A male student from Holy Cross College in Massachusetts was missing, and a close friend of his had been found murdered on campus. Francis Deegan’s physical resemblance to Benjamin Coffey, the student kidnapped in Newport, led many of us to believe that he had been selected as a replacement for Coffey, who was feared dead.

“I want to get approval for a reward, maybe half a million,” said Jack Arnold, who ran BAU-east. No one commented on the proposal. Several agents went on making notes or using their laptops. Actually, it was dispiriting.

“I think I have something,” I finally said from the back of the room.

Stacy Pollack looked my way. A few heads popped up, reacting to the break in the group’s silence more than anything. I rose at my seat.

The FNG had the floor. I introduced Monnie, just to be cute. Then I told them about the Wolf’s Den and our meeting with fourteen-year-old Lili Olsen. I also mentioned the Wolf, who, according to Monnie’s findings, might have been a Russian gangster by the name of Pasha Sorokin. His pedigree was hard to trace, especially before he moved out of the USSR. “If we can get inside the Den somehow, I think we’ll find out something about the missing women. In the meantime, I think we need to put more heat on some of the sites already identified by Innocent Images. It seems logical that the pervs using the Wolf’s Den might visit porn sites too. We need help. If the Wolf turns out to be Pasha Sorokin, we’ll need a lot of help.”

Stacy Pollack was interested. She led a discussion in which both Monnie and I were given the third degree. It was clear that we threatened some of the other agents in the room. Then Pollack made a decision.

“You can have resources,” she said. “We’ll watch the porn sites twenty-four/seven. Thing is, we have nothing better at this point. I want our Russian group out of New York on this too. I can’t quite believe Pasha Sorokin would be personally involved in this, but if he is, it’s huge. We’ve been interested in Sorokin for six years! We’re very interested in the Wolf.”

Chapter 68

Chapter 68

DURING THE NEXT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, more than thirty agents were assigned to surveillance of fourteen different porn sites and chat rooms. It had to be one of the most lurid “stakeouts” ever. We didn’t know exactly who we were looking for—other than anyone who happened to mention a site called the Wolf’s Den, or possibly the Wolf. In the meantime, Monnie and I were gathering all the information we could about the Red Mafiya and especially about Pasha Sorokin.