“I didn’t see anyone that looked like Indigo Smith, obviously, but in disguise he could be anyone.”
“True. Still, I’d like to have you take a look.”
“Sure thing. There was a couple a row ahead of our seats that I’d like to start with.”
“We’ll see you there soon.”
Raphael hung up, told Lucy what Diesel had said and together they climbed into her vehicle to head back to the Big Bang Truck Stop.
“I should have gone home with her last night.” Raphael kicked himself up one side and down the other for not escorting her home.
Lucy sniffed a couple of times. “Stop blaming yourself, Raphael. If she’s missing because of Indigo Smith, he would have simply waited until you were gone to take her.”
“Maybe.”
“We don’t even know for certain it was him.”
“True.”Who else could it be?
They drove the rest of the way in silence. She texted Axel from the parking lot and he was waiting in the conference room when they arrived. Lucy flew into her husband’s arms. He whispered something in her ear and she calmed down as she clung to him. He stroked a hand down her blond hair, looking at her like she was the most important being in his world.
Raphael wanted to do the same to Francine. Shewasthe most important being that had ever been in his world. He was probably even more motivated to find her than Lucy was, but he kept his feelings buried deep down. No need to fall to pieces in front of everyone. An outwardly emotional bounty hunter was bad for business. He also recognized that he’d fall to his knees and cry a bucketful of tears if it would bring Francine back right now.
Diesel and Wyatt sat at the end of the oval table looking at the passenger manifest pictures. Cam Grey, security guy extraordinaire, typed furiously on a different computer further down the table.
“Hey, Cam,” he said, taking the empty seat between Wyatt and Cam. Lucy and Axel sat on the other side of the table next to Diesel.
At the end of the table opposite Diesel, a large flat screen blinked to life with an animated picture of Maxwell the Martian hanging from the Alienn, Arkansas, water tower which was shaped like a saucer spaceship.
Cam pushed a button on his computer and Maxwell disappeared as surveillance video of the Big Bang Truck Stop parking lot started playing. He pointed at the screen. “This is a few minutes before the direct transport from Lava Rock World unloaded last night,” he said, pushing another button to speed the playback.
Figures walked quickly across the pavement toward a parking lot on the far left of the screen, where Francine had parked her car before they left Earth for the wedding.
Raphael sat up straight. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten. “Is Francine’s car still in the truck stop parking lot?”
“Yes,” Diesel said. “I checked after you called. It’s still here.”
After they sped through ten minutes, Francine appeared on the screen. Raphael’s breath stopped for a second or two, as if he expected to see a crazed, rice-munching monster appear out of thin air and spirit her away. Cam hit a button on his laptop and the film slowed to regular speed.
Francine had a sweet smile on her face as she walked. What was she thinking of?
A car pulled up, stopping just barely in frame. They could only see the dark front quarter panel of the vehicle. Francine stopped, looked at the car and smiled wider, waving at someone.
“Is there sound?”
“Nope. Just video,” Cam said.
Diesel snorted. “That doesn’t sound like you. When did you give up sound on surveillance?”
Cam rolled his eyes. “I have sound and even color on all the internal video surveillance. But the outdoors ones are video-only.”
“Why video-only outdoors? Has it always been like that?”
“Yes.”
Diesel crossed his arms. “Explain.”
Cam’s eyes narrowed as if affronted that someone dared to insinuate he wasn’t completely on top of a security issue. “Because we need to look like a human business. Remember that foolish alien motto we have where we hide in plain sight and pretend that we’re humans all the time so the indigenous population won’t discover what we truly are?” The sarcasm was hard to miss.
