S.O.S. Perk (S.O.S. #6)

CHAPTER FIVE

Letting Perk down wasn’t how Sloane had seen things playing out, but after the frantic phone call she’d earlier received, and the subsequent meeting she’d had with her superiors, there was really no choice.

As she waited for Perk to respond, she reviewed how her late afternoon had played out…

Three twenty PM :

Sloane was headed back to her office after a routine wellness check on a witness in an upcoming case, when her phone chimed with Raising Hell , her special ring tone for Melissa.

“Hey, babe. What’s happening?” she chirped

“Oh, my God, Sloane! Oh, my God!”

Her friend’s panicked voice had Sloane slamming on the brakes and pulling over; every cell in her body immediately on alert.

“Whoa, Mel. Whoa. Slow down. Take a deep breath and tell me what’s wrong.”

The horror in Mel’s voice was real. “It was supposed to be handled, or at least they said it was, and now it’s all blown up.”

“What is, hon? You’re not making any sense. Start at the beginning.”

Sloane could hear Melissa taking a deep breath, attempting to become her normal, rational self.

Mel started in. “About seven weeks ago, the administration here at school got wind from some of the kids that money had been disappearing from their bank accounts. When we notified the police, we found out that it was already on their radar, and that the theft wasn’t just happening to the kids, it was also occurring with some adults. Our parents to be exact,” she qualified. “The police had been notified by six couples that significant funds had been siphoned off their accounts.”

Sloane growled. “Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”

Melissa sighed. “Because we were told to keep it all hush-hush; that the police would have an easier time solving the crime if the thieves didn’t know they were being investigated.”

“Okay.” Sloane tried to steady herself. “I get it. Sort of. But why now, Mel? Why have you suddenly decided to tell me?”

“Because—” Mel’s voice broke, so she started over. “Because one of our students is missing.” There was pure fear in Melissa’s tone as she relayed the information.

Sloane immediately dropped into agent-mode, attempting to piece things together. “And their disappearance, you think, has something to do with the robberies?”

“I believe so,” Melissa sniffed. “Kaelyn came forward to our principal yesterday. She reportedly had some inkling of what might be going on with the thefts, and was offering to tell the cops what she knew, so our principal set up an appointment with the detectives for first thing this morning before classes started.”

Sloane bit back a groan. This sounded half-assed, and not good.

Melissa continued. “But yesterday, after Kaelyn’s initial meeting with the principal, she left school and went off everybody’s radar.”

Fuck.

“Nobody knew anything was wrong, right away. Her parents had received a text from someone saying that a bunch of girls were spending the night with Kaelyn’s friend, Bethany. Which wasn’t cause for alarm. But when they tried to call their daughter today after she didn’t come home from school again, they got no answer. That’s when they contacted Beth, and found out there’d never been a sleepover.”

“And now we have a missing person’s case,” Sloane growled, biting down on her lip. “Are the police going to turn things over to us?”

“I don’t know,” Melissa wailed. “But Kaelyn is a really good kid, and I’m so worried for her. That’s why I called you.”

“Okay. Sit tight,” Sloane told her best friend. “I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to bring this to my superiors, and see how we can become involved.”

“Thank you, Slo,” Melissa said, gulping back what Sloane knew were tears. Her friend was tough on the outside—just like Sloane—but soft on the inside where it counted. “I knew I could depend on you.”

“Don’t count your chickens yet, hon. I have to wait and see how my bosses want to play this out. I’m sure they’ll contact the detectives that have been working the case and offer our help—”

Melissa interrupted. “What if they don’t want the Bureau’s assistance?”

“Well, since it involves a minor… Kaelyn is a minor, correct?”

“Yes. She’s seventeen.”

“Good. That means—because we have reasonable belief that a crime has been committed against a child—we should be able to get jurisdiction. Other than that bit of info, do you have any idea how much money has been stolen?” If the amount was significant enough, or pointed to gang-related involvement, it was also means to get things onto the FBI’s agenda.

Melissa mentioned a sum that was large. Very large.

Sloane was ninety-nine percent sure her office would sink their teeth into this case.

