Page 62 of Resolution

“How?” SAC Bradley asked.

“Mancuso knew him from his time in the Marine Corps,” Damon said.

“No shit.” I was slightly stunned by that.

“It’s true,” Damon replied. “They both served at the joint base in Afghanistan during the time you and I were there.”

“He was there too?” Raven said. He gave me a questioning look. “But you don’t remember seeing him on base, Miguel?”

I shook my head. “Just like Filmore. When I saw his picture on the screen, I thought he looked familiar, as I said. But until I was told he was Alex Filmore, I couldn’t have known that. If Thorne says Mancuso was there at the same time as I was, I believe him. It was a huge base with thousands of personnel. He could have walked by me every day…a lot of people did, Raven…not to mention it was eleven years ago. We were both a lot younger and faces change. It would have been easy to miss him.” I gave Damon a nod. “Sorry, go on, Thorne. You were saying something about you and Mark working backward from where Filmore has been now that you’ve placed him in the Cayman Islands.”

“Yes. According to Mark, the Alex Filmore ID hasn’t shown back up on anyone’s radar since it was last used in Berlin. That was over two months ago, and though, the CIA has been searching everywhere for him, they haven’t been successful. After we saw that feed Noah and Judy found this morning, I decided it would be worth bringing Mark in.”

“And he somehow found out where Alex Filmore has been?” Bradley asked.

“He used the license plates on the Land Rover to trace him back to his hotel on Grand Cayman, not far from where Castillo’s house is. Mark learned Filmore is checked in under his newest alias, Barry Lawson. We ran Lawson’s cell phone records when he checked in and cross-checked them with Salvatore Mancuso’s phone. Those turned up nothing.”

“So, this lead is shit,” Bannister said.

“No, it just means they’re probably talking to each other on burner phones provided by the cartel,” Damon said.

“Like I said, what good is this lead if we can’t connect the two?” Bannister asked, a nasty sneer on her face.

Damon smiled at her and I noticed it wasn’t such a nice smile. “I didn’t sayIcouldn’t connect the two. What I said was that they were talking to each other on phones provided by the cartel. That doesn’t mean the CIA doesn’t have…unconventional ways to hear those calls. However, I won’t share that because I promise you, that technology is mostdefinitelyway beyond your security clearance or anyone else’s in this room.”

I exchanged a look with Raven, noticing how huge his eyes were. The expression made me want to laugh but I somehow managed to tamp that down. When I turned back to Damon, Bannister was now sitting mute with her arms crossed, still watching and waiting for him to go on.

“What can you tell us, Thorne?” SAC Bradley asked.

“There has been constant contact between Salvatore Mancuso and Filmore using his real name and once that one was burned, his new alias, Barry Lawson. They’ve traded phone calls and text messages. They were especially busy over text. It seems that Filmore was the shooter who decided to take Raven out at Trader Joe’s, and he was also the person who broke into the LAPD’s impound lot to get the VIN number off Raven’s truck which had been towed after the shooting.”

“That means he’s the cartel’s hit man?” I asked.

Damon looked at me. “Yes. I’m sure he’s only one of many…we are talking about a cartel here…but in this instance, yes, Filmore wanted to take Raven out that day.”

I wasn’t surprised in the least but judging by the look on Raven’s face, he was. “Was he also the cartel hitman who took out Rufus Modelo, the snitch who very nearly testified against Castillo?” I asked Damon.

“The CIA can’t verify that, but I’d guess that was someone else,” Damon replied. “If he was, he didn’t talk about it with Mancuso or anyone else on the phone.”

“This is all well and good for the DEA’s case against Castillo, but how does this help us get Special Agent Trevor Willis out of his house along with the other hostages?” SAC Bannister asked.

Lincoln raised his hand. “Before you answer that, I’d like to know—if you know—what did Mancuso and Filmore talk about?”

Damon nodded. “They traded texts about how they could get a hold of the rest of the missing jewels.”

“The pigeon’s blood ruby, Brian Leopard’s pin, the Mulberry diamond?” Raven asked.

“Well, the ruby and pin were never discussed, but other items thought to be part of the loot stolen in Afghanistan by the rogue CIA cell were,” Damon replied.

“I understand why they might not discuss the ruby, especially if Mancuso was the one who stole it for Aston to begin with, but why wouldn’t they discuss Brian Leopard’s piece?” I asked.

Damon shook his head. “I really have no idea. Maybe they never tracked that piece down and the pin being part of the theft at Mr. Leopard’s house was simply coincidental.”

“Brian Leopard does wear a lot of jewelry,” Raven said. “He even told us the pin was the one piece worth a lot of money that’d been left at the house while he and Trevor were out clubbing.”

I nodded and eyed up Damon. “There were some rare first edition books stolen along with the diamond pin. Did Mancuso and Filmore talk about those?” I asked.

“No,” Damon said, “but I doubt Filmore would care about books, or understand their value. He doesn’t strike me as a particularly bright type who’d care about literature, valuable or not. The jewels on the other hand, he considers them belonging to him to begin with, and he’s been ruthless about trying to reacquire the gems since losing them.”

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