Page 7

M r. Blackbourne's gaze drifted over the now barren business center, the void where a computer used to rest jarringly unsettling, as the cords were still in place, including the power cable. Out of habit, Mr. Blackbourne pulled a cloth from his pocket, using it to mask his fingerprints while tugging the power cords out of the wall socket and examined it. The monitors had been left behind. Two monitors, one computer? The teenager operating in here hadn’t been afraid to set it up how he wanted, as if he expected it all to be left undisturbed, at least until Mr. Blackbourne and his team had arrived.

Strange how this...boy used a computer here instead of perhaps stealing it for himself. Especially given he was likely using it for nefarious purposes. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to utilize one of the motel rooms?

He was surprised any of this was still here, given the clientele, however the two monitors were much older models, and from what he understood from Victor, so was the appearance of the computer they were looking for. However, the contents of the computer had been updated, so only the old case looked leftover from the 1990s.

Suddenly, Dr. Green appeared beside him. “General manager is tight lipped,” he said. “I don’t see another computer around.”

Mr. Blackbourne was surprised to hear Dr. Green had gone on to talk to the manager. But then, they needed to cover all bases.

"Storage room," Mr. Blackbourne said.

They found the storage room, a locked door, but it was a simple lock and Dr. Green utilized a card in his wallet to open it. The storage room itself mostly held shiny metal shelves with printer paper and other office supplies, coffee, cups and other supplies for the offered breakfast, but no computer in sight.

The housekeeping office had a desk, schedules on a notebook, and a computer but it was clear it wasn’t the one they were looking for.

Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green reluctantly left the laundry room that also didn’t contain a computer. “I was hoping it never left this front office,” Dr. Green said. “But maybe we were too late getting back. Maybe I should have stayed to look for it instead of going to registration...”

“No point in playing ‘what if’,” Mr. Blackbourne said darkly, although he agreed. “We need to focus. If it was a bulky 90s computer box, it should have been obvious if it left the building. Are we sure it didn’t leave via a vehicle?”

“The kid took a bus to escape us,” Dr. Green said. They stepped outside once more, looking over the motel parking lot. “I don’t think he has a vehicle.”

Mr. Blackbourne pressed his lips together tightly. It was looking less and less likely they might find this computer after all.

Dr. Green put his hands in his pocket, gazing out at the lot. “What’s worse is that I can’t say for sure what happened with my phone.”

Mr. Blackbourne gazed at him a moment. “Be sure. What’s your timeline today?”

Dr. Green seemed to give the question considerable thought. “Mostly being here, actually. Luke collected me from the hospital, as you know. We arrived here. I hung him from the roof...” He lowered his voice a little as he spoke, even if no one seemed to be around at the moment. “He cut the line. I helped a woman who tripped...”

Mr. Blackbourne raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you fell for that.”

Dr. Green shook his head. “I was falling asleep on my feet, but no, that morning when we were back at my condo, I had my phone. My actual phone. And then we went to Kota’s, the school, and then I was back here to fix Luke’s nose and...” His eyes narrowed. “I messaged you.”

“You did,” Mr. Blackbourne confirmed.

“I know,” Dr. Green said. “That’s how I saw the background changed. But so much was going on, I don’t think it registered fully because it was the right color, wrong image. It was only when I looked at my phone at the school that I realized what was bothering me about it.”

This wasn’t good at all. So Dr. Green had clearly utilized the phone while in possession of the wrong phone. Somehow it had access to Dr. Green’s phone numbers and messages, or he would have noticed a swap much sooner. It could have been done easily remotely. His stolen phone echoing to a fake phone. “Think clearly,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “At what point did you see the wrong background? And what happened right before then?”

Suddenly Dr. Green snapped his fingers. “There was a girl here this morning. She brushed into me way too close. Far too close for no reason at all. After we had talked about the missing computer and her brother that she was looking for.”

The thief? Could she have picked his pocket and made a swap?