“Okay, Melissa. Try to stay calm. I’ll meet with my people and get back to you.”

“Thank you, Sloane.” Melissa was breathing easier now. “I love you, girl.”

“I love you, too.”

Sloane stepped on it, driving the regulation Bureau sedan as fast as possible back to home base. In the meantime, she sent out a voice-mail to the pertinent agents, asking for an immediate meeting and outlining the problem. By the time she arrived, she knew that her direct supervisor, Assistant Director Emil Baskins—who had been with the Bureau for a very long time, and whom she trusted implicitly—would already be looking into things. He wasn’t one to stand back and let paint dry when a fresh coat was far more workable.

Once in the office, Sloane hotfooted it to the conference room, where she hoped everyone was waiting. She wasn’t disappointed. Director Baskins had rounded up all the significant heads they’d need to talk this through.

Baskins didn’t waste any time. “I’ve been in touch with the detective in charge of the case, and he’s not only happy for help on this one, he’s already willingly turned over everything they have so far.” The director put on the reading glasses he now needed for screen-time, and he read out the details on his computer as they were currently known.

“Almost two months ago, just weeks after school started for the year, over a dozen kids found their bank accounts suddenly being hit. Not significant amounts to be sure, but still enough to have them talk to each other about it, then report it to the school guidance counselor when they found out they weren’t the only ones being targeted. The police became involved, and things escalated exponentially when a few parents also started notifying the department that money was disappearing from their accounts. This time, however, the amounts were quite large.” He named a figure that was even greater than the one Melissa had speculated.

“The locals have been on this for a while,” one of the other agents chimed in. “Have they had any luck tracing the withdrawals?”

“That’s where things get tricky,” the boss huffed. “It seems like all the money taken is only in cyber-space for mere seconds before being funneled into anonymous crypto accounts, and that trail is so damned slippery they haven’t been able to navigate it yet.”

Crypto. Shit. Everyone here knew that the world of virtual currency was like the wild west. Out of control, and almost impossible to regulate or track.

“Why didn’t they call us in when they didn’t have any luck?” Sloane wanted to know. “They have to realize we have better resources to investigate this kind of thing than they do, Chief.”

Baskin’s exact title was Executive Assistant Director for Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, but that was a huge mouthful, so they all called the man, Chief.

Baskins shrugged. “Egos? Higher-ups with different agendas? Who knows?”

He didn’t seem surprised, and neither was Sloane. They often ran across reluctance from locals when it came to involving the FBI. It was only luck that the detective in charge on this one was ready for some help.

“But now we have an underaged girl who’s vanished,” Director Baskins clipped. “So, whether the higher powers-that-be in that little town agree or not, we’re on this.”

“What have you got on our missing person?” a fellow agent across the table asked.

Baskins didn’t hesitate. “Kaelyn Jefferson. Straight A student. A rule follower, but one with lots of friends. She plays field hockey, and is on the cheer squad. She went to the principal late yesterday, saying she’d overheard a couple boys talking about something that sounded slightly suspicious, so the principal set up a meeting with the police for early this morning so she could fill them in.”

“But Kaelyn never showed up at school today,” Sloane supplied. “And seriously? the principal didn’t think that was cause for calling her parents?” She snapped out the question.

Baskins responded patiently. “The principal said he tried, but he didn’t get an answer. So he cancelled the meeting with the police, and put it on his calendar to follow up with Kaelyn’s parents after school. By the time he finally reached them, however, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson had just ascertained that Kaelyn was gone.”

The director continued with something Sloane already knew, for the other agents’ sakes.

“The parents had received a text yesterday from an unknown phone, that Kaelyn wouldn’t be home; that she was spending the night at a friend’s house. They didn’t think anything of it at the time, since it’s something their daughter often does. But when she didn’t show up after school today, and they found out she actually hadn’t been at Bethany White’s home, they knew something was terribly wrong.”

“Which is where I came in,” Sloane apprised the team. “My friend, Melissa, is an administrator at the school, and she called me the minute she heard about Kaelyn’s disappearance, hoping we would get involved.”

