Page 16 of S.O.S. Perk

“I love you, too.”

Sloane stepped on it, driving the regulation Bureau sedan as fast as possible back to home base. In the meantime, she sent out a voice-mail to the pertinent agents, asking for an immediate meeting and outlining the problem. By the time she arrived, she knew that her direct supervisor, Assistant Director Emil Baskins—who had been with the Bureau for a very long time, and whom she trusted implicitly—would already be looking into things. He wasn’t one to stand back and let paint dry when a fresh coat was far more workable.

Once in the office, Sloane hotfooted it to the conference room, where she hoped everyone was waiting. She wasn’t disappointed. Director Baskins had rounded up all the significant heads they’d need to talk this through.

Baskins didn’t waste any time. “I’ve been in touch with the detective in charge of the case, and he’s not only happy for help on this one, he’s already willingly turned over everything they have so far.” The director put on the reading glasses he now needed for screen-time, and he read out the details on his computer as they were currently known.

“Almost two months ago, just weeks after school started for the year, over a dozen kids found their bank accounts suddenly being hit. Not significant amounts to be sure, but still enough to have them talk to each other about it, then report it to the school guidance counselor when they found out they weren’t the only ones being targeted. The police became involved, and things escalated exponentially when a few parents also started notifying the department that money was disappearing fromtheiraccounts. This time, however, the amounts were quite large.” He named a figure that was even greater than the one Melissa had speculated.

“The locals have been on this for a while,” one of the other agents chimed in. “Have they had any luck tracing the withdrawals?”

“That’s where things get tricky,” the boss huffed. “It seems like all the money taken is only in cyber-space for mere seconds before being funneled into anonymous crypto accounts, andthattrail is so damned slippery they haven’t been able to navigate it yet.”

Crypto. Shit.Everyone here knew that the world of virtual currency was like the wild west. Out of control, and almost impossible to regulate or track.

“Why didn’t they call us in when they didn’t have any luck?” Sloane wanted to know. “They have to realize we have better resources to investigate this kind of thing than they do, Chief.”

Baskin’s exact title was Executive Assistant Director for Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch, but that was a huge mouthful, so they all called the man, Chief.

Baskins shrugged. “Egos? Higher-ups with different agendas? Who knows?”

He didn’t seem surprised, and neither was Sloane. They often ran across reluctance from locals when it came to involving the FBI. It was only luck that the detective in charge on this one was ready for some help.

“But now we have an underaged girl who’s vanished,” Director Baskins clipped. “So, whether thehigherpowers-that-be in that little town agree or not, we’re on this.”

“What have you got on our missing person?” a fellow agent across the table asked.

Baskins didn’t hesitate. “Kaelyn Jefferson. Straight A student. A rule follower, but one with lots of friends. She plays field hockey, and is on the cheer squad. She went to the principal late yesterday, saying she’d overheard a couple boys talking about something that sounded slightly suspicious, so theprincipal set up a meeting with the police for early this morning so she could fill them in.”

“But Kaelyn never showed up at school today,” Sloane supplied. “And seriously? the principal didn’t thinkthatwas cause for calling her parents?” She snapped out the question.

Baskins responded patiently. “The principal said he tried, but he didn’t get an answer. So he cancelled the meeting with the police, and put it on his calendar to follow up with Kaelyn’s parents after school. By the time he finally reached them, however, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson had just ascertained that Kaelyn was gone.”

The director continued with something Sloane already knew, for the other agents’ sakes.

“The parents had received a text yesterday from an unknown phone, that Kaelyn wouldn’t be home; that she was spending the night at a friend’s house. They didn’t think anything of it at the time, since it’s something their daughter often does. But when she didn’t show up after school today, and they found out she actuallyhadn’tbeen at Bethany White’s home, they knew something was terribly wrong.”

“Which is where I came in,” Sloane apprised the team. “My friend, Melissa, is an administrator at the school, and she called me the minute she heard about Kaelyn’s disappearance, hoping we would get involved.”

“Tell her we’re thankful for the quick heads up, Sloane. It’s always beneficial when the least amount of time is wasted before we can get our teeth into an abduction.”

Didn’t they all know the truth of that.

“Has anybody traced the text that came in to Kaelyn’s parents?” Sloane wanted to know.

“The police weren’t able to uncover anything, so we’ve got our tech department on it. We should have an answer, soon, butI wouldn’t hold out too much hope that it will be helpful. My guess would be that somebody used a burner phone.”

“So, what’s our first move if the phone doesn’t pan out?” Sloane questioned.

“We send in a team to talk to the students Kaelyn suspected?” someone suggested.

“Which will lead nowhere,” another agent put in. “You know how closed mouthed high school students can be. And I have a feeling that making Kaelyn disappear was a strategic move from whoever’s behind this, making sure no one else who might suspect them, talks. Which means sending us in will be a colossal waste of time.”

“What about putting one of ours in, undercover?” an agent who sometimes teamed up with Sloane, asked astutely.

“That’s always tricky,” Baskins huffed. “But unfortunately, our one operative whomightbe able to pass for a high-schooler is off on another undercover assignment; one that isn’t even close to wrapping up.”

Well shit.

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