Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
Amanda and Trent returned to the front desk for directions to Corey Shea’s office and instructed the receptionist not to call ahead of them. The first time they spoke to him, they’d done so in a meeting room.
Corey’s office was on the second floor, and it wasn’t much more than a cubbyhole. Some storage closets were larger.
He was standing over a table in the corner tinkering with computer components, his back to the door.
Amanda knocked on the doorframe, and Corey jerked around and dropped the tool that was in his hand.
“We didn’t mean to startle you.” Again… The guy sure was jumpy.
“I’m fine.” He ducked down to pick up his tool. “Detectives Steele and Stenson, right?”
“Excellent memory.” Though if he was guilty of what they suspected him of, he’d remember them well.
Corey stepped to the side and gestured to the table. An array of computer parts was laid out. Amanda recognized a CPU casing and a fan unit, but that was all. “Is there something I can do for you? I’m just in the middle of a computer build.”
“There is actually.” This time she was the one motioning. She wanted Corey to take a seat at his desk. It had a bunch of computers stacked up on it too, with one front and center. It must be what he used for his work.
Corey sat down, and they stepped all the way into the space. Trent closed the door.
“Is that really… necessary?” Corey shifted in his chair.
“It is,” Amanda assured him. “We need to have a private conversation with you.”
“Okay.” His leeriness had adrenaline flowing through Amanda’s system. She’d been at this game long enough to recognize the signs. Corey was hiding something.
“Please know that whatever you say to us, you’re safe. If someone manipulated you into doing something illegal, we can help you.” She painted it as if Corey were helpless to resist this illegal activity in the hopes it would gain his cooperation.
“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His tongue darted out like a lizard.
“Then I’ll make it clear. Detective Stenson and I believe you ordered a contract killer through the dark web to take out Dominique Sharp.” She ignited the bomb, and the explosion lit in Shea’s eyes. The light dimmed just as quickly though.
“No, that’s crazy.”
That isn’t a denial…
“Is it?” Trent asked. “You graduated from MIT. You have a job in IT. Presumably you would possess the ability to access the dark web…”
Corey remained silent.
“Did you do this for someone else, Corey?” Amanda softened the tone of her voice to encourage a response.
When Corey didn’t speak, she added, “Maybe you didn’t feel you had a choice, or were afraid to refuse them.
Was your job threatened, or were you offered some extra spending money?
” Amanda didn’t mention the BMW in so many words, but Corey paled, gripped the edge of his desk, and said nothing.
All right, it’s time to mention the car… “You’ve got quite the nice, new, and shiny Beamer. How are you liking it so far? You’ve only had it a couple of weeks, right?”
Again, her question met with no response. She let the silence stretch out for several minutes, during which Corey repeatedly adjusted his posture.
“I could only dream of having a car like that at your age,” Trent said. “Heck, that one’s out of reach for me even now.”
“Fine, I’ll talk, but I need a lawyer.”
“That’s up to you, Corey, but it would go a long way if you work with us.” She was walking a fine line here.
“I was made to do it. If I talk, will you give me a deal?”
We were right about him! She squared her shoulders. “We’d need to know everything. All that you did and where, and for whom.”
Corey looked down at the floor.
She continued. “The clock is ticking, though, Corey. A killer is out there stalking Dominique Sharp as we speak. She won’t stop until she succeeds.
She’s already murdered two people in her quest to kill Dominique.
If anyone else is hurt, there can’t be any deal on the table.
Do you understand that?” She held back saying those two deaths were on his shoulders so as not to intimidate him into silence.
He rubbed his face and nodded. “My God, I can’t believe this came back to me. How did you figure it out?”
A blend of cop instinct and him wanting to clear his conscience… “First thing you need to do is call her off.”
Corey shook his head furiously. “I can’t do that.”
“Are you refusing to cancel the job?” Amanda required clarification.
“No. It’s not possible. Once the hit is ordered, there’s no going back.”
“You’re going to find a way,” Amanda said, and Trent touched her arm.
“There’s another option here,” Trent said to her, and she received his unspoken message and nodded.
Set the bait and lure the Anaconda Killer out… “Tell us everything you know about her, where you hired her, when… all of it.”
“I made an ad on this site. A person with the handle A. Killer responded. You’re saying they’re a woman? I didn’t even know that much.”
The Anaconda Killer hadn’t wandered far from her original moniker. Though it was probably just enough to obscure any searches by the FBI. “What’s the name of the site?”
“Death at Your Door.”
Like they were DoorDash or the many services that offered home deliveries. Only instead of food or other products, a person could order murder. “Can you still access this site?”
“I think so.”
“Good, because you’re going to reach out to A. Killer. You’ll be telling her when and where she can find Dominique Sharp.” They were going to lay a trap for the Anaconda Killer she couldn’t resist walking right into.