Page 136 of Stolen Ones
‘Not quite, boss – we’re just a mile or two away.’
‘Is Grace okay?’
‘Fine at the minute, boss. How far out are you?’
‘About ten minutes. Less if Bryant would—’
‘Hang on, boss,’ Stacey said urgently.
‘What?’
‘Let me just refresh the link to Grace.’
‘What?’ Penn asked, looking to his left.
‘Stace, what’s going on?’ the boss asked.
‘The camera. The link to Grace. It’s gone. I’m reloading the link but it’s gone. Network coverage is fine but it’s like…’
‘Like what, Stace?’
‘It’s like someone has cut the power.’
‘Shit. Okay, get Butler’s location as soon as possible.’
‘Just pulling up now, boss,’ Penn said.
‘Call me as quickly as you can,’ she said before ending the call.
‘Bugger, it’s totally gone,’ Stacey said, trying again to access the link to the camera.
‘Stace, we can’t do anything right now,’ he said, getting out of the car. ‘Come on – let’s go and find out where he is.’
Penn opened the door to the reception.
Both he and Stacey showed their identification. ‘We need to speak to Mr Butler. Right now.’
The woman looked stunned by their urgency but recovered quickly.
‘I’m sorry but Mr Butler isn’t available to—’
‘Okay, thank you,’ Penn said, walking around to her side of the desk to access the archway behind. ‘But it’s imperative that we speak to him.’
Stacey had followed and was now between them.
‘You can’t just—’
‘What I can’t do is stand here and argue,’ he said, moving out of the reception and into the inner workings of the property.
He continued forward and passed a glass box that appeared to be a conference room. It was empty.
He moved forward into a general office area. Seven or eight pairs of eyes were upon him.
‘Mr Butler’s office please?’ he called out.
Three hands pointed over to the corner.
He took a breath and entered, unprepared for what he was about to see.
