Thorn paced back and forth in front of his television, his shoes squeaking against the wooden floor beneath him. His arms were folded across his chest, trying to determine his next move, while nearby Abby sat and watched, diligently tracking his movement with her eyes.
“So he just recognized her from the docks and went after you guys?”
Seated on the couch across from him was Nio, a pale green towel draped over his shoulders. His hair was askew and his eyes red as he sat and stared straight ahead, a glass of water gripped between his hands.
“That’s all I can figure,” Nio said, bitterness in his tone, his gaze aimed at the coffee table in front of him. “Iggy said he saw her the other night, but you emerged from the water before he could approach.”
At that he shifted his attention up to Thorn. “I guess I should thank you for scaring him off when you did.”
Thorn waved the comment aside, continuing to pace. For several days he had operated knowing the Garcia’s were nearby, that the two sides would lend a hand whenever possible.
This pushed things into a different stratosphere, though. Not only had they nabbed the coordinates that were intended for him, they had alerted the target that somebody was on to them.
“Any idea what they’ve done with her?” Thorn asked.
“Best guess, she’s somewhere deep inside that fortress,” Nio said, again focusing on the table between them. “The boat sped off in that direction, though by the time I got to shore it was long gone.”
“And that’s when you called me?” Thorn asked.
Nio glanced up to him before looking away. “I didn’t know anybody else in the area.”
Again Thorn waved the comment off, looking only to get a full understanding of the timeline more than imposing any sort of guilt. Focusing on the clock above the stove, Thorn left Nio in the living room and moved to the kitchen. He pulled his laptop to life and began anew on the surveillance system.
A small jolt of electricity passed through him as the relay feed started the moment he kicked it to life, Ingram’s afternoon mission a success.
“What are you looking at?” Nio asked, walking in from the living room, his bare foot shuffling over hardwood.
“Satellite surveillance,” Thorn said, pulling the cameras to life and zeroing in on the grounds. Using the new point of contact he was able to zoom in more than twenty times closer than before, life size images relayed directly to his laptop.
“Damn,” Nio whispered, his eyebrows rising.
“Yeah,” Thorn muttered, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the counter. Extending his right hand in front of him, he began navigating the camera, swinging around to the back of the house and focusing on the cars parked there.
One at a time he took screen shots, uploading them to his desk top. When he was done with that, he sent them on to Ingram to begin processing before pulling his view out a bit and beginning to scan the grounds for any signs of life.
“What have you been able to glean from this so far?” Nio asked. “Anybody you recognize?”
“We only just got this level of clarity,” Thorn said, shaking his head, not bothering to go into full detail about Ingram or his role.
“Can you go back in time any?” Nio asked.
Again Thorn shook his head, having already had the same thought. “Only in real time. Besides, I’m guessing they took her right through that underground marina you mentioned. Hard to tell if we’d have seen anything anyway.”
Pushing the view around to the top side of the house, Thorn focused in on a few stray guards. All were dressed in black, all seemed to be carrying automatic weapons in their hands. One at a time Thorn waited until they turned toward the camera, getting a full shot of their faces and sending it over as well, a half dozen in total.
Once they were all uploaded and sent he grabbed up his cell phone, calling the first number in his recent call log. It rang just once before Ingram snapped it up.
“Yeah?” he asked, clearly distracted.
“You on the ground yet?” Thorn asked.
“Back in the office already,” Ingram replied, “about to start running those licenses you sent. I see everything is operational?”
“Clear resolution, full view of the grounds,” Thorn said. “Good work, Coach.”
Ignoring the compliment, Ingram asked, “Found anybody yet?”
“Just some low level thugs,” Thorn replied. “I sent you the still shots to start on facial recognition. Most likely they’re in the system, but won’t be real high priority.”
“Right,” Ingram agreed.
“No sign of the Chinaman,” Thorn said. “Or anybody that even resembles somebody in charge.”
On the other end he could hear a string of mumbles that sounded like obscenities, though he couldn’t be certain.
At the moment, he felt much the same.
“Alright,” Ingram said, pushing out a sigh. “Stay on it, keep sending me whatever you find. I’ll be here all night, set an alarm to go off whenever something new comes in.”
Thorn nodded at the directive, shifting his attention over to Nio. For a moment the two stared at each other in silence, neither one wanting to say the words aloud.
“Coach,” Thorn said, his attention still aimed at the man beside him. “Just so you know, we may have to push things up faster than we’d like.”
Facing forward, he could see Ingram stop moving, his focus turning to meet Thorn. “Meaning?”
“Meaning as of this afternoon they have a hostage,” Thorn said, the words tasting acrid in his mouth. “And they know somebody is aware of where they are.”
A look of malevolence passed over Ingram as he ran both hands over his face, glaring at the camera. “Did you?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“Long story,” Thorn said, shaking his head, the same angry look on his features. “But just believe me when I say it’s very real and we’re now working on a very tight timetable.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Liberation Day - A Thorn Byrd Novel Page 45