Page 6

M r . Blackbourne's hands were against the steering wheel, eyes still fixated on the road in the late afternoon sun. Dr. Green was in the passenger seat, and Victor sat in the back seat alone.

They were all distracted, absorbed in their own thoughts.

Dr. Green’s phone had been placed into the trunk, the signal blocked, the phone turned off. It was an important precaution. It would be replaced, the number changed, and a few other things done to it. They didn’t want to take any risks at this point.

And it was highly possible Dr. Green was very confused. The last 24 hours at least had been all over the place, and Dr. Green’s lack of sleep did little to help the situation.

Besides that, there was Kota... now on his way with Nathan back to Sunnyvale Court.

As much as he wanted to not think about it, Miss Sorenson kept appearing in his mind.

The clothes? They seemed to be in good condition.

Shoes suggested plenty of walking.

No gauntness in her face. No indications of extended malnutrition or ongoing stress.

There was the scraped up arm... A concern, but that could have been a number of things and he didn’t want to draw a conclusion from it.

There was little about her outward appearance, as far as he could tell, that indicated she was in some sort of trouble. Everything was in the look, the expression she carried, the way she tensed at times. It was the only thing that seemed to suggest something was wrong.

Was it just the way she looked? Like resting haunted face?

But Kota was suggesting there was more.

A surge of annoyance pulsated through him for the foibles of today. And then on top of it all, finishing up this motel job at the last minute during a time they could have...

No. Don't think like that. Of course they needed to look for the computer. Hopefully he was correct in bringing the whole team to search for it, and have Dr. Green to retrace his steps and figure out what happened with his phone exactly.

Although he'd have to break it to Dr. Roberts or someone within the Academy eventually about bowing out of the project. Whatever was going on at the motel, it was bigger than a side project for a team like theirs.

Somehow he didn't like letting go of the project. He didn't like admitting it was too much for them. Was there enough time to let things cool off at the motel and return later? Surveillance only?

However, the school project had to come first. Smaller projects would have to go to other teams for now. They couldn’t risk being away from the school too long at crucial moments. With so many moving parts, the school project had to take priority.

"Do you think she'll be going to the school sport events?" Dr. Green asked, dragging Mr. Blackbourne out of his own thoughts. "She didn't ask about sports. Do you think she'll join one? Does the girls’ tennis team need a coach?"

Victor looked at the spare phone he was fixing up for Dr. Green and piped in. “Tennis?” he asked. “Do you even know how to play?”

“I’ve played... once,” Dr. Green said. “I can learn.”

Mr. Blackbourne's gaze on the road intensified. He didn't appreciate the inflection in the doctor's voice. "Dr. Green," he said stiffly. "Behave yourself."

Victor's stifled laughter drew his attention to the rearview mirror. Victor turned his head and culled it quickly, pretending to concentrate on the phone in his hands, but Mr. Blackbourne had caught the hint of amusement in time. Were they all turning on him?

"I'm not in the mood, Mr. Morgan."

Just as quickly, Mr. Blackbourne's conscience stabbed at him. Dr. Green was making light of things, and Victor was clearly not allowing the current situation to smother his sense of humor. Turning to look at the rearview mirror once more, Mr. Blackbourne tried again at a civil-enough tone. "I'm sorry. It's been a long day."

Victor swallowed. "Right," he said, the corner of his lips twitching upward in a moment of wry understanding.

As though the moment of levity had brokered peace, Dr. Green finally relaxed. "Let's just fix this situation," he said. "This job has taken much more time than it should since we’ve gotten caught a couple of times now. We weren't going to have much time anyway. Football season technically already started without us through the summer. After-school activity programs, what few there are, will need observation. We'll be lucky if we aren't glued to the school. Driving out here to a motel during the school year..."

"I didn't think it'd take us this long, honestly," Victor said. "At first, we were looking for information, and it spread into looking for two people, and possibly your phone swapped out, and then getting caught...I should have known better than to use a simple keylogger USB. I'd thought the simplest solution would go unnoticed."

"Let's just find that computer," Mr. Blackbourne said.

"What if he broke it?" Victor asked.

"Not as good, but it's better to confirm it's destroyed than to not know." He sighed to himself. It was unlikely a paranoid kid would leave too much on an old computer if it might incriminate himself. But there was a chance he simply hid it somewhere until he could come back for it. But were they too late?

Victor nodded and then seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, frowning.

"Don't feel bad," Dr. Green said. "We can't predict how things turn out."

"No, I wasn't thinking of that any more," Victor said quietly. "Don't mind me."

