Domino Effect (2019 Edition)

made his final months. You lessened his pain with your presence.”
A lump formed in Sin’s throat. She had no words worth saying, so she just squeezed Carmelita’s hand.
“Tell me about the case you’re on,” Carmelita said, changing the subject.
Sin glanced at Maria.
Carmelita didn’t miss the cue. “Maria, why don’t you go wash up for dinner. Our guests will be arriving soon.”
When the young girl left the kitchen, Sin brought Carmelita up to date on the case.
“There has been no mention of President Lancaster’s daughter on the news.”
“No, and there won’t be. The kidnappers made it clear that they would harm her if the news caught wind of her capture.”
“Does he know why she was taken?”
“Not that he’s saying.”
“You have your doubts?”
Sin nodded. “Something about this case stinks. He knows more than he’s saying, I just don’t know what or why.”
Carmelita stood and checked on the roast in the oven. “You’ll figure it out, you always do.”
Sin poured herself another cup of espresso. “I need to figure it out fast if I’m going to save her.”
“You saw Troy?”
“Smooth transition,” Sin quipped.
Carmelita didn’t even blink. She just waited for a real answer.
“Yes, I saw Troy and Tiffany earlier. I hope you don’t mind that I invited them for dinner.”
“I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, so it will be nice to have them over.” Carmelita turned away to prepare dinner. “He still loves you,” she added.
“I know,” Sin mumbled, stuffing a piece of bread in her mouth.
“And you?”
Sin swallowed, wiping the crumbs from her face. “I don’t know, I thought I was over him, but seeing him brought back old feelings.”
“Don’t let your hard-headedness allow you to miss out on life.”
Lucky for Sin, the sound of the doorbell interrupted their conversation. “I’ll get the door while you finish up in here,” she said.
After a long meal filled with smiles and laughter, Sin excused herself from the dining room. “If you don’t mind, Madre, we still have a lot of work to do tonight.”
Carmelita shooed Sin, Troy, and Tiffany away. “Go, Maria and I will clean up.”
With a loving peck on the cheek, Sin thanked Carmelita, and the three made their way to the library.
“What were you able to find out?” she asked as she took a seat behind the massive, mahogany desk.
“I checked in at the hotel,” Tiffany began. “I met some students from Dartmouth and pretended to be an old friend of Becca’s. I asked if anyone knew her and where I could find her. Everyone had the same story. No one has seen her or Pia in the last two days.”
“What about Savio? Have you been able to locate him?”
“Not yet, but one girl said she saw him go into his room earlier today, so I know he’s around. I’m going to follow up when I get back to the hotel.”
“Anything else?”
“That’s about it.”
“How about you, Stubbs?”
“I’ve found one constant as far as what or who doesn’t belong. Everyone I spoke to talked about the motorcycles that have been wreaking havoc in the Lower Keys, especially Key West. I’ve seen them around, but I didn’t give them much thought until I spoke to the locals. It seems they’re being ridden by a group of Jamaicans. Some say it’s a gang from up north in Palm Beach County.”
Sin reached under the desk and depressed a button. Charlie, being the ultimate conspiratorialist, had the true nature of this room well hidden. The bookcase on the far wall opened allowing a sea of monitors to be viewed. She pushed a hidden button on the green desk blotter. It revolved, displaying a keyboard.
“That coincides with a conversation I had with Spanky,” she said, echoing Troy’s remarks. “He thinks the riders are extorting the local businesses. Money for security.”
“What about the Secret Service Agent, Sawyer?” he asked.
Sin reached into her pocket and withdrew the thumb drive he’d given her. “I’m not sure. He didn’t have much to say, but he seemed truthful. He gave me this, saying he wanted to stay and help find Becca. He told me to view the files and then if I still wanted him to leave, he would.”
Sin slid the drive into a USB port built into the desk and tapped the keyboard. Two files appeared on the monitors. One labeled Security footage, the other, Case notes. Sin double-clicked the note file. “This is interesting,” she said reading the notes. “These are much more complete than the ones I received from Lancaster.”
“How so?” Troy said.
“Here, I’ll show you.” She inserted a second thumb drive, the one she placed Lancaster’s files on and opened it side-by-side with Sawyer’s. “Lancaster’s file is full of holes. Holes filled by Sawyer’s.” She scrolled down Sawyer’s file until she came to transcripts of conversations he had had with his boss, Secret Service Director, Russell Smith. “Sawyer states the crowds on Key West made it a nightmare to protect Becca and that he didn’t like the idea of giving Becca more freedom in her movements.”
Together they read the transcripts.
“If the leader of her detail was uncomfortable giving Becca space, why did Smith, who was in Washington, override his appraisal?” Tiffany said.
“One hell of a question,” Sin said.
She opened the other file. There, they saw footage from the security cameras from different businesses along Duval as well as cameras set up at traffic lights. They watched Becca and Pia leave their hotel and walk Duval Street along with the throngs of coeds. They witnessed them go into and out of a couple of bars before entering Sloppy Joe’s. Sin sped up the footage until she spotted them leave, both laughing and smiling as they made their way into Fat Tuesday’s. She stopped the video and backed it up. “Look behind them. See those two guys?” she pointed. When Troy and Tiff nodded, she backed up the video. “If you study the crowd of people, you’ll spot them everywhere the girls go. They were shadowing them. Followed them into Tuesdays.” She restarted the video.