Shane looked angry, determined. Mercy was family to him and Emme, they all were. Emme was on the phone in the background, her voice low as she tried to get as much information as she could from her contacts. “Imari, you have to find Mercy. Can you ping her phone?”
James didn’t expect much from it, which Imari confirmed.
“They ditched it a couple of streets down, before we were able to get a clear direction of where they were going.” The curse coming from Shane echoed exactly how James felt. Imari kept her cool. “If it helps, I’ve launched a small tool of mine, one I intended to beta test first, but as this is an emergency, I’ve decided to start it now. I’ve implemented software that connects with every camera, every possible feed, as well as every photo on the Web. I’ve uploaded Mercy’s data and I’m waiting for the results. I’ve done the same for Abbie, using the pictures you sent me, James, but I doubt it will work for her as she’s only a baby. Facial recognition isn’t as powerful with children. Not yet.”
All James wanted to do was take the laptop and throw it against the wall, but he knew that everything took time, and it wasn’t Imari’s fault. “How long until you get any information from that?”
With a sigh, the hacker looked at Alex before turning to the camera again. “I’ve kept it local, only Florida and adjacent states. It’s only been a few hours since the abduction, so they can’t be far. The software is also checking toll cameras, so that will give us an edge, I hope. I don’t want to overburden the program, but as soon as it starts giving us information, I’ll upload what we have on Rao and Hull. If they’re linked in any way, it will confirm it.”
James shook his head. “That’s a big if. We can’t rely only on Imari’s program.”
Emme came back to sit beside Shane. “I totally agree, but so far, apart from reaching out to everyone we trust for additional eyes, we’ll have to go the usual route which is digging through Hull’s and Rao’s personal data. It will be all hands on deck for that one.”
Time was sifting through his fingers, and he knew that they were running out of it. James ran his hands through his hair, trying to find an idea, any idea to speed things up.
“Oh my…”
Imari’s voice was so soft, so polite, James thought he’d imagined it. Her dark eyes were on a side screen, Alex all but perched over her shoulder. The intensity on his face was undeniable.
Feeling about to crack, James leaned forward. “What?”
Imari didn’t answer and instead typed a few keys until a new window appeared on the screen. Mercy’s beautiful face came up. It was a body shot of her, lying on a concrete floor. The lighting was terrible. Her eyes were closed, and blood trailed from her head and stained her top—the same top she’d on earlier. Close to losing it, James refused to believe she was dead.
“Where did you get that?” James snapped at the hacker and didn’t care.
“An attachment in an email sent to an unsecured account. My program recognized Mercy from it. I’m trying to decode the message.”
James wanted to yell at the woman, order her to go faster, but instead, focused on the fact they were a step closer to getting to Mercy. Behind him, Nick had stopped pacing, his eyes now glued on the screen.
Imari’s face turned to stone, and Alex cursed loudly. “Shit, man. Whoever has her, they’re trying to sell her. The coding is sketchy, but I can see different amounts of money—like bids. The recipient of the email is the buyer. The email was sent an hour ago.”
He didn’t think it was possible to feel angrier than he did now. James wanted blood, and he didn’t care about justice anymore. Whoever had Mercy and Abbie would pay with their lives, and it wouldn’t be a quick death.
Imari was breathing hard now over the phone. “The buyer is using a pseudonym I can’t crack, but he’s driving from Miami to Daytona tonight, so that means Mercy is in Daytona still.”
Shane nodded. “Good work, Imari, but we need an address.”
Ready to spring into action, James stood, Nick by his side, waiting for Imari to say the word.
“You’ll need backup, guys. Kingsley is on his way back from the hospital, but even with the three of you, the odds aren’t good.”
James shook his head. “Don’t ask me to wait, Shane. We can’t be sure Mercy’s life isn’t on the line as we speak.”
His boss understood but looked grim. “You won’t have backup, so make sure you’re prepared for that.”
James was prepared for anything. He would get Mercy out alive, and together, they’d rescue Abbie. That was the end of it.
Imari gave a ragged breath before looking at the screen with eyes dark as night and shining with success. “Industrial site on Granada Street. I’ve logged the address in your GPS. You’re thirty minutes out, James. Go and save Mercy.”
Chapter Seventeen
“We have to find a way inside. Now!” James wasn’t surprised when Nick didn’t answer him. His friend was driving and searching for an opening as badly as he was. When they arrived at the industrial site, the area was much bigger than he expected. Surrounded by high fencing with barbed wire, it contained a big warehouse as well as freight trailers lined up.
Not only did they have to find an access point, but also where they were keeping Mercy. The main gate was closed when they arrived and, after driving around the area, they found two other entrances, one that hadn’t been used in years, another that was inaccessible.
The other option was to cut through the chain link, but that would take way too much time. James was fighting between logic and that burning gut feeling, telling him that time wasn’t on their side.
“I know, James. There are still people around, but I can’t tell if they’re employees or not. We’ll be outgunned if they’re on the wrong side of the law. Also, we don’t know if Mercy will be able to walk.”
James remembered too well the blood on her skin and soaking her shirt, but he refused to see her in any way other than alive and well. It was the only way he wouldn’t lose his mind.
“Imari is probably capable of taking control of the camera system. That we can ask. But how do we go through the gate?”
James considered their options. “If Imari can disable the cameras, can she unlock the gate?”
Nick didn’t answer and parked in a nearby street, staying under the radar as much as possible as James made a quick call and their hacker answered at the first ring.
“Have you found Mercy yet?”
“We’re at the spot, but we need help to get in.”
“Like disabling the cameras?”
A brilliant and quick-thinking woman.
“Yes, and can you find a way to unlock the front gate?”
A feminine chuckle came through the line. “You don’t ask for much.”
Nick leaned in. “And as a bonus, can you find a way to cause some sort of diversion if you have a minute more? We left our bazooka at home.”
Imari didn’t answer him, probably poring over her computers. “The cameras are a given, the gate I can arrange, the trouble with the diversion is that I don’t see what I can do to get everyone one… unless…”