The two men also went down the stairs. They waited inside, watching Oliveira walk away from the building. They waited until he was out of sight before they left and returned to their car.
“Got him making a call,” Tessman reported, his hand still clutching his phone.
He put the call on speaker. There was a ring, and then a male voice answered. “Yeah?”
“I had two visitors at the college asking about Zoe, said they were private investigators hired by her parents,” Oliveira said. His voice sounded as if he were annoyed.
“What’d they want?” the other man asked.
“Said her parents just want to talk to her. They offered me a hundred bucks to make that happen. And they said her parents have money for her, unlikely. They also knew that I picked her up the day she left,” Oliveira said.
“They can’t know that. The security camera footage was wiped. They were fishing. You didn’t admit it, did you?”
“You think I’m stupid? Of course I didn’t.”
“How much money for Zoe were they talking?” the voice asked.
“They didn’t quote a figure. Besides, I think it’s bullshit. Her parents aren’t going to give her a dime if she doesn’t go home, and we both know she isn’t doing that.”
“Did they give you a phone number to get back in touch with them?”
“I don’t want to be linked to this by responding to them,” Oliveira said.
“Give me the number. I’ll respond,” the voice said.
“That still links me to this,” Oliveira argued.
“Do you think you’re the only person they’ve talked to and given their number to? Unlikely. I’m sure they’ve already visited her roommate and several other professors. Probably even her job and her sorority.”
“Sorority?” Burke said to Tessman. This was new info. There had been nothing in her file that indicated she belonged to a sorority.
“I appreciate you’re being careful, Frisco, but I think you’re being overly paranoid. They’ve got nothing that links that girl to us,” the voice said.
Oliveira chuckled. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Are you ready for the number?”
“Yes, give it to me,” the voice said.
Oliveira recited the number. Then the call ended.
“So, they wiped the security footage from the campus servers. That shows access. That’ll be a nice little challenge for Smith to recover it,” Burke said with a laugh. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Wilson.
“We did not contact Oliveira at his apartment,” Wilson said as he answered on the second ring. “Did you have better luck?”
Burke had the phone on speaker so Tessman could hear the conversation. They filled Wilson and Rogers in on what they’d learned. “Our next step, if we don’t hear from the person Oliveira gave our number to, is a return visit to her roommate. We’ll ask about the sorority and then a visit to her sorority sisters is in order.”
“Did you call Smith yet about the wiped camera surveillance?” Wilson asked.
“No, he’s our next call. I want him to see if he can trace the mystery man to whom Oliveira gave my number so we can surveil him. As far as the surveillance footage goes, not sure it’s a priority now that we know Oliveira was her ride,” Burke said.
“It could yield another vehicle that could lead us to Zoe’s location,” Wilson said. “Oliveira’s Jeep Wrangler was at his house. That begs the question of how he got to campus.”
“Roger that,” Burke said. “Where are you heading next?”
“We’re going to a car rental to get another vehicle. I’m going to sit on the hair salon and Rogers will acquire Oliveira and surveil him. We’ll leave the mystery man to the two of you.”
Burke dialed Smith after the call ended.
“Hey, I’ve dug up a lot on your boy, Oliveira,” Smith said. “He deleted his social media accounts last year, but what I recovered reads like something out of a prepper handbook. He even had posts that damn near quoted Brandon Ellison regarding the civil war that’s coming and choosing sides to ensure America endures.”
