Chapter 11 #3
He nodded. “We need to look up where these places are located and start knocking on doors.”
“Before the courthouse, we should stop at the local electric company and see if they can run through individual bills for any unusual spikes in electricity usage from last year to this.”
“Good idea.” Grant walked with Avery to the rental car and held the passenger door open. “We could investigate the old boarding house and the abandoned McElroy house. The others will likely need a warrant, since they’re occupied.”
“We can get the sheriff on that,” Avery said. “He’ll have to coordinate with the county judge. We might also have to get a warrant for the data from the electric company.”
“Swede might get to that data faster.”
Avery’s brow furrowed. “I don’t like skirting the law.”
“Me either, but I don’t like the idea of another woman dying while we wait to get to the information legally.
Swede could get that data, and we could match it with what we learn from the court records and what Cook told us.
If there’s a spike in electrical usage from the previous year, it might help us determine the order in which to visit different locations.
We don’t have to reveal that we chose based on data we collected without a warrant. ”
“Deal.” Avery slid into the passenger seat.
As he walked around to the other side of the vehicle, Grant pulled his phone from his pocket and started to place a call to Swede.
Before he found Swede’s number, his phone chirped with an incoming call.
From Swede.
“Hayes.”
“Swede, I was just about to call you.” Grant jumped right in. “I need you to get into the electric bills for the county here and look for spikes in usage from last year to this. Particularly on homes that used very little to no electricity last year.”
“Searching for abandoned houses now in use?” Swede asked.
“Something like that,” Grant said. “More like narrowing down the search.”
“Got it.”
“What did you have for me?” Grant sank into the driver’s seat and put his phone on speaker. “Swede, you’re on speaker. I assume you called for a reason.”
“I did,” Swede said. “Is Avery there with you?”
Avery leaned toward the phone. “I am.”
“I’m working on the contacts still. It’s tricky tapping into your old phone records, as most of the numbers you called were burner phones. But I surfed the dark web looking for fallout from Operation Orchid or the Miami Elite Syndicate takedown.”
“Did you find anything?” Avery sought Grant’s gaze. “Is someone looking for the agents responsible for their collapse?”
“As a matter of fact, a man known as a minor member of the syndicate was murdered. Word on the street is he was an informant to the FBI and Interpol. He went by the name of Ryder Martin.”
Avery’s face paled. “Damn. He was one of my informants. Did your source indicate who might have been behind his murder?”
“Not specifically. They hint at one or more unemployed hitmen out for revenge for losing their jobs. Do you have names for some of those enforcers that weren’t rounded up with their bosses?”
“Only their nicknames.”
“I’ll take those. They might connect to their real names.”
“Ghost was one of them. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He was able to blend into any crowd. I think he might’ve been Hispanic.
” Avery closed her eyes for a moment. “I remember someone talking about a guy they called Talon. He was their sniper. Might’ve been prior military, but I don’t think he was American.
I believe they acquired him through their Russian counterparts.
” She opened her eyes, her brow furrowing.
“The only other one I can recall being mentioned was Blade.”
“Did he work with knives?” Swede asked.
“Not just knives. They sent him in when they wanted someone to get in fast and cut out traitors quickly and efficiently.”
“I’ll run those through and see if I get any hits on names or facial recognition data,” Swede said. “Anything else you want me to look into?”
“Not yet,” Grant said. “We’re headed to the courthouse to sift through land records. We need that electricity information as soon as possible.”
“On it,” Swede said.
After ending the call, Grant started the car and drove to the county courthouse.
“We don’t actually have addresses of the places we want to look into,” Avery said.
Grant pulled into a parking space in front of the courthouse and shifted into park. “Then we ask if they know properties by the names of the people Cook mentioned.”
They walked into the courthouse and followed the signs to the county clerk’s office.
Fortunately, the clerk was an older woman who knew most of the names Cook had provided.
She led them to the plat maps for the properties they had owned, dating back to the early nineteen hundreds.
They found the associated addresses and learned who currently owned the properties.
Armed with that information, Grant and Avery headed out to start their search.
It wasn’t much to go on, but it was better than nothing.
With a couple of hours of daylight left, they could make it to a few places before dark.
“Let’s check out the old boarding house. It’s the closest,” Avery said.
“Agreed. Since it’s abandoned, we might not need a warrant to search. I’m sure we can quickly check it off the list. I doubt the killer would keep his victims that close to town.”
“Let’s do this,” Avery said as she got into the car. “I feel like the clock is ticking for the next victim.”
Grant had the same feeling. Only he suspected the next victim would be Avery.