Chapter 14
The string of obscenities flowing from Bruiser's mouth filled the air. Immediately, all talking ceased as Cowboy, Railroad, and Finch turned their attention to him. "Bruise, you holding it together?" Finch asked with concern.
"Barely," he ground out. "Olivia's been missing for over twenty-four hours, and nobody knows anything." He paced in the small area they had set up as a command center in his apartment living room.
"Hold on, Bruiser." The voice coming through the speaker of his cell phone piped in.
"Have you got something, Digger?"
"Maybe. Let me check a few things."
It had been a stroke of pure luck in retaining the services of the former Marine data specialist. With their normal tech unavailable, Digger McMillan had become a godsend. So far, he had been invaluable getting them the information they needed.
"Alright. Give us a timeline," Bruiser barked. Worry had his normally calm demeanor taking a hike. Given the situation, he knew the team would forgive him.
As if knowing where his thoughts were, Railroad slapped him on the shoulder and squeezed. "We'll find her," he muttered. A chorus of agreements echoed in the room.
There was the sound of keys clicking, followed by some muttering by Digger. "Alright, here's what I was able to cobble together. The last time anyone saw Olivia was when she clocked out of work at The Whole World In My Cup at 12:12 pm yesterday afternoon. At 12:18, she placed a call to Bruiser stating her intention to stop at a market on the way home. At 12:21 the camera across the street captured an older model dark cargo van with darkened windows entering the alleyway behind the shop. It stayed for precisely 126 seconds before leaving again. I was able to capture the license plate, but it came back registered to a 2011 Lexus reported stolen six days ago. At 12:23, the external camera at the My-T-Mart on the corner caught the van as it made a left at the light. I was able to track the van with various cameras until it disappeared, heading north past Waterfront Park. That was at 13:04."
Bruiser swore. "Anything else?"
Digger let out a breath. "I have an idea, but it's going to take a little time."
"Time is something she doesn't have a lot of," Bruiser growled.
"Do your thing, Digger." Cowboy stood and bent over the table containing the cell phone. "Let us know if you get anything else."
"Will do," the technician intoned then the line went dead.
Cowboy pushed a couple of buttons on the phone. He watched as Railroad transferred the information Digger had given them onto a map of the San Diego area. It was sketchy at best.
"Salter."
"Got anything, Hick?"
"Negative. Toad and I have been scouring the area but so far haven't found anything."
"It was a longshot," Finch muttered.
"We'll keep going." Toad added. "Keep the faith, Bruise."
The call disconnected. Bruiser dropped into a chair and raked a hand over his face. The stubble on his chin indicated it was past time for a shave. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his palms. He needed her home, like, yesterday. He closed his eyes. She had to be alright. He couldn't contemplate how he would ever find a way to keep going if anything happened to her.
The telephone rang. Cowboy punched the button and barked into the microphone, "Yeah?"
"Cowboy?" River's voice was almost drowned in background noise. "I figured ya'll would be together. Jos said Hick told Annabeth that Livy went missing. What can I do?"
"Nothing, right now. We're gathering intel. Toad and Hick are out looking around." Finch leaned over the table and spoke into the cell. "The police are working their end."
"If you need anything, I can call Bull. He may be able to shake a few official trees from New Orleans."
"Thanks, Riv. If we think of something, we'll give you a yell."
"No problem, Cowboy. If I know my wife, she'll want to do something for Livy's family. Speaking of, the lecture Jos is giving should be finishing. I'll have my phone, so if you need me for anything, you let me know."
"Will do, and thanks for the offer." Bruiser disconnected the call and let out a breath. "You know, we've been on numerous missions, and no matter what's happened, I've never doubted our ability to handle any situation. We've trained to the point that everything is reflexive. How the hell do you train for this? We're not in some hole in the wall, third world nation. This is the United States. Somebody snatched her in the middle of the day, and nobody saw a damned thing." He grabbed his hat off his head and slung it against the wall. Picking his telephone up, he punched a few buttons.
"Hello?"
Taking a breath, he forced himself to calm. The last thing Natalie needed was to hear his stress.
"Hey Nat, it's Bruiser."
"Bruiser. Have you found her yet?"
The hope in Olivia's aunt's voice twisted his gut. She had such confidence in him, and it almost killed him to admit he hadn't delivered. "No, not yet."
"You will."
Her faith should have made him feel better. It didn't. Bruiser glanced over at his team. They were all watching him with the same sort of pained expression he knew was reflected on his face. His resolve hardened and he saw them give him a chin lift. They had his six just as he had theirs.
"I was checking in. Have you heard from the police?" Bruiser knew he could call Coopersmith and talk to him personally, but he also knew Auntie Nat, as Olivia's relative, could get some information he wouldn't be privy to.
He could hear the frustration in her voice. "The detective said they were working on a couple of leads on a van. Then he tells me to relax and let them do their job. Relax? My baby is out there somewhere being held by who knows what kind of person and he tells me to relax?"
"I know, Auntie. They are doing everything they can to find her." Bruiser tamped down his frustration. "Try to stay calm. Jayden is relying on you. Speaking of, how is he doing?"
She let out a long drawn sigh. "After she didn't come home last night, I ran out of excuses. He could tell everyone was upset. I didn't think he could handle the truth, so I told him that she was lost. He said, 'Bruiser will find her again.' He hasn't said a word since, though. He sits in his room and sketches in his book."
Bruiser wrinkled his brow. "He's sketching again? I thought he hadn't done any of that since picking up airbrushing and street art."
