Page 102 of Asher's Assignment

Jo.

He’d bet his lair it was Jo. But where were Ford, Dean, Sam, and Max? And Jordan? He moved toward the door. “I need to talk to Edie.”

“So do I, I think.” Stroud pulled the door open wider and stepped out. Asher followed.

Edie stood a few feet away, flanked by Audra, Brooke, and Annabeth. They all looked stressed and worried.

“You look terrible,” Edie said as she walked up to him and gave him a hug. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

He hugged her back. “Thanks, Edie. Me too.” He pulled away to look at her. “Why are you here? I told you I’d call with updates.”

“We need you.”

“What? Why? What happened?”

“After you called, we headed your way, hoping to intercept Lennox. It was a long shot, I know, and it didn’t pan out. Anyway, the next step was to look for cameras, and we found some. But”—she hesitated slightly, her gaze darting to Stroud—“Audra’s friend is having trouble gaining access. No one can hack a camera like you. We need a license plate to go any further.”

“Hold on a second.” Stroud held up a hand. “Hack? No. I can get warrants for?—”

Edie slashed a hand through the air. “There’s no time for that. The longer we wait, the more likely he changes cars and gets away. I’m not about to lose this asshole while waiting on some bureaucratic bullshit.”

Stroud stared at her. Asher could see him weighing the pros and cons of her plan, but he didn’t care what the detective decided. “You have your laptop?” he asked Edie.

Annabeth opened the tote she carried and produced it.

“We need to do this the right way.” Stroud scowled.

Asher took the computer. “This is the right way. For us. You can stop me, but I guarantee Lennox will be long gone by the time your warrants come through.” He didn’t wait for the detective to respond; just spun on his heel and went back to the consultation room.

“Here’s a list.” Brooke handed him a piece of paper as he sat down. The whole group had crowded into the small room. “It’s all the cameras within a mile of the farmhouse we could find. I wish it was a bigger list.”

Asher looked at it, and his heart sank. There were only two businesses listed. “I’ll see what I can do. Have you checked for doorbell cameras?”

“Not yet,” Audra said. “When my friend had trouble accessing those feeds, we broke off to come talk to you.”

“Okay. Go back and see what you can find. For those, we’ll need permission and access from the people who live there. I can’t get into those without knowing considerably more about the homeowners.”

“How do you not need that from the businesses?” Stroud propped his hands on his hips, watching as Asher logged into Edie’s laptop.

“Because internet companies are typically limited in any given area, and business internet even more so. Most businesses use whatever the locality’s major supplier is. I don’t have to backdoor my way into the individual businesses, just the internet supplier. From there, I can access the businesses routers and the devices connected to it. Residential doorbell cameras run on Bluetooth, typically to an app and a cloud server. Not only are there more internet options, but there are multiple brands of cameras. They’re harder to access without the right information.” He pulled up a browser and logged onto his server. From there, he found the main business internet supplier for the area and set about locating the back door into their system. “You guys go. See if you can get some footage. Just in case this is a bust.”

Stroud sighed; the sound told Asher he was accepting defeat.

“You guys are going to sound like crazy people, knocking on doors like that. I’ll send some officers with you. Maybe you won’t get them slammed in your face, then.”

“That would be great. Thank you, Detective,” Brooke said.

“I’m staying here,” Edie said.

Asher pushed out the chair next to him. “Have a seat. You can keep me company while I search, then help me go through video.”

“I’ll look into that building you said you woke up in.” Stroud scooped Asher’s shiv off the table, then headed for the door.

A thought occurred to Asher. “My car. Did you check with the rental company about the GPS?”

“It was deactivated shortly after the vehicle left the Tylers.’”

Asher wrinkled his nose. “Damn. Okay. I’d start with the area around where the data stopped. I don’t think I was out too long after he hit me over the head. I woke up before we got there, and we didn’t drive that far before he pulled into that building. It’s possible he disconnected it there after he drugged me. That would take some time, and he wouldn’t want to be too exposed. Not with me in the back.”

---