“Tell her we’re thankful for the quick heads up, Sloane. It’s always beneficial when the least amount of time is wasted before we can get our teeth into an abduction.”

Didn’t they all know the truth of that.

“Has anybody traced the text that came in to Kaelyn’s parents?” Sloane wanted to know.

“The police weren’t able to uncover anything, so we’ve got our tech department on it. We should have an answer, soon, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope that it will be helpful. My guess would be that somebody used a burner phone.”

“So, what’s our first move if the phone doesn’t pan out?” Sloane questioned.

“We send in a team to talk to the students Kaelyn suspected?” someone suggested.

“Which will lead nowhere,” another agent put in. “You know how closed mouthed high school students can be. And I have a feeling that making Kaelyn disappear was a strategic move from whoever’s behind this, making sure no one else who might suspect them, talks. Which means sending us in will be a colossal waste of time.”

“What about putting one of ours in, undercover?” an agent who sometimes teamed up with Sloane, asked astutely.

“That’s always tricky,” Baskins huffed. “But unfortunately, our one operative who might be able to pass for a high-schooler is off on another undercover assignment; one that isn’t even close to wrapping up.”

Well shit.

“I know somebody who might work in that role,” Sloane inadvertently blurted out.

Hell. Had she really said that? Was she actually going to throw Perk under the bus?

“Who?” the director asked curiously.

“Someone we trust,” she apprised, coming to grips with the fact that Perk would be perfect for the assignment. “We’ve worked with Delancourt Songen over at SOS a number of times before, Chief.”

“Uh, forgive me if I’m being dense here, Sloane, but as good as Del is, he doesn’t look like a teenager.”

“ He doesn’t,” Sloane agreed, “but his man Perkins does.” Sloane put aside her misgivings and jumped in with both feet.

“Really?” The Chief sounded skeptical.

Sloane fished out her phone and brought up a picture of Perk that he’d posed for at the wedding. She showed Baskins first, then flashed the photo around.

“Well, damn,” the director whistled. “He looks like a baby. And he’s on Del’s staff? How old is the guy, anyway?”

“Twenty-eight,” Sloane informed them, giving one last, appreciative glance at the picture before she closed it, not adding, and fucking gorgeous .

The chief pondered, stroking his shadowed chin. “I like the idea of someone going in undercover. I don’t believe we’ll get any useful intel any other way, so… Can you call him, Sloane?”

“Sure. Just give me a minute.” She wasn’t having this conversation right here, in front of her co-workers. There was no need for them to know she had a date set up with the baby-faced man. A date which…

Fuck. She was going to have to let go.

If Perk agreed to head into the high school undercover, nobody there would be allowed to know who he was because it could blow his cover. And that included Melissa. Not that Mel would give Perk away on purpose, but if she let anything slip…

Nope . There was too much riding on his anonymity to risk it.

Sloane simply couldn’t go ahead with the meet and great she had set up for Monday, and that sucked. Melissa was going to wonder why it was being cancelled, and Perk was going to pout. Of that she was certain. But until this case wrapped up, the highly delectable man would be off limits, at least in any kind of local or public setting. And there was no way she could allow Melissa to meet him as anything other than the transfer student who would be enrolling in the school where she worked.

This was the first time Sloane’s private life and her professional life had come into conflict with each other, and it sucked. But a girl’s wellbeing was at stake here, and it obviously took precedence over any of Sloan’s fantasies.

So…

She stepped out into the hallway, walked a few paces away where she wouldn’t be overheard, and dialed Perk’s number.

He picked up on the first ring.

“Hey. Did you miss me today?” he asked with so much happiness in his voice that Sloane felt like a witch, knowing she was about to ruin his mood.

“I know I had a hard time keeping you out of my head,” he continued. “It’s going to feel like a long time until—"

Sloane cut him off.

“I’m cancelling Monday.”

There was dead silence from the other end of the line, until Perk regained some part of his equilibrium.

“Can I ask why?” That growly, disappointed voice only made Sloane regret this all the more.

“You can. And once I explain, I promise it will make sense.”

“Okay,” he reluctantly agreed. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”