Page 47 of Duplicity

Peter chuckled under his breath.

As far as motivation went, that had been a pretty good tactic. Some people might not be motivated by it, but the competitive officers in the room would jump at the chance to be the best. The high achievers wouldn’t want to let down a man they respected who also happened to sign off on their paychecks.

In the end, cases would be solved.

Russ moved to the corner by the windows where several officers crowded around, asking him questions. Half the room got up, walked out, and, hopefully, got to work.

Peter twisted in his chair. “Where are you and Talia at on the communication network?”

Simon saw the unspoken question in his expression. This wasn’t all his brother wanted to ask. He dug in his backpack and pulled out his laptop, booting it out of sleep mode. “We are in, and that means we can see everything that happens on it in real time: calls made, duration of calls, and texts sent and received. She’s got a good chunk of information on the scope as a whole, but it won’t give us the location of any of the phones or tell us who is using them.”

Or the location of where it was all being hosted.

“How many phones in total?” Cat shifted to lean close to his arm.

He caught a hint of vanilla on her skin and swallowed hard. “Thirty-six.”

Peter blew out a breath. “All connected to the guy who abducted you to create it? What about him?”

Simon tapped the screen of his laptop, and a live file Talia was working on opened. “This is a nexus of who knows who based on phone calls between two numbers and texts sent in one-to-one messages or group threads. From that information, we can put together some connections. Who is close, and who might only be acquaintances. Or who gives the orders, and what the hierarchy might look like.”

A couple of cops, maybe three or four, turned to listen to them.

Peter asked, “Anything about a party in the conversation?”

“I’ll work on that tonight.” Hopefully, back at the Vanguard office without people staring at him.

“Aren’t you the guy who?—”

Peter’s head whipped around. “Don’t finish that.” Then to Simon, he said, “Let’s go. We need to get to work, not sit around here talking.”

Simon stood, holding his laptop open, and slung his backpack on his shoulder. Cat broke off a conversation with the cop down the row to their right, an older guy she apparently knew, and came with them.

Out in the hall, Peter said, “I need what you have on the guy who took you.”

Simon walked with him toward the elevator. Cat stayed behind them, so they didn’t block the entire width of the hall, which was lined with officers. Some of them gave him disapproving looks. Or her, probably for associating with him. If only he could stop and yell, “I’m not hiding anything!” at the top of his voice.

“Sie.”

He pushed out a breath. “I’ll pass on all the profiles I’ve done on the family.”

Peter frowned. “You don’t know who took you?”

“I never saw his face.” Simon leaned against the wall beside the elevator and focused only on Peter and Cat. As if backing up to a solid surface meant he was more safeguarded than being exposed. In a police station? He needed to get his head on straight.

Peter moved to stand close. The way Simon wanted Cat to. “But you know where you were?”

“The family estate. Don’t ask me where. They must have dumped it. Or it’s so far below the radar I have no chance of finding it.” Simon gritted his teeth. “It could be anyone. The father, the son, the uncle. A cousin. I have no idea.”

But he’d been trying to figure it out for years.

Peter nodded. “Give it to me.” He thumped a hand on his chest. “I do this.”

Simon stared at his brother. “Okay.”

The elevator doors slid open. Peter nudged him in first. Simon dragged his feet, even if it was for the best that Peter did what he was good at. He would likely also get the rest of the Cold Case department at Vanguard to help. Or the whole company, whoever wasn’t working on the missing girls.

But would they really be able to work out what he hadn’t found an answer to in years? If only he could believe it. Life had taught him otherwise over and over again.Don’t trust because it will all fall apart. Don’t hope because it won’t happen.

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