Requiem by Rick Mofina

Author:Rick Mofina
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, suspense, crime thriller, fbi agent, thriller series, international crime, illegal adoption, investigative journalism, dark web
Publisher: Rick Mofina

CHAPTER 31

Manhattan, New York

In the upper reaches of a 70-story glass tower on Manhattan’s West Side, Chase Lockner, managing editor of True Signal News, looked into his computer monitor upon launching the video conference.

Video windows of Ray Wyatt, participating from his home in Queens, and Sabrena Roha, from her apartment in California, popped up on Lockner’s screen. He activated the audio button.

“Everybody hear me?” Lockner said.

“Yes,” Roha said.

“Got you,” Wyatt said.

“I read your notes,” Lockner said. “You guys want to double up on this story. All right, make your case. Ray, you start.”

“This is the first time I’m telling you this, Chase, because I’d been working quietly on it before Sabrena’s work came to light on the Sked.”

Wyatt related how his sources had revealed what they’d discovered in the aftermath of the Hydra case, such as the killer’s activities and the networks he associated with on the dark web.

“One thing they showed me was an image their experts believe is my son,” Wyatt said.

“What?” Lockner said.

“As you know, I’ve never accepted Danny’s death. I was stunned. I learned that the FBI, working with age-enhancing technology on other photos of him, is confident Danny’s alive, that he was somehow taken into an illegal international adoption network.”

“This is incredible, Ray,” Lockner said. “Do you have these photos?”

“No, they would not let me copy them,” Wyatt replied. “But a source then told me that the FBI’s investigation into the network is connected to an active case in California—the homicide of a woman who’d just returned from Mexico. Then, when I saw Sabrena’s entry on the Sked, I realized the two aspects were part of the same story. I’ll pass it to her now.”

“Sabrena, what do you have?” Lockner said.

“So, I talked with Ray last night, and I am one hundred percent convinced we’re both on the same story.”

Roha outlined all she knew about Wanda Stroud’s disappearance and murder upon her return from Mexico City, going over all the key pieces she had from her sources. She noted that during the return flight, Stroud may have glimpsed something on the laptop of the man seated in front of her.

“From my sources,” Roha said, “I have the man’s name, José Luís Garcia. He’s a lawyer in Honduras, who may be linked to very dangerous criminal organizations.”

“Like cartels?”

“Most likely.”

Lockner sat back, thinking.

“We need to pursue this, Chase,” Wyatt said.

After a long moment, Lockner sat forward, steepled his fingers, and tapped the tips to his mouth. “This story stays with the three of us,” he said. “We’re going to remove Sabrena’s entry on the Sked.”

“I can do that with Agnes,” Sabrena said.

“Yes. I want to keep this confidential, protect exclusivity,” Lockner said. “Do you think anyone else knows what we know?”

“No,” Wyatt said. “Not with my connection.”

“And I haven’t gotten a sense that anyone in L.A. is as deep into the Stroud case as we are at this point,” Sabrena said.

“Ray, given this is your son, are you up to this? Do you see a conflict?”

“If you pull me off, I’ll go after it freelance on my own dime.

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