Page 80 of Philly
“And the rest of your body?”
“Still a little sore from the fall, then ten hours in the car, but I’ll live.”
“I’m sure that’s not all you’re sore from, but I won’t go there,” he said on a chuckle.
“Inappropriate,” she said, though she couldn’t help but laugh as she said it.
“Yeah, well, you’ll get used to it around here. Did Philly ever tell you how we all found out about Mitch and Ava?”
“No, he didn’t,” she said, flipping open her laptop.
“He texted me, Collin—our colleague you haven’t met yet—and everyone in the Warwick family, including his parents andgrandfather, a message telling us all that they were sleeping together and that she’d agreed to have a baseball team worth of kids with him.”
She barked a laugh. “He didn’t.”
“He did,” Leo replied. “It’s a great company and I love working here, but it’s special. In unique ways.” His eyes slid to the table and the items she’d set there. “On that note, come find me if you need something or feel free to text.”
“Thanks, Leo,” she said, meaning it more than he knew. There were a lot of things in life she was grateful for, but she hadn’t often had the chance to be grateful forpeople. Her sister, Liza and her mother, her grandparents. But so many people had let her down, her parents being top of the list, followed by every adult in their small town who knew what they were like and did nothing to stop them. The tides were changing, though.
He smiled, a full, sincere one. He understood. “Any time,” he replied. “Now, I’ll let you get to it.” And with that, he turned and walked away, shutting the door behind him.
When the door clicked closed, she turned to the files. She could work on a computer as well as the next person, but she liked paper. She liked the feel of it. She liked that she could spread twenty pages across a table and see all the information at once, move it around to find patterns and connections.
Thirty minutes later, she’d identified the key areas she wanted to focus on. The data HICC had collected—informed by Liza’s files and the information Rian Nolan provided—formed the skeleton of the case against Aiden Nolan. Now she needed to flesh it out. Once she did that, she’d fill in any gaps, then distill it back down to only what they’d need to make a case. Which Stella would then hand over to the FBI.
Looking at the information spread across the table and taped to the windows, she smiled. Then she got to work.
43
“Holy cow,” Sabina said as she tentatively entered the room eight hours later. Leo followed close behind, as did Chad. The three lined up inside the door and gawked at her “war room.” Nearly every space she could reach without going to her knees or needing a ladder was covered with paper. A mix of the printouts Leo had provided, her own notes, and arrows connecting pieces of information.
“Where’s this?” Chad asked, walking over to a map hanging on one of the short walls.
“Remember the overlay of the map in Liza’s files—not the USB files, but the files on her computer when she died?” The three nodded. “Lay it over a map of Paris and it points to the bar where the bombing happened.”
Sabina and Leo joined Chad. “Where did Liza get the overlay?” Chad asked.
“From her informant, but the writing is Liza’s. It’s documented, so there’s no question as to its origin.”
“You’re sure?” Sabina asked, still studying the map. “Not that I’m doubting you, but the Feds will ask.”
“There are two street names noted on the overlay. In Tewa shorthand. And the nearest metro station is marked. Given the names, there’s nowhere else in the world it could be,” she answered. She’d checked.
“Good,” Sabina said with a nod. “I mean, it’s shitty, but it’s good,” she added with a grimace. “What else?”
“This is how the money flows from Nolan Enterprises to the pockets of both terrorists and government officials,” she said, pointing to the various trails she’d made around the room. “And these are the ones from the bank accounts Rian sent the pictures of,” she said, pointing to a second set. “Aiden’s clever in some exchanges, using mediums such as art or donations to charities to transfer money, but it’s all here.” She glanced at her computer. “And in my report. It’s more organized in my report, but this”—she gestured to the papers—“helps me sort through what’s critical to the case, what’s not, and how best to present it.”
“Is there anything missing? Anything we need to make the case stronger?” Sabina asked.
Callie skimmed her gaze over the room. “The information on the cloned phone documented several of the illegal transactions, but it would be good to verify that the communications sent to Aiden came from who they appear to come from.”
“You want to ensure that when Aiden discussed his bribes with, for example, the US official in charge of making the decision about the bus driver uniforms, that it was indeed that official and not someone impersonating them?” Sabina clarified.
Callie nodded. “Aiden used Rian’s computer to send money to an offshore account. It’s possible that someone did the same with the government official’s email. Although, even if that’s the case, it doesn’t mitigate the fact that Aiden was willing to pay the bribe. But this case is going to have international repercussions, and I think it’s safer to button it all up.”
Sabina flashed Leo a look, who nodded. “I agree,” she said. “Leo will work on that. What else?”
Again, she eyed the papers. “Everything is here,” she said. “The case for financial fraud and corruption is solid.”
