Changing the Rules (Richter Book 1)(54)

When someone turned on the music, Cooper knew sharing time was over.



With trips to headquarters on hold, Claire and Sasha joined the team online. Their once-a-week meeting had now turned into an every-other-day update.

The faces of the team lit up on one monitor; the other was a storyboard similar to the one in their main office with names and pictures.

Sasha and Claire sat at the living room table of their temporary home. They had headsets on and notes in front of them.

As the team slowly blipped online, their images popped up on-screen.

Claire waved at the camera when Jax appeared. “Hey, Yoda. You doing okay?”

“Yes. You know the asshole hasn’t even called, hasn’t even tried to change my mind.”

“Proof he isn’t the right guy.”

Neil’s image flickered before he disabled his camera.

Manuel joined in from headquarters along with Lars.

Finally, Cooper’s face appeared. “Hi,” he said to the group.

It was nice to look at him and not hold back her smile.

“Is Sasha here?” Jax asked.

“I am.”

Claire tilted her laptop to bring Sasha into the frame.

Neil’s voice boomed in her ear. “I want to keep this brief and organized. No extra chatter.”

Claire held her hand over her mic, turned to Sasha. “Is he pissed?” Her words were a tiny whisper.

Sasha’s lips were tight, her eyes reflected a lack of concern.

“Good. First up. The device by your front door is a camera. Limited range that activates with motion,” Neil told them.

“Audio?” Claire asked.

“Not enough to pick up inside conversations. We’re leaving it.” Neil kept talking. “Is everyone looking at the map?”

Claire directed her attention to what was on the situation board.

After a series of affirmatives, he moved on. “We need to narrow this field of vision. Let’s start with eliminations.”

Jax started. “We can remove Cummings.”

“Completely?”

“Make him a strikethrough for now. I see no evidence to spend any time or manpower on him. He may have a wandering eye, but there is no trace of anything else.”

Someone on Neil’s end updated the map as they spoke.

“Where are we with Russell?”

“I tagged his car. His movements are to school and back home with the occasional stop at a strip mall. There are two restaurants, a convenience store, nail salon, real estate office, and a mail location,” Manuel informed them. He gave the address of the mall, and someone updated the situation board.

“Lars, let’s find out if there are any city cameras we can tap into.”

“Got it.”

“More on Russell? Jax?” Neil kept things moving.

“There was a note on my car windshield today. I’m assuming it’s from him.” She held up the note that had been placed in a plastic bag. “He says he needs a passport photo for my gift. And he put his space number where his car is parked in the senior lot.”

“Good. Anyone else on your list we can eliminate, Jax?”

“No. Ally is still fluid. She knows a lot of people from both sides of town.”

“Cooper, you’re up,” Neil directed.

Claire watched him as he spoke, his concentration on his task very focused.

“Couple of developments today and a possible new lead.” A picture of the party Claire and Jax had attended popped up on the screen. “Everyone got that?”

A chorus of yeses was heard.

“His name is Tony Mazzeo. Twice a week, at Kyle’s request, I open the shop early. Let the gearheads use the place. This guy is alumni. How old would you guess him to be?” he asked the group.

“Twenty-five.”

“Twenty-three to twenty-eight” was Claire’s guess.

“Nineteen,” Cooper confirmed.

Claire looked closer. There was no way.

Even Sasha shook her head.

“He was a transfer in the last half of the year. More typical senior, only spent half a day on campus, a lot of time in auto. He is a friend to Kyle. A direct connection between Auburn and Bremerton since he was seen at this party.”

“Every Auburn kid at that party has a connection,” Claire argued.

“Do any of the other Auburn kids look this age? This doesn’t smell right,” Cooper added.

Tony’s name and image moved to the top of the board.

“Anything else?” Neil asked.

“Elsie.”

The girl’s name had Claire listening closer.

“She may have a new boyfriend at Bremerton. She and Kyle have been fighting, and outside of the teenage drama part, a few things came up. She has a new group of friends, isn’t acting herself, and this algebra tutor is being blamed by Kyle for the crack in their relationship.”

The hair on Claire’s neck started to stand up.

“The tutor and the new boyfriend are one and the same?” Manuel asked.

“I don’t know if we can call him the new boyfriend, but yes.”

Claire spoke up. “Can we pause here for a second? Jax, the night Ally and Elsie came over, did you tell Ally you needed help with algebra or—”