Page 51 of Astrid
“Just pays to know what you’re doing, and what buttons to push. Now,” Tom sighed and scrubbed his face. “Do you guys feel safe? I’m mean where you live, and from the people around you?”
“Yes, for now. We don’t have any contact with the people at the main house, other than talking on the walkie when someone’s at the front gate.”
“Do you have personal surveillance equipment?” Astrid asked.
“Meaning?” Paul frowned at her.
“Meaning, that day I was there with Alan, and you guys took our phones, I had a hidden button camera that I was able to record everything. That’s how we knew you guys had warrants out for your arrest. Then, when we saw each other in the restaurant, I was able to get Griff’s fingerprints from the paper he’d written his phone number on, and I took your napkins, turned them into Tom here, and he ran them for you DNA.”
“That’s how I knew you were cops.”
“Shit,” Griff said as he sighed, and leaned back heavily in his chair. He looked over at his comrades and shook his head. “They’re better equipment than we are.”
“Sounds like it,” Harry agreed with him, then looked at Astrid.
“Do you happen to have any extra button cams?”
“I do. Can you send us the coordinates of the house the others live in? Do you know where they get their military-grade guns?” Astrid began, and Ava took over.
“Can you get us copies of the autopsy reports from those dead women?” She pointed to the pile of photos the men had gone through and admitted they’d seen them in the morgue. “Do you know if any extensive bloodwork was done to find out just what type of drugs they were given?”
“And what about hair samples?” Joyce took over. “So, we can see how long the drugs have been in their systems. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m wondering if they were drugged when they were taken, then whoever they were given to over the border continued to drug them, we can head our investigation in that direction.”
“Getting a list of the drugs used would be great,” Morgan nodded. “It would tell us what type of crap we’re dealing with. My gut is screaming that it’s not your run of the mill, garden variety of drugs. I’m thinking it’s something new on the market.”
“I’ll call my superior,” Harry said. “See if he can send them to you. Do you want a paper trail?”
“No, send them to this e-mail,” Morgan said as she grabbed the pad of paper from in front of Carl and wrote down the address. She passed it over, then nodded once. “When do you guys work? Do the three of you always work together?”
“Yes, for some reason Mason is all about the power of three. Three of us at the front gate at all times. Three guarding his house at all times.”
“Don’t forget that we have to have only three weapons on us at all times,” Paul said. “The rifle you saw.” He nodded toward Astrid. “Then we have to carry a handgun either in the small of our back, or ankle, then a knife.”
“Do you have names and address for the people who replace you?” Tom asked. “What hours do you work?”
“We have the weekends off,” Griff admitted. “But, we work twelve hours the rest of the week. From seven in the morning until seven at night.”
“Is the gate guarded at all times?” Morgan asked.
“Yes, along with the house. I do know, only because I’ve overheard them talking, though I’ve never seen it, but I do know there’s some type of structure on the premises behind the house where there are more guards stationed. Again, I’ve never seen it, but I’ve heard there’s computers and cameras being monitored, and stuff like that.”
“Okay, how’s this?” Astrid leaned forward and took the initiative. She didn’t look at anyone except for Griff as she spoke. “Today’s Wednesday, you have to be into work tomorrow at seven. Do you get a break for lunch?”
“No, we have to bring our lunch. Once we punch the time clock, we don’t leave until our shift is over. Mason has cameras watching us, and there was someone else who left to go to lunch, and he was fired when he came back. Mason runs a tight ship.”
“Are there a lot of people coming and going?”
“It depends, sometimes it’s boring as hell. Like the day you arrived, but two days later, we were kept hopping with the people coming and going. We were informed before our shift ended that we might not be able to get the weekend of Labor Day off, because Mason and his fiancée are throwing a huge party, and there’s going to be a lot of people coming in starting on Thursday before, and not leaving until at least Tuesday or Wednesday after.”
“Any word as to who’s coming?”
“No clue.”
“But you’re off this coming weekend?”
“Yes.”
That’s when Astrid looked over at Morgan with a raised brow. She only reached across the table, took the paper with her e-mail address on it, and wrote a physical address down. “This is the address to the compound, can you be there at eight o’clock Saturday morning?”
