Lima
After their discussion on angles to attack the case with, each man opened the file on Zoe Reopelle to study it further. They’d have another conversation and finalize their plan shortly before they landed.
Burke thought about the exchange he’d had with his teammates regarding Donna and their relationship during the flight as he read through the file on Zoe Reopelle.
Reluctantly, he accepted that he did have a relationship with Donna, regardless of what he wanted to call it.
And it was more than just friendship. That was the first conclusion he came to.
The second was that he was a father figure to her children, and that was a position he didn’t want to give up.
It mattered to him because the kids mattered to him.
That was as far as he allowed his thoughts to go before he refocused on the case.
It was reported by her family that Zoe Reopelle started to become distant from her family shortly after the semester began.
She stopped going to class in October, and her roommate confirmed that was when she no longer lived in the dorm.
Zoe hadn’t gone home the previous summer; instead, enrolled in a few summer classes and kept her job at the hair salon, insisting she wanted to try to graduate a semester ahead.
The family admitted that communication over the summer was sporadic, but Zoe had been very busy.
Burke had to believe that her involvement with the cult, as her family called it, had to have begun in the summer or maybe even before.
Perhaps that was the reason she stayed at school over the summer.
He found it hard to believe that in May she was cramming classes in with hopes of graduating early, but only a few months later she had stopped going to class altogether.
Someone in her orbit introduced her to the prepper group.
Determining when she got involved with them could lead them to the who.
Discovering who could lead them to her. They needed to determine who her friends were.
Did she acquire a new boyfriend during that time?
That would be his guess as to who would have the greatest influence over her.
Her world consisted of those she interacted with in her classes, both other students and instructors, and those she encountered at her job: her bosses, coworkers, and the salon’s clients.
They needed to get her class list from the summer and the fall, perhaps even last spring.
As the plane began its descent, Wilson spoke, breaking the silence in the cabin. “Thoughts on how to acquire Zoe Reopelle?”
“I still think the roommate is our best chance at figuring out what her mindset was and who she was hanging out with before she pulled her disappearing act,” Burke said. “Even if they weren’t friends.”
“Which we don’t know if they were or not,” Tessman said. “If they are friends and if the roommate’s also into the cult, that could be why she hasn’t been forthcoming with information.”
Burke hadn’t considered that.
“So only two of us make contact with her. That way the others can be unseen by her and surveil her if needed,” Wilson said.
“Tessman, as you look young, you go in and take the lead. She may trust you because you look closer to her age. And Handsome, you’ll go in with him because you’re, well, you’re handsome,” he said with a laugh. “Youth and beauty reign.”
Rogers laughed, but Tessman and Burke didn’t.
“We definitely pair her phone,” Tessman said.
Burke laid out his thoughts regarding the people in Zoe’s orbit. “Can we ask Shepherd if the Digital Team can access her class schedules during the summer semester as well as the current fall semester and look into the professors to start with?”
“Professors?” Rogers asked.
“Who has the most influence over college students? Their significant other, friends, and their professors,” Burke said.
“I agree. The professors are worth looking at. TAs too,” Wilson said. “Anyone with authority over a student has influence over them.”
“I find it odd her bosses at the hair salon are the only ones cooperating,” Rogers said. “Makes me want to look harder at them. She just stopped showing up, yet they have nothing bad to say about her. I find that suspicious.”
“Okay, so we split up. While the two of you are talking to Gabby Struck, Rogers and I will visit her previous place of employment and talk with her bosses and coworkers,” Wilson said.
“As far as our angle with Gabby Struck,” Tessman said, “I agree with Burke’s approach that we’re Team Zoe, looking to deliver a misguided bribe from her parents just to have a conversation. The offer of a couple thousand dollars should do it.”
The plane landed and there was an FBI loaner car waiting for them as promised.
Wilson sent a text message to Shepherd with their plan of attack and the request for the Digital Team to obtain Zoe Reopelle’s class schedule and investigate the professors and teaching assistants from the last two semesters.
Wilson dropped Burke and Tessman off at the car rental counter so they could get a second vehicle.
