by Toby Neal
“What I wonder is: who sent those kidnappers text messages at the same time? And who’s our anonymous tipster?” Ken said.
“Do you think it could be the same person?” Waxman asked.
“But how would the tipster, who knew about this operation somehow, maybe through a connection to the family or some other way—how would that person have the kidnappers’ numbers?” Sophie said. She was thinking of the coincidental cases—a connection she hadn’t narrowed down yet, and couldn’t disclose anyway. “Maybe someone monitoring the situation is the tipster,” she said, thinking aloud.
“But even if he were, one presumes he notified us out of an altruistic motive to save the child. Why would he then endanger that child by sending those text messages to the kidnappers? If you hadn’t been exactly where you were and thought of a quick way to rescue her, Anna Addams would be toast right now,” Ken said.
“I know. It doesn’t make sense.” Sophie inclined her head.
“The ransom drop wasn’t completed, so we have no further leads than the bodies and the evidence in the apartment,” Waxman said, rolling a pen between his fingers.
“If I may, I’d like permission to go see the victim’s family whenever someone from the team is going out to interview them.” Anna’s face had been on Sophie’s mind more than she wanted to admit. She wanted to see how the little girl was doing, and return the rabbit to her.
“I’m going out to the victim’s house today.” Ken was making notes in a column of Tracking Leads. So far there wasn’t much in the column. “I’ll let you know when I go. Gundersohn is meeting with the medical examiner to go over the bodies of the kidnappers and see if they tell us anything, but we don’t expect much since we know how they died.”
“What about the trace in the apartment? Anything there?” Waxman had a line between his brows.
“Nothing that doesn’t go back to the three kidnappers,” Gundersohn said. “But we’ve found their prints in the system, so after the ME’s and home visit, Ken and I plan to visit their addresses.”
“Let me know if you need any help with that,” Sophie said.
“The prints of the deceased are loaded into the case file already,” Gundersohn told her. “They had false identification with them but the prints came back to solid IDs in the system. Career criminals, all three, with sheets ranging from breaking and entering to armed robbery. None of them busted for kidnapping before, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t done it before.”
“So to conclude, there’s no indication that this particular kidnapping is part of a larger network.” Ken capped the dry erase marker with an air of finality.
“Let’s check in tomorrow and see where we are then.” Waxman retracted the screens with the press of a button. “Dismissed.”
Chapter Five
Sophie put on her headphones and, to the opening strains of Beethoven, organized herself by making a checklist in one of her apps.
Done with that, and waiting on notification from Ken to go visit Anna and her family, she took a minute to check the cache for what DAVID had collected on Assan Ang.
Sophie read the news articles in Chinese, just to keep from getting rusty in her third language. There was a lot of information about his high profile life in Hong Kong, including a wedding announcement. His new bride looked tiny and way too young, and Sophie stifled a stab of compassion as she looked at the grainy black and white image of the two standing stiffly.
She discovered that Ang had regular shipments of “agricultural products” shipped to Europe and the U.S., even Hawaii, from Thailand. It might be worth a call to the DEA to see if anyone had checked the contents of those shipments, but she needed something hard if she was going to make a move against him.
She went back to the query in DAVID looking for a common denominator among the three “simultaneous” cases, and frowned as she saw a name pop up: Security Solutions.
She opened a file and began shunting information into it about the company. It appeared to be a multi-pronged agency that offered anything a client wanted from round-the-clock guards to Internet security for their data systems. Scrolling through the Meet our Staff column, she paused her mouse over a familiar face.
Lee Chan. She knew that face, that name. The smiling young tech had gone to programming classes with her in Hong Kong. She remembered his eager, awkward manner. It was nice to see he’d found a good job as Vice President of Tech Operations.
What was the connection between this company and her kidnapping case? She narrowed the search query parameters in DAVID. Once she was able to introduce that bit of information to the team, she could broaden the investigation to include that company without disclosing her use of DAVID. It was worth a call to her former classmate to try fishing for a little more.
She hit the phone feature on her headphones and asked to be put through to Chan.
“This is Lee Chan.” His voice still sounded young and eager.
“Lee! Hello. This is Sophie. Sophie Ang, from Hong Kong.”
A pause. “Sophie! How nice to hear from you. Are you in the United States?”
“Yes, right here in Honolulu. I found you on the staff listing for Security Solutions. I thought I’d reach out and say hi.”
“Well, I’m so glad you did. Um—is there something I can help you with?” Chan must have run through his mental repertoire of why she could be calling and come up with how little they had in common.
“Yes, as a matter of fact.” She fiddled with her mouse. Sophie wasn’t glib, so she was afraid she sounded a little heavy-handed as she said, “I’m thinking about looking for a new job. I’ve heard good things about Security Solutions. What kind of company are they to work for?”
“They’re great.” There was no mistaking the enthusiasm in Lee’s voice. “Management is innovative, the monitoring software we’re developing is state of the art, and we get stock options. Don’t have any openings right now, but I’ll keep you in mind if we are hiring any new techs. Got a number for me?”
