Page 47 of Complicated Past

“I’ll keep an eye on Fahey to see if she’s watching Garcia search Ms. Porter’s bag and how she reacts,” Patton, the plainclothes female officer who looked like a middle-aged tourist, said. “Fahey could panic and leave rather than risk getting caught. Though Garcia here doesn’t usually come across as threatening.”

“I love being underestimated by these kinds of people,” Garcia gave a big smile.

Linc nodded, breathing easier.

“Ms. Fahey doesn’t know that we’ve recovered Miss Porter’s grandmother or that her partner, Malloy, was shot during the rescue and is under guard in the hospital,” Clara informed the HSI officers. “We cloned his phone, and Staff Sergeant Porter created filters which have worked to make Fahey think she’s been communicating with Malloy and that he managed toabduct Miss Porter’s son. The sergeant needs to be looped in to best handle the call to facilitate trading Miss Porter’s son for the suitcase with the drugs.”

“I created a filter to mask my appearance so I would look like him. Fortunately, it’s been voice calls,” Linc explained.

“How do you know what he sounds like?” Garcia asked.

“We got lucky there because the Fayetteville PD had video from an interrogation we could use,” Clara answered.

“Do you have to type in what you want to say? Cuz that delay could be a giveaway,” Costa, the agent about the same build and who should pass for Malloy from a distance, sounded intrigued.

“AI has gotten very advanced. With the program running, it altersanyvoice to sound like him in real-time. Though you still have to be careful in what you say, “ Linc explained. “Word choices. Pronunciation. Talking too much or giving the wrong answer.”

“It’s scary,” Garcia said. “Someone claiming to be my cousin called my grandmother saying his wallet had been stolen on a trip, and he needed her to wire him money. He knew my cousin’s name, and she said it sounded like him. Fortunately, my grandmother was suspicious because we’d warned her about all these scams. She asked a question that he answered wrong.”

“That’s exactly why we want to limit the interaction as much as possible,” Linc added.

“Not a problem,” Officer Harkness assured them. “And you brought her son?”

“His social worker is with us as well.” Clara didn’t go into details about their relationship. “She took him to get lunch while we met with you. They’ll be back shortly.”

“I guess we’ll put all four of you in the van with Officer Costa,” Harkness said.

“It’s going to be crowded in that van. I’m happy to help with surveillance,” Clara suggested.

“I won’t turn down another pair of eyes when we’re devoting most of our resources to this case,” Harkness agreed.

Clara handed Costa the bag she’d brought in. “This is one of Malloy’s shirts and the ball cap he wore when he abducted Mrs. Feldman. If you keep enough distance, you should be able to pass for Malloy.”

“I hope so. I shaved for this.” Costa ran a hand over his face.

“He’s been needing to shave that porn star mustache for months now.” Garcia’s ribbing reminded Linc of his team.

“Let’s go do a walk-through.” Harkess led them to the door. “Where they’ll come in. Where we’ll take Miss Porter for the inspection. Then, you and Costa can plan possible exit scenarios. Officer Patton will proceed to the parking garage, watching for Fahey. I’ll be in a separate chase vehicle, and we’ll tail her to the drop off. Stopping drugs coming into the States is an everyday thing for us. This might not be a huge haul, but that they kidnapped an innocent elderly woman and went after a kid? This crew and whoever they’re working for need to go down.”

The other three HSI officers wore what Linc would call theirmission-gofaces. Together, they had this.

NINETEEN

After walking through the terminal and the arrivals area, Clara handed Costa the van’s key fob and returned to the HSI office with Harkness. Costa and Linc remained in the arrivals area, watching the flow of traffic and plotting placements before Costa relayed information about the operation to the personnel directing traffic.

Once Kendra texted that they were back and parked in the central lot near the van, they headed there. Linc walked Costa to Malloy’s van and then met Kendra at his car.

“Where’s Mommy?” Jalen asked the moment Linc slid into the passenger seat.

“Her plane’s landing soon. We’ll hang out here until it’s time to meet her.”

“O-kay,” Jalen drew the word out. The last thing Linc wanted was to give him a reason to be disappointed.

“Something smells good. Besides you.” He leaned closer to Kendra.

“I brought you a burrito and drink.” She reached into the backseat and produced a bag.

The way he’d grown up, a woman providing him food earned his loyalty, especially that he hadn’t asked her to bring him something. “Thanks.”

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