Page 69 of Mountain Shadow

Before Jens could open his mouth, Gael thanked the attendant for his time and steered him away.

Jens looked at his watch. It was almost midnight.

Sarah and Kat had been gone for hours.

By the time morning comes, they could be anywhere.

“Let’s hope the owners live upstairs,” Gael said.

Jens grunted. If there was a chance their cameras had caught the kidnapper, Jens was willing to turn the entire valley upside down to find them.

Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary. Fifteen minutes later, they found themselves face to face with the grumpy, sleepy-looking restaurant owner. The man wrapped a frayed checkered bathrobe tightly around his wide middle.

“Yes, we installed cameras last year. After you people failed to find out who robbed us,” the man complained, baring yellow teeth.

Jens clenched his teeth and let Gael do the talking, focusing his stare on the man’s checkered robe. He forced himself to take a step back to Gael’s good cop routine.

“Thank you for answering our questions, Monsieur Raff. We wouldn’t have bothered you at this time if it wasn’t an emergency.” Gael lowered his voice to a loud whisper. “Two young women are missing, and your surveillance system might be the key to finding them.”

The restaurant owner fairly puffed out in pride. “I have three cameras: one up front, by the parking lot, one on top of the door, and one by the back.”

He led them eagerly to a small back room, barely larger than a closet, and pointed at an ancient-looking screen setup.

Please let them work.

“How long are the recordings kept?”

“Seven days,” the restaurant owner said proudly. He looked like he wanted to stay, but Gael shook the man’s hand firmly, at the same time escorting the man towards the door.

“Thank you for your collaboration, Monsieur Raff,” Gael said. He lowered his voice dramatically. “You can expect to receive a call from Colonel Pelegrin tomorrow to thank you personally. Do not worry, we will close after ourselves when we’re done.”

Moments later, Gael was back. He’d successfully managed to get rid of the restaurant owner.

“It looks pretty self-explanatory, but maybe we should get Alex here?”

Jens shook his head grimly. “We’re not wasting a single minute.” The system was basic—a dial to rewind and fast forward, a large button for play and a smaller button for pause.

He turned the dial carefully, watching as the clock in the corner went back until it hit one p.m.

“Let’s start here.” His heart beat hard against his chest as he turned the dial in the other direction, moving slower this time.

We’re not even sure what we’re looking for.

Though multiple cars came and went during the lunch hour, by two p.m. the lot was nearly empty. For a long time, nothing happened. If not for the time moving forward, one might have thought the camera wasn’t working.

Then a nondescript, dark sedan drove past the restaurant. It was there and gone in a matter of seconds. Jens looked at the time. Three twenty-five.

His heart hammering, Jens moved the dial back to watch it again.

“Male driver,” Gael noted impassively. “A big man.”

“He’s wearing a sports hat.”

Just like the man who broke into Sarah’s London apartment.

Jens knew better than to assume they’d found their kidnapper but, for the first time in the last hours, they at least had something to go on.

The image was grainy, and the camera wasn’t set up right to make out the license plate. Jens took a picture with his cell phone.