As soon as I walked in the door, Alice raised her head and looked at me with scrunched eyes.
“Excuse me,” I said to the group before walking over and sitting beside her. “What’s going on?”
“I found something else.”
“Do we need to speak privately?”
When she nodded, I led her into the bedroom where we’d been earlier.
“Talk to me,” I said after I’d closed the door behind us.
She pulled something from her back pocket and unfolded it.
“Sarah’s letter?” I asked.
“I think she knew who the mole was.” Her voice cracked. “Either that, or she was getting really close.” She motioned to the paper she was holding. “I’d let you read it, but it’s in code and won’t mean anything to you. The important part is that it says where I can find the evidence she was compiling.”
“Do you think it’s still there? Meaning, it hasn’t been wiped?”
“It’s there. I’m certain of it.”
I cocked my head.
“It’s on one of my drives.”
“Do you want to do this now?” I asked.
“I do, but there’s a crowd out there presently, and I’m used to working alone.”
“I can ask Diesel to brief his team in the boathouse. In fact, it might be a good idea if they made that their base of operation. There’s plenty of room for them to bunk there too.”
“That would help.”
I pulled out my phone and sent him a message. Within a couple of minutes, he responded, saying they were on their way out. When I heard the front door close, Alice and I returned to the empty room.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?”
She smiled up at me. “No, you can stay.”
I sat beside her, watching as she decrypted several files.
“Damn, Sarah.”
“What?” I asked.
“She was tracking money movements through the Castellanos’ legitimate businesses.” Alice pulled up a series of transactions. “The pattern is similar to what I found with indictments. What Sarah discovered is large sums moving through their construction companies and real-estate holdings.”
“To pay off the mole.”
“That’s my guess. The last trace she ran was the day before she died.”
There was a knock at the door, it opened, and Diesel walked in. “I wanted you to know the team’s setting up a secure communications center in the boathouse. Also, Bryar’s on her way over with dinner, if that’s okay.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Alice nod.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” I told him, checking the time. I hadn’t even noticed it getting dark, and it was now past six.
“Oh, Tank wanted me to ask if there’s any movement from Staten Island.”