Page 108 of Scored

CHAPTER 44

Vee

“What did you learn about the roses?” I asked Virginia.

“They were ordered through the floral relay network, as your assistant said. We have people at Stephens who can dig deeper.”

I took a seat at the conference table and Virginia did the same. “Are we talking the roses that were sent here, sent to my home, or sent to Crystal Light?”

“All of them. Whoever is sending them thinks they know how to be untraceable. They tried, but they’re not.”

“Whoever,” I repeated. “You don’t know who?”

“We don’t, but we’re closer. I wanted to share what we’ve learned so far.”

“Okay.” My pulse kicked up.

Virginia inhaled. “Like I said, all the orders came through the floral relay network. The sender entered an email address on all the orders. That address led us to a service called Proton. It provides random email aliases.”

I shook my head. “This doesn’t mean much to me.” I thought of the keynote speech on the Innovative Summit I passed on to Grant. Maybe I should ask him to sit in on this.

“Basically, the sender did their best to hide their identity.”

“Isn’t there a way to track IP addresses?”

“Yes, but the IP address is a geolocator. It doesn’t identify the person, only where they are located. And to avoid that, people use a VPN. The sender had a VPN.”

I nodded. “I know what that is. Dad had one so he could record and watch other teams’ games that weren’t broadcast in this area.”

“Exactly. It tells others that you’re somewhere you aren’t. So, by using the VPN, the IP address is erroneous.”

“You don’t know where the person was sending them from.”

“We do,” she said. “Our people were able to crack the VPN. While the roses appeared to be sent from Bowling Green⁠—”

“Bowling Green?” I interrupted, my stomach dropping. “The Clarks…” Preston and his father were in Bowling Green.

Virginia shook her head. “That’s where they want you to think they’re from. They weren’t. They were sent from Northern California, East Bay.”

My mind was rapidly searching. “I don’t know anyone from near San Francisco who would send me roses.”

“Our people are working to determine the internet provider. Once we do, we can work to discover the identity.”

“Internet providers don’t just give out that information.”

Virginia smiled. “Vee, you’re paying a great deal for our service. We have our ways.”

I remembered Fin encouraging me to contact the security company Uncle Darin used, saying that because they were paid, they’d work harder and faster than law enforcement.

Jen knocked on the door.

We both turned her direction as she entered.

“I have your salad.”

“Thank you.”

Jen brought it to the table with a napkin and silverware. I looked at the container and to Virginia. “Do you mind if I eat?”