Free Finding North by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

considered to be the
best safe house in town.
    Orchid introduced the
ex-military-turned-CIA-operative doorman as “Tom.”
    “ Mark?” Colin
asked.
    “ Hargreaves!” said “Tom”
the doorman. “I thought that was you.”
    “ You know each other?”
Orchid looked horrified.
    “ Special Forces,” Colin
said. “Iraq.”
    “ It’s a small world after
all,” “Tom” said.
    Orchid got more and more
frustrated when Colin and Tom played the “What happened
to . . .?” game by the minute. Unable to tolerate it
any more, she regained control by reminding the doorman of his
place. They were in the secure elevator on the way to the apartment
in no time. On the fourth floor, Orchid took them down a long
hallway and opened a door at the end.
    “ This is very nice,” Alex
said, to ease Orchid’s anxiety.
    The loft apartment had a
master bedroom for Alex and Raz, and an additional smaller bedroom
for Colin. It was furnished to give the air of wealthy but not
pretentious. The floor-to-ceiling bulletproof windows had an
unobstructed view of the river.
    “ Do you like it?” Orchid
brightened with Alex’s compliment. “I took the liberty of acquiring
a wardrobe for each of you.”
    “ Thank you,” Alex
said.
    Raz went to the kitchen to
check for plates, pans, and cooking utensils. He was pleasantly
surprised to find the kitchen fully stocked.
    “ I had the procurement
team get groceries as well, Agent Rasmussen,” said Orchid, her
voice rising at the end of her statement. She cleared her throat
and blushed. “You should find all of your favorite foods
there.”
    Raz opened the
refrigerator and nodded.
    “ That was kind of you,” he
said and rewarded her with a handsome smile.
    Orchid looked like she was
going to faint.
    “ Would you like to give us
your update?” Alex asked.
    “ Yes, sir,” Orchid said.
“We’ve analyzed Carlos Santalogo. He was born in Cuba and moved to
the US when he was five or six to live with a maternal uncle. No
one is quite sure which uncle. His parents remained in Cuba until
he was in his twenties. He’s married and has one child, with one on
the way. According to his Captain, he took the detective’s exam
three times before passing. It looked like he wasn’t going to make
detective when some old-timer . . .
uh . . . Dexter Zeno was his name. What a
name?”
    “ Sounds Greek,” Colin
said.
    “ Anyway, this Zeno is an
old-timer with a decent arrest and case-closure record. Before they
brought Santalogo up, he’d been on desk duty. Something about
losing a partner in 9-11. I guess he never got over it. His file
says that he was given the chance to retire or train a new
detective. He took the latter, and Santalogo became a
detective.”
    Raz cleared his throat. He
took out the espresso maker and started to look for
coffee.
    “ It doesn’t sound like you
found anything,” Alex said.
    “ Just that,” Orchid said.
“Santalogo has been on the DHS watch list because he still has ties
to Cuba.”
    “ Which are?” Raz
asked.
    “ He has siblings in Cuba,”
Orchid said. She looked around the apartment in case someone was
listening. “One of his siblings works for the government of
Cuba.”
    Orchid nodded as if that
explained everything.
    “ What does his sibling
do?” Colin asked.
    “ Oh,” Orchid said. “I’m
not sure. Uh . . .”
    She cleared her throat and
began reciting facts.
    “ Santalogo likes to surf
the ’net after his children go to bed,” Orchid said. “He’s partial
to Reddit, you know the site that . . .”
    “ We’ve heard of it,” Raz
said.
    “ Sure,” Orchid
nodded.
    “ Porn? Drugs?” Alex asked.
“Anything we should know about?”
    “ No drugs,” Orchid said.
“Some porn. His email indicates that he may be having an affair,
but it’s inconclusive. The NSA looked into him after we flagged
him. He doesn’t fit their algorithm for a terrorist.”
    “ Thank you for your
assessment,” Alex said. “Do you know where to find