Page 29 of Liberating Mallory
“Yeah, now this can explain his desire for Colona, his residence on file is Forrest City, Arkansas.”
“What’s so…” York started to ask Diesel when she noticed that Diesel was no longer in the room.
“What’s so what, lass?” Highlander asked York, trying to understand what was going on.
“I don’t know. She literally went white as a ghost when he mentioned Forrest City, Arkansas.” York answered, looking at her teammates for confirmation she wasn’t losing it.
“Does anyone know anything about her past?” Abbott asked, looking at Alpha Squad as they looked at each other.
“No. She’s never discussed her past with anyone. She’s always told us she came from California and that she was an orphan.” York sighed, “but then again, we all have secrets in our past. When she’s ready, she’ll talk to us.”
“Brody, don’t you dare do any searches into her past. Diesel is one of ours.” Sgt. Brocard warned Brody, who stared back at her hard.
“Look, we need to focus on finding Mallory. Diesel isn’t the bad guy here. Yes, she’s got something she’s hiding, but right now, we have bigger fish to fry. Let’s focus on finding Mallory. How can we find out where this Krieger guy is?” Pratt stepped in between Brody and her sgt, getting everyone back on track.
When no one made a statement from either side, Opie stood up, having stayed quiet this whole time. “Look, I trust Diesel. She would never cause harm to Mallory. Hell, she’s never caused harm to anyone who didn’t deserve it. We don’t know why that name sent her running but there’s a reason and she deserves the right to not talk about it right now. I trust her with Mallory’s life, hell with my own life. Can we please focus on finding Mallory?
“Krieger doesn’t have an online presence. Not unusual for some bad guys out there. If they do, it’s usually on the downlow.” Brody sighed, looking over at his computer at his research.
“Most old school guys, like the cartel are going to stay offline. They prefer the dark web. It’s today’s new generation that posts everything, including the color of their shit, online to brag. It’s how many of them get caught.” Rameriez pipped up, shrugging as she leaned forward in her seat to watch Brody.
“True. Hell, you guys don’t even have an online presence. Makes it hard to keep up with you guys.” Brody joked, winking at the women.
“I highly doubt any of us in this room have an online presence. Even with these lugheads family being an ocean away, they stick to phone calls and emails. They have nothing to do with any social media platforms or chat groups, even though it would be easier.” Raso admitted to the group. “A real bad guy isn’t going to do so because he’s smarter than the average bear.”
“A real bad guy would know how easy it is to track them on social media or any social media platform. They are easily hackable, traceable, and hacking viruses easily embedded in programs, chats or even messenger chats.”
Brody stared at the women with an eyebrow quirked. “No, you don’t say?”
Pratt stuck her tongue out at Brody who just laughed as she squeaked when Highlander popped her on the rear end. “Since there’s no online presence, then how can we locate him? We don’t know anything about him.”
“Look for the name Lester Granstnov.” Diesel advised, walking back into the room, color finally back into her face. “Don’t ask me how I know that name. I made a phone call and that was the name given to me.”
Brody nodded and went back to his computer. “Well, that looks like an address here in Colona, Colorado. Could that be his right-hand man?” Brody asked Diesel, concern on his face for her.
“According to the source, that’s his best friend and the only person he trusts. From what they have said, Krieger has been on the FBI and DEA watch list for several years, so has Lester. Makes sense to get Lester out of the limelight and Krieger looking nice, they bought the town. They could possibly be in bed with the Sinaloa Cartel to get a route from Mexico into Colorado and further up to help distribute their drugs and a human trafficking ring.”
“What is Krieger on the watchlist for?” York walked over and hugged Diesel who just left her arms hanging at her side.
“Everything under the sun, from what they said. Human trafficking, drugs, gun running, money laundering. He’s a real prize but they can never get anything on him. Anyone who threatens to talk winds up disappearing, so people stopped talking.” Diesel advised her team.
“Sounds like a real winner.” Raso mumbled as she changed positions in her seat.
“Anyway, to get any drones to go over that area? We can’t really invade it with the popo unless we are for sure that’s where Mallory is. My gut is telling me she is there, but we have to tread carefully with that.”
“Say no more. I’ve got it.” Brody announced and went to work.
19
“Drone footage shows Lester is home, It looks like he’s gearing up to head out somewhere. Need to follow him, hopefully he knows what the fuck is going on.” Brody advised the rest of the group.
The team was down two since they made Pratt and Raso stay behind to help monitor the video footage of the drone. They came up with a plan to go near Colona but stay out of the city limits and use the drone to check the area for what they were looking for. They didn’t want to tip their hands to anyone or anything. They had one shot at this.
The teams split up into five different groups, with Pratt and Raso pregnant, they were out of the equation, but they weren’t out. They knew their way around a computer enough that allowed Brody to join with the group going in, leaving Pratt and Raso to operate the drone. They decided that each Alpha Squad member would team up with either one of the Marines, Highlander, Carter, Brody, or Knight.
Jordyn, Abbott and Opie stayed behind with Pratt and Raso in case there was anyone watching the area that they weren’t aware of. They hated keeping Opie with them instead of the rescue teams, they were afraid of him losing control and going rogue to get to Mallory. It took Pratt using the pregnancy to guilt Opie into staying with her so that Marcus could go and bring Mallory home for him.
Pratt patched into the computer and watched the drone footage as it went over the landscape from where the group was parked. Raso, and Opie stood around the screen with her while Jordyn and Abbott canvased around the area.