“Unless the good doctor was in on it.” Mina waved the paper in the air.
“In on what?” Bec looked around, confused, until Mina clarified.
“A fifty-million-dollar payday.”
“No.” Bec shook her head. “Absolutely not. Walter wasn’t hurting for money and was close to retirement.”
“You’re correct. He wasn’t hurting for money now.” Mina shook the paper in her hand. “But Walter Hoerman was deep in debt until a few years ago.”
“Does it say to who?” Cal asked.
“According to this, just about everyone, including the taxman.”
“What on earth?” Bec asked. “Where was all his money going?”
“Gambling?” Selina suggested.
“That’s possible, though I can only see his verifiable debts.”
Cal shook his head as he leaned on the lab table. “Regardless, I smell a rat or two, but they aren’t in Poland.”
“Same,” Mina, Iris and Selina said in unison, giving them a moment of levity in a situation that was anything but funny.
“I think that Walter got in over his head with something, then took a payoff to clear his debt. Chances are,that payoff came with stipulations, and he devised a way to get out from under the thumb of his creditors. He befriends a young, impressionable kid and convinces him he’ll get half of the big payday for writing some malware and fake kidnapping him.”
Mina shrugged as she leaned on her desk, fatigue written on her face. “Anything is possible, but what concerns me is that Zafar is untraceable, which feels like a—”
“Setup,” Selina finished. Since she’d been set up not too long ago by her thought-to-be-dead sister, she would smell a similar ploy from a mile away.
“Zafar was playing ball for two bad guys?” Iris asked, glancing at Selina. “But who?”
“That’s the fifty-million-dollar question,” Mina said.
“You mean the sixty-four-dollar question,” Iris corrected, then she noticed Mina’s raised brow. “Oh, right. Fifty-million-dollar ransom.”
“The problem is, there’s no way to confirm this,” Bec pointed out. “We conveniently cannot access Walter’s computer, and the cameras were off during the kidnapping.”
“I tried tracing Zafar’s phone, but the last time it pinged was a week ago. That lines up with the dates you said he’d be gone to Poland,” Mina said to Bec, who nodded. “But it also says it’s no longer in service, so I believe he ditched the phone rather than flying off to Poland.”
Cal nodded. “Agreed.”
“Did you track Walter’s phone?” Iris asked.
“Walter has his phone?” Mina asked, but Bec answered.
“I believe he does. He was holding it when the kidnapper broke in, and it’s nowhere to be found here.”
Mina grinned, which told Iris she was pleased with this information. “I have the number. Do you know if he has the find-my-phone feature on it?”
“It was the latest model, so I’m sure it’s there. I don’t know if it’s on. Don’t you think he’d shut it off, though? Everyone knows cell phones can’t be traced if they’re off.”
“Everyone should know that,” Selina said with a snicker. “But not everyone has a Mina Jacobs on their team who can get around pesky things like powered down phones.”
Mina winked. “Whiskey, out.”
“That was a strange turn of events.” Bec turned to look up at Iris. “I’m concerned.”
“We’re all concerned,” Cal agreed. “But until Mina gets back to us, there isn’t much we can do. Selina will take you to the apartment to check your arm while we’re waiting. Then we can get together once Mina calls back.”
