Page 55 of Call Sign: King
A faint ding was his sign that they were at cruising altitude. Unbuckling his belt, he got up to grab his briefcase before sitting back down and pulling his laptop out.
They’d spent a small fortune making sure the Condor had the communication equipment needed to stay connected to the BSO network. Still, it took over five minutes to get logged into their secure network, passing through firewalls and several layers of authentication. Only once he was logged in was he able to open a video link to Axel.
“Hi. I’m tracking the Condor. I figured you’d be calling once you were in the air.” His friend looked almost as stressed as Ryder felt.
“Please tell me you’ve got good news,” Ryder begged.
“I have news. I’m not sure if it’s good or bad yet.”
That would have to be enough.
“The blood and fiber samples made it to The Bunker. Bing and his team are just getting started with the testing.”
“Remind Bing I collected DNA and fingerprint samples of everyone I did arms deals with back in my CIA days. He needs to start there. It has to be one of those assholes that did this.”
“He knows. They’ve pulled all your old files.”
When Ryder failed to respond, Wrath kept talking.
“Drago and Polly are rotating through a half dozen of our overseas sources with ties to your old enemies, listening for clues. Pulling off something like this is going to make waves within any organization. So far, nothing has popped up out of the ordinary.”
“Fuck,” was the only response he could muster.
“I uploaded all the security camera footage from the Hyatt to our server. Now that you’re logged in, you should be able to access it. I’ve watched everything multiple times and am running images through our databases, but so far, nothing has zeroed in on this asshole’s identity. At least we have some decent footage. You need to start there. I’m hoping you’ll recognize him. I need to jump on a call with the Toronto police. Call me back after you’ve watched the security footage.”
Ryder was already pulling up the movie clips, casting them to the large flatscreen monitor in the mini-command center of the plane. As he worked, he silently prayed he’d recognize who the fuck was behind this debacle so they could get team members into position to intersect as soon as the plane Khloe was on hit the ground.
Doc set a small plate of meats, cheeses, and crackers next to his laptop just as the first grainy photo filled the screen. His stomach revolted at the idea of eating, but he accepted the cold bottle of water she held out, opening and guzzling half of it down in an attempt to appease her.
The footage was in chronological order. He resisted jumping ahead to the clips after Khloe was taken, instead playing them in order. The first glimpse of the perp was as he entered a back of house hallway. The text identification on the clip read ‘housekeeping corridor.’ The man’s back was to the camera, but Ryder recognized he was dressed in a similar black suit that the hotel’s security guards wore. He should know. He’d met with the legitimate employees multiple times while arranging Khloe’s visit.
Several minutes of footage dragged on as clip after clip captured the man moving through the employee areas of the hotel without being stopped or questioned. Considering the hotel was rather small compared to most hotels in busy downtowns, Ryder was surprised no one bothered to notice he didn’t belong as he walked up and down several long hallways of guest floors.
It was on the sixth floor the asshole hit pay dirt. A housekeeper’s cart was parked in the hall outside a guest room. Ryder knew from the real security team that employees were to keep their master room keys on their person at all times, yet there, on the screen the man dressed as security could be seen taking several items from the cart. Still unable to see the perp’s face, Ryder zoomed in and slowed it down to see the man clearly lifting a set of electronic keys from the housekeeper’s clipboard.
At least that answered how the fucker had a key to Khloe’s suite.
The asshole was also smart enough to know where the security cameras were positioned, allowing him to avoid his face being fully captured by the lens — giving Ryder only snippets here and there.
It wasn’t until he reached Khloe’s floor that Ryder got his first good look at the perp’s face. He froze the footage on a closeup, wracking his brain to shake loose any memory of the abductor, but no recognition came.
Hitting play, Ryder’s pulse spiked as he watched the man take an automatic pistol from its hiding spot in his back waistband, taking it off safety, and reseating the high-capacity magazine just before swiping the keycard to gain entry to their suite.
The bile in his empty stomach rose as he recognized the bastard had shot his men with one of the very types of guns Ryder had earned his reputation selling while deep undercover years before. Hell, for all he knew, he’d handed over that very weapon to the bastard.
Seconds turned to minutes as the camera captured a guest in a nearby room opening their door and looking down the hall. They had no doubt had heard the gunshots and were stupidly investigating. Unable to wait, he fast forwarded until he saw the perp exiting the suite, this time with the love of his life thrown over his shoulder.
Tears blurred Ryder’s vision as he watched Khloe flailing — pounding on the man’s back and fighting like a badass despite the ropes binding her wrists. Pride warred with his own shame of failure as he watched his wife doing her best to escape.
Doc’s hand on his shoulder felt like a comfort he didn’t deserve.
Once the perp entered the north stairwell, Ryder switched over to a different set of cameras, watching as the kidnapper went slower with each floor. Unlike before the attack, the asshole was no longer trying to hide his identity from the cameras. Whether it was because he’d successfully captured Khloe or more likely, because he was injured, Ryder didn’t care. He was just grateful to have better views of the perp’s face in the well-lit stairwell.
He spent several minutes rewinding and rewatching snippets of film, trying to focus on the abductor to avoid watching Khloe’s panic. While the man’s face hadn’t triggered any memories, it was the way he walked that nagged at Ryder.
Who the fuck did this? He had been sure he’d recognize the kidnapper, but the fact that he didn’t was more than unsettling.
An incoming video call from Axel filled his laptop screen.
