Jason's face appeared on the screen as Derek disappeared. "Looks like Sabrina Lin's murder was just the tip of the iceberg."
"I agree," Matt said. "And I think my former investigation into Meridien Developments is part of this market manipulation, which probably means Charles Adler is one of the main players. I believe my former partner, Shari Drummond, was working with Charles, maybe the new director as well."
"Speaking of Director Markham, she called me about twenty minutes ago. She wants to know if we have evidence tying Trent Adler to an old murder."
He smiled to himself. "I planted that false flag with my former coworker. Shari was at the museum on Saturday, cozying up to Senator Matson, and I wanted to find out what side she's on. She took my bait and ran straight to Charles Adler. Now, I know she's on their side. Markham probably is, too. The list of people with dirt on their hands is getting longer."
"Well, Markham can't shut us down. Our team operates outside her jurisdiction."
"What did you tell her?"
"That I couldn't get into the details of our investigation. She said she expected a call back from Flynn within the hour. He's in San Diego, so I told her he's unavailable, but I'll pass the message on." He paused. "What's your next play?"
"I want to squeeze Trent, use my false flag to see if I can get him to flip on his friends."
"That won't be easy. He knows a lot of lawyers."
"I'm working on a way to get him into a more casual setting, take him by surprise. I'll let you know what I come up with."
As soon as he put down the phone, Haley said, "I have an idea about Trent. I can ask him to meet me."
"Absolutely not."
"Hang on," she said, sending him an annoyed look. "I'll tell him the FBI thinks he killed my brother, but I don't believe that because Landon said how much he liked him. And I need to talk to him personally. All I have to do is get him somewhere, and then you can take over."
He frowned, not wanting to put her in danger. "It's risky."
"Everything is risky, but we have to try. If they're going to use my brother's brilliant algorithm for evil instead of good, then we have to stop them, and Trent might be the key. I want to take this chance."
"We'd need to think of a place to meet," he said slowly.
"What about something near Westbridge? My brother used to go to a coffeehouse a few blocks off campus. He loved studying there. It was called the Library Café. It would be a place Landon would have told me about, a place Trent might remember from his college days, and maybe where he'd feel comfortable, even a little nostalgic," Haley suggested. "It's not anywhere near where he lives now, or where the others would be spending time. This could work, Matt."
He didn't like the gleam of excitement in her eyes. "It could work, but you're telling Trent exactly where you're going to be at a specific time. If he's in the thick of this, he could send someone to the coffeehouse to get to you."
"Well, it's a public place, and you'll be there, too. We can do it soon. It's three o'clock now. It will take us thirty minutes to get there. We can set it for four thirty just to make sure we have enough time, but not too much time for him to send someone to find us."
"He could do that in an hour and a half."
"It's not perfect, but we have to try, don't we? And when we were talking to Brooke, she never mentioned Trent being part of the inner circle."
"Okay," he said, making a decision. "But I'm going to send an agent to the café ahead of us, and I'll have two more outside as backup."
"Can I call him now?"
He nodded, knowing his desire to protect Haley was overriding his logic, and he couldn't let emotions get in the way. "I have his number." After retrieving Trent's number from the case file, he punched it into the phone, then handed it to her, putting it on speaker.
The phone rang several times before a man answered. "Hello? Who is this?"
"It's Haley Kenton. Is this Trent?"
"What the hell do you want?" Trent demanded, anger in his voice.
"To talk to you," she said in a calm voice. "The FBI told me that they think you killed my brother."
"That's not true. I had nothing to do with Landon's death."
"I actually believe you. Landon told me you were one of his best friends in the house, and after he died, you were one of the only ones who looked upset about it. I can't believe you were faking that kind of emotion. It felt very real to me."
