important.
“You know I’m right,” she said.
He turned to her, his dark eyes more intense than she’d ever seen them. “You’re in danger.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He told them. Everything they wanted to know.”
“He had no reason to-he had to know they’d kill him either way.”
“Vega’s pregnant wife was tied to a chair not ten feet from him. He watched her suffer, he saw her fear-you think he wasn’t going to tell them everything?”
Sonia swallowed uneasily. “But there’s no reason for them to go after me. If they thought I knew something that could lead to an arrest, they’d also be smart enough to know that my boss would know, there’d be reports and documentation.”
She wasn’t concerned for her own safety. She was a cop, and while she had no death wish, she understood and accepted the risks inherent with her position.
“I appreciate your concern, really, but what we need to figure out is their next step. We assume Vega told them everything he told me, but would that change their plans? They killed Vega because he was an informant, but why Jones? Jones was a big player in this business. Taking him out, and his chief lieutenant, will cause a huge void in the western United States. Are they seeking to fill it? With who? Jones’s team? Their own people? Where are they coming from?”
Dean said, “All good questions, but do not minimize their vendetta. They may have thought Jones was part of Vega’s deal. Or that Jones was losing control. Either way, they are ruthless, and just because you’re a cop isn’t going to stop them from going after you. They are old school.” He waved his hand toward the Vega house. “Restraints. Torture. Executions. Cutting out his tongue. Hell, I’d think they were old-style gangsters. And we have no idea if Jones was killed by the same people or not.”
“There’s an easy way to find out,” Sonia said. “Ballistics.”
“You need a body first.”
“We have one. The first victim they dragged out of the river.”
Dean rubbed his temple. “Okay. I’ll pull every string I have to expedite ballistics. The sheriff’s department has been great in sharing jurisdiction.”
“Because state and local government dollars are scarce. They’re happy to share the credit and have the feds foot the bill. But it works in our favor most of the time,” Sonia said. “I think we should pull in every known Jones associate for questioning in his disappearance and Greg Vega’s murder.”
“Arrest them? On what grounds?”
“Not at first. Just to ask questions. Last time they saw Jones, last time they saw Vega, what they know about Omega Shipping and a shipment that was supposed to arrive this week.”
Dean nodded, excited about the prospect. “You know, this might work. They don’t know what evidence we have. We play them up, see where the questioning goes, follow anyone who isn’t cooperating. I think we can pull it off. I’ll call it in, get S.A.C. Richardson to free up some agents, talk to the sheriff’s department about a few plainclothes.”
Deputy Sheriff Azevedo approached them. “The killers did a mighty fine job of destroying the victim’s office. Computers, papers, books-the damage is extensive, and probably permanent.”
Dean asked, “Would you mind if the FBI’s Evidence Response Team came by to process the office?”
“Not at all. We can use whatever help you can offer.”
“I appreciate it. And as I just told Agent Knight, I can help expedite ballistics, at least on the national database end.”
“Fantastic. I’ll let the coroner’s office know. Thought you might be interested in this.” He held up a small plastic evidence bag. Inside was a tiny metal circle that looked like the battery for a garage door opener or other small device. But it wasn’t.
“A bug?” Dean and Sonia said simultaneously.
“Where’d you find it?” Sonia asked. “I know Vega swept the place regularly.”
“His wife’s cell phone. There was another just laying on the table. I thought maybe it was the victim’s, until we found this.”
“Why were you looking for a bug?”
“I wouldn’t have been, except for the one we found in plain sight. Then I thought maybe we should sweep the place. This was the only one we found so far, and we neutralized it.”
“Now we know how they figured out Vega was an informant,” Dean said. “I’ll bet Kendra Vega talked to someone. It could have been as innocuous as asking about a school district in Georgia. Anything that implied leaving Sacramento would make Jones nervous.”
“But Jones is dead. Who else was listening?”
“Like I said, someone making a move on the territory.”
Sonia turned to Azevedo. “Agent Hooper and I are going to talk to the victim’s colleagues. You should know that Greg Vega was a federal informant and Xavier Jones is under investigation for money laundering, racketeering, and human trafficking.”
Azevedo was obviously surprised. “Xavier Jones the philanthropist? He just had some arts center downtown named after him.”
“That’s him. And we’re investigating a witness statement that Jones is dead.”
“I heard about the body they found in the river. That was Jones?”
“No. We think he’s still under. But we need to talk to his employees, and they may or may not be involved with Jones’s criminal enterprises.”
Dean explained. “We may need the sheriff’s department to help tail those we flag as suspect. See where they go, who they talk to.”
“I get it. I’ll talk to my boss. My men want whoever did this. The woman was pregnant, for chrissake. Yeah, we’ll help, I’ll just clear it. Give me a couple minutes.”
“Thank you, Deputy,” Sonia said as Azevedo walked away. She frowned. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
“What’s that frown for?” Dean asked.
“We might spook them,” Sonia considered. “Should we wait until Saturday and follow key people?”
“Don’t second-guess yourself.” Dean put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed lightly. That familiar, hot tingle returned full force as soon as he touched her. “For all we know, Vega’s killers are going to completely cut out Jones’s people. The more information we have now the better, especially if anyone knows who did this, or who is capable of doing it. We need names. The killers are still in town. They’ll be here Saturday night, otherwise these killings were for nothing. We have less than sixty hours to find out where those girls are being kept.”
“We should go to the security office first,” Sonia suggested. “That’s the entity that paid Vega, and where most of Jones’s goons were employed.”
Dean disagreed. “The first person we need to talk to is Craig Gleason.”
“The lobbyist? Isn’t he a little white collar to be involved with such a brutal crime?”
“You’d be surprised at what white-collar criminals are capable of, especially when a substantial amount of money is involved. Remember, we track the money, we’ll figure out Jones’s entire operation.”
“Even where the Chinese women are being kept?” she asked, skeptical.
“Oh, yeah. It’s there, somewhere. We just have to figure out the pattern. If Gleason isn’t involved, he may still know which of Jones’s clients are suspect.”
“And if he is involved?”
“Then he’ll be crying lawyer before we say good afternoon.”
“You sound confident.”
“Nine times out of ten I’m right.”
She gave him a half-smile, remembering their conversation the day before. “No ego?”
Dean raised an eyebrow. “Me?” He handed her the keys to his car. “Why don’t you drive so I can pull out Jones’s client list and we can talk about how to proceed with Gleason before we meet with him.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
