Black Flagged Redux

Chapter 40





8:32 AM

FBI Headquarters

Washington, D.C.

Frederick Shelby pressed the blinking red button on his office phone. "Agent Sharpe, good to hear from you. Things are shaping up nicely on my end. Nothing I can share with you at the moment, I'm afraid. Margaret said this was important?" he said.

"Very important. I just received several digital photos from our legal attaché in Argentina. The photos confirm that Daniel and Jessica Petrovich are living in Buenos Aires," Sharpe said.

"These are recent photos?"

"The Petroviches went by the names Dario and Natalia Russo. Ten Serbians were found massacred in their high-rise condominium. Jessica managed to escape the carnage. We don't think Daniel was in town at the time of the attack."

"Who attacked whom?"

"That's unclear at the moment, though I'd put my money on the Serbians attacking Jessica."

"She killed ten men by herself?"

"No. She had help. I have a picture of her being escorted out of the building by Jeffrey Munoz."

"Sweet lord. This seals it," the director said.

"That's what I thought," Sharpe said.

"Keep this quiet for now. In a few days, it won't matter. The last thing we need right now is for Daniel's picture to be linked to this mess. Interpol will attach a red flag to Russo's passport, and I guarantee Sanderson will be notified. We don't want to give Sanderson any reason to pack up and vanish. I'll handle the legal attaché in Buenos Aires."

"Understood. We'll keep digging into the finances. You should already have an email from me, with the Legat's assessment and the pictures."

"Thank you, Ryan. This will help ease some minds on Capitol Hill. I'll be in touch," he said and hung up the phone.

Frederick Shelby immediately opened the pictures, which filled his screen.

"Christ, that's a lunch killer," he said, minimizing the image of Josif Hadzic's suspended body.