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"Yeah," I said, forcing a semblance of calm coolness into my voice. "I need a laptop. Something that can handle heavy-duty processing."
He nodded immediately, leading me towards a corner lined with all kinds of computer models. My mind filed away irrelevant details - the hum of the AC against my skin, the hushed murmurs from another corner of the store, Pete's overly enthusiastic sales pitch about the newest model with its sleek design and superior processing power. I only needed him to help because he had the keys to the cabinet where they kept the computers.
"All this one needs is a keyboard, mouse, and power supply, and you're good to go. It's got an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB hard drive," Pete was saying, holding up a sleek black laptop that probably cost more than he made in six months.
I didn't care about the price. "I'll take it," I told him. "And any external hard drives you've got. The ones with the highest storage capacity."
“How many?”
“As many as I’m allowed to buy at once.”
“Uh, five?”
“Sure. Five.”
He nodded again, hustling off to gather everything. I paid in cash, ignoring the way his eyebrows shot up when I handed over more money than most people saw in a year. He packed everything into a bag for me with hands that shook slightly.
"Here you are, sir," he stammered as he handed it over. "Enjoy."
I thanked him and left the store quickly, dropping the bag into the car where I would be working from. I called Grayson as the computer booted up.
"Gray," I said, without preamble. "Sofia called. They need us."
"Where are they?" I could tell he was already on the move from the noises in the background.
"Don't know yet," I replied, fingers flying over the keyboard as I started to run a trace on Sofia's call. "Working on it."
“Where are you?”
“Miami,” I said. “I flew here down the highway. Just needed to get some supplies.”
Grayson sighed. “You could’ve stolen a computer from the hospital.”
“I don’t want to throw a shitty hospital PC out of a window when I get frustrated with it," I retorted, half-joking. “Seriously. I need processing power to throw at the problem.”
“Okay. Will you know soon?”
“I’ll know something soon, yeah,” I said. “But don’t get your hopes up. It might be nothing. Sofia managed to call me, but…”
Grayson sighed. “It’s a lead. It’s better than no leads.”
“Right,” I said. “How are Teo and Sam?”
"Teo's knocked out. They gave him so much morphine. Sam is...he's not taking it well," Grayson's voice was strained, and I could easily imagine his worried scowl. “I’ll text you if anything happens. Keep me updated.”
"Will do," I answered, my hands still working diligently on the keyboard.
"And Jace?" Grayson's voice softened with concern. "Take care of yourself."
"I'm fine," I assured him, even though it was probably a lie. I could worry about it later, when Sofia was in my arms. As I hung up, I looked out at the cityscape swallowed by darkness, the bright lights a harsh contrast to the secrets that lurked within its depths.
My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts as I worked, each one more frantic and desperate than the last. The stakes were higher than they'd ever been before and time was not on our side. If anything happened to Sofia or Victor...
No, I refused to think like that. They were strong, they were survivors. And I was going to find them.
The downtown noise filtered into the car, a cacophony of sounds that faded away under the tap-tap-tapping of my fingers on the keyboard. My mind spun with algorithms and data codes, with IP addresses and geo-locations. The computer hummed under my touch, a sleek beast of metal and wires that was my only hope to find them.
"Come on," I murmured to myself, my gaze locked onto the screen as I watched the trace program do its thing. A map was slowly beginning to form in my head, a painfully abstract picture of phone lines and IP addresses.
