Catch and Release

Chapter 12

Chapter 12Sheppard and Haley packed up their equipment and headed down to the third-floor bullpen to see their colleague Sophie. Sophie had come to the agency after being caught transferring a few million dollars from some American banks to an offshore bank account. Oddly enough the banks had no idea she had done it. The only reason Sophie was caught was because she made the mistake of bragging after a few too many drinks with a Tinder date who turned out to be a cop. Normally, this sort of crime would be handled by the United States Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service but came to the attention of the Bureau when the banks were notified that they had been hacked and still couldn’t find any trace of the breach. Sophie was given an ultimatum–go to prison for cyber-crimes or join the Bureau. Sophie chose the latter, signed a contract that used an entire ream of paper, and walked out of the police cell with Riley, who apparently looked particularly pleased with himself as they walked past his counterpart from another agency.

Sophie looked up from her keyboard as Sheppard and Haley arrived behind her. She turned in her chair and said, “Shep, Comet, what brings you two to my lonely little cubicle?”

Sheppard grinned mischievously. “Just wondering who you’re hacking today. Better not be my bank again!”

Sophie put her hands up and shook her head, sharing Sheppard’s grin. “Not this time, I swear! I’m only hacking the other banks.”

Sheppard let out a slight chuckle. “Shame. If you were in my bank, you could wipe out my mortgage for me.”

Sophie shrugged and feigned innocence. “Well, I have some free time this afternoon. You’ll owe me dinner, though. Anyway, what can I do for ya?”

Haley sat down next to Sophie. “You mean other than erasing our mortgages? Well, we could use an address.”

Sophie dropped her shoulders and stuck her bottom lip out as if she were pouting. “That’s it? I was hoping you’d bring me something interesting, like breaching the great firewall of China or rigging the elections!”

Sheppard raised his eyebrows and c****d his head to the side. “Sorry love, but it’s the CIA’s turn to try that this year. But since you’re not too busy, we wouldn’t mind finding out where Abu Sayif is.”

Sophie let out a sigh, turned back to her computer, and typed at a speed that would be accurately described as furious for anyone else. For Sophie, it just looked relaxed. Half a minute later, a couple of windows popped up with the front one showing a head shot. “That him?”

“That’s our guy.”

“He lives in a single room apartment on W Ford City Drive,” Sophie said while writing down the address and apartment number. “Anything else?”

Sheppard took the piece of paper and lightly squeezed her shoulder. “That’s all. You’re the best.”

Sophie plastered a cheesy smile across her face and shrugged. “You know it. Now if you don’t mind, I have important work to do.”

Sheppard and Haley said goodbye and headed toward the opening of Sophie’s cubicle. Haley turned her head, looking back out of curiosity, and let out a quiet laugh when she saw that Sophie had started playing solitaire.

Sheppard and Haley entered the elevator, and Haley pressed the button for the third floor of the underground parking structure. Sheppard furrowed his brow. “You have a parking space in the building?”

Haley shot him a blank expression. “Yeah, don’t you?”