Chapter 23
The words on the laptop screen blurred, and Audra blinked, stifling a yawn. She was so tired of being cooped up, going over Liam’s files. They’d read, reread, then reread them again. At this point, she doubted they’d see anything, even if there was something there to see. They were too close to it.
What they really needed was for that cybersecurity specialist to contact them. It had been a couple of days since Asher dropped his bombshell, and they’d heard nothing so far. Audra had expected the delay, but it didn’t mean she liked it. Hopefully, the wait would be worth it.
She glanced at Sam over the top of the laptop. He’d perched in the reading chair by the window, his phone in his hand. He was looking at the files too. And probably wishing he’d grabbed his laptop when he hopped on a plane out of Costa Rica. She knew she would be if she was forced to do all her work on a tiny phone screen.
With a huff, she closed the laptop. “I need some air. Do you feel like taking a walk?”
Sam glanced up. “Sure. It’s not like we’re getting anywhere.” He got up and slipped his phone into his pocket.
Audra climbed off the bed and slipped on her shoes, then they were out the door. Sam took her hand, as he had every other time they’d gone somewhere. She glanced away to hide her smile. She quite liked the feeling of holding his hand.
Outside their hotel, they headed for a row of shops nearby. They were near Buckingham Palace, so the place was awash with tourists. That was fine with her. They could blend in.
Audra’s hip had begun to heal nicely, so they strolled along for a few minutes, looking at the architecture. She pointed out several things to him, proud to show off her city. Eventually, they stopped at a small café with a little seating area. It wasn’t quite teatime yet, so the place wasn’t too crowded. They could sit and sip a coffee without feeling pressured to leave.
“So, tell me…” Sam leaned forward on his elbows after they placed their order. “Why isn’t it raining?” He grinned.
Audra laughed. “It doesn’t always rain in England. Especially in the summer. Now if it were winter…” She trailed off and tipped her head.
He wrinkled his nose. “I thoroughly dislike cold rain.”
She lifted a shoulder, still smiling. “You get used to it.”
“No. Never.” Laughing, he glanced away. “I have to admit, though, I like the milder temperatures. Costa Rica is hot.”
“You could always move back home.”
“It’s hot there, too, in the summer.” He looked at her. “Perhaps I should move here.”
Audra caught her bottom lip between her teeth at the completely serious look on his face. “I think I’d like that.”
Chair legs scraped the ground to her left. “Whew!” A young woman with her blonde hair piled in a bun on top of her head pulled the chair to their table and sat down. “You two sure can move.” Her black-framed glasses slid down her nose. Crossing her eyes and letting out a soft huff, she pushed them back up.
Audra sat straighter and glanced at Sam. His intense frown matched the one she could feel on her own face. She turned to the woman. “Excuse me?”
The woman smiled. “Hi. Sorry. I should introduce myself. I’m Jo.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to us?” Sam asked.
“I would hope so. Asher sent me.”
“You’re Jocelyn Richardson?” Sam said.
The woman nodded. “Yes. But call me Jo.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Sam offered her a smile.
“You have something for us, I’m guessing?” Audra said, forgoing the pleasantries. “Since you tracked us down.”
“I do.” She glanced toward the café’s interior. “Your drinks are coming.”
Audra turned, and sure enough, the same server who’d taken their order was headed back out with a tray. He smiled as he set the two black coffees on the table. “There you are.” He looked at Jo. “Would you like to order?”
Jo waved a hand. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”
With a nod, he disappeared.
Audra fiddled with the handle on her cup. Her heart thumped in her chest. She took a deep breath, trying to force it to calm down. “What did you find out?”
“Quite a bit, actually. I logged into your boss’s computer. Both the one in her office and her personal one. She’s been doing some digging on you and on your handler.”
“Oh?” Audra set down the cup she’d just picked up.
“Yep. Finances, internet history, even some camera surveillance she pulled from Las Vegas CCTV. She had a file with notes about what she’d found. The only thing she noted about you was how you’d withdraw cash from your personal account every month. She wondered what you were doing with it.”
Audra caught Sam’s quick glance her way and knew he was remembering her stash of money in her safe. “What about Theo?”
“She found the bank account that goes with the statements you all found at his house—Asher mentioned that. I’m not some psychic—but she couldn’t access it to see how much money was in it. She traced it through a shell corporation he set up called TS Holdings.”
“That goes with the code from Liam Brogan’s ledger that Audra found.”
Jo frowned. “What ledger?”
“Asher told you about the bank statements, but didn’t tell you about the ledger?” Sam’s eyebrow shot up.
She shook her head. “All I got were copies of the bank statements and the two names he wanted me to dig into.” She shrugged. “He was CIA. They compartmentalize information like no one else.”
Audra snorted. That was the truth.
“Oh. Well, Audra found a ledger with what looks like code for business transactions. One of them was 350G TS DTC. We figure ‘TS’ refers to Theo’s alias. The 350G is how much he received. Asher’s still working on the ‘DTC’ part.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I got into his email. I don’t remember seeing anything that would refer to that, but I’ll look again.”
“Were you able to tell where the deposits came from?” Audra asked.
“A shell company. It’s buried under so many layers it’ll take me more than the couple of days I’ve had to figure it out. I did find something interesting, though. Not about his bank records.” She waved a hand. “About something else. I got into his phone’s GPS data, and he visited a house in Enterprise, Nevada, multiple times in the last few months. Around the same time the first payment came in.”
“Do you have an address?” This could be the break they needed to find out what Theo was up to. To find his killer.
Jo grinned. “I do.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “I have a name too.” She nodded to the little scrap as she slid it over to Audra.
With a quick glance at Sam, Audra picked it up, her heart racing. Her eyes widened as she read the name. “Bloody hell.”