Page 82 of Save Her Life

“Thanks.” She let his concern wash over her, though she wasn’t about to get bogged down by more emotion right now. It had already screwed her over enough. “Can you do a deepfake?” She’d heard about these in the media and other channels, distasting the technology on impulse for its power to destroy people’s lives if used for ill purposes.

“Child’s play. Well, once I have footage and images to work from. Why? What are you after exactly?”

“I need to convince Darrell Patton that Lonnie Jennings has kidnapped his daughter, Natalie.” She filled in the details for him.

“All right. I see where you’re going. If you can convince Patton that Natalie Roth is the one being held hostage for these gold bars, her father will tell you where he hid them?”

“That’s the hope. Sadly, he wasn’t taking my word for it.” She’d leave out the part where she’d been completely to blame for that. She was as see-through as sheer curtains thanks to her emotions getting the best of her. She wouldn’t have believed her either. “How long would it take you to get this together?”

“Guess it depends on how long it takes to get the base images. Also if you want anything to be said, I’d need voice samples to pull from or a direct recording. And obviously I’d need clearance to do something like this.”

“And would you get those images from online or need them supplied to you?”

“Everyone lives on social media these days. I’m sure the same goes for Natalie Roth.” Simon clicked on his keyboard and said a few seconds later, “Yep, she has several accounts and a lot of selfies.”

“Which you can use, and I don’t know, combine with a green screen to make it look like she’s in captivity?”

“Something like that.”

“And how long will that take?”

“An hour or two. But since we’re doing this for official reasons, the Bureau will need the subject’s approval.”

“I’ll call Assistant Director Rowe and have him connect with your boss.”

“Sounds good. I’ll wait to hear.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Whatever I can do to help a fellow agent.”

Sandra cut off from him and called Elwood’s cell phone. He answered before the second ring.

“Is it done?”

“I appreciate your faith in my abilities but not even close. Patton refuses to talk. He doesn’t believe that Jennings took his daughter.” There was no point bringing up her role in that.

“He’s willing to take that chance? Guy’s got thick skin. Did you offer him immunity for the robbery?” Elwood’s voice was full of concern.

“I did, but he’s not biting. He’s refusing to admit to the robbery, and I can’t say that I blame him. We don’t have solid proof. Just the word of Jennings.”

“Though clearly he wouldn’t have taken Olivia if Patton didn’t have the location of the gold.”

“I know. It’s a circle. But I’ve thought of something that will help convince Patton that Natalie’s life is in danger.” She told him about her idea and her chat with Simon Pratt.

“I’ve heard about criminals using deepfakes, but it’s unusual for the good guys to use it.”

“Unusual maybe, but if it helps us convince Patton to tell us the location of the gold, it’s a win.”

“I never said no.” There was a second’s hesitation on Elwood’s end of the line. “It’s just if we go down this road, it will be hard to get the robbery charges to stick. Any good defense attorney would knock it out as entrapment for Patton to confess to the crime.”

“The way I see it we were offering immunity anyway,” she volleyed back.

Elwood was silent.

“We’re talking about saving a life.”Olivia’s…But she resisted the urge to say her name. Withholding it would serve Sandra’s purpose by proving she was retaining objectivity.

He still didn’t respond. Her training would have her letting the silence extend, but she couldn’t.

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