Chapter 26
“Well?” Steele asked his team.
“She ran it like a hunting hound on a scent,” Carmine said.
“Whipped through the scene in four minutes and seventeen seconds. Got everything that the detectives had in their notes and a bunch they missed. The coin book and a description of the killer, all from extrapolations based on blood spatter, footprints, and smudges. She picks up tiny details at a glance. I asked her about it, and she said that stuff she misses at first glance gets picked up by her brain as it processes the visual images, even after she’s left the room. ”
“Dr. Chen?”
“It was fascinating. She goes into a kind of mode—hunting mode, I guess. Really fast, but that’s likely because she’s used to hunting highly dangerous elite soldiers.”
“Yeah, they pull all kinds of dirty tricks to throw her off, so she says she’s alert for tripwires, pressure switches, ambushes, and the like,” Carmine added.
“She understands blood spatters?” Rao asked.
“She read a book,” Chen said. “Also, apparently nature provided more than a few bloody crime scenes for her in her youth.”
“Let’s watch the video, Red,” Steele said, waving at the wall monitor.
The team was silent for the duration of the short video.
“Wow, you weren’t exaggerating,” Red said. “She looked like she expected the attacker to jump out. And what was she looking at near the end?”
“She verified where all the security team members were,” Carmine said. “These Ranger teams are apparently no joke when they get nasty.”
Kessler snorted. “Arguably the best light infantry in the world, with the exception of some British units.”
“How’d she know the vic was into coins?” Rao asked. “I mean, she called it in the kitchen.”
“Red, back up to the kitchen and stop when the camera pans the kitchen sink,” Chen said. “There… see the tiny coin club plaque on the kitchen window frame?”
“Shit,” Rao said.
“Yeah,” Chen agreed.
“Think she will be useful? Cost-effective useful?” Steele asked.
“Detective Forner called to let me know they went to a local coin dealer that the victim apparently used and found a new assistant, Charlie Norton: six-two, twenty-two years old, brown hair, pudgy,” Chen said.
“They pressed him hard about her 1861 Liberty Head coin that the shop owner valued at over a hundred and twenty thousand dollars. He caved.”
“Did you tell Cassie?”
“I did,” Carmine said. “She was happy to be of help.”
“And her status at the moment?” Steele asked.
“Researching her mother’s mother,” Red said. “There’s absolutely no indication that her maternal grandmother was ever married, pregnant, or even involved with a man. Some signs that she had some psych issues. Comments about visits to a local mental hospital.”
“What kind of psych issues?” Dr. Chen asked, leaning forward.
“Unknown. But her parents set up a lifetime trust and she never held a job,” Red answered. “That’s what Cassie is working on.”
“Does she have unlimited internet access?” Kessler asked.
“Yes, but I’m monitoring her. She’s working on the grandmother but occasionally researching how to create short sales pressure on a public company.”
“What?” Steele responded, but then his expression reflected realization. “Oh. American Vigilance. That would take serious money.”
“She mentioned offhand that she can spot short-term trading trends fairly easily,” Carmine said. “Offered to help any or all of us invest our retirement funds.”
The team was silent for a few seconds as they processed that.
“What is the status on William Cramer?” Red asked Steele.
“Holed up on his island but calling everyone he knows. Trying to bring pressure against the president. Based on the number of senators and congresspeople who’ve been calling the director, he has been spending pretty heavily.”
“What does he want the president to do?” Kessler asked.
“He wants to meet Cassie, but his comments are more along the lines of wanting her turned over to him.”
“On what grounds does the government turn over a private citizen to another citizen?” Chen asked.
“National security,” Steele said. His phone rang at that moment and he picked it up. “Yes sir. Ah, went well, sir. We were just going over the results. She’s not trained in criminal investigations, but she’s a quick study. What? Ah, yeah, lots of value added, sir.”
Then he listened for a solid minute, his body freezing up. “Yes sir. We’ll head right out. Goodbye.”
He put the phone down and turned to his team. “The warmup is over. We have a real case; high priority. The director promised we would use our secret weapon.”
“What is it? The case?” Red asked.
“There’s been a kidnapping in Los Angeles. Daughter of Meghan Rocksbury and Trevor Baltin.”
“The movie stars?” Rao asked.
“The very ones. The heavily connected movie stars,” Steele said. “We’re taking the jet.” He turned to Carmine, but she answered before he could speak.
“She’s almost always packed and ready to go. You all will take longer than she will.”
“We’re wheels up in forty-five. Let’s go,” Steele directed.