“Same,” Slash said. “Got a sec?”
“Of course.”
Slash eased into the guest chair. “Are you ready for Saturday?”
Danielle smiled. “Ready? No, but super excited. I can’t wait to finally marry Cooper. Your dress is good, right?”
“It’s perfect,” Slash replied. “I need help accessing surveillance cameras near Jericho Road.”
As she explained who she was looking for, Danielle hopped online. Danielle Fox was one of the best hackers Slash had ever known. Even though Danielle was an ALPHA Op, everyone went to her for hacking help.
In minutes, she’d accessed several traffic cams in the vicinity.
“What date did this happen?” Danielle asked.
Slash gave her the day and time. Minutes later, Slash watched Greg mosey toward a nearby strip mall, then disappear inside the grocery store.
“What the hell,” Slash said. “He’s slippery.”
“I have a meeting in the conference room.” Danielle showed Slash how to toggle between cameras. “He’s got to come back out.”
“Thanks,” Slash said as Danielle left her office.
Slash sat there staring at the surveillance. Five minutes turned into ten, turned into twenty. Greg never walked back outside. The longer Slash watched that damn video, the angrier she got. After fast forwarding an entire hour of video surveillance, she concluded that either he’d exited out the loading dock or he’d walked out looking like a completely different person.
Her blood pressure was through the roof when Danielle returned.
“No progress?” Danielle asked.
“I didn’t see him come out, which means he left out the loading dock or he changed up his look in the store.”
Danielle jumped online, her fingers flying over the keys. Slash watched in awe as Danielle tried accessing the grocery store’s loading dock cameras.
“There are two cameras out back,” Danielle said, “but I can’t get past the firewall on either. The cameras in the parking lot are operated by the shopping center’s property manager, but these two are run by the grocery store. I’ll work on it some more and send you a link if I can access it.”
“Can you send me the link of what I’ve been watching so I can review it again later?” Slash asked.
Danielle sent it over.
“I feel like I’ve been chasing the damn wind with this guy,” Slash said. “Thanks for your help.”
“Anytime,” Danielle replied. “See you Friday for the rehearsal dinner.”
As Slash slogged through rush-hour traffic, she called Jilly back.
“Hey,” Jilly answered. “Any chance we could get together? I want to show you something.”
“I’m staying with a friend. Come by and have dinner with us.”
“I don’t feel like socializing.”
“Are you okay? Did that guy from the club contact you?”
“I’ll be okay, and no, I haven’t seen him.”
“I want you to meet the woman who took me in after I ran away.”
“Okay. I’ll meet her, talk to you, then bolt,” Jilly said.
