Page 79 of Last Chance

“Wait,” Janie said. “Although Zane sent five hours of footage, it looks like we have ten hours of videos to watch. Why so many?”

“He sent camera footage from the front of the inn in one set of videos and footage from the back of the inn with the other set.”

“Do you think we should watch the first hour of footage from the back of the inn before we move on to the second hour?”

“Good idea. Let’s see if our thugs came in the back door during the first hour.”

“Do you think they arrived that early?”

“Nope. They were still at the coffee shop with David during this hour. They might have accomplices who kept watch on the inn to report in when your brother arrived.”

“Will we be able to spot them?”

“Maybe. Let’s get through the video feed first. We’ll make note of anyone who seems suspicious and investigate later.”

Sawyer found a blank sheet of paper and a pen and handed both to Janie. “Each video is time stamped. Write the time and if the footage is from the back or front door.”

Ten minutes into watching the back door footage, he noticed a white panel van backing into a slot at the rear of the parking lot. The occupants remained inside.

Frowning, he paused the video and pointed at the van. “Write the time stamp. The two men stayed inside the van for a long time.” When she’d made a note of the time, Sawyer backed up the feed to see if he could spot the license plate.

No such luck. The back of the van never faced the camera. He set the video in motion again, keeping watch on the suspicious van and its occupants. The footage ended with no movement from the occupants. Weird. “Time for hour two,” he murmured.

“You sure know how to show a woman a good time on a date,” she teased.

“It’s my superpower.”

Janie laughed. “Good to know. Front door first, then we’ll go back and watch the van in the back.”

Sawyer tapped the video clip. Halfway through the footage, an SUV parked near the front door of the inn and David Moran got out. He made his way quickly into the inn’s lobby, where they lost sight of him. “Write the time David arrived.”

He scowled, frustrated that Kingsbridge Inn didn’t have security cameras inside the establishment.

They continued to watch to the end, then switched to the security footage from the back of the inn. Ten minutes after David arrived, the two men in the white van climbed out and headed for the back door. One of them pulled out a gadget and pointed it at the keypad. Seconds later, they opened the door and walked inside.

Sawyer paused the feed, backed it up until he focused on the faces of both men, and sent a copy to himself, his teammates, and to Zane.

“What are you doing with the photo?”

“I sent copies to my teammates and to Zane. Z will run the photo through our databases to see if we get a hit on them.” He already suspected the group they were dealing with, but confirmation would be good. “If they’re in the database, we’ll have names to go with the faces.” And if they were lucky, an address, too. He’d love a chance to get more information from these guys.

They continued to watch the security footage and saw the two men return to the van an hour after entering the establishment. They laughed as they climbed into the vehicle and drove away, their expressions ones of satisfaction.

Although they watched the rest of the footage Zane sent, nothing else happened out of the ordinary until the four of them arrived and found David Moran beaten and unconscious on the floor of his hotel room.

“The two men hurt David,” Janie said.

“That’s how it appears.”

“The men aren’t the same ones who argued with David in the coffee shop parking lot. How could he make four men angry with him in a brief space of time?” Janie scowled. “David doesn’t live here, and he’s only been in town a few days. This isn’t about David. It’s about me, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily. We’ll figure it out, Janie. Give us time.”

“How much time do we have? Who else has to fall victim before we stop these men?” She stopped and her eyes widened. “What if they go after Maria? She’s pregnant. We can’t let them hurt her. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her or the baby. David would never forgive me, either.”

“Hold up, sweetheart.” He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “The Hartman police should have contacted Maria by now. She knows her husband is in the hospital. Will Maria travel to Hartman?”

“Absolutely. She adores my brother. There’s no way she’d stay in Talca when David is injured. She’ll be here by tomorrow at the latest.”

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