THE GUARDIAN (Taskforce Series) by Marliss Melton Read Free Book Online

was serving time for, that would shed light on his reluctance to have his picture circulating. Opening a new tab on her browser, she typed in the URL for the National Crime Information Center . A friend at the DA’s office had provided her his log in and password information so she could have access. She typed in Abdul’s name and pasted his image into the facial recognition pane, hitting the search button. The program would scan all twelve Persons Files on the NCIC, saving her hours of research, and bring up his criminal history.
    Her pulse thrummed as she waited. What if Abdul’s crime was reprehensible? What would that make her for finding an ex-con so appealing?
    After several long minutes, the words NO MATCH flashed onto the screen, baffling her. Lena scratched her head. How could there be no match if he was a convicted felon? He would have to have seriously altered his appearance for the program not to identify him.
    Curious to see what results Davis ’s image yielded, she followed the same procedures with his photo, using his conversion name, Sulayman, and received immediate feedback: Rupert D. Davis (aka Sulayman Ibn Surad). Former D.C. Metropolitan Police officer convicted of trafficking marijuana and cocaine. Sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Served eight years at Arlington County Corrections. Paroled July, 2012.
    “That’s odd.” Why would Davis ’s face be recognized and not Abdul’s?
    Curiosity nipped at Lena , prompting her to expand her search outside of the NCIC to include celebrities and professional athletes who’d gone to jail, since he struck her as someone who could have been either. But armed with just his first name, and with no facial recognition program of her own to use, her search proved random and inefficient .
    By now, the open window formed a dark rectangle against the white wall. Throwing up her hands in frustration, Lena decided to enlist Peter’s help. If anyone could identify an unknown person, it was the founder and CEO of Crime and Liberty .
    She sent him an email from her Google account, attaching Abdul’s photo and a concise request that concealed her underlying fascination with the man .
    When the email bounced right back, she sat back, thought for a moment, and sent the picture to Peter’s Google mail, which he used for personal correspondence.
    Then, rubbing her heavy eyelids, Lena saved the pictures on her laptop. Tomorrow she would offload the contents of her pendant. Since it could hold up to two hours of recorded video, there wasn’t any rush. Tonight she needed to catch up on her sleep.
    Powering down her laptop, she climbed into bed and covered herself with just a sheet. The photo by her bed caught her eye as light from a passing car briefly illumined Alexa’s sweet visage. The air wafting through the open window smelled of the small white berries on the shrubs outside. Odd, Alexa used to own a bottle of perfume that smelled like that.
    “No bad dreams tonight,” Lena told herself .
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    “What’s the plan, Pops?” Jackson demanded, speaking directly into his cell phone as a late-afternoon thunderstorm rumbled in the direction of the river and rustled the leaves on the trees overhead. His heart still thudded from his jog into the darkening forest.
    Over forty-eight hours had passed since Lena Alexandra had snapped his pictures and twenty-eight hours since she’d invited the men to visit her while she worked. Not only had she insinuated herself locally but word of her had spread among the parolees, so that the majority had made plans to accept her invitation to come visit her, tonight after Friday worship. “We’re not letting this chick stay here, are we?”
    “It’s a wait-and-see situation,” Ike replied.
    There had to be something more they could do besides sabotage Crime and Liberty ’s servers. “Have you found out her phone number yet?”
    “I did, but she’s not carrying her regular cell.”
    Obviously, the woman had