Gone Unnoticed: A Kate Reid Novel (The Kate Reid Series Book 3) (17 page)

“What about Vito?”

Kate turned her gaze towards the girl because she feared that her eyes would betray her and reveal the truth she couldn’t bring herself to admit. “We haven’t heard from him yet. But Agent Scarborough will keep you and your children safe.”

“She looks up to you,” the woman said, glancing to Nicola. “She wants to be like you, I think.”

Kate pushed aside the feeling that was bearing down on her. The feeling that she’d believed her own child would have looked up to her someday. “Your daughter can be anything she wants to be. That’s what’s so great about this country.”

“Maybe your daughter could.” The woman stopped to look at Nicola again before returning her attention to Kate. “I don’t think mine can.” The smile on the woman’s face faded.

Kate rose to her feet once again. “They’ll be taking you all very soon and you’ll be able to get some rest. Good night, Mrs. Bjuric.” Kate turned and walked back to the door, the woman’s words reverberating in her ears. She looked back a final time, but the woman did not look up at her.

“You ready to go?” Nick asked.

“I’m ready.”

“Hey, everything all right? What happened in there?”

“It’s fine. I just feel bad for that poor woman. She came here to give her kids a better life. Doesn’t seem to have really panned out for them.”

Nick opened the door to exit the station and continued walking Kate to her car. “What you did tonight, disarming Gregor and getting him to confide in you. Kate, that was no easy task. I mean, shit, that was Tactical Training 101 right there. And you passed with flying colors.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

Nick opened the driver’s side door for her. “Do me a favor. Just text me when you get home? I’ll sleep a lot better tonight if I know that you made it home safely.”

Kate slid inside the car. “You mean you’re actually going to get some sleep? Ha! I’d pay to see that.”

He pushed the door closed. “Yeah, yeah. Even us superhero special agents need our rest. You get it? SSA?” Nick leaned into the window, a wide smile on his face. “Be safe. I’ll talk to you later.” Two slaps of his hand on the car door, and he stood up.

Kate rolled her eyes at the terrible joke he’d made and waved a final goodbye before backing out and heading for the road. She watched Nick wave back in the rear view mirror.

Music would help keep her alert and so Kate switched on the car radio. She really wasn’t all that tired, but she hoped the music would drown out the thoughts in her head. Had Nicola’s mother been right? Would Nicola be afforded the same opportunities as any other American kid?

SEVENTEEN

W
ith frequent stolen
glances at the phone discretely tucked between her thigh and the seat, Kate struggled to maintain focus on the instruction. She was operating on less than three hours’ sleep and needed to know what was happening. She was impotent to do anything from here and only wanted to go back to Richmond and find those girls.

“How would you handle that situation, Reid?” The instructor focused his attention on Kate, and now, so did everyone else.

Her eyes raised to meet his, embarrassed that she had no idea what he’d asked. “I’m sorry, could you repeat the question?” Kate’s cheeks flushed in an instant.

“Are we keeping you from something, Reid? Do you feel this training is unnecessary in some way?”

“No, sir. I apologize.”

He looked at her for a moment longer. “Hewitt, how would you handle that situation?” The instructor moved on to ask the one person whom Kate had come to dislike and, of course, he provided an answer with no delay.

“Are you okay?” Will leaned over, trying to keep his voice low enough to not draw any more unwanted attention her way.

“It’s been a long night, that’s all.” If he was wanting a more comprehensive answer, it would have to wait because she was unwilling to suffer the wrath of an irritated instructor should she draw his attention once again.

This investigation was already causing Kate to slip in not only attendance, which she would have to make up, but if her distractions continued, it was likely her scores would suffer too. She was jeopardizing all she had been working toward.

“Tomorrow, you’ll be interviewing witnesses. Please prepare by reviewing the case files and have your questions ready. This is an important skill that you will need to master.” The instructor aimed his sights on Kate. “We will analyze your technique and you will be evaluated, so please do not take this assignment lightly.” His hold on her finally released. “You are dismissed.”

She’d been called out, and rightly so. Kate packed her things and prepared to leave when the instructor approached.

“Do you have a minute, Reid?”

At the front of the room was a small desk and the instructor took a seat on the edge, folding his arms, a sure sign she was about to suffer some sort of reprimand.

“I understand SSA Scarborough has you working on a fairly significant investigation, Reid, but that does not absolve you of your training. We had an agreement that assisting him was to complement what you are learning here, and to offer guidance on some aspects that you are struggling with. What I’m seeing now borders on a disregard for our rules here at the Academy. I cannot let the behavior continue. Some of your colleagues are also working outside of the training here and yet, I don’t see the same distractions coming from them.”

