Page 14 of Astrid
“What’s that?” Ava asked.
“Those three men.” She looked up and grinned. “As you can see, they all have rap sheets.”
The other women leaned over her shoulder, and Morgan barked out, “I want three copies of that.” She pointed to the computer, and Astrid automatically sent them to the printer.
“Why three?” Joyce asked.
“One for us, one for Tom, and one for Carl. I don’t know about the rest of you girls, but if we’re supposed to be working this case for all the bowls of soup, why are we only getting contact from Carl?”
“Who is he?” Astrid asked as she took the papers from the printer, reached onto one desk, and grabbed the stapler.
“Carl Miller, our contact with the BCI, no one else has come knocking on our door yet.” Morgan shook her head as she took the papers, then settled in at her desk she’d set up down there.
Before going back to her computer, Astrid stood there and looked at the other women as they read what she’d just pulled off the printer, remaining silent until they looked up at her.
“What?” Morgan frowned and set the papers down. “You look like you have something to say.”
“I do,” Astrid said as she settled back in her chair. “Alan’s going to be going back there in four weeks to install the new cabinets. I know I’m not in charge of this operation, but I’d like to make some suggestions.”
“Such as?” Morgan asked as she picked up a pen and pulled a pad of paper closer to her.
“One, I think we need to get the men, I’m talking about the J’s and A’s here, trained in hand-to-hand. Two, do we have any small weapons on hand, so they can wear an ankle piece? Three, can I meet this Carl guy? What if we have him pose as a worker for Alan, and he can get in there and see the situation. That is, after I continue doing my research on the people we were able to catch on film today. It’s not complete yet, those…” She pointed to the papers they held. “…were just the first three people we met at the road, there are at least six or seven others, along with the owner of the compound and his girlfriend, or if the rock on her finger was any indication, then it was his fiancée.” She sighed, then rubbed her forehead in frustration.
“What?” Morgan asked in concern.
“At first Alan said that it wouldn’t be possible to finish the cabinets until after Labor Day, but Mandi, the woman who wanted new cabinets, started whining, and Neil told him he’d triple his fee if he could get them done sooner. Without consulting me, Alan said he could have them done in four weeks.”
“Which will put him back in there the week before Labor Day,” Joyce said as she jumped to her feet, and went over to the calendar they had mounted on the wall.
“Correct, then Mandi said that she would have Neil give Alan a bonus if it was done, because they’re having a huge party that weekend, and she wants to show off her new kitchen.”
“Shit,” Ava said as she looked around at the others. Before they could question her, she looked at them with wide eyes. “Do you think between you and Carl, you could get some cameras set up in there?” When the others frowned at her, she shrugged. “Depending on what Astrid finds with the other faces she’s going to run, and if they’re having a big party Labor Day weekend, who knows?” She shrugged. “Maybe we can get other people’s faces on video. But,” she held up her hand to ward off the responses coming in from the other women. “I’m saying to have Carl do it, because he would know the legal aspects of what we want to do. I have a feeling if we do it ourselves, these guys would have whatever we come up with tossed out of court.”
“Don’t forget,” Morgan leaned back in her chair as she said. “If, and that’s a big if, but if they find the bugs, they can bring it back to Alan. I won’t put my brothers’ lives in jeopardy for this case.”
“That’s why we need to get Carl in here,” Joyce said. “Let’s let Astrid finish what she started, then get Carl in here and show him everything. Maybe he can do what he does with the BCI, and, I don’t know, get warrants or something so the bugs would be legal. Then, if and when we take these people down, we can collect the bugs and hope like hell it won’t blow back on Alan, or the others.”
“Why would it blow back on the others?” Morgan frowned at her.
“Because, Alan said that he would have John and Josh help him install the cabinets,” Astrid said, from her position behind her computer.
“Oh, hell no!” Morgan said as she jumped to her feet, and hurried up the stairs, calling her brother’s name as she went.
“Oops.” Astrid looked at the other two women, and didn’t know whether she liked their grins or not. Shaking her head, she buckled down and got back to work. The next time she looked up, she frowned when a masculine hand set a plate down beside her computer. At the sight, her stomach growled, and she looked up into John’s face with a grin.
“Thank you, I didn’t realize I was so hungry.”
“You’re welcome, and when you didn’t come up for lunch, I fixed you a plate. I hope you like roast beef.”
“I do.” She paused long enough to take a bite, then moaned at the taste.
“Water or coffee?”
“Water.” She continued to eat as John brought her a bottle from the refrigerator over in the corner, then settled in the chair next to you.
“How is everything going?”
“Good, I’ve gotten facial recognition on almost all the people we saw this morning. I’m still waiting for the results from Neil and Mandi.” She sighed as she pointed to the computer, and he leaned in and saw a lot of activity on the bottom. At his frown, she clicked her mouse and it brought it up to full screen. He shook his head.
