Forgive and Forget(43)

“What is it?” Joe asked him. All he could see between Tom’s fingers was a small lump of dirt.

Tom handed Joe the flowerpot and wiped what he’d found with the end of his T-shirt. He held it up to the light. It was a tiny black plastic case.

Joe peered at it. “Looks like one of those SD cards you store pictures on.”

“Among other things,” Tom replied. “Joe, I need to use your laptop.”

Joe gave him a nod. He returned the potted plant to where they’d found it and quickly went inside, with Tom insisting on going ahead and checking the place out first. He made sure all the windows and doors were secure before they headed upstairs to Joe’s apartment. Tom said he’d wait in the kitchen while Joe grabbed his laptop from the bedroom. As he did, he wondered if Tom buried that SD card in the pot of geraniums. It had to be. It would explain why Joe had found Tom in the garden and why there had been dirt and petals in his pocket. Had Tom put them in there as a clue to himself? Why else would they be in his pocket?

It was like some kind of spy movie or something. Joe had to admit he was intrigued, and a little excited. He met Tom in the kitchen at the breakfast nook, where Tom sat. Joe placed the laptop in front of him and booted it up, thanking Tom when he slid over so Joe could sit beside him. Joe was dying to find out what was going on almost as much as Tom. Maybe this was it. Maybe whatever was on that card could help them identify Tom.

The moment the laptop booted up, Tom slipped the SD card in. A black screen appeared prompting for a password. Dammit. For a second Joe thought they’d been on to something. Whatever it was, Tom hid it in that plant.

“It’s encrypted.” Tom studied the screen and the blinking cursor.

“Well, so much for that,” Joe muttered. At least that’s what Joe thought until Tom started typing away. A second black screen popped up with scrolling white text before a spreadsheet opened.

Joe’s jaw dropped. “How did you do that?”

Tom stared at the screen. “I don’t know. I just… did it. I put my fingers to the keyboard and went with my gut. This all seems familiar. Bypassing the encryption, I mean. I have no idea what this list is. I feel like I should know, like it’s the key to everything.”

They studied the sheet. There were several columns. The first contained names, the second random numbers, the third large sums that appeared to be dollars and cents, and the final column contained dates. The bottom of the spreadsheet had tabs separated by months.

“Hold on.” Tom perked up. “If I check the file’s info, I might be able to see who the creator was.”

“Great idea!” If Tom knew how to get past the encryption, there was a chance he might be the file’s creator. When the window popped up, they stared at it as if it held the secrets to the universe. They were disappointed to find merely a set of initials.

“LB.” Tom pressed his lips together before letting out a sigh. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Could they be your initials?” Joe asked hopefully.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t help much. They could stand for anything.” Tom returned to the spreadsheet. “This looks like some kind of bookkeeping software.” Tom clicked on something else and another folder popped up. This one contained receipts, invoices, and bills. Another folder was filled with images.

“These look like surveillance photos.”

Joe glanced at Tom. “How do you know?”

“Look at the time stamps. Then there’s the angles and the distance. It’s obvious whoever took them was trying to stay out of sight. Also, none of the men in this picture seem to be aware they’re being photographed. Bookkeeping software, surveillance photos, paperwork. Someone’s been gathering intel on these guys.”

Joe glimpsed at the spreadsheet and froze. “Wait a second. There.” He pointed to the screen, a chill going up his spine. “Romero and McCrea. Those were the names of the detectives who came looking for you a few weeks back.”

“These names all look familiar.”

“Well, we know two of them are detectives.” Whatever this list was, it couldn’t be on the up and up. He was right not to trust those two.

Joe opened the web browser and typed one of the names from the list into the search. It came back with hundreds of hits. They stared at the screen.

“That guy’s a judge.” Joe couldn’t believe it. Was this….

“If I’m not mistaken,” Tom said gravely, “I think this is a list of people on the take, and I’m willing to bet the men in these pictures are on this list.”

Before Joe could ask why Tom would have all this, the buzzer rang. Tom swiftly removed the SD card and shut the laptop. He placed the card in the case, and Joe took it from him.

“What are you doing?” Tom asked him.

“It’s a safe bet that whoever’s after you is after this. It’s better if I hold on to it until we can get it to the proper authorities. I don’t know who that is yet, but we’ll figure it out.” The buzzer rang again, and Tom slid out of the booth. Joe followed. He headed toward the door that led downstairs.

“Joe, I think you should stay up here,” Tom advised him.

“The last guys didn’t knock. They broke in. If I don’t answer, it’ll look suspicious. I’m going to check who it is. It might be the cops. Someone might have heard the disturbance and called them.”