Jane had a feeling theLove at First Sightmention belonged to something on television. She liked the medium but didn’t often watch it.
Not unless she shared screentime with family. It had become an odd tradition, to make fun of unrealistic cop shows and military dramas with Team Ten when the guys were Stateside. Watching without them never felt right.
Besides, Jane preferred books to a screen.
And she preferred working to goofing off.
That in mind, she headed to the east precinct to talk to the computer forensic specialist she’d been working with on the Duvall murders.
She met Curt Norton in an office filled with computer towers and binders upon binders upon boxes. He looked a good ten years younger than her, with sandy-brown hair and an All-American vibe that made him appear wholesome behind his wireframe glasses.
He stood to greet her with a smile, a few inches taller than her own five-eleven. Norton was the epitome of tall and lanky. A keyboard cowboy. “Hello, Jane. Nice to see you again.”
“Curt. Thanks for taking the time to meet with me.”
“No problem at all.” He blushed, and she had to refrain from giving him anAw, how cute.“Come on in.”
He’d cleared a spot for her by his desk. The only item in the office not occupied by files and computer equipment.
The sight made her wonder about her friend Diego, a hacker she’d worked with on a special task force last winter. The last she knew, he’d been working in Colorado.
Quite the character, Diego’s ill-spent youth had seen him given a choice of jailtime or assisting the FBI in fighting crime. Smart guy that he was, he’d chosen the FBI. He continued to send her the odd text or email to check in, still wanting to get “the gang” back together.
Of their four-person team, Gina Holtz showed no interest in moving out of cybercrimes. Gunther Rapp had returned to his covert life in special ops. She doubted she’d be seeing him anytime soon. Sad, because she’d started to appreciate him at the very end of the task force. Plus, she had to admit, deep down in her miserly little heart, he’d been easy on the eyes.
“So what do you have for me?” Jane asked.
Curt pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose, his eyes bright. “After waiting on all those subpoenas to dig through theDuvalls’ digital records, I found gold.” He typed something and turned his monitor so she could see.
“What am I looking at?” She leaned closer to digital spreadsheets detailing what looked like financial gains, a database with scores of numbers and code, and in a small frame under that, a photo of the happy family all together, along with their dog.
“First of all, some good news. We found the dog.”
“Alive?”
“Yep.”
Shocked but pleased, Jane felt a thrill when Curt added, “Bubbles was found at a park, believe it or not. Duvall’s sister picked him up two days ago.”
“Interesting.” Jane tried to figure out what that meant.
“Now, see all these numbers here?” He pointed to the spreadsheets. “That’s all the money that’s missing from their many, many accounts. Well, what I could get access to.”
“What can’t you see?”
“The business accounts of the Duvalls, including the government contract.”
“They manufacture furniture.”
“So they say.”
That took her aback.
Curt continued, “I know they sell some pretty nice couches and tables, but I can tell you Fort Bragg didn’t get the furniture they report on paper.”
“Interesting.”
“In any case, a lot of the financials are still being handled by our expert down the hall. She’d have been here, but she’s bogged down in a case and was called up for testimony at trial.”
