Interesting. His brainpan alone makes him more compatible with someone like Bebe.
Moving to the head of the table, Kynan sits. “I sort of wanted to just brainstorm this morning. We need to figure out the best way to fake Bebe’s death in a way that’s convincing to Bogachev. We need to offer up proof so he buys it, then we need to figure out the best way to take him down.”
“I’ve been giving that a lot of thought,” Dozer says, leaning back casually in his chair, tapping his fingertips on the armrests. “We can build as much fake background on Bebe as we want, so why not give her an addiction like heroin? A few fake arrests for possession, then we set up a fake overdose. It fits with her story… years in prison, life destroyed. Why wouldn’t she be an addict? Griff can sell it to Bogachev as a low-risk murder so there won’t be the same suspicion as if he’d put a bullet in her head or something.”
We all look around the table at each other, searching for any issues with this idea. Kynan finally says, “I like it.”
“I’ll have our Pittsburgh field office coordinate with the local law enforcement in Cranberry. A fake news article on her death would be icing on the cake.”
Bebe sort of slumps in her chair, muttering, “Yeah… it’s just great. Aaron’s friends and their families are going to learn I’m a heroin addict who died an ugly death.”
“That will all be corrected once we get Bogachev in custody,” Kynan points out.
But I can’t stand the expression on Bebe’s face right now. “We don’t have to go that far with it. I can just take some pictures of you dead on a couch with a needle hanging out of your arm or something. Explain what I did to Bogachev. It should be enough.”
Bebe gives me a wan smile. “Then we can get down to the real work.”
“Except Bogachev is going to expect me back in New York as soon as I tell him Bebe’s dead.” I give my attention to Bebe. “How long do you think you’re going to need to work your magic?”
“Well, a lot of that is going to depend on the security he already has in place. He’s never going to fall for a phishing scam that would let us plant a virus through his email. Plus, I’m positive he has the absolute best anti-virus that’s out there on the hacking market plus double firewalls, etcetera. So our best move is to try to access his system remotely through his Wi-Fi and that’s going to take some modifications, depending on the type of router connection he has. This isn’t going to happen overnight, but I think with some hard work, trial and error, and really good decryption coding, maybe a week… two at the most. All you need is imaging of the data, right? Not the actual data itself.”
“Correct,” I say, but give a frustrated shake of my head. “But we’re going to have to figure out something, because I can’t stay gone for that long. He’ll want me back in New York ASAP.”
“Bebe doesn’t need your help doing this,” Dozer says, his eyes glinting with dislike. I have to wonder what it is I’ve done to garner this attitude from him. I feel like things are cool between me and Bebe, so they should be cool with him, right?
Unless… he has feelings for her and considers me a threat.
“He has to be here,” Kynan tells Dozer. “It’s his case so he has to be involved in all aspects for the information we get to have legal standing.”
Dozer mutters something under his breath and I hope to fuck he’s not going to be actively involved in the work Bebe and I will be doing together. There’s only so much of his glares and snark I’m going to take before I throat punch the fucker.
“Griffin and I actually talked about this a bit yesterday,” Kynan continues, looking directly at Bebe. “We need to buy him a few weeks’ time so Bogachev doesn’t expect him back in New York.”
“And how do you plan to do that?” she asks.
“Aaron,” I reply, which causes Bebe’s head to snap my way.
“Aaron?” she asks, her face awash with concern.
“Bogachev had asked me if I’d seen your kid and of course, I lied and said I hadn’t. But when I tell him you’re dead, I can say there’s evidence through your house your mom has Aaron somewhere, raising him away from you, but that y’all are still in close contact with each other. Just the hint to Bogachev you might have told someone else—namely Aaron and Gloria—about him will have him paranoid enough to send me to find them, too.”
Kynan stares in consideration, then turns his attention to Bebe. “What do you think?”