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“Number? As in only one?”
“Yep. All the blocked number calls were from the same phone.”
“I’d call that great news.”
“I can’t tell you precisely where it’s located, but I’ve narrowed it down to six square blocks.”
“That’s better than the whole city. Kevin, you are my new favorite person.”
“I wasn’t before?”
47
As much as Teddy wanted to go straight to Matthew’s Airbnb, finding Rebecca was the priority. If Kevin’s info on the phone’s location helped to find her, then that had to come first.
The six square blocks where Kordo’s mysterious caller was likely located turned out to be part of a business zone. Not the kind of area with shops and restaurants, however, but one filled with workshops and warehouses and other businesses that needed significant amounts of space. Some of the properties were clearly in use while others looked unoccupied.
Teddy fought the desire to drive down every street andexamine each building. Given Kordo’s interest in him, doing so would be a mistake. The kidnappers clearly knew who he was, and he couldn’t risk that he might be spotted.
So he remained on the periphery and examined as many of the places within the area as he could, through his binoculars.
Unfortunately, this did nothing to narrow things down. Rebecca could have been almost anywhere within the zone Kevin had identified. It was also possible she wasn’t anywhere near here at all, and the phone calls had only been made from this area. It could all have been a decoy to hide where she really was.
As Teddy thought through the case, he began to form an idea, some way to zero in on the search area.
He called Kevin again. “I have a feeling I’m about to ask you to do the impossible.”
“If you were trying to get my attention, you’ve done it.”
“Had I known it was that easy, I would have used that line before. Here’s what I’m wondering, can you track all the outbound internet activity from the area the calls came from?”
“Um, technically. What exactly are you looking for?”
“If everything stays to pattern, the kidnappers will send an email with another video of Rebecca tonight at 6:07 p.m. If any messages go out at that exact time from that area, there’s a very good chance one will be the video.My question is, if that happens, can you then trace the email back to its source?”
“The answer is yes, but...”
“But what?”
“But there could be a lot of data to go through to find it. And if they’re using any kind of encryption on their end, that would slow the process even more. But I have a better idea. Faster.”
“Faster is good.”
“It would mean you giving me access to your phone.”
“I’m not sure we’re at that point in our relationship yet.”
“What? No, I promise I won’t look at—”
“What’s your idea?”
“We already know the other emails were sent from a cell phone. What do you think the chances are it’s the same one that called the locked phone?”
“High.”
“Okay, then. I should be able to modify your phone’s location app so that the next time the other phone is turned on, you’ll be alerted to where it is. If that happens at 6:07 p.m., it’ll pretty much guarantee it’s them. And you won’t have to wait for me to hunt through the data.”
“Are you sure that will work?”
