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“You sound like hell.” As usual, Marc cut right to the chase.
“That’s because I just came from seeing Amanda. She’s in hell. Tell me that Fenton gave you something.”
“Only a restraining order.” Marc chuckled. “Evidently I’m a danger to him. So I never got through his gates today. On the plus side, he’s been making phone calls like a demon. Probably warning off his ‘contacts’ and telling them they won’t be using his fleet to transport illegal cargo anytime soon.”
“And Ryan’s tracing the calls?”
“Oh, yeah. Your plan was genius—scare Fenton, watch him run. Ryan’s hard at work—we’ll probably have the names of half the mob by the time he’s done.”
Casey sighed. “All we need are the ones who took part in Paul’s disappearance—if any of them did.” A pause. “What happened with Ryan and that attorney?”
“It was a bust, just as we expected,” Marc replied. “The guy is a Boy Scout without a blemish on his record. He loves kids and puppies and gives to all the local charities. So you think he’d be the epitome of compassion in a situation like this one. But, nope. He shut down like a clam the minute he heard what Ryan wanted. Didn’t give him so much as a clue. He stuck to attorney-client privilege, and said he’d talk to us only if we got written permission from John Morano.”
“Right, like Morano’s going to give us that.”
“Exactly. But, judging from Ryan’s description, this lawyer is just too good to be true. It only makes this situation stink even more.”
“Agreed.”
Marc paused. “Is Hutch gone?” he asked diplomatically.
“No, I think he’s staying till tomorrow.”
Marc heard her loud and clear. “Good. Then he and I can grab a beer before he takes off.”
“I’ll let him know.” Casey pulled up to the curb and parked the car, grateful that she’d found a spot only half a block from the office. Meanwhile, she could hear Ryan’s muffled voice talking to Marc at
the other end of the phone.
“Hey, Case?” Marc responded. “Ryan asked if you’d stop in the conference room when you get back to the office and see if we’re getting Gecko’s transmission from Morano’s trailer. It seemed to be functioning well the last time Ryan checked his laptop—which, by the way, was fifteen minutes ago—but he wants to double-check that it’s coming through clearly at your end so we have a backup copy on the server.”
“No problem. I’m here. I’ll do that first thing.”
“You won’t be seeing anything too impressive,” Marc reminded her. “Just the crappy interior of a trailer-turned-office. And a polished, harried-looking guy.”
“Morano.”
“Yup. Morano.”
“Got it.” Casey unbuckled her seat belt. “I’m hanging up now. I’ll give you a call later.”
She went straight upstairs to the conference room and sat down at the large oval table.
“Good morning, Casey,” Yoda greeted her. “Will you be requiring my services?”
“Yes, Yoda. Please display the live feed from Gecko.”
“Certainly. Would you like me to fill the entire wall?”
“No. Please size the video for optimal resolution.”
“Engaging Faroudja video enhancement,” Yoda announced. A brief pause. “Video is coming up now. How is the quality, Casey?”
“Perfect, Yoda.” Casey focused on the screen and the clear image that had appeared. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Let me know if you need anything else.” Yoda fell silent.
Yup. Gecko was doing a fine job, Casey thought, leaning forward to scrutinize the picture. She could clearly make out the dumpy trailer that Morano was using as an office. Morano was in and at his desk. Casey recognized him from the online photos Ryan had showed her when he traced Morano’s background. The guy wasn’t doing anything too exciting; just typing at his keyboard and flipping through a few files.
