"I'm sending you a feed. It should populate in the center," he said, forcing my attention onto the screen in front of me.
A second later, the video feed of the back of my father's house appeared. Markie, Nonna, and the kids slipped from one of the hidden doors and into the bushes. I tracked their movement to the fence and then lost them. Moments later, armed goons filled the backyard.
"This one's from the end of the block," Tech said.
The four of them were still running. Markie linked arms with Nonna and coaxed her on.
"Those are the only two confirmed sightings we have of the twins. The Pelino family is still scouring the city for them."
He clicked a few more keys and several of my feeds were highlighted. I watched as grown-ass motherfuckers hunted down my siblings, making note of every single one and swearing to make them pay for what they were doing.
"I also have the facial recognition software scanning, so it may highlight a feed from time to time. Let me know if you see something," Tech said, resetting the feeds.
I watched the wall for a while. My phone buzzed. Hoping for correspondence from Markie, I checked it to find a text from Bones. He'd picked Ariana up from work and the two went to her apartment. There was no sign of, or word from, Markie. He and Ariana were going to go look for her, but they planned to circle back by the apartment periodically just in case she showed up there. I thanked him, and then turned my attention back to the screens.
I'd always known Tech had access to most of the city, but didn't grasp the extent of his reach until I shuffled through the feeds, populating my half of the wall. It was like watching all of Vegas at once. I saw the fountain Markie and Ariana had sat on, and the High Roller we'd rode on. Someone jumped from the tower of the Ozone.
Markie, where are you?I wondered while scanning faces of strangers.Maybe they checked into a hotel?Only they couldn't have, because her purse was in the Hummer. We'd found her phone in pieces in the hidden passageway leading away from the twins' bedroom. They had no credit cards, no phone, no car, no resources. It was getting dark. I rotated the feeds again. Hours passed in a blur of energy drinks, snacks, and staggered bathroom breaks. Still no sign of them. It was as if they'd vanished from the street.
The sun was beginning to rise by the time my phone rang again.
"Hello?" I couldn't answer it fast enough.
"Any word on the twins?" Father asked.
"We're still looking. The good news is so are the Pelinos."
He took a deep breath. "Those bastards still haven't given up, huh? Sounds like they need something to do. I've got just the thing."
He disconnected, and I returned my attention to the screens, wondering what the old man was up to. Tech's phone rang. He answered it and changed feeds as he listened. The right side of his screen populated with what looked like GPS readouts. He pulled addresses from the screens and sent them to the GPS readouts. I watched in awe as he worked, amazed by the speed in which he had six of my father's SUVs en route.
I continued to watch for Markie and the twins until activity on one of my feeds drew my attention. An SUV pulled into an alley behind the strip. The doors opened, spilling out men with semi-automatics. They gunned down a group of Pelino's men who'd been searching the area.
"Team one was successful," Tech confirmed into his phone.
Only seconds later, another SUV pulled up in front of a hotel. But this time, the Pelino soldiers seemed to expect the attack. They pulled their guns and opened fire before the SUV full of my father's soldiers had even rolled to a stop. The feed disappeared.
"Team two, successful," Tech said.
Successful?I searched for the feed, but it was gone.
"Team three, successful," Tech said.
Team three? Where the hell is team three?
Tech's police scanner pealed in the background, reporting the shootings. All of my feeds were rotated, removing the Pelino goons from my view. I tried to bring them back, but those feeds disappeared, too. He had to be blocking my access.
"Team four, five, and six--all successful."
I glanced at his screens, searching for the battles, but saw nothing.
He looked at me and asked, "Have you found them?"
I startled. "No. Still looking." I went back to my feeds, wondering what the hell was going on. Tech had been loyal to my family for as long as I could remember. He was the best at what he did, yet someone had hacked into his system to break into my father's house. Had someone hacked him again to get the jump on the attacks?
No, not that fast. Impossible. And he told Father the attacks were successful. Why?
Tension crept up my shoulders, stiffening my back. I kept one eye on Tech and the other on the feeds.