From there, Burke drove to Grand Valley State University in nearby Allendale.
They located the dorm Zoe had lived in and parked in the residents’ parking lot, which was nearly filled with cars.
Good. It looked like most of the residents hadn’t departed for the winter break yet.
Burke felt old as they wound their way through the hallway.
All the students looked so young! They arrived at the door to Zoe and Gabby’s room.
They knew they were in the right place as a whiteboard was affixed to the door with writing in bright colors announcing that it was their room.
“Interesting,” Burke said, pointing to the whiteboard. “Zoe’s name hasn’t been wiped away.”
“Yeah, if my roommate wasn’t my friend, the first thing I’d do is erase her name,” Tessman said. He raised his hand and knocked on the door.
There was no answer.
“Hi,” a cute young woman said, leaning her back against the wall beside them.
“If you’re looking for Gabby or Zoe, you won’t find them there.
Gabby is up on three in a friend’s room cramming for a final tomorrow and Zoe is kind of not taking classes any longer.
” She smiled at them, her gaze bouncing between them.
“Thank you,” Tessman said, returning her flirtatious smile. “And you are?”
“Ashley, Ashley Green,” she said, reaching a hand to him.
Tessman cupped her hand in both of his. “So nice to meet you, Ashley. And so nice of you to take the time to let us know we wouldn’t find Gabby here. Do you know the room number of where she is?”
“Oh, I don’t know if I should give that information to two random guys, strangers.”
Ashley somehow maintained her seductive pose, which had her chest lifted up and off the wall and her stomach sucked in.
It didn’t look like a very comfortable position to Burke.
“I’m Rich, and this is Carter. We’re not strangers now.
It would be very helpful if you knew the room number, and we’d really appreciate the help.
” He gave her his best smile from the days before he was old enough to join the Marines, when he modeled, which was something his fellow Marines never let him live down.
His callsign of Handsome was a direct result of his previous modeling career.
“So, a bunch of us are going to a party tonight over at the Alpha Delta Phi frat house. Maybe I’ll see you there?”
“Maybe,” Burke said.
“The room number where Gabby is, is three forty. But I didn’t tell you that,” Ashley said.
They thanked her and headed for the stairs. They both chuckled as they mounted the stairs. “I haven’t been hit on by a college coed in a long time,” Burke said quietly to Tessman.
“I imagine Becca will have a good laugh when I tell her about it,” Tessman said.
They found the room Gabby was supposed to be in and knocked. A young woman opened the door and past her, they could see four other young women in the small room. “Can I help you?” she asked.
“Yes, we’re looking for Gabby Struck,” Tessman said.
She looked over her shoulder. “Gabby, they’re here for you.”
One of the young women got up from the bed where she sat and came over. Her hair was much shorter than in her driver’s license picture they had in the file, but it was her. Her gaze bounced between the two of them. “I’m Gabby.”
“Hi, can we have a private conversation with you about Zoe Reopelle?” Burke asked.
“Zoe? Who are you, more cops?”
“No, we’re private investigators hired by her parents to try to get a message to her,” Burke said.
“They just want to talk to her to be sure she’s okay.
They’re willing to pay a finder’s fee to anyone who can help facilitate that conversation, and they have money for Zoe too, to prove that their intentions are good.
They care about their daughter and just want to be sure she’s okay,” he repeated.
Gabby looked skeptical. “Her parents were real dicks. Not sure how well you know them, but I’m sure she’d be suspicious that they have money for her. When she talked to them last, they told her they cut her off.”
“It’s amazing what time passing and the holidays approaching will do. They already missed Thanksgiving with her. They don’t want to miss Christmas too,” Tessman said. “And to answer your question, no, we don’t know them personally; we're just hired to deliver a message.”
“We’re not looking to jam Zoe up. We don’t know the full circumstances and know that every disagreement has two sides.
As far as we’re concerned, she’s an adult and can make her own choices, as long as she’s okay, that is.
And if she indicates she’s not okay, we’ll help her,” Burke said.
He had his phone out and the pairing app opened, but he was unable to isolate a phone to pair with.