This problem with Dr. Green’s phone being compromised so quickly left them in a rather strange predicament. They were usually pretty good at being cryptic when calling and messaging each other. The most that anyone on the outside would notice was their team and how frequently they spoke, who their families were, and so forth. Normal, average things. But there were more things to be wary about when it came to someone having physical access to your cell phone. Being able to track you easier, decrypting passwords from afar and so on. Would these teenagers know how to do that?

Maybe they were of great interest to the Academy after all, although not for a good reason.

There was no visual of the others at the moment. What nearby buildings had once been around were mostly demolished and cleared save for the boarded up fast food place that North and Luke were likely still looking in. There was a small, wooded strip before the start of the next business next door, which Mr. Blackbourne guessed was where Victor and Gabriel were looking now.

Less than a block away, a city bus was coming. The stop was between the rundown fast food building and the motel.

Mr. Blackbourne frowned and tugged Dr. Green into the outside corridor between the front office building and the motel rooms. He positioned himself practically on top of Dr. Green so they could both observe but be mostly obscured from view. They watched as a couple of people exited the bus.

One in particular headed toward the motel.

A familiar face. The girl. The thief.

And she was heading toward the office.

Dr. Green seemed oblivious. Of course he would be. He hadn’t watched hours of video looking for her like Mr. Blackbourne had just the night before.

Mr. Blackbourne slid Dr. Green further out of view, his lips hovering inches from his as he listened.

Dr. Green grinned. “If we have to make out again to avoid getting caught...”

Mr. Blackbourne scowled, suppressing the memory. “Don’t start.” He listened to the girl’s footsteps as she entered the front office. Then he released Dr. Green, signaling he was going to go in through the back door. “If she leaves the office, follow her.”

Mr. Blackbourne hurried, entering a door in the back marked for housekeeping. He passed by laundry machines that were running. He got a suspicious look from the maid that had come in and was sitting at the housekeeping office desk, but he moved quickly down the hallway.

He lingered in the shadow of the hall, pretending to be looking at the room with the ice machine and the vending machines inside.

The girl was signing the logbook. “Why do I have to do this every week?” she asked.

“Just in case you miss a payment,” the clerk said. “Happens a lot. We can’t fill you in for an extra week unless you pay ahead for it.”

The girl made a face, but she pulled out cash and passed it to the lady. “Thanks for the extra day at least,” she said.

“Try not to do it again. I get my ass chewed out for it.” The clerk counted the cash and put it into a drawer that she promptly locked. “You only get away with it because you’ve been here for so long.”

The girl’s face tightened and she turned, heading in Mr. Blackbourne’s direction.

Mr. Blackbourne pulled back, forced to head into the vending machine room. He observed as the girl checked the office space where the computer had been. She at first looked in quickly, and then turned to leave but then tilted her head in, looking at the room again. “Hey,” she called to the clerk at the counter. “Where’d your PC go?”

The clerk looked up, seeming puzzled. “What?”

The girl motioned to the office space. “There was a computer my brother worked at. Now it’s gone?”

Brother.

Mr. Blackbourne held his breath as the clerk came around, looking into the room, a curious expression on her face. “Wow. I haven’t looked in here in a while. Forgot it was even here.”

“Someone took the computer?” the girl asked.

“Honestly, not surprised,” the clerk said. “Though I feel like we would have noticed it leaving...” She looked around and then down the hall toward the housekeeping office. Mr. Blackbourne shrunk back as the clerk passed the ice machine room and headed toward the housekeeping office. “Did you all take the PC out of the office?”

The housekeeping woman said something, although it was too low for Mr. Blackbourne to hear, and then both the housekeeping woman and the clerk went to go look inside the office once again.

Mr. Blackbourne was going to get caught if he stayed here a moment longer. He took the opportunity while the women were standing in the office to head to the rear exit again. He went back to the corridor behind the office building.

Dr. Green was still there, although he turned when he heard footsteps. “She hasn’t come out.”

“It’s his sister,” Mr. Blackbourne whispered as he came close. “The girl...”

Dr. Green’s brows shot up in surprise. “No, it isn’t.”

Mr. Blackbourne stared at him. “She just said it.”

