Page 52 of Echoes of Obsession

“She’s not there, buddy. But we’ll find her. And then someone is going to pay.”

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“What the hell do you mean you don’t have any?” I hear Knox yell as soon as I enter the clubhouse. “It’s in the lease agreement that security cameras would be installed around the parking lots… I don’t care if your cheap ass didn’t want to front the money for them. You placed in the lease that you had everyone sign. It’s the fucking law, you cheap bastard.”

“What’s going on?”

“Where did you find Sky?” Sophie asks, her face red from crying.

“He was at a neighbor’s house. Where are the girls?”

“I took them to my place with Maddy and Emily,” King says. “It’s locked up tight, brother. Jax, Mitchell, and Taylor are there with them. No one is touching your little girl. And she doesn’t know what’s going on. I thought it best not to tell her.”

“Good,” I nod my thanks.

Trusting King and knowing that my girl is safe, I focus on finding her mom.

“What have we got?”

“I just got off the phone with the apartment complex’s owner where Snow lives,” Knox says. “Even though it was in the lease agreement, he never installed security cameras. However, a small mom-and-pop shop across the street gave me access to their network. It only catches the edge of the main parking area but without knowing what to look for, it’s next to impossible to spot something.”

“That’ll work. Narrow the feed to the past two hours,” I say. “We’re looking for a black van. Unknown plates. Her neighborclaims to have seen a man carry Snow to the van before tossing her in the back and climbing in next to her. He said the man was skinny but strong because he had Snow tossed over his shoulder.”

“Oh, I’ve already seen that van come and go,” Knox says, messing with his computer. “Here. The windows are too tinted to see through.”

Knox tosses the video on the main screen in the room.

“Can you rewind it right before the van turns right?” Reynolds. “Then slow it down.”

Knox does as was asked, and we watch the van as it turns slowly.

“Stop,” Reynolds says before the van completely drives off screen. “Look at the bottom left of the van.”

“It’s a sticker,” Knox says.

“A very familiar sticker,” Reynolds responds. “When we first moved here, I didn’t own a car. I drove either my bike or Taylor’s truck places. However, I had to rent a truck for a few days to help move lumber around when we were helping build a friend’s house.”

“Let me see if I can enhance the image,” Knox says. “You were right. Second Street Rentals. Is this the same place you used?”

“It was called Don’s Rentals back then,” Reynolds says, looking at the image on the screen. “But it’s the same building. They must have changed the name.”

“Did they have GPS tracking on their vehicles?”

“I’m not sure,” he admits. “I just asked for a truck with a big bed.”

Everything in me wants to scream in outrage, but I need to control myself. I need to stay focused.

King places his hand on my shoulder and holds my eyes. With a single nod, I know that he understands my internal turmoil. He gets it. He’s been here before. So has Venom.

“You’re in control,” he tells me. “Absorb that anger. That fear. Save it for the right time. It will give you a strength you never knew you possessed.”

“Hello,” Knox says, pulling my attention. “Yes, I was thinking of renting a car for my son and was wondering if your vehicles were equipped with a GPS tracking system. I would feel much better knowing he has a backup map in case his phone dies…yes…around May… What about any vans…Oh, I see. Thank you for your help. I’ll be in touch in about a month to finalize all of this. You too. Bye.”

“Alright,” he says, hanging up his phone. “Only a handful of their vehicles have GPS installed, but none of those vehicles are vans.”

“What do we do now?” Sophie asks.

“I’m going to need a few minutes to hack into their files and see if I can find out who rented this van. Hopefully, the description alone will work because we can’t see a single digit of the tags.”

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