the judge who’d been murdered.
“Any idea what the misconduct Vincent was accused of was?” Shane asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Yael’s big brown eye met his. “He was accused of sexual assault but he was never charged. I assume the prison service wanted to sweep the allegations under the carpet.”
Made sense for something that egregious to paint a target on Vincent’s back. “Do you think he hid people he had a genuine grudge against amongst innocents or were all of the victims specific targets?” Shane asked.
“I suspect he hid those he saw as guilty amongst innocent victims. It’s a good way of getting revenge without getting caught,” Ashley Chen interrupted, coming over to where they stood. “I’ll pass that onto BAU-4 and see what they say. Good work, Yael.”
Yael nodded and went back to staring at her screen.
Shane watched his teammates get ready for the assault.
The task force had set up in an empty hotel suite at the far end of the corridor from Laura Bay’s hotel room.
Ron Borisky had picked Laura’s new boyfriend out from an array of five other dark-haired men, including Eric Pierce, as the person he’d sold two handguns, one with a suppressor, an assault rifle, and ammunition to. Pierce was looking more and more like someone Ethan Grice had set up, knowing that the former would lawyer up and look guilty because of the drugs he was apparently selling after hours.
Shane didn’t feel sorry for the guy in the hospital. He’d drawn a weapon on an FBI agent rather than answer a few simple questions. He dealt drugs that destroyed lives even though he had a well-paying job.
The rest of the task force were assembling all the background data they could find on Ethan Grice while other agents and HRT assembled at Laura’s hotel. Radar suggested the room was empty but no one wanted to take any chances.
They’d cleared the entire hotel, going door-to-door and asking people to wait outside on the opposite side of the building as a precaution against Laura’s room being rigged with explosives. Not likely as EG had lost his bomb capability when he’d murdered Lloyd Zenko. But it didn’t take an FBI profiler to tell them this psycho was escalating and fast.
The suspect was unpredictable and enjoyed hurting people. No one was taking any chances.
Shane ached to get out of this damn cast and join his teammates, but at the same time he enjoyed being part of the overarching investigation, especially as it gave him the opportunity to spend more time with Yael.
They were getting closer to capturing Scotty’s killer and the person who’d gone after Yael with an assault rifle. They were assuming that Ethan Grice AKA Owen Froese—another fake identity he’d used to connect with Laura online—had left the bar with Laura last night having spotted Shane and realizing, possibly unwittingly thanks to Laura, that Yael was alone and unprotected. Presumably EG had finagled Yael’s address out of the other woman—Shane didn’t like to think about how.
It was conjecture but that’s all they had right now. That and the fact Laura wasn’t answering her phone or email and appeared to be missing.
And it fit. It all fit.
Alex Parker and Ashley Chen had ordered all company and task force passwords and encryption codes changed immediately again so that Laura couldn’t reveal vital information. She hadn’t had full access to the files but she knew what had been said in meetings and no one was taking any chances. Alex had put people on scouring the systems—at his firm and the DOJ—for any corruption or viruses that the EG may have inserted.
Theory was EG had somehow identified Laura as the person tracking the crypto payments and had presumably tracked her online habits and used a dating app to approach her in real life without arousing her suspicion.
Yael seemed stunned by developments.
It was unclear exactly when EG had taken Laura hostage. Someone had wiped the hotel’s security camera footage completely for the last two weeks and had captured a twenty-four-hour loop that they’d set to play constantly. Hotel security hadn’t caught on yet. Ironically the hotel used the hardware and software systems from the security firm Ethan Grice worked for—which must have seemed like a gift to the sadistic prick.
According to Laura’s text messages to Yael, she’d come down with food poisoning during the night, but it was more likely EG incapacitated her immediately upon leaving the bar. He could have drugged or tasered her. Left her tied up in the trunk of his vehicle before parking on the side of the road, crossing the creek and mowing Yael’s townhouse down with automatic gunfire.
Shane looked at Yael whose dark eyes appeared haunted. She’d probably been texting with EG. She’d even planned to come here and see Laura tonight.
EG hadn’t replied when Yael had told Laura she was on her way and asking her did she need anything. It would have been too perfect for the guy to be sitting waiting for her only to be met with fourteen heavily armed HRT assaulters and two overprotective canines.
But the guy was almost certainly long gone.
Anger hardened inside him. Ethan Grice had not only killed his best friend, stolen a woman’s life partner and their children’s father. He’d also terrorized numerous innocents both for fun and for money. He’d terrorized Yael whom Shane was starting to have real feelings for.
Alex had tried tracking Laura’s cell but no luck. It had been turned off since just before the attack last night and only turned on again to periodically check and send texts. The location of the cell was cloaked.
The asshole had probably gotten off reading about how terrified Yael had been. Pity EG hadn’t tried to trace Yael’s cell last night. The welcoming committee would have been pleased to meet him.
Yael looked pale and taut, spine rigid, eyes downcast. She flinched when he touched her arm and he told himself not to take it personally.
