Gifted: A Clear Security Holiday by Ainsley St Claire

Author:Ainsley St Claire [St Claire, Ainsley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Loisir Publishing
Published: 2019-11-18T00:00:00+00:00

*****

Dropping her off at her apartment is nearly impossible. I want to wait while she gets ready and then escort her over to her office, but she won’t let me. We do make plans for dinner tomorrow night, so at least that’s something. As she walks into her building, she turns and waves to me, and it makes my day.

I drive back to the office and prepare to work more on determining where the stolen goods could be. I’m hoping my team has some new leads. I certainly don’t mind writing a check to repurchase the items, but I know Kate would feel better if we didn’t have to do it that way—and if we knew who took the first batch and why.

Bash meets me at the elevator. “We think we’ve located a few of the bigger-ticket items on the online auction sites. We’ve got a few mp3 players, some roller skates, and an expensive skateboard that match our inventory list.”

We walk into our operations center, which has no windows, extensive soundproofing, and twenty-five fifty-inch computer screens. At any given time, we have folks watching video, hacking, and working on other tasks to support the field staff.

“Are they listed by a single individual or a business?” I ask.

“Three are listed by a less-than-reputable pawn shop in South San Francisco, and the rest are by different individuals, but they all come from the same area. We don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

“I agree. Let’s win those auctions, meet these assholes, and figure out where the rest of the items are.”

“We’re watching them now. Gary has set up a program that comes in with the winning bid two seconds before the auction expires.”

“Have you looped in SFPD?”

“I’ve spoken with Detective Montoya. They’re going to make sure the pawn shop was covered by her team when they canvassed.”

“Great. Does it look like the same person is going to win each of the items? That may seem suspicious.”

“No, Gary has set up different accounts with different names across the county. The first auction ends…” He looks at his watch. “…in two hours and twenty-two minutes.”

“I’ll be in my office going through something that occurred to me. Come get me before the auction closes. I want to watch what happens.”

“You got it, boss.” He turns and walks away while I head to my office—one of four that look out over the operations center. I designed this so I could see the action at any time, but also take private phone calls with our clients that are not for public consumption.

Before I know it, I’m late for my Sunday evening partners meeting with the SHN team. I attend to keep up with any future needs they may have for me or my team to tackle. I grab my keys and run down to Hillsboro. Each week the partners meet off-site to discuss where they are and what’s going on. It’s very social for them, and about the only time they’re all together. I’m thankful I’m late so I don’t get the third-degree from the girls about Kate.

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