Predator listed several available statuses, like SPD duty rosters and cellblock occupancy, but they all sounded boring.
“Forget the status report. Find my brother.”
An image of Timber in uniform showed up on-screen along with his vital information.
Timber Wolfgang Wheeling. 35 years old. 6’5’’, 229 lbs. Dark brown hair.
Multiple voices sounded through the system’s speakers, as Predator accessed authorized, and not-so-authorized, microphones throughout the building. At the same time, four images of SPD flashed on the screen, then were replaced by four more images. Hallways in building A, hallways in building B, the parking lots, the cellblock, the receiving desk, dispatch—.
The images stopped switching, and the voices were cut off. Image number two of four showed Timber in uniform, hurrying down a dark hallway hand-in-hand with a pretty female with long red hair, wearing a dispatcher’s uniform. Their steps were quiet but audible. They entered a door, then closed it and locked it.
:Timber is in meeting room Foxtrot—
“Any cameras in there?” Canyon asked, pretty sure the answer was no.
:Negative—
“Any microphones?”
Predator didn’t answer right away. Canyon checked the log files to see what the problem was. Predator had encountered its first problem: it located a mic on the Smart TV, but it wasn’t attached to the official SPD sound system, so Predator searched for access, then a beep sounded.
:Yes, on the television—
Grinning like a proud papa, Canyon said, “Listen in.”
The speakers filled with a humming sound.
:Accomplished—
Canyon put his head up next to his computer speakers, thinking he heard a female sigh. Timber murmured something barely intelligible, something like ‘you taste sweet...’
With his head closer to the monitor, Canyon noticed something interesting in one of the images: Timber’s name written in longhand on a sticky note on a desk.
“Predator, zoom in on the paper on the desk in image one.”
:Accomplished—
Canyon scanned over the form, discovering a dispatcher had been warned twice for fraternizing with Timber during her breaks and if she was caught again, she’d be fired.
Movement in image two grabbed Canyon’s attention. It was the dispatch supervisor, a human, and he was heading for the door Timber and the female had gone in.
Timber, get her out of there, her boss is looking for her,Canyon projected to his brother in telepathicruhi.
Rhen, is that you?Timber replied.
No joke. You’ll get her fired. Use the back door, her supervisor is almost at the one you went in.
Okay, okay.
Soft voices and sounds of movement came through the speakers.
“Predator, track Timber when he comes out of the back door of the meeting room and keep eyes on the guy in image two.”
:Acknowledged—
Image three switched to another empty hallway.
In image two, the dispatch supervisor reached the first door. Finding it locked, he pulled out a key ring and picked through keys, finding the one he wanted and putting it in the lock. From the other end of the hallway, another male approached. It was Mac, their sergeant. He saw the dispatchsupervisor and did a quick U-turn, pulling his phone out of his pocket and pressing it to his ear. Too late—the dispatch supervisor spotted him.
