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“I didn’t want to interrupt your moment, but daylight is burning here, people.” Zayn claps his hands and strides down the street as though he even knows where he’s going.
Fucking jackass.
“Again,” Zeke shouts, crossing his arms over his chest as he stands in front of the car.
“What?” Zayn asks. He jerks to a stop and turns on his brother with an incredulous look.
“You interrupted us again, Zayn,” Zeke sighs.
“I’m not going to be a pawn in whatever pissing match the two of you have going on right now,” I huff out in exasperation. “You two need to work out your shit later. Now we need to do what we came here for.”
I glance around, a shiver of unease running up my spine as I look at the surrounding buildings. Anyone could have followed us. The killer might even have someone watching the scene in case anyone else comes to investigate.
“And get over here, jackass,” I snap, my hands poised over my weapons. The need to protect my mate has anxious tension radiating through me.
“Jackass?” Zayn asks. Thankfully he doesn’t argue, his eyes drifting to where my hands rest before trotting back over to join Zeke and me.
“Looks like you got a nickname,” Zeke scoffs. I can’t tell if the sound is amusement or annoyance as he pulls his gun out from his jacket, keeping it low and out of sight from the few humans who walk past us. “Just stay close.”
I’mnotsurewhatI thought we’d find, but there isn’t anything out of the ordinary so far. We scoped out the spot where Zeke was placed first, before locating the roof the killer must have been perched on. I idly kick the pebbles lining the roof as I sweep it for any clues, anything that might’ve been dropped by the killer. So far, we’ve found nothing.
My chest tightens, and I swallow down the feeling of helplessness that bubbles up, my irritation growing with each second.
Zeke takes note of the visible cameras in the area and cross-references them with the notes he has on his phone. He kept track of each of the cameras he had his hacker put on a loop. So far, we haven’t found any he’s missed.
Zayn searches the ground with me, intently sifting through every piece of stone to make sure he hasn’t missed anything. I don’t like that he snuck into the car this morning, but I must admit that he is helping.
I’m honestly starting to think this is pointless. I glance up at the afternoon sky, shielding my eyes from the glare. The sun beats down on my arm, my jacket long since forgotten on the edge of the building. It might be almost fall, but you wouldn’t guess that by the unseasonable heat.
Scanning the building behind us, I look into the windows, longing for the air conditioning no doubt blasting through their vents. I would even be fine with a cold glass of water right now. My mouth is dry and scratchy, causing the movement of my tongue to feel like sandpaper is rubbing against my throat.
I’m about to suggest we call it a day, my heart already sinking with disappointment, when my eyes lock on something.
The lens is so small at this distance, almost imperceptible, but I have no doubt in my mind that it’s a camera. It isn’t an exterior one, it’s inside one of the apartments, aimed to catch the inside of the apartment in case someone breaks in. Maybe, just maybe …
“Zeke,” I call out, not daring to take my eyes off the small device. My pulse pounds, and needles buzz through my limbs like a jolt of electricity.
“Did you find something?” Zeke asks, coming up on my right.
“There,” I point to the apartment, squinting as though I can make him see through my eyes.
“What are we looking at?” Zayn asks, coming up on my other side.
“There’s a camera inside that apartment,” I explain. “It’s inside, and it’s pretty far, but it might’ve caught something unless you spotted it before.”
“It’s possible,” he says as he pulls out his phone, taking a picture of the window so we can find it again. “The curtains would’ve had to be open that night, but there’s a chance it could’ve caught a glimpse of whoever was up here.”
“Seems like the best chance we have,” Zayn admits. “We really aren’t finding much of anything here.”
“But how do we get the footage from it?” I sigh and turn to Zeke. “It’s not like we can go up there and ask to see it.”
“The footage from cameras like that are usually stored on a cloud service, but I’m not sure how we would be able to access it,” Zeke says. He scrolls through his phone and accesses his notes. “I don’t have this one on my list, which makes sense. With the angle that it’s on, it wouldn’t have caught me, but if those windows were open, it would’ve caught anyone who was up on the rooftop.”
“I think I know someone who can help us.” I pull out my phone, an ember of hope flickering to life as I hit Jasper’s contact. He might be the only one who can help us now.
“Ishouldbeableto get you into their cloud account,” Jasper says as he peers through the window. “I’ll have to go into the building to pick up the signal, but that won’t be an issue.”
“Thank you.” I sigh with the weight being lifted off my chest.
