“Yeah, I guess I’d have to,” Burke said.
“I’ve been with Rae and Lilly for less time than you’ve been playing daddy to Donna’s kids, and I’ll tell you right now, I couldn’t step aside and let anyone else have the father role with Lilly,” Wilson said. “If you think you can, I think you’re delusional.”
“Or haven’t thought this through,” Rogers added.
Burke rubbed his forehead. He was sorry he’d said anything to them. Well, this was why he hadn’t, wasn’t it? And the fact that none of them understood or sided with him on it would make him reconsider it. He trusted his team, his friends. They were all smart men. Somehow, against all odds, both Wilson and Tessman were making relationships work. Of course, the women they were involved with were very different from Donna.
Burke made eye contact with each of them. “You’ve given me a lot to think about. And I will think about it. For now, I need you to drop it. We need to refocus on the case. I want to get this wrapped up ASAP so we can get back to HQ.”
“Me too. I understand the urgent nature of this case, especially with it being tied to the prepper group and possibly the militia. If this girl is in with the militia, we need to move on her before the FBI moves on that group or she could end up dead or in jail with the rest of the group,” Rogers said.
“Unless she really is a hardcore member and not some innocent girl brainwashed and coerced by the group, as her family seems to think she is,” Tessman said.
“Cynical as always,” Rogers teased Tessman.
“According to the intel the Digital Team provided, she was a political science major before she quit college two months ago,” Tessman reminded them. The information on their target, twenty-one-year-old college junior Zoe Reopelle, had been shared during the briefing, and her full file had been pushed through to their emails.
“She actually didn’t quit. She just stopped going to class, and she didn’t withdraw, nor did she register for her classes next semester,” Burke corrected him. “Technically, she’s still enrolled at the college, and all her things are still in the dorm, which should be one of our first stops. Her roommate might have some helpful information. And just maybe she’ll share it with us even though she didn’t give up anything to Zoe’s parents or the local police.”
“The semester isn’t officially over for two more days, so we should be able to acquire her roommate there today,” Wilson added. “I agree that visit is priority number one. Our second stop will be her place of employment, though I’m sure after notshowing up there for the last two months that she’s technically an ex-employee.”
“What makes you think her roommate will give up what she may know to us when she hasn’t given anything up to anyone else?” Tessman asked Burke.
“Because we go in on Zoe’s side and are looking to help her out and get her parents off her back,” Burke suggested.
“Interesting angle,” Wilson said.
“Think about it. If she had anything to share and was worried about Zoe, she would have given it up. She didn’t, and she has to know something,” Burke said.
“She may even have a way to reach Zoe. We pair her phone,” Wilson said. “Just in case she calls Zoe after we leave.”
“Zoe’s phone was found by the police when they searched the dorm, but I’m sure she has a burner she’s using,” Rogers said. “Unless she’s truly being held someplace against her will.”
“Do you really think that’s the case?” Burke asked him.
“Unlikely. I think she’s been indoctrinated by the group and is acting in concert with them,” Rogers said.
“How exactly do you want to play this helping Zoe angle?” Tessman asked.
“What’s one thing every cult wants?” Burke asked.
“Braindead followers?” Tessman answered.
“That and money. Everyone wants money. Even preppers need money. We go in as private investigators with an inheritance or a trust fund of some sort that we need to get to Zoe,” Burke said.
“Or a settlement from her parents to at least talk to them. Something that either Zoe or those controlling her can’t pass up. Something that will at least let us know where she is so we can snatch her and deliver her to the deprogrammer her uncle, the senator hired,” Wilson agreed.
“I think we’ll know if the roommate is Team Zoe in the first two minutes we talk to her. We adjust as needed based on her responses to our first few questions,” Burke said.
“Every college kid needs money. We offer a finder’s fee for any information that directly puts us in contact with Zoe,” Wilson said.
Tessman was flipping through the file the Digital Team sent to their emails. “Gabby Struck is the roommate’s name. She’s a junior in the business college program. The file doesn’t say if they’d roomed together before this year.”
“So, we don’t know if the girls are friends or not,” Rogers said. “My sister had a roommate one year that she couldn’t stand. They rarely talked at all.”
“I’m sure the roommate knew her schedule, her comings and goings, overheard phone calls, or saw who she hung out with. She knows something that will help us,” Burke said.
“According to the file, the hair salon she worked at loved her,” Tessman said, still scrolling through the file. “They didn’t have much real info though.”
