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“Need some help with that?” Ares stepped into the kitchen.

Ethan sent a quick text to Piper: Tango’s with me now. She passed her vet check. All’s well.

She sent back a string of emojis - praying hands, teary face, hearts, and dogs. Followed by: Thank you so much for letting me know. I’ll sleep better tonight.

Creed turned toward the coffee table. “Hey, I’m settin’ Tango’s tactical vest and collar over here. Good thing she had that collar on. Very interesting what we learned from it.”

Ethan tucked his hands under his arms and leaned against the door jamb. “Did you get a description of the attackers?”

“They were bundled up head to toe. But we learned some things,” Creed said. “Iniquus research was running through the public security cameras and comparing it to what Tango picked up on her camera. We use that for training to see how we can better protect our clients.”

“Of course,” Ethan said. “It struck me as odd they were all dressed in the same hoodie with such a standout design.”

“Someone in that group knows what they’re doing,” Jack called from the kitchen. “Are you telling him about the cloth on the hoodies?”

The men wandered into the dining room and sat down.

Ares handed out beers.

“Here’s the thing.” Gator piled his plate with fruit, cheese, and nuts. “They’re on the pubic footage, but the camera didn’t clock them as human.”

“What now?” Ethan signaled for Tango to lie down beside him.

“The cameras are tracking with AI,” Gator said. “The AI puts a little rectangle on each person it identifies. All of us on the bridge during the event—you, me, Jack—have a rectangle on us, and it follows where we go and can identify what we do. Tango, too. Guys in the hoodies? They’re on Tango’s video. They’re on the street video. But they weren’t registered by the AI. In effect, they were invisible to the system. It looked to the computer like Piper was fighting herself.”

“That ups the stakes in all of this, doesn’t it?” Ethan asked. “If it didn’t register the assailants, it didn’t recognize that a crime was happening and didn’t send word to emergency response. It looked like a van stopped and that’s it?”

“Not even,” Jack said. “It registered a red sedan as stopping. The sedan was behind the white van.”

“But …”

“It weren’t just the men the AI missed,” Gator said. “It didn’t read the license plate on the van. AI didn’t recognize that the van was a vehicle at all and didn’t track it.”

“But how?” Ethan asked.

“The researchers found a good still photograph on Tango’s collar. The people working through that question could see a sticker on the van’s license plate. It had tiny dots on it.” Jack grabbed a handful of carrots. “And it made the license visible to the naked eye, so no cop is going to stop them, but they could drive on down the road without being tracked like all the other vehicles driving next to them. Put the license into the computer, and it comes up null set.”

“And the hoodies?” Ethan asked.

“It’s a line of printed outerwear sold on the dark web that stumps the bot,” Jack said.

“I’m not a fan of the surveillance state watching my every move, but I’m of two minds here. I’m going to have to think about this.” Ethan looked at Jack. “Any chance Iniquus is going to change out their camo when functioning in an urban setting?”

“Good question,” Jack said. “I know that Research is taking their findings to Command. Maybe they even take it up with our ethics board.”

“When Ethics makes a decision, I wouldn’t mind hearing how they thought this one through.” Ethan took a swig from his bottle. “In the meantime, I’m on the books for a party tomorrow night at Alabaster,” Ethan said. “I hear you’re going to be there?”

“Jack and me are on the schedule for sure,” Gator said.

“Our drivers will bring our clients from their hotel,” Jack said. “Our protectees agree with the Harcourts that too many security providers around dampens the celebration. Our Iniquus drivers will stay with the limos in the parking lot. They’ll be on comms and can move in should we need them. In the meantime, Gator and I will be floating, covering our client as best we can.”

“Same with the Alabaster drivers. Tango and I are inside with a guy named Owen on the third floor. Jay will be in reception, checking invitations. I’m supposed to stay out of the way and patrol everything.”

“Those are interesting instructions,” Jack said. “After today, we’ll see if either group wants to change their security numbers. Let’s go back to the bridge. You came from seeing her at the hospital, right? Did Piper know why she was attacked?”

“The doctor came in. So I asked by text. She said she thought she was an easy target walking around like a newborn giraffe on the stupid Alabaster stylist’s shoes.”

“Do you think the same person who went after Amanda took a second swipe? Maybe a case of mistaken identity?” Jack asked.