Dr. Green slowly shook his head. “I met his sister. She has short hair. Taller. That girl has long hair and doesn’t look like her. When I was here this morning, she caught me in the office, asking about where he was.”

Mr. Blackbourne froze, trying to puzzle this out. “This girl inside now is asking about the missing computer like she didn’t notice it before.”

“The girl I spoke to saw it was missing this morning,” Dr. Green said. “We’re talking about two different girls. Does he have two sisters?”

Mr. Blackbourne inhaled sharply. Three people now? A whole string of teenagers working here at the motel?

When the front door of the motel opened again, Mr. Blackbourne was forced to pull Dr. Green further back into the corridor, however, it was way too obvious they were lingering.

So Mr. Blackbourne faced Dr. Green, instantly starting mid-sentence in a practiced way to indicate they’d been in the middle of a conversation. “...have only a couple of hours before we have to be at the restaurant. It won’t run itself.”

Dr. Green followed up quickly, reciting from memory. “Listen, it isn’t my fault he quit...”

The girl, while she had slowed and looked their way, continued on past the hallway. Dr. Green continued his monologue still, just in case she was listening.

Mr. Blackbourne indicated Dr. Green should go into the office, and that Mr. Blackbourne would follow the girl. “Logbook. Take a picture of the last entry,” he whispered to Dr. Green before he took off.

Mr. Blackbourne exited the corridor, putting a hand into his pocket as if looking for a room key. He moved with purpose, like he knew where he was going, and it just happened to be the same direction as the girl was going.

She walked quickly, likely sensing someone following her. He noted her clothes, plain jeans, white tank shirt, a black flannel shirt tied at the waist to hide her pockets. For a thief who pickpocketed, she seemed careful to hide her own pockets.

She headed to the second building, and up the stairs.

Mr. Blackbourne was just in time to get to the second floor when he noticed the girl entering a room. 221B.

Mr. Blackbourne slowed when he passed the room, although he only had a few seconds to do so. It was a standard motel room, the window’s curtains drawn tightly...mostly.

He took out his phone and one small listening device, paused where there was a split in the curtain, using his shadow to block the light behind him and snapped one photo, and placed the listening device against the glass in the corner, not even daring to look at it before continuing on.

He went to the stairwell at the rear of the second building and went down. He used the turn within the stairwell as cover to block view of himself before looking at the photo. He put an earbud for his phone into his ear, readying himself to listen to the device he planted.

For the moment, it was just shuffling, some grumbling, someone closed an interior door.

The photo was just a straight shot into the motel room. There was a door to the right, likely the bathroom, a folding closet door on the left and a section behind the bathroom where he couldn’t see, and then beyond that two standard motel beds against the wall, an awkward position given most motels wanted those beds on the opposite wall behind the bathroom, which would have allowed for more privacy. Likely the owner of the motel wasn’t concerned with practical bed arrangements.

The photo caught the back of the girl entering, but also a figure on the bed. An older man, wearing sweatpants and looking as if he’d just woken up.

Three teenagers and an older man? This was out of control. Too many people.

For a while, there was only silence. Then there was shuffling through the device, and that interior door opened. “Get this place cleaned up before I come back tonight.” It was the older man speaking, as far as Mr. Blackbourne could tell.

There was a soft grunt, almost too soft to hear.

The door closed. Mr. Blackbourne was just in time to get to the second floor again to spot the older gentleman exit through the opposite stairwell. He watched from his position as the older man took off on foot, heading in the direction of some buildings in the distance.

Mr. Blackbourne spotted Dr. Green on the ground and he signaled for Dr. Green to follow the man. Dr. Green nodded and headed in the same direction.

Just then North and Luke emerged from the dilapidated building next door. Mr. Blackbourne signaled for one of them to join Dr. Green. North did, taking off to walk beside Dr. Green and follow the older man.

Luke spotted Mr. Blackbourne and headed his direction, but as he did, he pointed up, silently telling Mr. Blackbourne something was above his head.

A camera, not painted...at least not yet.

Good. He could only hope there was some information that had been recorded in the last few hours.

They were quickly getting overwhelmed, and they couldn’t take too much more time on this job.