I flinched at the word. I knew I’d get over it eventually; I mean, Paige had always called me boss. Plenty of the agents under my authority called me boss. It was just what you did. But after being around my kidnappers…I didn’t much like the word anymore. I’d get over it eventually. I’d have to. Boss was an IPF culture thing, especially among the enforcers and officers.
“Thanks Paige. Good work.” I turned to the door and then froze when a new thought dawned on me. “That’s it!” I whirled around. “Paige, you’re a genius!”
She blinked at me, alarmed by my enthusiasm. “Thank you?”
I laughed and ran out the door. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it sooner. I felt like such an idiot. I went straight to where Jordan and Borski were trying to run down my kidnapper’s ship. Both looked up, startled, when I burst into the room.
“Julia?” Jordan stood up.
I slapped a hand against my forehead. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice it sooner! You know how I told you all the men who kidnapped me always referred to their leader as boss?”
Jordan obviously wasn’t following, but he nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, I knew right away they weren’t mercenaries or, at least, they didn’tactlike mercenaries. They always behaved differently, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Well, duh! Who else do we know who refers to those in authority as ‘boss’?”
“Criminals?” Jordan offered, still appearing lost.
“IPF agents!” I still couldn’t believe I hadn’t figured it out sooner. “It all makes sense now. These guys were IPF cops, either current or former. It would make sense how they had so many resources, and if their employer is loaded, then they could circumvent almost any obstacles in their way.”
Jordan thought it over. “That makes sense. If one of them was still on the force and kept an ear out, then they easily could have learned about Santiago’s hideout, and then when we radioed back that we found the flash drive they could have been waiting for us. They knew right where it’d be.”
I sat down at a computer, pulled up the internal records system, and entered his description into the search field. I closed my eyes and thought hard, trying to come up with anything about their leader that was distinctive so I could find him. I remembered the scar he had running from his nose to his mouth, and I typed facial scars into the search parameters. All personnel were cataloged in the database, complete with histories, descriptions, associated cases, and distinguishing features.
There were a lot of names, so I started clicking through them. After a few moments, I added another parameter: mid-thirties. Jordan had come over by then and was watching over my shoulder. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.” I kept going, clicking as fast as my hand and eyes could coordinate. “I know he’s in here.”
It took me twenty minutes, but I found his file. I clapped my hands triumphantly and sat back in my chair. “Horatio Olivier. That’s him.”
Jordan scanned through his file. “The record says he left the force about five years ago. There’s no record of criminal behavior, and nothing else suspicious in his file.”
I shook my head, glaring at his picture on the screen. “I’m going to dig through his life with a fine-tooth comb. I’m going to look at all his associates and family, and then I’ll look through all his cases until I figure out who else he’s working with and who hired him. Bank accounts, loans, hobbies, family, where he bought his groceries, whatever I need to run down.”
Jordan nodded. “We’ll get these guys.”
The case may not have been solved yet, but I knew we’d figure it out. We had workable leads now, and we knew that somewhere on the force there was an information leak. We’d have to be careful and quiet about things.
“I’m not going to stop until we solve this case.”
Jordan squeezed my shoulder encouragingly. “Me neither.”
We exchanged hopeful looks. I couldn’t wait to find the person behind the kidnapping and to see how all the pieces finally fit together. We were so close. I finally had hope again.
“Let’s get to work.”
