| |
––––––––
NICK MOVED AUTHORITATIVELY across the room at headquarters, listing to West call out coordinates to another member of the IT staff. The IP address used to post photos of Kaylee had been masked. Although West had been able to bypass their firewall, the person who leaked her photos had anticipated that, routing themselves through servers in countries around the world.
“They’ve got some serious skills,” West said, typing something quickly on a laptop. “But they’re not as good as they think. We’re going to figure out where they were when they posted this.” A map appeared on the screen, the various IP address coordinates popping up on the image.
“The threat posted online indicated that Kaylee should return to Omaha,” Nick said. “I guess it’s too much to hope that they’re still there.” He stood, looking over West’s shoulder. The men had been hard at work all morning. While part of him hated being stuck here in New York, unable to move in, they needed specifics. Jett had warned Nick that the Feds would make an arrest when the men were located, but if they sat on this too long, Nick had no problem taking matters into his own hands.
West shook his head. “I don’t think they were in Omaha when they uploaded this. None of these IP addresses are anywhere near Nebraska.” He drummed his fingers on the table, multiple coordinates tracking by on his computer screen. Nick wasn’t even sure what he was doing, but he was a sniper, not a tech guy. Finally, the program stopped, identifying one spot in particular. West grinned. “As of yesterday, they were in Miami, Florida.”
“That’s where Cornwell was arrested,” Jett said, moving toward them. “They must have been down there because of him.”
“They were trying to collect their damn money before he left the country,” Nick guessed. “When Cornwell was arrested, they were forced to come up with an alternate plan—namely, uploading the images of Kaylee. While I’m sure they were using them for their own sick enjoyment prior to this, my guess is that they’re now planning on blackmailing her.”
“It damn well won’t work,” Jett ground out. “Not only will we have those photos taken down, but we’ll hand their asses over to the authorities.”
“After Cornwell was arrested in Miami, they probably left town. Maybe we can check the surveillance at the airports and get a location as to where they were headed,” Nick said.
West nodded. “I can do that. Even if they were most likely traveling under aliases, we’ve got their photos now. I can scan the airport surveillance footage using facial recognition software. Again, while not entirely legal—”
“Do it,” Jett ground out. “We don’t know what else they’re planning or what additional photographs they want to release. We also don’t know if they ended up with any classified material themselves. When we get a location on them, we’ll notify the authorities. Offutt is already fully aware of their involvement in this incident. They’ll go through the appropriate channels and end this. I want to wrap this entire case up.”
“Any word on how Cornwell and Fiona Brown are taking their arrest?” Ford asked, curious.
Jett muttered a curse. “She was questioned this morning and had a complete meltdown. She was crying, claiming that Cornwell forced himself on her. She said that he offered the classified documents as a form of payment.”
“Bullshit,” Nick spat out.
“No one believes it,” Jett assured him. “She met with him on multiple occasions outside of office hours. They’re tracking where the materials were sold, but she wasn’t very careful with her newfound money. She’s made several recent large purchases—diamonds and other jewels, a sports car, designer clothing.”
“Damn,” Sam said. “She thought no one would notice?”
“Maybe she wanted to be caught,” West said. “Why else would they stop in Florida and not head straight to Mexico? She probably thought she could get away with blaming Cornwell for everything. It doesn’t make sense to purchase all that if she was planning to permanently leave the country.”
“She thought Cornwell would be arrested and not her,” Sam mused.
“Either way it’s fucked up,” Nick said. “Dragging Kaylee into this mess isn’t something I’ll ever forgive or forget. I’m ready to end them.”
“We will,” Jett promised. “Cronin and Levins are dangerous men, but they’re about to be brought to justice as well. Not a damn one of them are getting away with this.”
Nick’s eyes moved back to the laptop screen as he watched West work. They were so damn close to locating them, but he couldn’t help but feel like something big was coming. It made no sense. It was almost like he instinctively knew that something would blow everything else out of the water. He’d relied on his gut frequently throughout the years. It had kept him out of trouble more than once, and he couldn’t ignore it now. Everything in this particular situation seemed to be escalating: the fire at her apartment, the death of the security officer, Cornwell’s arrest, the leaked photos.
They’d been here for hours but were finally making some good progress. Nick’s phone buzzed, and he lifted it to his ear when he saw Gray’s name on the screen.
“Everything go okay?”
“Yes and no,” Gray said bluntly. “Kaylee is safe. She accidentally used an app on her phone to pay for coffee. Kaylee said it’s linked to one of her credit cards.”
Nick frowned. It was unlikely they’d track her via her cards, but not impossible. That’s how the Feds had found Cornwell, wasn’t it? He checked into a damn hotel with one. Uneasiness wound through him. “Appreciate the update. Watch your six.”
“Will do.”
Nick set his phone back down, the rest of the room continuing to work around him. He’d call Kaylee himself in a few minutes. Once he heard her voice, he’d be able to assure himself that she was okay.
