Nick fully intended to walk away from Viktor Bakos.

He had switched the money purely as a defensive measure. He hoped Bakos appreciated that.

When the battered body of Scott Alexander, the Mayor's assistant, was found, Nick realized he had not thought out the full ramifications of the cash switch.

He remembered Alexander as being listed in the Bakos papers he had copied. He retrieved them now and leafed through the pile.

He found the record he was looking for and with it, two photos of a man receiving a thick envelope from another person. The receiver was Scott Alexander, the donor was anonymous. The paper listed dates, and amounts that had been paid to Alexander along with the services he had rendered for the cash.

Nick put it all away and went for a walk. He needed to think.

~~~

Over the next few days, Amanda was slowly building profiles of the dozen respondents to her email. She noted their browsing habits, the time of day they were typically online, and how and with whom they shared files, pictures, and facebook posts.

The profiles then became story lines she would use to craft individual approaches to her real targets, the employees of BDC; Bakos Development Corp.

~~~

Tracy had confirmed that the phishing link had loaded a virus on June's laptop. She was puzzled that it took no overt action. The virus seemed to be content to lurk in the background and monitor usage. She was puzzled as to what the hacker was looking for on a teenage girl's computer. She searched the National Anti-hacking Group database looking for reports or patterns that might shed light on the curious activity.

Two NAG reports seemed to fit the circumstance. She printed both and took them to her boss.

~~~

The Snake felt the truck hijackers could be someone on Viktor's payroll. He knew the businessman had extensive files on his 'collaborators'. If someone was holding incriminating evidence against him, The Snake reasoned, he would take steps to get it back. It just made sense to him.

Bakos countered if that were the case, why did they return the records?

"Have you looked at the documents since you got them back? Maybe he only took his and left the rest to throw you off?"

Viktor did not trust anyone, especially The Snake, to do that for him. He closed himself off in his office and wasted a few days reviewing the sordid history of his business practices.

~~~

Nick realized that Amanda was right about at least one thing. Bakos should not be allowed to get away with his recent activity. He disagreed that they should be the instruments of that reckoning. He checked that the homicide team working the Alexander case did not appear to be on Viktor's payroll then sent them an anonymous tip detailing the dates of the payoffs and the services Alexander had provided. He did not mention Bakos. They could work that out for themselves.