Page 36 of Sam's Salvation

Sam growled. “Can we move on from your knickers?”

Max cleared his throat. “Okay, so, did anything unusual happen around the time of the first picture?”

“Not that I remember.”

Dean’s phone buzzed in his pocket, interrupting them. He fished it out, looking at it. “It’s Asher.” Sliding his thumb over the screen, he answered and held it out so they all could hear. “Hey, man. You’re on speaker with Max, Sam, and Audra.”

“Good. I got a screenshot of the guy in the car. I sent it to Sam’s email. I also sent you an address. I got Audra’s handler on video and followed him to his car.”

“How?” Audra asked.

“There are cameras in that park you meet at. I found you two on camera on the footpath Friday night. He parked away from the cameras, but there’s only two ways out of that neighborhood, and it was late, so there weren’t many vehicles. I tracked the few I saw and found him. It’s registered to a Ted Sanders.”

Max snorted. “That’s original.”

“It’s enough to throw someone off,” Audra said. “I’ve used names that are similar to my own. They’re easier to remember, and most people don’t look too closely.”

“She’s right,” Asher said. “But I’m not most people. It stuck out like a sore thumb. I found a driver’s license in that name and the picture matched the one I found of Theo Anderson. The address on the license led me to a small house in North Vegas.”

“Awesome,” Dean said. “We’ll check it out.”

“Sam, did you two get anything out of the documents?”

“No.” He looked at Audra.

“It’s all about his legitimate businesses,” Audra said. “The file with the pictures of the ledger, those are likely to be the numbers that deal with the illegal side of things.”

“I’ve got that data running through a cryptology program. I need more info to feed it, though.”

“What kind of info?” Max asked.

“Dates of meetings, illicit business partners. Even non-illicit ones. Locations.”

“Okay,” Audra said. “I have a lot of that written down already. I’ll look it over and send it to you.”

“Sounds good. You guys watch yourselves when you check out Anderson’s house. We still don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

“We will,” Dean said. “I’ll call you after we search it.”

“Sounds good. Later.” Asher hung up.

Dean turned off his phone screen. “It looks like we’re going on a scavenger hunt.”

Fifteen

Audra eyed the neighborhood cruising by outside the car window as Dean drove to Theo’s house. They’d left the glitz and glam that characterized Las Vegas well behind and were now in a decent residential neighborhood full of two-story homes.

With about a block to go, Dean pulled over. Audra and Sam got out. Because there were four of them, and a large group of adults walking through the neighborhood would look strange to anyone who happened to glance outside, they were splitting up. Max had donned running gear and would jog to the house by himself after Dean dropped him off. Dean would park and arrive separately as a man out for a stroll.

“Does this look like a neighborhood where an SIS handler would live?” Sam asked as he took her hand.

She curled her fingers around his, welcoming the contact. “Maybe. He’d be less recognizable in an apartment setting, but it’s easier to see if someone’s following you here.” She glanced around. There were few cars parked at the curb. Most of the homes had long driveways and two-car garages. It was more than enough space for families to keep their vehicles off the street.

They turned the corner and Theo’s house came into view. Hand-in-hand, they marched up the walkway like they were meant to be there, and she knocked on the front door. It was only a ruse to make the neighbors think they were legit. While she watched the street, Sam picked the lock. In seconds, the knob turned.

“That was quick.” Audra glanced at him.

He grinned. “I had a good teacher.” He twisted the knob and opened the door.