Mr. Blackbourne glanced behind him to check the traffic, and out of habit, reviewed the movements of the Jeep that was following the BMW. North and Silas appeared to be arguing with each other while North drove. Luke and Gabriel in the rear seat, from what Mr. Blackbourne could tell, looked as downtrodden as Victor appeared in the moment. For a brief second, while North was distracted, he turned the steering wheel as he was looking at Silas. The Jeep veered a little, heading onto the shoulder and bumping along, until he looked back and readjusted.

The Jeep straightened out.

Mr. Blackbourne exhaled and shook his head.

Offhand, he glanced at his phone he placed so he could view the screen while driving. Blank. Somehow he hoped to hear from Kota, or Nathan, by now. He had no idea what happened, but it appeared the rest of the team was at least a little concerned. Or perhaps something else was going on.

What was wrong with them lately? How long had they been so distracted? A few days and the whole team was falling apart.

As the vehicle neared their destination, Mr. Blackbourne himself became lost in thought. They'd been in worse situations than this. He remembered a time when they’d been stretched thin. When he’d had to send them home to abusive parents, some on opposite sides of Charleston, and having to make dire decisions to be observant and on hand in case he had to interfere. North and Silas had been too young to drive, but slept in a tent just behind Nathan's house, observing cameras on their phones of Nathan's dad when he was home. Kota occasionally watching his sister when his mother had to attend court appearances over his father until sentencing could be reached, and protecting them from his father when out on bail. Then Luke watching Gabriel's house and spending the night there often for him, and Dr. Green just starting his hospital work. And Mr. Blackbourne on hand for Victor's social events and then driving between the others as needed as back up.

So much had changed since those days. Was it only a couple of years ago? Time was moving fast, but they’d been slowly crawling their way into normalcy.

They'd been through so much together. The high school job had to be a priority. The motel was another matter. What started as a simple observation to determine recruitment had led to one disaster after another. However, so far all they had run into was criminal activity. Theft. Violence. Phones swapped. Whatever was going on, this was outside the realm of usual Academy interests.

No. They had to pass this on. It wasn’t a simple job for a team like theirs, already neck deep. They had to reprioritize.

And the girl? Well, they could handle one girl.

She couldn't be too much trouble.

Mr. Blackbourne cleared his throat for a moment. “About your phone,” he said to Dr. Green.

Dr. Green pursed his lips. “I know I sound like a lunatic,” he said. “And honestly, I’m questioning everything I’m remembering. But you know how when you’ve had too many coincidences in one day around something and it’s only way later you realize what was connected?” He waved toward the rear trunk of the car. “Somehow today, my phone was swapped out.”

“It was,” Victor said, looking at his own phone. “Our encrypted tracking system shows the phone was at the motel for a while before it traveled back to the school, where it was given back to him.”

“I’m not crazy,” Dr. Green said. “Well, maybe I am about some things, but not about this.”

The car was quiet for a moment. Whether they liked it or not, they needed a couple more answers at this motel. Was it a simple accident? But it couldn’t be. Not when his phone was returned to him without Dr. Green being fully aware until later.

Mr. Blackbourne parked the BMW at the far end of the motel, a strategic choice allowing a swift exit if needed. He glanced over to where North had maneuvered the Jeep to the opposite side of the building, effectively bracketing their target area.

Being here during the day, exposing the group like this, it was very unlikely they’d be able to return again to the motel after today, at least not for a very long time. If they could have only gotten visible confirmation of the face of the young man... At least they had a visual of the girl.

This had to be strategic. Mr. Blackbourne scanned the area: the worn facade of the motel, doors shut tight against the day's heat, windows covered with drab curtains. For the moment, there was no activity in the lot, few other vehicles. Any long term guests were at work.

Mr. Blackbourne stepped out, shutting his door. He straightened his suit jacket and adjusted his glasses, eyes scanning for likely hiding spots for a computer, though he doubted it was simply hiding in a bush just outside.

"Let's do this quickly," he said quietly as Victor and Dr. Green joined him at the rear of his vehicle. "We need eyes on that computer without turning heads. And we need a visual of everyone who passes through this motel today, to see who could have swapped things out."

“I have my suspicions,” Dr. Green said. “I will point them out. But don’t let anyone get close to you. Just in case more people are involved than we thought.”

Victor passed Dr. Green the spare phone, set up with contact information from the others, but a new number for now and other things he would need. "A couple of us can get to work looking for the computer. It was in the office for guests."

Dr. Green crossed his arms, his gaze darting around as if he could physically see the solution in the air around them. "If someone took it this morning, they didn't have time to get far or be discreet about it. And likely it'll be soon that the manager notices it's missing as well. So we shouldn't get caught carrying it."

Mr. Blackbourne nodded. "We may need a distraction—a way to canvas without too much suspicion." His mind raced through possibilities.

