Page 53 of Sam's Salvation
“Oh. Well, Audra found a ledger with what looks like code for business transactions. One of them was 350G TS DTC. We figure ‘TS’ refers to Theo’s alias. The 350G is how much he received. Asher’s still working on the ‘DTC’ part.”
She nodded thoughtfully. “I got into his email. I don’t remember seeing anything that would refer to that, but I’ll look again.”
“Were you able to tell where the deposits came from?” Audra asked.
“A shell company. It’s buried under so many layers it’ll take me more than the couple of days I’ve had to figure it out. I did find something interesting, though. Not about his bank records.” She waved a hand. “About something else. I got into his phone’s GPS data, and he visited a house in Enterprise, Nevada, multiple times in the last few months. Around the same time the first payment came in.”
“Do you have an address?” This could be the break they needed to find out what Theo was up to. To find his killer.
Jo grinned. “I do.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “I have a name too.” She nodded to the little scrap as she slid it over to Audra.
With a quick glance at Sam, Audra picked it up, her heart racing. Her eyes widened as she read the name. “Bloody hell.”
Twenty-Four
Adark frown overtook Sam’s face. “What? Who is it?” He reached for the slip of paper in Audra’s hand. She let go, and he read the name and address. “Who’s Patrick Callahan?”
“He works for Liam. Actually, he works more for Siobhan. The guy who left the voicemail on Alexandra’s phone—Donny?”
Sam nodded, remembering the name.
“Patrick is his brother. He does for Siobhan what Donny does for Liam, basically. He’s like her assistant. Their father, Sean, was Liam’s father’s assistant. He died in the same attack that killed Liam’s father, Derek. For a while Siobhan and Liam shared the leadership responsibilities, so instead of just Donny taking over for his father, Patrick stepped in to help.”
“Siobhan didn’t already have her own assistant?”
“She did, but before Derek’s death, her role was as the mafia boss’s wife, so her assistant did more with parties and household organization than with the business side of things. Both of Sean’s children were involved in his work. Donny more so because he was slated to take over for his father when he retired. Just like Liam took over for Derek.”
“Okay.” Jo propped her chin on her hand and leaned forward. “Why would your handler go see Patrick?”
“I don’t know. He would have no reason to. They weren’t supposed to know he existed.”
Sam frowned as a thought occurred to him. “Liam didn’t know about Theo. Not until he saw your face on the news when the police asked for help with his case. Why would his number two know, but not the boss?”
“A double cross?” Jo said. “Maybe Theo was trying to convince them to overthrow their boss.”
“But what could he offer that Patrick would be willing to pay that kind of money?” Audra asked.
“The truth?” Sam suggested. “Think about it. What if Theo laid out who he was—who you were—and told them how terrible it would be for Brogan when the news got out that he let an undercover operative into their inner circle? That he could help bring Brogan down, and they could take over. It would make them easy to control. He holds the cards because he knows who they are and has the credentials to keep them out of harm’s way. So long as they do what he wants.”
“Could they be the ones who paid him off?” Jo asked.
Audra jolted. Sam looked at her, frowning. “What?”
“DTC—DC—Donny Callahan. I don’t know his middle name, but his first and last initial match. Maybe they convinced Liam they had a source worth paying. Or told him they were buying a service of some sort. I’m not sure which.”
His mind whirled as he mulled that over. “Three hundred fifty-thousand dollars is a lot of money, though, for not knowing what you’re getting,” Sam argued.
“Right, but Liam would trust Donny. He could make up something plausible and Liam wouldn’t question it.” She pursed her lips. “I wonder how many other entries in that ledger were ones Donny made up?” She looked at Jo. “Did you discover anything else?”
“No, that was all.”
“And there wasn’t anything that would make you think I couldn’t trust my boss?”
Jo shook her head. “I think she was aware there was a problem. I don’t know what set off her radar, but something did.”
“Okay.” Audra looked at Sam. “I think we need to talk to Dee now.”
He tapped his fingers on the table once. “I agree. I just hope she sees things our way.”