Page 32 of The Dancer and the Dark
Gavin’s eyes swung toward her. “Explain.”
“She wasn’t working on anything dangerous; I would have told you and Audra,” Tenzin said. “But she’s my personal assistant. She has access to large amounts of money and private information for both Ben and me.”
“Have you checked your accounts?”
“As soon as I heard. Nothing stands out, but…” Tenzin shrugged. “It could have been either of us.”
“If I’d been open about our relationship, she wouldn’t have been taken.”
Raj said, “Boss, you don’t know that.”
Gavin glared at him. “Have any of our other human employees been targeted?”
Raj sighed. “No one would dare.”
“Exactly.”
Giovanni spoke loudly. “Blame is pointless right now. We need to find her.” He turned to Beatrice. “Where are we on traffic cameras and other surveillance footage?”
Beatrice turned to a wall of monitors that had been mounted next to a row of bookcases. “Cara, display on.”
The monitors all came to life, showing a series of what looked like low-resolution security-camera footage from low angles. Addresses crawled across the bottom of each screen in dull white letters.
“I hacked into the most common security system used in the area and found dozens of doorbell cameras in that neighborhood. Their firewalls are ridiculous.”
Cars slipped along the residential streets joined by the occasional pedestrian, half a dozen cats, and a stray dog. A few bicycles were visible going from one frame to the next.
“This camera” —Beatrice pointed to the top right corner— “is directly across the street from the house that backs up to the Reardons’. They didn’t go out the front, so if they had Chloe tranquilized and needed to get her into a car, they would have gone through the back of one of these houses on the street north of the Reardons’. Probably had a van waiting.”
“A van would stand out,” Gavin muttered. “In that neighborhood, you wouldn’t see a van unless it looked like a work truck. She’s tranquilized, they could have put her in any vehicle and she would look like she was sleeping.”
“Good point,” Beatrice said. “Cara, rewind footage to start at three thirty this afternoon.”
Gavin kept his eyes trained on the corner monitor. A few cars drove by, but none stopped.
“Cara, forward at two times speed,” Beatrice said. “Cara, stop!”
A dark SUV pulled up to the house just before four o’clock, and two figures slipped out. Both were male, one was white and the other black. They were wearing casual dress clothes that looked like European labels with thick-soled black combat boots. The white man had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.
Raj sidled up to Gavin. “The French speakers?”
“Possibly.”
“I can’t tell what kind of car that is,” Ben said.
“Range Rover, maybe?” Raj offered. “Land Cruiser. Could be a lower-end model too. Can’t read the plate.”
Beatrice spoke again. “Cara, forward at two times speed.”
Gavin spotted movement just before five o’clock. “Cara, stop!”
The two men had returned, carrying Chloe between them. To anyone walking by, they would have looked like two men supporting an injured woman. They opened the back door of the SUV and carefully placed her inside.
“Did they put a seat belt on her?” Raj narrowed his eyes. “They were careful, boss. They didn’t want her hurt.”
“Remind me to thank them when we meet.” Gavin kept his eyes trained on the monitors, watching as the SUV pulled away. “There!” He pointed to the middle monitor on the bottom row. “It shows up there next.”
Ben was standing over a map. “Got the address. It’s two blocks from the first location, going west.”
