Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Following up on my hunch, I study the first column. There is some repetition to the numbers, as if maybe they are transactions between the same people. I hunt down instances within the diary where the same two numbers are present. This must be repeated transactions between the same two people. I further narrow it down by date, considering that the journal must be in chronological order.
I don’t notice how much time has passed until my stomach signals that I’m hungry. It seems irrelevant to eat when the mafia is about to break my door down, but I can’t ignore my stomach too much longer.
CHAPTER 27
FRANKIE
After discovering who Sofia really is, I start an internet search. My father has people who can do this much more effectively than I can, but I don’t want to ask them. I’m filled with shame at my part in the whole debacle. I am the one who let Sofia into the house. I’m the one she led around by the nose, pretending to care.
I should be the one to fix this.
I go back upstairs to my room and open my laptop. I begin with social media, hoping she’s less clandestine with her online friends. I remember my father telling me that people are incredibly stupid when it comes to posting sensitive information. They let their desire to be a part of the conversation get the better of them.
This isn’t the first time I’ve done research on somebody. Occasionally my father asks me for help when there is a new recruit. My job is to go through their feeds from the very beginning, looking for anything suspicious. So, I turn my attention to Sofia, amazed at the snow job she did on me.
There I was, trying to date this woman, and it never once occurred to me to ask for her social media handles. She could have been posting anything for all I knew, and it would have been highly suspicious if she refused to share.
I find her right away, under the name she gave me. At least that’s something. She didn’t lie about her identity. I discover that she’s not a heavy user of social media at all. There are a few posts, but most of them are years old. There’s one picture where Sofia’s arm is wrapped around a man who almost looks like her twin. I’m guessing that’s her brother who passed away. After that photo, there isn’t much else except an announcement that she’s working for the newspaper.
I switch over to another platform and another, each time discovering the same thing. She had a robust online presence until her brother died. Then it was crickets most of the time, with the occasional newsworthy update. I’m not going to learn very much from a basic search.
I move onto the next level of surveillance by switching to the various databases I have access to. In his dealings with government officials, my father has opened doors that didn’t used to exist ten years ago. We can search for people in several different online places, which helps whenever we are attempting to meet anyone new.
Uncle Gio had me run a few background checks on some shopkeepers we met with recently. All I have to do is turn that spotlight onto Sofia. I enter her name and address into one of the databases, and I’m able to see her entire rental history. There’s not much there, so I check out another resource.
After two hours’ worth of work, I don’t know a whole lot more than I did when I began. She’s a private person who suffered a tragedy. It looks like she threw herself into her work, and I suspect she has some kind of vendetta against my family.
My father is pretty high-profile, though he does his best to keep his name out of the papers. I can’t imagine what specific story Sofia has been working on, but obviously it’s important to her. I don’t want to consider how heartless she must be to have used me the way she did, but I have a hard time not dwelling on it. She broke my heart and made me look like a fool.
Eventually, I realize I’m not going to learn anything more about her, so I close down the laptop and take a break. I go downstairs to help myself to a sandwich. It’s almost lunchtime, and I’m running on fumes.
Uncle Gio and my father are in the kitchen. There’s a lot we could say to each other, but I’m not in the mood. I almost turn around at the first sign of other people, but I force myself to continue. I grab a loaf of bread and the leftover chicken from two days ago. Slicing a tomato, I make myself a sandwich and I’m about to take it back upstairs with me when Gio stops me.