Desperation in Death (In Death #55)(59)

She got more coffee for herself. “You have the front or fronts to wash the profits when you need to. But you’ve got direct payments, and they’re going to be in places that don’t regulate. You infuse the business, sure. Need the food, the clothes, the payroll, and all that, but you’ve got the fronts.”

“And if you factor what Willowby said—the ones they call Pets or Slaves or Domestics? You’d have more.”

“We’ve got less than three days now before at least some of these girls get sold off. I’m damned if we’ll let that happen.”

“I’ll get started on the next age group, and I can let EDD know about the assist.”

“I’ll take care of that. I have to send Feeney the file anyway.” Eve rubbed at her eyes. “Hold on a minute. Roarke’s working on an idea to infiltrate the auction. It’s setting up fake accounts and backgrounds, and maybe hacking into the accounts of buyers we might identify to get locations.”

“How many warrants are we going to need for all that?”

“I’m leaving that to Feeney. It’s an e-geek area. But we need to put everything we have together, cohesively, convincingly. We’re going to have to bring in the feds at some point soon. And we’ll need to give Feeney all the weight we can for authorization to run this e-op.”

She turned back to the board. “If we find Dorian Gregg, we can bust this organization, put a big hurt there. But even if that happens, I want to go through with the rest. This may be a big one, but it’s not the only.”

“Damn right. All the motherfuckers need to pay.”

Amused, heartened, Eve looked back at Peabody. “Listen to the mouth on the Free-Ager.”

“I’m a cop, and a goddamn girl.” Peabody hissed out a breath. “Hell, there’s going to be boys, too. Maybe not the assholes we’re focused on, but there’s sure a hell of a market with these perverts for little boys.”

“And when we bust through this, we’re giving a hell of a lot of data to the feds to bust through that.”

“Okay. I’ll get on it.” She rose. “If it’s going to take another board, at least, you’re going to run out of room in here.”

“Yeah, I’m holding the conference room. It annoys the hell out of me. I like my space. But we’ll need one for full briefings, and when we pull in the feds. I’m going to request a meet with Whitney to discuss that part, and bring him fully up to date.”

“Maybe ask him to come down here. Set up the room, powerful visuals, right? If you need help with it—”

“I’ve got it, and that’s a smart thought. The visuals speak louder than a verbal report. Let’s get to it.”

“I’ll get your coffee set up in the room.”

“Another smart thought. You’re on a roll.”

And so was she, Eve thought as she went about the—for her—laborious task of transferring new data from her machine to the conference room, ordering printouts.

She took backups, just in case, and headed down to set it up.

Once she had, she contacted Whitney’s office, requested he meet with her, then did the same with Mira’s office. More backup, she thought.

And because she was there, she sat down with the conference room comp to continue her research and runs on the potential target properties and owners.

She had about thirty minutes in it when Mira came in on heels made up of lots of crisscrossing blue straps. Summer-sky blue, Eve noted, like her trim, knee-skimming suit.

“Thanks for making time,” Eve began, and Mira waved that off.

“I wanted to catch up, and I see even with your writtens I have considerable catching up to do. Good God, Eve, so many? It’s stunning, even knowing how many children are taken, it’s stunning to see them grouped together.”

“And they do, group together. I’m as sure of that as I can be. It’s not just gut, it’s pattern, and type, and system.”

“I don’t disagree. While that coffee smells tempting, I think I’ll stick with tea.” Before Eve could rise to get it, Mira waved her off again. “You said the commander would be briefed as well, so wait for him, do it all at once. You’re working, and I don’t want to interrupt.”

“It’s possible locations. A lot of possibles, even though Roarke culled them down more than I could.” She gestured to the screen. “I’ve got them marked on the map. I’m digging into who owns them. The site could be rented, but if it is, it’s going to be part of the business plan. Whoever owns the building has to be part of it. It’s too risky otherwise.”

“Because?” Mira asked as she programmed her tea.

“The owner or owners may decide to sell. They may send him agents or reps to inspect the property, make sure it’s in good repair, or appraisers if they’re considering selling.”

“Yes, I see. And with the sort of enterprise you’re outlining here, purchasing the building is a business investment, with much higher security.”

“And if you own, you can outfit as you need. Rooms, facilities, that security.”

Even as Eve spoke, Whitney came in. She got to her feet.

“Sir, I appreciate you coming down.”

He wore a dark gray suit over broad shoulders that carried the weight of his command. The silver in his close-cropped black hair added a kind of dignity to his wide face. He said nothing for a moment as he stood and studied the boards.