Matteo propped himself on the table. “I told you something doesn’t make sense about all this. I remember hearing something in the media about the missing containers, but it was barely a blip. Why haven’t we heard about Crowne’s death before now?”
“I had the same question. My source says the local police captain kept his death out of the papers with the pull of a few strings.”
Roman spoke up. “Do we know what was in the containers? I know we’re all thinking it, but is there any confirmation?”
“Yes and no.”
“What do you have?”
“We found after some late-night digging that all the containers were bound for Russia. They were transported to this shipping yard for no more than three hours before they completely disappeared literally within hours of arriving in his shipping yard.”
By late-night digging the man meant he’d worked overtime slipping through the company’s digital back door and combed through the contents of the company’s servers. Shipping manifests, client names, the whole digital footprint of the five-decade-old company. One thing Lucian did in spades was his due diligence.
“Tell us about the shipping company,” he turned his attention to Lucian.
“Owner: Alfredo Crowne. Home bases are here and in New York City. As you can see in the file Crowne Global Shipping is an elite company known to handle some of the world’s most challenging shipping needs with a prestigious reputation of always delivering. Around since the mid-’70s Crowne and all three sons have helped build an empire that expands the globe. UK, Russia, South Africa, China, and here in our backyard. There aren’t many countries this company hasn’t done business with in one form or another.”
“Is this a case of robbery?”
Sevastyan shook his head. “We’re not so lucky, I don’t think,” he countered. “I’m thinking it’s something more sinister. The local police department received an anonymous tip two hours before the containers went missing, saying there were humans inside. The FEDs get called in, by the time they arrive the containers are nowhere to be found. Even Houdini couldn’t have pulled something off like that.”
“By now those containers are probably at the bottom of the Atlantic where no one will find them,” Matteo voiced the chilly thoughts they were all thinking.
The pit of his stomach burned with disgust. He couldn’t prove it yet, nor could the authorities by the looks of it, but this had the Volkov name written all over it.
They all stood ready for the long ass night to end but Lucian held up a hand.
“You’re gonna want to stay a few minutes because that’s not all.” He pointed at the middle of the table where a stack of pictures were placed.
“That’s the only picture of the Crowne family. Three sons. I mentioned them earlier. They work for the company now. One brother was in the Marines for eight years. The other two worked for their father straight out of college.”
“And?” This was starting to bore him.
“And if all that isn’t interesting enough, take a look.” Lucian pulled a folder from the bottom of the pile and flipped it open to reveal several more photos. These were of a beautiful college-aged brunette. The kind of girl statistics loved, unfortunately.
“The police chief’s daughter has gone missing after visiting our city on college break. When his feathers are ruffled you know he’s going to start poking around.”
Sevastyan understood.
“Last known location was a club a few miles from here. From the reports, her best friend said she came back from the bathroom only to find their table empty. At first, she didn’t think anything of it. Thought she was out on the dance floor with a couple of guys they hooked up with. By the time she suspected foul play and called her father, it was too late. My source says it’s been two weeks and the authorities have run into wall after wall.”
Had it been anyone else, the girl would have fallen through the cracks. She was lucky to come from a family with connections and political reach to buy some answers.
Matteo palmed his phone and snapped a picture of the missing girl’s close-up. “I’ll do some digging, ask around with a few people I know. Might as well add her to the pile. Find some answers and he’ll owe us.”
Sevastyan nodded. “Good idea. We’ll go from there. We all know kidnappings have risen in the last two months. Haven has come under scrutiny. We need to tighten our belts, get our focus, and keep it. The local detectives have been here once already and I know you can all agree that we can’t afford the police sniffing around in our business. And we sure as hell don’t want them back. I know I’m not the only one connecting the dots here.”
From beside him, Matteo’s phone rang. He leaned in. “I have to take this. One of my contacts may have a lead on Mikhail.”
Sevastyan’s gaze connected with his. “Keep me informed.”
“Always do.”