“This is all my fault,” she muttered for the twentieth time.
“This is one hundred percent not your fault.” Alex Parker had the focused look of an operator right now. A man on a mission. “I should have prevented this from happening. I should have caught this guy a long time ago. I underestimated him and that’s on me.”
The scene was familiar to Shane. Everyone blaming themselves rather than the fucker responsible.
Shane watched from the doorway as Echo team stacked up at the door. They’d used radar, fiber optics, and a drone to surveil the inside of the room. Everything looked empty and undisturbed.
Ford Cadell held Hugo who looked focused and ready to work even though it was doubtful there was anyone to apprehend inside. Shane tensed as they let Griffin unlock the door with the hotel keycard. This was a good real-life training opportunity. The team moved in fast as soon as Griffin opened the door.
They were back outside the room again in under ten seconds. Shane strode down the corridor with Novak to meet Cowboy. He was aware of Yael following quietly behind them, clearly worried about her friend.
Ryan shook his head. “Room’s empty.”
Yael put her hand across her mouth. Alex Parker sucked in a deep breath.
Shane knew they’d mentally prepared themselves to find Laura’s mutilated body inside the bathroom. “Did it look as if there’d been a struggle?” Shane wanted in to see for himself but knew it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Evidence techs were going in first. Sloan’s orders.
Cowboy shook his head. “Bed’s made up. Room looks unoccupied.”
Chances were the bastard had taken her with him from the bar and, if Shane was a betting man, he’d say Laura Bay was odds on favorite to be EG’s next online victim, unless the FBI found her first.
“Laura definitely checked in.” Shane impatiently scratched the skin under his cast. He was tempted to cut the plaster off but Novak would only send him back to the hospital for a new one which would cost him time.
Cowboy nodded. “No indication she ever made it to her room though.”
They wandered back to the suite while Evidence Techs took over. Shane figured it was a waste of time considering the amount of DNA that must pass through there on a weekly basis. It was another avalanche of evidence to bury the details that might actually nail the suspect.
“Have they located her car?” Yael asked.
Ashley Chen looked up from where she was typing on a laptop. They’d put out a BOLO earlier. “Nothing. Yet.”
Yael looked like she wanted to say something.
“What?” Shane urged. She had such good instincts. He wanted her to believe in herself more.
“You said her vehicle wasn’t at the bar. I think she would definitely have left it here along with her luggage. She drove here last night after she dropped Tim off at his hotel down the road.”
Tim Theriault was watching for any new crypto activity on a laptop near the window. The young man seemed traumatized.
“Owen or Ethan or whatever the hell his name is, picks her up and drives them to the bar. Laura likes a few drinks so she’d be happy to make someone else the designated driver. And she’d want her luggage easily accessible when she came back, but she’d want it safe.”
Ashley frowned. “An agent checked the parking garage but I’ll have someone check again for the make and model.”
“Or EG took it,” Novak suggested.
“I doubt he’d risk it. And Laura’s car is top of the line. He’d be wary of anything we can track,” Alex said. “As far as we know he’s still driving the car he stole from Wayne Stockwell with false plates.”
“What about her laptop?” Yael asked.
“Either he has it or it’s in her vehicle.”
Yael’s expression collapsed. “I can’t believe he’s taken her. That even with us all looking for him he was right in front of us the whole time. The bastard chatted to me in a bar and I didn’t even realize it was him. Everything he does is to maximize people’s pain.”
She looked away, wiping her eyes. Pretending she hadn’t been about to cry.
Shane wanted to give her a hug but he needed to let her be professional in front of her boss. “Why’d he scrub so much video if Laura only checked in last night?” asked Shane.
Maybe they’d come here for a quickie last week. The idea was repulsive now but Laura had been into the guy and thought he was a normal date.
Yael frowned at him. “You think he could have booked a room here too?”
“Why not? Ethan Grice knew it was only a matter of time until we found his identity via his workplace. Eric Pierce was his version of Lloyd Zenko’s tripwire and told him when it was time to execute his escape.” Shane crossed his arms. “He had to be staying somewhere close by.” He was officially on vacation from his place of work. Shane didn’t figure the guy had planned to go back. FBI Charlotte were searching for his home but had come up with nothing. “I doubt he’s been moving from place to place all this time. He’d want to have a base and he was already in the area a week ago when he went on that first date with Laura.”
The FBI had discovered he’d wiped his dating app records from the system. Online, it was as if he’d never existed. All that remained was a payment to the company which was from another stolen credit card.
She sat up straighter. “That actually makes a lot of sense. That’s why he wiped so much security footage. Perhaps he installed the security system here or saw it listed in company documents. But either way he knew he could manipulate the cameras and software here. Maybe we should send out a message to any hotel in the country with this security system to be on the lookout.”
Ashley nodded and made a note on her tablet.
Yael tilted her head. Shane loved watching her brain kick into high gear. “He might even still be here, watching.”
Alex stared at her thoughtfully. “He’s probably long gone, especially with the FBI clearing out the hotel…”