“Great.” Sophie gave him her personal cell number, wondering when she was going to have to disclose that she was with the Bureau. “Any downsides?”
“I’ve been with them four years. They’re expanding into Asia, and the top management is gone a lot, so I end up working with a VP I don’t care for much, but I’ve got my own department so it’s not too bad. What are you doing these days?”
“Oh, thanks so much. I just wanted to see if it was worth putting in an application,” Sophie said. “Keep me in mind!” She hung up with a cheerful goodbye.
Sophie stood beside Ken on the wide, bluestone lava steps of the island style mansion where the Addams family lived in the upscale subdivision of Kohala. She hadn’t had time to go home to get the rabbit.
Anna’s mother, Belle Addams, opened the door. Sophie had reviewed the file on the family prior to the visit because she hadn’t remembered the parents’ names in the welter of emotion upon meeting them at the hospital. They held up their cred wallets. Belle’s wide blue eyes went straight to Sophie’s face.
“Agent Ang! I’m so glad you’re here. Anna is constantly asking for you.”
“She is?” Sophie smiled. “I’ve been wondering how she’s doing.”
“Please, come in.” Belle made a gracious gesture. They went into a sunken living area with glass sliders that overlooked a lush backyard with a pool. “She’s actually at an appointment with her counselor right now. Dr. Souza. She’s an expert in childhood trauma work. We’re seeing Anna come out of her shell more each day.” They sat on soft leather couches with Belle facing them. “Her father took her to the appointment,” Belle said. “We’re taking turns because she’s going every day.”
“That’s good.” Disappointment weighted Sophie’s stomach that she wasn’t going to see the little girl, but that made a personal visit to bring the rabbit back doubly important.
Ken cleared his throat. “We have some follow-up questions because, even though the kidnappers are deceased,
we need to find out how they targeted your family. Do you mind if I tape this interview?”
“Of course not. Ask me anything. I’m just so glad you did what you did.” Belle smiled at Sophie. “Anna thinks you are her guardian angel.”
“Just doing my job.” Sophie lowered her eyes in embarrassment. “I’m lucky I was in a position to act quickly.”
“Well, speaking of that. We wouldn’t have known your daughter had been kidnapped if a tipster hadn’t emailed the FBI. Why didn’t you report the kidnapping?”
“A tipster told you?” Belle’s eyes grew wide. She addressed Ken this time. “I bet that ‘tipster’ was Charlie, my husband. We weren’t supposed to communicate at all with law enforcement. When we first gave our statements to you and your partner, we told you this. They used one of those voice distorters to call us, and sent a snippet of Anna’s hair and her nightgown, threatening more pieces if we didn’t wire the ransom payment into a numbered bank account.” She blinked rapidly at the memory. “Anyway, I never would have allowed Charlie to take that kind of chance, but he must have decided to tip you off anyway. I’ll kill him when he gets home.”
That explained the dangerous tension between the kidnappers’ setup against each other and the tipster’s motive in reporting the child’s disappearance. She could tell by the glance Ken flashed her that he was thinking the same thing.
“We haven’t been able to identify anything about the tipster.” Sophie held up a cautionary hand. “It’s best not to jump to any conclusions. I know Agents Yamada and Gundersohn must have asked you this, but is there anyone you suspect of being involved? Anyone we can re-interview? Most kidnappings have some connection to the family.”
“No. Anna and our youngest, Kellie, have a nanny, but we trust her totally. We have some domestic staff. You’re welcome to talk to them.”
“Yes, I’d like their information, if possible,” Ken said. “Kidnappings rely on a lot of knowledge of the family’s movement patterns, so it’s important to find out who or how that information might have gotten to the kidnappers.”
“Who is your security company?” Sophie asked, prompted by the domed security camera she spotted through the window, an unobtrusive half-sphere the same color as the house.
“Security Solutions. They provide security for our house and business.”
Sophie suppressed a start of surprise at hearing the name she’d just been researching. “Can I get the contact information for them?”
“Sure, I’ll get that and all the staff’s info too. Need anything to drink while I’m up?” Belle was doing her best to make this into a social visit.
“No thanks,” Sophie and Ken murmured in concert, and she left. Ken narrowed his eyes at Sophie.
“Think there’s something up with this security company?”
“This is a good lead. I found something in my online searches connecting that company with a number of irregularities,” Sophie said vaguely. “Perhaps they have a breach of some kind. I’d like to run with this while you and Gundersohn follow up with the interviews of the staff.”
“Sounds good.”
They both sat up attentively as Belle returned with a handwritten list of names and numbers for Ken and a glossy, plastic jacket with promotional materials inside for Sophie.
“Security Solutions does all our services,” Belle said. “Home alarm, Internet, and a fully integrated nanny-cam artificial intelligence program that sends alerts too.”
The hair on Sophie’s neck prickled with excitement. “That sounds innovative.”
“Yes, it’s really cutting edge. They film your normal patterns for a week, and then the program runs all the time in the background and sends you alerts on your phone about anything unusual that happens. It’s so sensitive we had to keep adjusting it because it was too good, almost. It was always sending Charlie alerts when the girls did anything outside, since we have it set to notify us in case the girls get into the pool without supervision.”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Sophie murmured. “Sounds unique. Is it exclusive to Security Solutions?”
