Her reaction was the same as his had been. “I’m saying that’s what Richard Fischer entered into his database. He also has Blake Emerson owning a company called Liberation Junction Mining Industries, located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.”

“LJM,” Dani whispered.

“Exactly,” he said grimly. “I ran a background check on Blake Emerson. On the surface, he looks legit, but if you dig deeper, it’s suspicious. Liberation Junction Mining is a real company, incorporated in Michigan. Blake Emerson’s listed as the president of the company, which does have a website and a phone number, but calls go to voice mail with a generic ‘Please leave a message’ greeting. The company has an address in Houghton, Michigan, which is where many of the copper mines are located, but the address is that of an abandoned mine site.”

She shook her head, still dazed by the revelation that Wesley Masterson had tried to buy Joshua. “So the mining company doesn’t really exist?”

“It doesn’t appear to have a physical location. It does, however, have cash assets. You remember the bank statement that John Brewer received before his disappearance?”

“Yes. It showed LJM’s account balance with a handwritten message basically saying that the company had the funds and that Brewer should turn over the title to his house, which he then did, right?”

Diesel nodded. “Right. Richard had the bank statement attached to Blake Emerson’s name. Emerson—or Wesley Masterson—offered up Liberation Junction Mining as his source of income, but gave Richard a bank statement for LJM, an entirely different entity, incorporated here in Ohio.”

“If Richard had dissected LJM like we did, he would have seen the same clues. He would have known someone was trying to avenge Laurel Masterson.”

Diesel shrugged. “I think all he looked at was LJM’s bank balance, because Blake Emerson has a checkmark in the ‘approved’ column next to his name. If he had dug even a little deeper, he would have been suspicious of Emerson.”

“But why would Wesley Masterson fake an identity like that?” Dani asked, then blinked. “Wait. Was Laurel one of the women Richard sold?”

He nodded. “I found her listed under ‘offers,’ with a date of September of a year and a half ago. It fits with when she abruptly withdrew from med school.”

Dani was frowning thoughtfully. “Wesley Masterson is a narcotics detective. He spent two years undercover, even got a commendation for his work. He’d know how to fake an identity.”

Diesel blinked, surprised. He’d forgotten that Masterson was Narcotics. “Either he’d know or he’d have resources that could do it. Are you thinking that he infiltrated Richard’s secret poker game because he was investigating his sister’s disappearance?”

Her eyes had brightened. “It’s possible, isn’t it?”