Page 88 of Before She Disappeared

“Then no. We got our fair share of crime, and some of these boys... Don’t let an appetite for violence fool you into thinking they aren’t smart. But that kind of technical know-how, specialized equipment... Nah. Not in a million years.”

I nod, share with him what I learned about counterfeiting operations from Lotham: bills printed in Europe, then sold to middlemen for pennies on the dollar, eventually sold to end users for sixty-five cents on the dollar.

“Thirty-five percent markup,” Charlie deduces, nodding. “Makes sense. Person who spends the money should get the highest percentage as they bear the greatest risk.” He sips more coffee. “End users... Now that I could see around here. Drugs and guns require cash. If some new player arrived and said I could sell you cheap money... Yeah, plenty of players would go for that.” He pauses. “And plenty of other players would kill their sorry asses once they realized they got paid in fake bills. Risky proposition all the way round.”

“But given the demand...”

“No pain, no gain, as the saying goes. I imagine at least a few would be willing to try it out.”

I lean forward. “Any players in particular?”

Charlie has to think about it. “Can’t say off the top of my head. But I can think of a few people to ask.”

“If it doesn’t jam you up.”

“I don’t mind. But I’d like to ask why.”

Briefly, I explain to him the counterfeit money discovered in Angelique’s lamp, not to mention her friendship with Livia Samdi and Livia’s expertise with 3D printers, which may or may not have anything to do with anything. And that Angelique was dressed up as Livia when she disappeared.

“You’re thinking Livia was the real target?”

“Maybe. Possibly. When I’m arrogant enough to know what to think.”

“But then Livia still went missing. And Angelique’s still alive.”

“Yes.”

“Hell, that doesn’t make a damn lick of sense.”

“Exactly.”

Charlie drains his coffee mug, waves over the waitress for a refill.

“All right. So if Livia was the target, and the girls are still alive—”

“Angelique smuggled out a message. Help us.”

“Damn, that’s scary. But...” Charlie considers the matter. “If the girls are still alive but can’t come home, are like, held against their will?”

I nod.

“Then they must be worth something, right? Only reason to keep them alive, cuz the girls know something or are doing something their captors need.”

I like the way he puts that. Simple, logical. The girls know something or are doing something. “Which brings us back to Livia’s skills with AutoCAD and 3D printing. But that’s still not enough for counterfeiting currency, and apparently plastic guns aren’t nearly as valuable as we thought.”

Charlie’s turn to nod. “If counterfeiting currency is like advanced math or something, then what about other kinds of forgeries? Starting with fake Real IDs. Now that would be worth some serious dough.”

“Explain.”

“Back in my day, a fake driver’s license was a simple matter of prying apart the lamination and inserting a new photo. More recently, I’ve heard some of the kids at the rec center talk about buying fakes online, especially foreign IDs. Say from Ireland, places like that. You wanna sneak into a bar, it gets the job done. But now, with states transitioning to Real ID...”

“Which is very sophisticated, right? Watermarks, hidden images, reflective ink. Isn’t that why it’s now the new standard for TSA?”

“Exactly. The old model of fake driver’s licenses just doesn’t cut it. World’s getting serious, meaning everyone, including criminals, gotta get serious. I’m not saying faking a Real ID would be easy, but compared to forged bills, gotta be a step down.” Charlie shrugs.

I think of Angelique, showing up at the cybercafé with a fake ID. Then trying to buy a cell phone from the wireless store with the same ID. Letting it fall to the ground in her escape.

I wonder suddenly if we hadn’t missed the obvious. She hadn’t been trying to leave us a coded message. The ID itself was the clue.

---