Page 10 of Resolution

He lifted his head as he straightened, grinning at me. “Knock it off.” He paused as his smile faded. “I’m thinking this is the break we might have been waiting for, Raven. If this necklace turns out to be set with stones from that cache of stolen gems those CIA bastards are looking for, then we might just get somewhere on this recovery after all.”

“But he said it was stolen last week.” He knew what I meant. Bishop, Mendez, and Cassanova had been taken into custody and the CIA had probably stashed their asses in some deep, dark hole somewhere. But at least one other accomplice, Alex Filmore, was still out there, last seen in Berlin, Germany under that name. God only knew if he’d acquired an alias somewhere. As a former CIA operative, he would have extensive contacts all over. They were trained to be resourceful. For all we knew, he was already back in the U.S. trying to get to the rest of the stones.

“Are you thinking Alex Filmore had something to do with the theft?”

“Him or another accomplice. I know Sutter was debriefed at Langley about everything, but the U.S. Marshals have him stashed somewhere out of the way, don’t they?” John Sutter had requested to be put into WITSEC with Daniel and his mother Niloufar.

“Yes. From what Jarrett and Thayne’s friend, Kane Delancey says.”

“I don’t remember Sutter mentioning any details about another accomplice besides Filmore. Did I miss something?”

“He didn’t say anything to us, but I’m sure he would have mentioned it in his debrief when he was at Langley. The biggest hurdle I see is that if Sutterisin WITSEC, we’re gonna have a hell of a time talking to him.”

“Hang on. You mentioned Kane Delancey. That’s one of the guys who works at the ATF with Thayne and Jarrett, right?” I asked.

“Right, and apparently, he has connections with the Marshals office. He’s the one who reached out to some contacts at the WITSEC division to help in their relocation. I’m pretty sure he asked them for some special consideration or something.”

“And these friends of his would do that…why?” I asked.

He smirked. “I know all these letter agencies are confusing to you—”

“I’m not confused. Don’t patronize me,” I scoffed, interrupting him. “I just meant how is it that Delancey has connections with the Marshals and WITSEC. Did he transfer from the U.S. Marshals office to the ATF? I’m just trying to connect the dots here, Miguel.”

He nodded patiently. “Delancey has a special relationship with them and a lot of friends over there because he and his family were in the WITSEC program for almost twenty years before he went to work for the ATF.”

My jaw dropped open. “Are you kidding me?”

He smiled and shook his head. “No. He witnessed the murder of his father by a member of the Irish mob, so Delancey, his mother, and sister were put in the program when he was still a young teenager.”

I couldn’t believe that. “You learned about all of this from Jarrett and Thayne, I suppose.”

“Yeah. Jarrett and I were talking about it at their house two weeks ago.”

I suddenly felt left out. “Where was I when this conversation was happening?”

“You were in the house with Thayne.”

I thought about that night, picturing the fun we’d had with good friends, the food, the banter, and laughter. When it came back to me suddenly, I grinned. “Oh…when Thayne and I were playing with the ferrets.”

He chuckled. “Their names are Wilbur and Orville, apparently because they’re crazy and fly around the house.”

I laughed and then glanced at my watch, before turning back to my computer. “Okay…if we’re going to make that appointment with Tomlinson on time, I want to do some checking. I want to see what, if anything, BBS has put up online regarding the missing diamond and emerald necklace before we go. Though Tomlinsonsaidthey’re keeping the recovery in-house, I’d like to verify that they haven’t made it widely available to bounty hunters and other recovery agents. GMS used to keep all high-value recoveries close to the vest for at least a week to give their own in-house recovery agents first crack at them.”

“Okay, though, I doubt Tomlinson was lying. He must be pretty desperate if he’s calling us. I hope we can get something useful out of this meeting.” Miguel went to his desk and sat down.

“Let’s hope.” I glanced over. “Oh, hey, what did Vonne want?”

He looked up from his phone where he was scrolling. “He didn’t answer. I left a message on his machine at home. He doesn’t answer his cell while he’s at work, but I left him a message anyway.”

I nodded. “You’re gonna be in trouble for switching off your phone last night.”

He grimaced. “Yeah, I know, dammit.” He sighed. “Anyway, I’m sure he’ll call me back as soon as he gets a chance.” He stood again and walked over, holding out his hand. “Give me the message from that Lion guy.”

“Lion?” I frowned at him as he waved a hand over my desk. I picked up the small, pink message and smirked at him. “Leopard. The guy’s name is Brian Leopard.”

He chuckled. “Lion—Leopard, same difference.” He snatched it out of my hand. “I’ll return his call. If he tells me he wants me to find his cubs or something, I’m gonna be pissed.”

I turned back to my computer, chuckling again.

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