Page 52 of Just Hide

She'd have to get a cab.

While she was on the way, she could message Connor and explain what she was doing and where she was going. Seeing time was critical, this was the best use of it.

Quickly, she opened the app on her phone and called a cab to take her on the ten-minute ride to Wave Management's offices. She was lucky. Cabs were circulating downtown at this hour, and she got a ride within a minute.

"Off to work?" he asked her as she climbed inside.

"No. I'm following up on something important," she said to the driver as he started the car. “Please, can we get there fast?”

"You are? Well, I’ll do my best," he said, filtering into the stream of traffic and accelerating to get her to her destination as fast as possible. “Hope you find what you need.”

"Thanks. I hope I'm right," she said.

Still, as the driver hit the gas and the car picked up speed, Cami felt her stomach twisting in knots and a sense of panic rising in her chest.

She hoped she was making the right decision. Now that she was actually in the cab, doubts were flooding in. It felt as if she was being reckless and going off on a whim.

At least she could tell Connor where she was going and why. And that she’d be back in about half an hour if her research was quick. She could also tell him what she’d found on the phone. That would help him too.

Quickly, Cami texted him."Other issues found on Nadia's phone. Ask her about what she and lover were planning. Ask her about wife's money and going to Namibia. That's where they were headed. He's going to steal wife’s funds."She sent part one and then took a breath, thinking hard."Nothing relating to these crimes on her phone or laptop. But I have had another idea. Going back to WM to see if it works out!"

A minute later, the cab pulled up in front of the offices. Cami paid, got out, and hurried up to the building, wondering how she'd get access after-hours. It was all dependent on your phone, it seemed, and the main door was closed, and there was no sign of the friendly bearded receptionist.

She pushed the door, wondering if it was unlocked, and a keypad next to it lit up with a bright text message.

"We have you logged as a guest on our records. Turn to the camera and place your phone next to the keypad."

Cami obliged. A moment passed.

"Now, place your right thumb on the keypad."

She did so.

"Welcome to Wave Management, Cami Lark. Your ID photo and thumbprint have been recorded."

Cami raised her eyebrows. This was state of the art recognition technology. The turnstile gate allowed only one person in. Security here was top notch, even after-hours. AI was replacing the need for physical guarding.

No one could access the building without being recognized by the system. It was a foolproof way of keeping out unwanted guests. And also, off duty staff members. Nobody was sneaking in here after hours.

Once in, she headed for the stairway and walked up to the second floor where the computer room they'd used previously was located. This time, she knew what she was going to look for.

That weird, disappearing face. Was there a way to find out who it belonged to? Was it somehow relevant? She hoped she could get results.

When she got there, she found the room deserted. The computers were off. The light was off. There was no one there.

She powered up the computer and headed straight through to the facial recognition software, delving into her search history, going to that anonymous face.

It was beautiful. A classic face, a perfect oval. The high cheekbones, the deep blue eyes, the taut skin. It was almost angelic. It looked like a sculpture. And yet, there was something in the eyes, a coldness there, that hinted to Cami that this angelic appearance might only be skin deep.

But it was the unique thing about it that had given Cami the spark of an idea. It was the fact that it had disappeared. It was the fact that whatever sources Cami was using to search the databases in today’s time were not coming up with a match. Nothing she tried threw out a result. Not social media, not the obituary pages, nothing. There was no current ID linked to the face, although all the other similar faces could be linked to a current identity.

So, what had happened to it, and how could she find out?

She looked for the same face on a few other facial recognition apps, superimposing it. The problem was that the technology was still too recent to be widely used. The searches went deep, and she could see they would take time. But then she had another idea.

Maybe what she should do was to try it the opposite way. She should assume that the owner of this face was somehow linked to these crimes. First prize would be if they were the perpetrator and had somehow changed their looks to avoid detection.

That would explain why the face couldn’t be found currently.

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