"You're right," Auntie agreed. "At first, I thought he was taking it all in stride. When Livy first went into the Army, he didn't understand why she wasn't here even though we both explained it to him weeks in advance. Then he started drawing her picture, over and over. It was like he was making photographs of his memories of her. I asked him once about it. He said he didn't want to forget her like he was his mother. Nadine put that child through hell, but he still misses her."
Bruiser let out a long breath and thought for a minute. "Have you considered contacting their counselor? She may need to help him process his feelings."
"I called Ara this morning. We're going to go see her this afternoon." Auntie paused a moment. "How about you? How are you doing?"
"Honestly, I'm going out of my mind. It's killing me not knowing where she is," Bruiser replied.
Nat's voice dropped. "I've seen enough television to know statistics show if we don't find her within the first forty-eight hours, her chances drop significantly." He heard her intake a breath as if getting her emotions under control. "We can't lose her, Bruiser. These two have already been through too much. If anything happens to her, I don't think Jayden would survive it. She is his entire world."
"We'll find her, Auntie. I'm not giving up and neither should you." His phone beeped, indicating an incoming call. "I need to catch this. It could be about Olivia. I'll let you know if I find out anything."
"Alright, Bruiser. Bye."
He clicked the call over, and Digger's voice filled the room. "It's McMillan. Bruiser, I may have something. It's a longshot, but it's better than nothing."
"Anything is better than nothing. Talk to me."
"As you know, cell phones bounce off different towers to obtain the best signal. This doesn't apply to only calls in process, but also general service. That's why when you travel, you can watch your service capability grow and fall. Your telephone is pinging the different towers."
"Yeah, we're with you," Cowboy piped in. "You're talking bar strength."
"Yes, exactly. Well, I took that concept and ran it through a little algorithm. We know the route the kidnappers took after they left the alley. I plotted the course with the cell tower map, and have a list of possible matches. Now, if we assume that the kidnappers both have cell phones, those phones were active the entire time, and the cells didn't skip a tower in the progressive, I came up with a list of possibilities."
For the first time in hours, hope flared in Bruiser's chest. Railroad beat him to the question. "You have a list of people who may have taken her?"
"It's a crapshoot at best. There's a lot of factors at play here, but yes, I have a list. Between 12:20 and 13:04, a total of twenty-eight mobile devices pinged the correct towers."
"Twenty-eight?" Finch swore. "Can you knock that number down some?"
"I already have. Using the camera footage, I ascertained fourteen of those belonged to a kid's soccer team. The group spent two and a half hours at a sports complex on the north side of town and are there again now."
"Okay, that leaves fourteen more. Better, but still a large list," Cowboy grumbled.
"It gets smaller. Now, given Livy's background, signs of a scuffle and the short amount of time the van was in the alley, I believe it's safe to assume that there was more than one perpetrator involved here. Someone detained her then the van was called in to pick her up. Going on that information, I think it's safe to assume these multiple assailants had cellular devices. So, I discarded the single signals and concentrated on the multiples. That wasn't as easy as it sounds, but I did manage to whittle another five off the list. Of the nine remaining, I discarded two because they are minors. Yes, I ensured the numbers weren't spoofed and were legitimate. Talking to pissed off parents is not my idea of a fun morning. That leaves seven. One of those is either no longer in the area, or the device is deactivated. So, we have six possible targets left. Two of them connected a call in the correct time frame. I am waiting on those to hit a tower, but so far, there's nothing. I'm sorry, Bruiser, it's the best I can come up with."
"Remind me not to piss you off, Digger," Cowboy muttered.
Bruiser agreed. "Thank God for good friends with amazing skills. This is more than we had ten minutes ago. Can you send me what you have?"
"Already on the way." Bruiser's phone dinged with an incoming email. "I don't have all the bells and whistles I used to when I was serving, so I have to do a few workarounds. One thing I miss is satellite feeds. It would make this a hell of a lot easier. However, using Google Maps, I checked out the last known locations of the remaining targets. I sent pictures of those as well. If I were a betting man, I'd say if one of these targets has your girl, it will be one of the ones in the warehouse district."
Bruiser pulled up the intel, and the group crowded around. After several minutes of studying the data, Cowboy pointed to one of the lines of cell tracking. "What about this freight company, JRJ Shipping? Two signals were there."
"I ruled that one out. That is a legitimate business, and the signals indicated two people returning from lunch and then leaving a little after five. They both returned this morning at seven."
"In other words, highly unlikely," Finch said.
"Right. I listed the intel by most likely and included everything I know about each target." Digger hesitated a moment. "I hate to say this, Bruiser, but you are aware that the likelihood of any of this being helpful is slim. There are a lot of assumptions at play here."
Bruiser growled. "I know. But, at least, it's something, and at this point, we need every scrap we can get our hands on. I can't sit here twiddling my thumbs hoping Barney Fife stumbles upon something useful."
Digger snorted. "Speaking of, I may, or may not be tapped into SDPD and monitoring the case. If I see anything, I'll let you know."
The line disconnected. Cowboy called Toad and Hick and briefed them. Bruiser pulled up the information on his laptop, and they studied it carefully. Breaking up into three teams of two, they each claimed a target. "Recon only," Bruiser reminded them. "Take a look around and report back. If there's anything suspicious, I want the whole team together."
As they filed out of his apartment, Bruiser couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Olivia. He prayed she was alright. If she wasn't, whoever was responsible was going to pay, and he didn't give a damn how that might affect his career. Nothing else mattered but her.