“The final connection.” Mackenzie returned to her seat.
“It’s soccer and this Nasim Jabal guy.” Drew shook his head as he circled the end of the table to sit. “But what does it mean?”
“Surely, Jabal didn’t kill these guys over some soccer match,” Teagan said.
“Not likely.” Drew stabbed a final piece of cantaloupe.
“Could Jabal be Rossi’s antiquities or drug connection?” Teagan asked.
Drew swallowed his bite. “What does the background report say?”
Teagan looked at the screen. “He was a professional soccer player until 2015. The highest scoring player in all of Iraqi soccer. Extremely revered and a legend. Now he’s a spokesman for Iraq’s soccer league and travels extensively around the world promoting the national team.”
“Which would give him a chance to smuggle drugs or antiquities on his travels,” Drew said. “Or make contacts to move products.”
“So could our victims be part of his network?” Teagan asked.
“We need to finish charting each guy’s travel dates,” Mackenzie said. “And also figure out if Jabal was in Oregon when these men were killed.”
Teagan looked at Drew. “Harris would be our best bet to get a warrant for Jabal’s travel and other information we need, but she told you to stand down on the murders.”
“I don’t care.” Drew jumped up. “I’ll try to tie it to the antiquities to get her to agree to that.”
Teagan appreciated his willingness to go out on a limb. “While you make the call, Mac and I can check the schedules we have in the books and call the wives for more details.”
“We should also find out where Jabal is right now.” Drew dug his phone from the cargo pocket of his pants. “I’ll get Harris on that too, but maybe Nick can find him faster.”
Teagan nodded. “I’ll give him a call.”
Drew gave a sharp nod and stepped out of the room.
Mackenzie grabbed the nearest book. “I’ll get started on the dates.”
Teagan called Nick.
“Yo,” he answered. “You get the information I sent?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Seemed important. I’m still working on a deep dive on the guy. He’s pretty private, so it’ll likely take some time.”
“Thank you for keeping after it.” She took a breath. “I hate to ask another favor, but any way you can locate Jabal for us?”
“Figured you’d want to know so I already have his location.”
If he were sitting in front of her, she would be gaping at him. “How did you do that? Especially since he doesn’t have much info out there.”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Okay,” she said as she assumed it involved hacking that might be on the fringe of legality. “So where is he?”
“Flew into PDX last night.”
So he’d flown into Portland, but what had he come to do?
Drew stowed his phone near the dining room table, hardly able to believe what Teagan was telling him as she looked up at him with wide eyes. Nasim Jabal was not only in the country, but he was in Portland. Somewhere. Doing what, Drew had no idea. Maybe planning to kill another guy. But why? Who?
Drew had to find out and do it quickly. “Did Nick say where Jabal was staying?”
