Page 52 of The Agent
“You’re a witness. The fact that you can draw him without us having to work with a sketch artist is extremely helpful,” Sinclair said, and Calloway nodded her approval, too. “We’ll also get photo arrays out to both of you and continue to run facial recognition on the partial images we have, but an accurate drawing would be key.”
Roman shouldn’t be surprised that this guy had been smart about averting his gaze from the cameras. Still, this attack on Camila couldn’t have beenthatwell-planned out if the robbers had just discovered how much Camila really knew. Something about this didn’t add up.
“You said there’s an interesting part?” he asked Calloway, and one corner of her mouth lifted in a smile.
“I should have known you wouldn’t miss that.” She waited until Capelli had pulled up a series of video footage from several cameras, showing the robber outside Camila’s apartment building, then in the lobby, then again as he pursued Roman and Camila outside. “We can track this guy’s movements from when he first appears in the parking lot to when he exits the building and gets into his vehicle. Stolen, by the way. We’ve got a BOLO out on it, but so far, nothing. He was gone by the time officers responded and we lost him on street cams.”
“Okay,” Roman said, his eyes narrowing over the footage. The guy got out of the driver’s seat when he arrived, then got behind the wheel after running out of the building, and wait…wait…
Holy shit. “He’s alone.”
“That he is,” Calloway said. “This attack couldn’t have been terribly pre-meditated. It happened only a few hours after the robbers found out how much Camila told Intelligence. It’s possible they wanted to use surprise as an advantage and figured one of them doing the job was less risky than all three coming out in the open. Especially for a crime like this.”
Roman shook his head. “No. These three have a system. Everyone has a role, specifically designed to pull off robberies without a hitch. They’re orchestrated down to ten-second intervals. They wouldn’t screw with that.” He thought back to the way they’d all acted and interacted during the robbery he’d witnessed and—according to the Intelligence Unit—all the robberies before that, certainty forming in the pit of his stomach. “This feels less tactical and more aggressive. Impulsive. The leader is the calm one. I think this guy is going rogue.”
“It’s entirely possible,” Sinclair said. “But he’s still smart. After he realized you’d left in a vehicle rather than on foot, he didn’t try to follow you. See how he heads in the opposite direction when he leaves the parking lot? He knew a car chase wasn’t going to end well.”
Camila watched the video clips, which were playing on a continuous loop on the laptop screen. “Okay. So, what does all of this mean?”
“It means they’re getting sloppy, for one,” Roman said. At least, this guy was.
“And it also means they might not all be on the same page,” Calloway added.
“That’s good, though, right? If they’re getting sloppy, won’t it be easier to figure out who they are now? Or be more likely one of them will screw up and get caught?”
Christ, she was fierce. Who else would call a situation in which they’d been shot at a good thing? “The fact that this guy got brash enough to show his face is going to work against himandhis crew, yes.”
Camila looked from him to the laptop screen. “Do you think they’ll just leave now? I mean, if they’re falling apart and they know we might’ve seen at least this one guy’s face, wouldn’t that be the smartest thing to do?”
Capelli met Camila’s gaze through the camera. “Statistically speaking, criminals rarely do smart things. This group does seem to be less impulse-driven than most,” he added by way of a caveat, “so they might leave Remington to avoid the risk of being seen or caught. But this man killed a police officer in cold blood, and you saw his face well enough to be able to produce a drawing. It would be ill-advised to trust that he won’t try to hurt you again just yet.Orthat these three won’t try to rob another bank. After all, they weren’t able to steal any money today. If that’s their motivation…”
“No matter what their motivation is, we can’t take the risk,” Roman cut in, and Sinclair nodded.
“We’re all in agreement on that. We’ll keep working on facial recognition and dig deeper into everything we have from today to see if anything pops. Camila, once you’re done with the sketches, we can release them to the media. See if anyone’s got eyes on the guy who came after you. We’ll also send over photo arrays of known offenders matching our robber’s description, just in case we get lucky there.”
“Copy that,” Roman said.
“We’ll do the usual security check-ins and monitor the lake house via surveillance, per protocol,” Calloway said, then turned her attention to Camila, “and we’ll reach out to your employer about your absence. Your brother has volunteered to assure your family that you’re safe, although we obviously can’t share any details with them.”
Camila gave up a weary smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Thank you.”
“Speaking of which”—Sinclair gestured to Capelli, who typed rapidly until the screen switched to another video feed—“your brother wanted a word with both of you privately before we sign off. We’ll leave you to it, and I’ll be sure to patch through any updates as soon as we get them.”
Roman opened his mouth to say that any conversation he and Matteo Garza might have, especially now that Roman was literally locked in tight with his sister, wouldn’t end in anything good. But then the guy’s face flashed across the laptop screen, his hair sticking up in about six different directions and his dark eyes loaded with concern, and hell. Camila was his sister. Of course he’d been worried about her.
“Camila. Jesus, I’m so glad you’re…” Garza stopped to take a breath. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No. I’m okay,” Camila told him. “A little freaked out. Well, maybe a lot freaked out. But thanks to Roman, I’m not hurt.”
“We’re going to catch these guys,mija. I won’t rest until we do. I swear,” Garza said, then turned his gaze toward Roman. “I saw the footage from the hallway of Camila’s building and the parking lot. I know we’ve had our differences.” He paused, although it did nothing to stop the shock from pumping through Roman’s system. “But you saved her life. You kept her safe. So, thank you.”
He was tempted, and not a little, to tell Garza that the reasons he’d kept Camila safe had nothing to do with obligation, or even honor. But rather than pulling out either of those little nuggets and starting an argument none of them needed, he went with a different truth.
“You’re welcome. But the truth is, she’s strong as hell. She’s doing a lot to keep herself safe, too.”
Surprisingly, Garza nodded. “I’m starting to see that. I promise to hold up my end here to get you both back home soon.” To Camila, he said, “I love you,mija. Stay safe.”
A second later, they disconnected the call. Closing the laptop, Roman turned to take care of his next order of business.