“I apologize, Agent Hawes. There’s no excuse, you’re right. Being here is what’s important to me.” While that was true, she couldn’t help but think about Nicola.

“We’ve discussed where we can improve on some of the areas you’re lacking in, Reid, but I need your cooperation. Do we need to refocus your energies? Maybe request that you take a less critical role in this investigation?” Hawes continued.

“No, sir. Again, I won’t let it deter my focus from class again. I can assure you that this training is my priority.”

“Okay. I don’t give third chances, Reid.” He pushed off the edge of the desk. “You are no more or less important than the other trainees.”

“Thank you, Agent Hawes. You’ll have my undivided attention from here on out.”

“Fair enough. Goodbye, Reid.”

The dormitory seemed a far walk as she drifted through the glass-enclosed breezeway, replaying the instructor’s words, knowing she was putting everything at risk. And for what? Did she think Scarborough and Jameson couldn’t handle the case on their own? Nick was under the impression that this investigation would shine a spotlight on her talents, whatever those were, and that everything else would just fall into place as a result. It hadn’t. And they needed her like she needed a hole in her head. Kate stopped and looked out at the grounds, her reflection in the glass staring back at her. She examined her lucent features.
Who are you? Who do you want to be?

Marshall had made her out to be better than she was, stronger than she was, and it was time to stop seeing herself as he had. Her past did not make her special, it made her a survivor. She needed to come to terms with the fact that no one here would cut her the slack that he did. It was time for her to stand on her own two feet. She would need to convince Nick of the same.

Returning to her room, the long-awaited call finally came. “Reid here.”

“Vito’s body was found early this morning floating near the docks.” Nick spoke with urgency. “Garrett’s team is searching Kovac’s home now and we’ve got people posted at the diner in case he shows up. With two dead bodies linked to him, though, I’m not going to hold my breath that he’ll show up at either place.”

Kate immediately thought of Nicola. Her brother was dead and while she suspected as much, the reality would devastate her and her mother.

“Jameson’s pulled phone records on Druseburg. Can you get to the WFO? I’ll have the files waiting for you there. Get with Agent Vasquez and she’ll walk you through it. His attorneys will have him under lock and key by now, so we need dates and times of any conversations with Corbett after Madlena had gone missing. We’re looking specifically for numbers registered to Corbett, or Stan Kovac, assuming they’re traceable. I just need some ammunition. Franks is on board, but she wants more before hauling him in because if we can’t make charges stick, you’d better believe he’ll be gone before we can.”

“Nick,” She hesitated to ask, but the question burned. “Why are you doing this?”

“Sorry?”

“You don’t need me. You’ve got a team of highly qualified agents.”

“We talked about this at the beginning, Kate. I asked you to be involved so that you can prove you deserve to be here. That you shouldn’t be judged solely on the results of your operational training.” He paused for a moment. “Was I wrong?”

“No. I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to give me every chance to succeed.” She’d wanted to tell him that that was the problem, but this wasn’t about her, not right now. It was all too easy to slide down that slippery slope of questioning her worth, but she would need to put an end to it now and focus on the task at hand.

“I don’t understand where this is coming from,” Nick continued. “Last night, you were pumped; you were ready to tackle anything. What’s changed?”

“Nothing.” Kate closed her eyes. “I’ll get down to the WFO and get with Vasquez.” She ended the call, keeping from him the reason for her second-guessing. Self-doubt aside, she had a job to do.

» » »

The main hub inside the field office was where agents conducted much of their work, including background inquiries, database searches inside the many programs available to all law enforcement as well as several other daily operations that brought few accolades. It was the grunt work. These were the agents behind the scenes, performing necessary and critical operations that often brought praise to the field agents. This was where Kate wanted to be; in the background, far from the center of attention where she’d spent the better part of the last three years.

She opened the files they’d received from the telecom provider. The phone numbers would be cross-referenced to find matches to either Kovac or Corbett. Right now, Kate stared at a screen that showed her hundreds of numbers. “Thank you for helping, Agent Vasquez. I’m not that familiar with how this works.”

“No problem.” Vasquez punched a few keys and brought up another screen. “Give me a minute here, and we’ll be able to get these matched.” She continued to punch in commands of which Kate hadn’t yet learned.

“So, how’s your training going?” she asked, continuing to work on the information.

“It’s not easy.”

“No. It’s not easy,” she replied. “But Agent Scarborough is convinced you can handle it.” She looked to Kate. “He’s the best agent I’ve ever worked with and I’ve worked with some of the best. If he has confidence in you, then you should too.” A short pause. “Here,” Vasquez pointed to the monitor. “See the highlighted numbers? Those numbers come from VOIP applications. They show up as data usage on the telecom records, but we can see the assigned numbers.”

