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I do as he requests and go to Seer’s office to find his laptop. When I come back, I have to ask him something so I can keep my brain occupied with any other image than Melissa’s lifeless body.
“How could they send that email to us?” I ask. “You said once that our email was on an encrypted server and only we had access.”
Snake sighs heavily, fully over my shit, but I don’t care. There’s absolutely nothing I can do right now but be miserable, and damn if I’m not going to drag everyone down with me.
“That’s true,” he says patiently. “Good memory. Unfortunately, they’ve infiltrated the whole system. They’ve got access to everything, they’ve even implanted a malware that let them see what I was working on. That’s probably how they tipped off those guys.”
I nod, though it doesn’t really make any sense to me.
“So they can see what you’re doing now?” I ask, thinking this is all pointless if they can see our every move.
“No,” he answers firmly, shaking his head. “I’m still looking for the leak, but I’ve set up a dummy dashboard. They’ll see us replaying the video they sent, but nothing else. Until I can get the hole plugged, it’s the best I can do.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “I know it’s your job or whatever, but I do really appreciate your help.”
“Are you kidding?” he asks, finally turning to look at me. “Bones, you’re in love. The bonafide bachelor has fallen, this is history in the making. There was no way I was going to miss this.”
I punch him in the arm, but I can’t help but smile. The jig is up, everyone knew about my feelings before I did. There’s no point in hiding them now. All that matters is making sure I get her back.
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
If Mayor Prudent looked disheveled this morning, he looks like a terminally ill patient now. His skin is a light shade of gray, though he’s shaved since I last saw him, and he’s put on a freshly pressed suit. This has to be one of the worst moments of his entire life.
“I’m glad you’re here, Seer,” he says, his tone slightly hysterical. “You must have seen the news.”
I’m confused as I follow him inside his mansion. It’s a new build, one the city purchased shortly before he came into office. The atmosphere is light and airy, completely contradictory to how the man looks.
“I haven’t seen the news,” I admit. “What’s happened?”
He walks me into a large, open living room where a huge television has the news playing with the sound off. There’s an image of Melissa on the screen, not dissimilar to the one I received earlier. She’s holding the newspaper in her hand and there’s fear in her eyes. The caption underneath reads, “Breaking News: Mayor Prudent’s daughter kidnapped, Mayor blackmailed into resigning.”
“They’ve been playing it on a loop for the last twenty minutes,” he tells me, his voice barely above a whisper. “My baby is terrified, and she just wants to come home.”
His voice breaks again, and I put a hand on his shoulder to show my silent support. I’m not sure what else to do, truthfully. I’ve come to tell him he should resign, to take away the hope that we can bring her back safely without any physical harm coming to her. The screen changes and Davis Thompson is now standing outside of City Hall, talking to a group of reporters.
“Turn it up,” I tell him, curious to hear how this asshole can make this situation about him.
With a dissatisfied sigh, Mayor Prudent picks up the remote and unmutes the television.
“Obviously, my heart goes out to the Prudent family,” he says in an overdramatic, haughty tone. “This is a man who’s fought for the safety of this city, and some ruthless gangbangers have decided to test the limits of his new policies. To take someone’s child, that’s just reprehensible.”
He pauses while someone offscreen asks a question. He’s lapping it up, enjoying his time in the limelight. What’s better for the opposition than for the seated mayor to be blackmailed into quitting? If Mayor Prudent drops out of the election, Davis will be the favorite to win.
“No, I didn’t know Mayor Prudent had a daughter either,” he says in response to the reporter’s question. “They’ve kept her hidden for a reason during his term, and this exploitation just disgusts me. How low are people willing to stoop to blackmail those in power? It almost makes me think of resigning in protest.”
Mayor Prudent mutes the TV again and throws the remote against a far wall. Davis is still talking, still showing what a caring and supportive opponent he is. It’s truly amazing to me that he’s called a press conference to discuss a situation that has nothing to do with him. My instinct about him was right, he’s a bastard through and through.
“This is what I’m leaving the city to,” Mayor Prudent grunts. “He’s a smarmy little twerp with no real-life political experience. The people just like him because he’s young and attractive, but he’s going to run this city into the ground.”
I nod in agreement, but the truth hangs heavy between us. He’s going to resign. He’s going to let the bastards win.
“Have you already called the press?” I ask him, noticing how quiet the house is. It seems that, again, he’s all alone and dealing with this by himself.
“They’ll be here in half an hour,” he confirms. “I’ve already signed the document, I’m just waiting on my secretary to come notarize it. I’m not going to let them hurt my daughter.” He turns to me with a solemn look on his face. “And I suppose your presence means that you aren’t able to help me.”
I shake my head once, the guilt nearly swallowing me. Maybe if I had more time, I could make this right for him. Snake would plug the leak in our security and track down the hacker. We’d figure out where Melissa is. We’d have time to coordinate and plan a surprise attack so well-executed that they wouldn’t be able to hurt her because we’d be too fast.
But I have thirty minutes before he resigns, and that’s not enough time. Not when we’ve been working all day to find her, only to receive the video of her telling us to stop. I won’t let her be a casualty of my arrogance. I’m not going to put this girl in harm’s way just so I can prove to the mayor that we’re the best at what we do.