Gabriel emerged from behind another parked car, frowning slightly as he caught up with their conversation. "You two should head to the front office," he said. "North says we'll check the nearby bushes and any outer buildings out here. We just hope he didn't take it back to his motel room."

"Didn't you have cameras positioned?" Mr. Blackbourne said.

"They've been spray painted," Gabriel said. He pointed to one above their heads.

Sure enough, now instead of having been removed like before, they'd been covered over in bright neon paint.

No one here wanted to be monitored.

"It was some shithead drug dealer," Gabriel said.

Victor nodded in confirmation. "We've been too obvious setting them up. Anyone doing anything to the motel, people are watching. We’ve some footage before they were painted, but not a lot. We probably don’t want to waste the supplies to redo them again. We don't want to look like FBI setting up here. We probably already do."

Gabriel scoffed. "Then let's pretend to be FBI today. We're losing the job anyway, might as well..."

A flicker of approval crossed Mr. Blackbourne's face at Gabriel's suggestion; it was simple and effective.

"Good idea," Mr. Blackbourne said with a nod toward Gabriel, then turned his attention to Victor. "You all still check the bushes, but get to work removing any of our equipment. Make it look like we're packing it in." Whoever came in after them would have to do things differently.

Victor smirked lightly. "Undercover team giving up and backing off. Got it."

Dr. Green chuckled softly but kept his eyes fixed on their surroundings, always vigilant.

Gabriel and Victor headed off to where North and the others were standing to relay the message.

"What about us?” Dr. Green asked. “Do we play FBI retreat or something else?”

"Final FBI sweep," Mr. Blackbourne stated calmly, adjusting his tie with an air of confidence that seemed almost innate. He reached for his wallet, pulling out a select official looking ID and inserting it in the slot with a clear-facing window. It wasn't likely the office manager would bother them but just in case he tried to stop them from removing the computer if they came across it...

He strode toward the manager's office with an assured step that left no room for questioning his right to be there—his demeanor one of official business or perhaps even ownership.

Out of his peripheral vision, he could sense the others behind them splitting up, looking for hidden spots around them. Luke went into a nearby closed-up restaurant. North followed, and Mr. Blackbourne could almost hear North chiding Luke for not being careful as he rushed in.

Mr. Blackbourne entered the office. The interior was cool, the lights were only half on, as the sun was directly beaming in through the large windows, giving an uncomfortable stiffness to the space, and tinged with scents ranging from strong disinfectant to underlying mildew, years of fleeting occupants and half-hearted cleanings etched into the walls.

The clerk behind the counter glanced up from her cell phone—a flicker of irritation at being disturbed turning into cautious respect when she spotted Mr. Blackbourne.

"I'm looking for an individual who might have checked in this morning," Mr. Blackbourne began smoothly, projecting authority while keeping his tone conversational. He flipped open his wallet to half flash the card that made him look like someone official. He did not want to waste time. He wanted an excuse to look at the list of names.

He wasn’t going to lie about who he was, but if she came to an incorrect assumption on her own, well... he was counting on that.

The clerk hesitated before reaching under the counter for her logbook, flipping through pages filled with names.

Mr. Blackbourne leaned in slightly while keeping an eye on her movements, and took out his phone. “Just pause on each page, I’d like to get a good picture if you don’t mind.” He was sure the others had already done this, but he wanted an updated copy, and this was an excuse to distract her while Dr. Green was busy giving the back rooms another look for the computer.

“Should I...scan it?” She motioned to a nearby copy machine.

Mr. Blackbourne held back a smirk. Very compliant. She wasn’t about to get in the way of what she thought was an investigation. Like she had been through this before and knew better. “No, I’ll just take a picture. Thank you.”

He had her hold open the logbook. While they had a computer, apparently the old motel did things with paper and pen first, and then entered credit card and room numbers into the computer by hand on an old system. “I just enter what they give me,” she said. “I don’t ask questions.”

“Even if the name doesn’t match the card on file?” Mr. Blackbourne asked.

She tilted her head. “They don’t often use cards,” she said. “Cash usually. And any card used might not have an actual name on them. They use a gift card they picked up at a boxed store for cash.” She scanned her check ins for today. “Only one used a card with a name, and it’s a single overnight guest from out of town. Not our usual sort.”

Regrettable. He should have known, however, that it was unlikely teenagers pickpocketing at the mall would use their own names when signing in.

When Dr. Green didn’t emerge like Mr. Blackbourne had expected, he nodded toward the clerk. “I need to take a look around. Don’t mind me.” He went further into the front office.

The clerk tensed but sat down where she had been before he entered, holding her cell phone in hand as if she were debating utilizing it.

To send a warning to others perhaps. They didn’t have much time before there might be trouble.