“It is. We call our unit Helen. It’s always analyzing.” Belle had a warm note in her voice.
Ken frowned. “You don’t find that kind of computer surveillance intrusive?”
“Oh no. It’s like having your own eyes and ears everywhere in the house. This is a smart house in more ways than one.”
They wrapped up the interview, and Sophie shook Belle’s hand. “I have to return Anna’s rabbit sometime when she’s home.”
“She asks about Bun-Bun but has told me you need him to keep you company,” Belle smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Whenever you have time.”
Out at the car, Ken darted a glance at her. “Bun-Bun the rabbit for company?”
Sophie rubbed her shorn hair, ducking her head. “Yes. The stuffed animal was very dirty when Anna gave it to me. But it’s washed now.” She wanted to bring it back to the little girl, but there was no denying the rabbit somehow helped her sleep better at night. Sleeping was hard for Sophie, and her long ago kidnapping wasn’t the only reason. “I’ll have to come visit another time to give it back to her.”
Back at her workstation, there were three new computers stacked in the reception area, and she still had final reports to do on the four she’d been working on before. Sophie plowed ahead steadily, taking fifteen-minute exercise breaks every hour to keep her brain and circulation sharp, drinking water and tea, and finally she’d made enough progress on the backlog to make a few phone calls.
She had a contact at Honolulu Police Department she could alert to this situation with the gang leaders. She hit a button on her headphone and said aloud, “Call Detective Marcus Kamuela.”
The phone feature rang as she scanned the latest in DAVID.
“Detective Kamuela.” Marcus Kamuela had a deep voice with an edge to it like bitter chocolate.
“Marcus, it’s Sophie. I’m calling on official business.”
“Excellent. What can I do for the FBI today?” Sophie could tell her friend’s fiancé was injecting his voice with enthusiasm he didn’t feel. She and Kamuela respected each other, but Sophie suspected that they were each a little jealous of the time the other took from Marcella. Now that they were planning their wedding, Sophie’s time with her friend had become limited to working mutual FBI cases together and shopping for the wedding.
She told Marcus about the unknown relationship between the three murders. “Our computer analysis is telling us that the cases have to be related somehow. Those three situations just happening coincidentally, is unlikely. I thought I’d contact you about it.”
“A real gift horse is what that is,” Marcus said.
“Gift horse?”
“Yeah. You know. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Sophie researched the phrase, her fingers flying as she said, “Gift horse or not, it’s statistically unlikely for that to have happened without some kind of precipitating trigger.”
“When given a horse, it would be bad manners to inspect the horse’s mouth to see if it has bad teeth. This can be applied as an analogy to any gift: Don’t inspect it to make sure it matches some standard you have, just be grateful,” she read from the English Usage Dictionary.
“I’m well aware of the Triad and Boyz leaders offing each other here in Waikiki, but I’m not working that particular homicide. I’ll check with our team about an “external trigger” as you call it, and contact Hilo and Kona too. But like I said, gift horse.”
“I understand,” Sophie said. And she did, perfectly now. “But sometimes even gift horses can bite you on the ass.”
He laughed. At the deep, mellow sound of it, Sophie almost smiled. Yes, Marcus Kamuela was “quite something,” as her Geneva boarding school classmates would have said.
“I’ll let you know if I find anything connecting the dots,” Marcus said. “And thanks for the tip.”
“No problem. See you soon.”
/> “Yeah. The wedding stuff seems to be coming at us like an avalanche.”
“I imagine.” Sophie opened her calendar window in the corner of Jinjai’s screen to check the date, still a few months away. “See you then, if not sooner.”
She hung up with a sense of having done her duty. She’d passed this intel on, and likely nothing would happen from it. Marcus was a good detective, but he wasn’t even on the case and it was a local PD matter. They hadn’t asked for FBI support, a prerequisite unless a case automatically qualified for FBI attention. Because these murders were a ‘gift horse,’ investigators weren’t likely to have dug too deep to find out exactly how or why the gang leaders were killing each other unless, further negative consequences were felt by the communities involved.
Sophie decided right then she needed to get a look at the gang leaders’ phones in HPD evidence, no matter the challenges. She put a visit to HPD on the task list for the next day. She had another call to make before she met Alika for that run before the gym.
She hit a button on her headphones and called the Security and Exchange Commission, asking for the FBI liaison.
“Agent Kendall,” a brisk female voice answered.
“This is Special Agent Sophie Ang of the Honolulu FBI. We’ve become aware of an interesting situation with one of your cases, and we’re looking for some information about it,” Sophie said. She named the defendants, the date and more. “This case intersects with one of ours, and I’d like to speak to the agent handling it.”
A short silence. Then, “how did you get this information?”
“I prefer to discuss that with the agent I’ll be working with.”
“That would be me.”
“Well, then, I don’t think that’s the most important thing about my inquiry. Why don’t you fill me in a little more on the case, and I’ll let you know what might be relevant from my end.”