Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127249 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Not that I expected anything. If such a notoriously famous piece of jewelry had turned up, it would definitely have made the news. That’s not something any law enforcement department can keep quiet.
Drumming my fingers on the desk, I consider the situation. “How resourceful is our snitch?”
“Very.”
“I need an unclaimed body from the morgue.”
He raises a brow. “A UID?”
“Make sure the body fits Tatiana’s height and weight.”
“I’ll see what he can find. What’s the plan?”
“It’s time to make Ms. Delacy disappear. For good.” I log into the encryption app I use for communicating with my hacker. “I’ll tell our cyber spy to switch the biometrics, dental records, and any identifiable photos of the deceased person you’re going to find for me with those that are on file for Stacia Delacy.”
“You want him to hack into police, government, and bank records and switch everything?”
“That’s right.”
He whistles. “That’s going to cost a pretty penny. That kind of shit requires top-level clearance.”
My hands fly over the keyboard as I type my orders. “I don’t care how much it costs.”
“And when I find a body?”
“I’ll arrange an accident.”
“An autopsy will reveal the time of death.”
“That’s why we need a fresh one.”
“I assume you don’t want anyone to be able to identify the body.” He crosses his arms. “Fire?”
“The electrical wiring in some of the old buildings is hazardous.”
“Got it.”
I hit the send button to transmit my instructions, informing my hacker to ensure he can breach all the necessary firewalls and to remain on standby. “Has anyone claimed the bodies of those two bastards?”
“No one.”
As I thought. No criminal with a reasonably decent IQ will be foolish enough to establish a connection between himself and those men.
“I gave Tatiana a phone.” I meet Reino’s gaze. “I want her to be able to get hold of me if anything happens.”
“Is that wise?”
“Until her memory returns, I won’t risk anything. And even when it does, she knows how dangerous it is out there, especially after what happened. She knows she’s best protected here.”
“What about Jazz?”
“Is everything we discussed in place?”
“Yes.” His tone is cautious. “She’s not going to like it.”
“Not if she doesn’t know. This will be good for her.”
“I agree.” He exhales. “As long as the truth never comes out.”
“Then you better make sure it doesn’t.”
“You can count on that.”
As soon as Reino is gone, I call my forensics guy. He tells me he’s still running tests on the clothes and refuses to give me anything until he’s certain of his facts, even when I threaten his life, which is the reason I work with him. The man is pedantic, but he’s thorough. He never makes mistakes.
Steepling my fingers, I consider the loose ends. Some of the bank employees saw Tatiana’s face. Even if we destroy the security video footage and switch identities, witnesses can still describe her. There may be sketches, which my hacker will take care of. He’ll swap them with sketches of the dead person I’m hoping Reino will find soon. As long as nothing has gone public, we can deal with the problem quickly and quietly.
Our snitch will have to pull all the police interviews in order to make a list of the people who can identify Tatiana. Sadly, they’ll have to disappear. The question is how to do it without raising suspicion. If a handful of bank employees vanish at the same time, it’ll look strange.
Typing the name of the bank into an incognito search engine, I familiarize myself with the prestigious private financial institution. Their social media content is well curated. Impressive. The latest post shows a photo of the bank’s foreign investment division posing on the lawn of an exclusive golf course. The hashtag reads teambuilding. The caption states that the event was arranged by their public relations agency, a top-notch firm in the city.
A quick search of said agency produces some useful information. The management team is young but dynamic. They cater for smaller, boutique-style businesses. Judging by the social media profile of the woman in charge of the bank’s account, she rubs shoulders with the rich and famous, people with private planes and multi-million dollar-yachts.
After the explosion, the bank employees must be tense. It sounds like the perfect time for another team building session. A sunset sailing cruise on the Hudson can be very relaxing. It shouldn’t be too difficult to sell the idea to the PR account manager. An anonymous suggestion from a bank staff member should be enough. After all, when it comes to event organization, the account manager likes to think outside the box. It says so right there in her bio on the company’s website.
Plenty of companies rent out boats for a day. She’d no doubt reach out to one of her contacts. In that kind of business, one hand washes the other. And like fires, boats are hazardous. They can sink. Everyone knows how easily accidents happen.