Page 50 of Dirty Liars

“I’ve requested that information from the ME handling Nicholas’s case,” Jack said. “We should know soon.”

“What about the security guards you mentioned?” Martinez asked.

“Jaye and I got the privilege of meeting them earlier,” Jack said, drawing our attention back to the board. “They looked like hired muscle to keep anyone away from the ambassador. One was American—he looked like former military. The other was foreign. Looked like a thug. See what you can pull up on them. I want to know why they conveniently disappeared.”

“Got it,” Doug said as photographs and information began to post on the whiteboard wall. “You’re right about the American military. Derek Rogan. Twenty years Army, honorable discharge, worked private security ever since. Been with Vasilios for at least seven years according to employment records. Divorced twice. Not the sharpest tool in the shed looking at his aptitude tests, but he’s loyal.”

“He would have worked with Max,” I said.

“We know what happens to loyal employees in this case,” Cole muttered. “They end up dead.”

“And the other one?” Martinez asked, leaning forward.

“That’s where it gets interesting,” Doug said, twisting back and forth in the ergonomic chair. “His credentials say Joe Winsome. You’d think he was the boy next door he’s so American on paper. I’m running him through facial recognition now.”

“No way he’s American. His accent was Slavic,” Jack said. “Eastern European at a minimum. Ortega mentioned to me when we interviewed him that this Winsome guy was a recent addition—a fill-in after Max was assigned to Theo full-time.”

Doug’s fingers flew across the keyboard and there was a crease in his forehead as he muttered under his breath. “Come on, baby. Cough up the goods. That’s good. That’s a good start.”

“I always feel like we should leave the room whenever he starts talking to the computer like that,” Martinez said.

“You’re a laugh a minute, Martinez,” Doug said. “But I’ve got the goods. Turns out Joe Winsome’s Social Security number belongs to a guy who died in 2008.”

“Anything else?” Jack asked, adding to his notes on the board.

“I’ve found mention of our mystery Slavic friend in some less than reputable mercenary forums,” Doug said. “Still working on a real name, but he’s connected to at least three political assassinations in the last decade. Whoever he is, he doesn’t come cheap.”

“I wonder how he got connected with the ambassador,” I said, trying to piece together the timeline in my head.

“Guys like that get a reputation,” Jack said. “Mercenaries for hire.”

“A couple million per job,” Doug chimed in. “Payable in cryptocurrency, of course. Very difficult to trace, but not impossible for someone of my capabilities.”

Derby was working on his own laptop. I always wondered if he was threatened by Doug’s ability to ferret out information, but Derby was a pretty affable guy.

“I pulled everything I could find on Rogan,” Derby said. ‘Since he went private he’s kept a minimal digital footprint. He hasn’t updated his Facebook in three years, no Instagram, no dating profiles.”

“Not everyone broadcasts their breakfast choices to the world,” Martinez said dryly.

“Everyone leaves some kind of digital footprint behind,” Derby said. “Normal people leave breadcrumbs whether they mean to or not.”

“I’m guessing Rogan isn’t normal people,” I said.

Cole nodded. “Ambassador’s security detail? These guys are trained to stay under the radar. Being ambassador is a presidential appointment. These guys would have to work with secret service from time to time. They’d know protocols.”

“Still doesn’t explain where they both disappeared to when Nicholas allegedly decided to eat his gun,” Jack said, circling Winsome’s and Rogan’s names on the board.

Sheldon, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, raised his hand like he was in a classroom. “Umm, I have a question. If Mr. Vasilios killed himself?—”

“Allegedly,” Jack, Cole, and I said in unison.

“Right, allegedly,” Sheldon continued. “The probability of both security guards leaving the property and giving the ambassador the opportunity to kill himself is very low. The percentage of people who kill themselves while a loved one is in the house is less than one percent.”

“Maybe he fired the help first,” I said. “If Nicholas was involved with the death of his son and Chloe then maybe he was overwhelmed with guilt and decided to take the easy way out.”

“Or maybe he didn’t kill himself at all,” Jack said, the unspoken implication hanging in the air. “See if you can find addresses for these guys,” he added to Doug. “I want to send deputies to pick them up. They were either negligent, complicit, or something happened to them too. Did we ever get a match from the fingerprint found at the scene?”

“I can confirm that the print found on the 9mm that was left behind as well as the print on Chloe Vasilios are a match,” Doug said. “I ran it through the system and didn’t get a match initially. But then I ran it through this other program that I created that, uh, has a more encompassing reach?—”

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