Page 32 of No Reason to Trust

“You gonna take notes? Or do you want me to do it?” Livvy asked.

“I’ll take notes,” Jake said easily. “You listen for other sounds in the office. Things that might give us a clue to their intentions.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” Livvy drew a deep breath. “You want to order something?”

Jake grabbed the room service breakfast menu. Handed it to her. “You first.”

Five minutes later, Livvy ordered French toast with bacon for herself, and an omelet with a side of bacon for Jake. When she put the phone down, she said to Jake, “Twenty minutes.”

“That works,” he said. “While we wait, do you wanna get a look at the cameras I installed in my office? See if we have any action there?”

“Yeah.” Livvy’s face brightened. “Sounds like a great idea.”

Jake pulled out his laptop and opened the camera app. Moments later, he got four real-time videos of his office, one from each camera. No one was there. It looked exactly like he’d left it.

“I’m gonna scroll back to when I installed the cameras yesterday,” he said. “Look at every moment of the recording.”

“Yeah. Let’s see if Nelson or Windsor or someone else took the bait.” Livvy said. She slid onto the couch beside him, and he could smell the soap she’d used in the shower. As well as that tart, citrusy scent he always associated with Livvy.

Instead of allowing himself to be distracted by Livvy sitting so close to him, Jake focused on reviewing the video for any sign of someone in his office. He’d scrolled through the afternoon and into the evening, when one camera registered his office door opening. He looked at the timestamp on the video.

“See that?” he said. “Ten p.m. No one’s usually in the office at that hour unless there’s something urgent we’re working on. By ten, pretty much everyone is gone.”

“Not everyone,” Livvy said quietly as she stared at the screen.

As the door swung open, both Jake and Livvy eased closer to the computer, waiting to see who the intruder was. Her scent swept over him, but he was able to ignore it as they saw a man step into his office. The man kept his head down as he slid into Jake’s chair. Opened the drawer and took out the computer. Not until he looked at the computer screen could they see his face.

Livvy elbowed Jake. “Fred Windsor. You were right. Let’s see what he does.”

They watched him type in Jake’s ID and password, and the screen opened. Windsor reared back as he stared at a blank screen. Frowning, he pressed several keys. When nothing happened, he picked up the computer and turned it over, as if looking for a reason that it wasn’t giving up its content.

After about twenty minutes, when he wasn’t able to access anything, he slammed the lid down and shoved it back into the drawer. Then he stood up and stormed out of Jake’s office. He slammed the door closed, then opened it again, reached in and turned off the light, probably because he knew a light left on would raise questions when Jake got back to his office. They watched for another twenty minutes, but he never came back. Neither did anyone else.

“You think someone could get a fingerprint from the doorknob inside your office?” Livvy asked. “He wasn’t wearing gloves.”

“I noticed that, too,” Jake said. “I’ll call Diana right now and tell her what we saw. Suggest she get someone over to collect fingerprints from my computer and door.”

“Great idea,” Livvy said. “You want me to call her while you shut down your feed?”

“Yeah, thanks. Go ahead.”

Livvy pulled out her phone, and Jake heard her talking to Diana. “Yes,” she said. “We just looked at the feed from Jake’s office. Fred Windsor was at Jake’s desk, using his computer.” She smiled. “He seemed quite frustrated when he couldn’t find any files on it.”

She listened for a long moment, then said, “Thank you, ma’am. We appreciate that. We have the video of Windsor breaking into Jake’s office, but fingerprints would really seal the deal.”

Livvy finally said, “We installed cameras in the office where Jake’s supposed to meet members of the Bratva team.” She listened for a moment. Finally said, “Yeah, we had an exciting twenty minutes or so. A group of men came into the building while we were still there. Fortunately, Jake found a fire escape ladder on the roof of the next building over. We used that to get away. We’ll monitor the Bratva meetings today and tomorrow. Make sure it’s gonna be safe for Jake to meet with these guys.”

She paused to listen, then nodding her head. “Yeah. If we don’t like what we hear, Jake’s not taking the meeting. We’ll keep you posted.”

Livvy ended the call, then looked at Jake. “She’s gonna get a fingerprint tech over to your office today. They’ll collect prints from the door and your keyboard. When they match Windsor’s, that should seal the nail in his coffin.”

Jake’s eyes held hers for a long moment, then he said, “I don’t think Nelson and Windsor could come up with all this by themselves. There’s got to be someone higher up the food chain who’s coordinating this.”

“I agree,” Livvy said. She bit her lip. “Nelson and Windsor couldn’t set this up by themselves. Frankly, they’re not that bright. There’s someone higher up who’s involved. The question is, how do we catch him or her?”

Jake leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and sighed. “I have no idea. I suppose they could arrest Nelson and Windsor, press both of them for the name of the other people involved. But I’m pretty sure neither would give up their boss. They’re probably afraid they’ll be killed if they do.”

Livvy frowned. “Yeah. And they’re probably right. They squeal and they’re dead men. But Diana must have people who could tail them. Watch them 24-7. She could probably even get a warrant to bug their houses and cars. Put cameras with audio feeds into their houses. See who they meet with and what they discuss. Unless they’re super careful and only meet outside. In a public place.” She frowned. “Not sure what you do in that situation.”

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