“Voice-over internet protocol? Internet phone numbers,” Kate replied.

“That’s right. And the data usage gives us an approximate location to Richmond and Alexandria. Druseburg was using his cell phone to call these VOIP numbers.”

“So, no cell phone numbers are coming up as registered to James Corbett or Stan Kovac?” Kate supposed it was a long shot that those men would use a registered number, but at least they would know for sure.”

“Not that I can tell, but we can get more details on these records and apply for other information,” Vasquez replied.

“What kind of details?” Kate asked.

“Emails, text messages, pretty much anything and everything relating to electronic information sent from his cell phone. For this information here,” she pointed to the screen again, “we only needed a court order showing reasonable cause. But for historical information and access to emails and such, that requires a subpoena to the cellular provider. But it’s easier to get than you might think.”

“I’ll need to show this to Agents Scarborough and Jameson. Can you email it to me?” Kate relayed her address.

“Of course.” Vasquez’s fingers glided across the keyboard. “Heading your way now.”

“Thank you, Agent Vasquez. You’ve been a tremendous help.” Kate rose from her chair.

“Good luck.”

Vasquez had sent the report. It wasn’t what Kate had hoped to find, but it did prove that Druseburg was in contact with someone in Richmond the day after Madlena Jankovic disappeared; a day after Corbett was seen in Petrovich’s bar. What many people don’t understand about most smartphones was that they almost constantly transmitted GPS locations and telecom companies held onto that information.

She hustled towards Nick’s office to make the call, coming upon Agent Myers’ office along the way. “You’re here?” She stopped in front of her doorway, offering a welcoming smile.

“I am,” Myers replied. “You look like you’re in a hurry. What’s going on?”

“Phone records. I was going to give Agent Scarborough a call and let him know what I found. Does he know you’re back in town?”

“Sadly no. Not yet. I just got back and need to finish with a few more reports.”

“Well, it’s good to see you. Hope we can grab some dinner soon. It’d be nice to catch up.”

“Sure thing,” Georgia replied. “You’d better get in touch with Agent Scarborough.”

With her cell phone in hand, Kate pressed on the contact button to call Nick as soon as she stepped foot inside his office. After the third ring, she expected his voicemail, but he finally picked up.

“It’s Kate, I got those records and Vasquez was able to get a general location on calls made by Druseburg to VOIP numbers, they appear to center around Richmond, and the dates coincide with Madlena’s disappearance.”

“Email it to me and copy Jameson.”

» » »

Detective Garrett returned to his office with papers in hand. “Here.” He had printed the report and placed it in front of Nick. “What do we have?” Garrett sat down and began to examine the records.

“According to Reid,” Nick began, “and now that I have a chance to look at this in a little more detail, it looks like Druseburg was in contact with someone in Richmond a few days before Virginia Beach PD found Madlena’s body. I think we have enough to subpoena the contents of these records and get an exact location on the VOIP calls.”

“We still got eyes on Druseburg?” Jameson asked. “I’m ready to bring the son of a bitch in.”

“Franks has been keeping him under surveillance.” Nick understood where his partner was coming from and was beginning to feel the same. The sheer amount of red tape bullshit was hard to overcome. And while they were getting closer to obtaining what they needed. The time it would take to get something solid was time they didn’t have.

Detective Garrett opened up his files. “I spoke with security at the marina earlier this morning. Here’s what they’ve sent me.”

“What are we looking at exactly?” Nick asked.

“I asked them to run the names of the lessors of their slips, see if we can match any of them to Corbett. No luck there, but they also have records of who purchased fuel at their docks. Last night, a purchase was made at the pump after hours. We’re tracking down the buyer, although it appears that it was a purchase made on a prepaid card. We’re looking to see if that card was registered online.”

“So we still don’t have any assurances that Corbett was there last night and Kovac’s nowhere to be found?” Nick could feel the heat rise under his collar and he was starting to side with Jameson. “Fuck it. You know what? I’m bringing Druseburg in now. His DNA was found on Madlena’s body. I’ll haul his ass in for solicitation if nothing else. I don’t give a shit how high profile this guy is or how good his lawyers are. We know she was one of Corbett’s victims, thanks to his arrogance in electing to brand the women. I’m not waiting for a subpoena.” Nick slammed down the lid of his laptop. “I’m done screwing around. I won’t wait for more girls to be taken and sold as goddamn slaves.” He stood up and looked to Jameson. “We’ll find Corbett too. One way or another, this shit ends now. ”