“I... I dunno. I just monitor the cameras. I don’t—man, I just started here.”
“Fucking hell,” Darnell said.
“Any way to recover the lost footage?”
“I mean, if it was missing, yeah, maybe, but it’s not. It’s been overwritten.”
“Is it on the cloud?”
“Thisisthe cloud. Everything is on the cloud. No local storage.”
Vaughn glanced at Darnell. The man practically had steam coming out of his ears.
“Take my card. You find out who replaced the footage or if you somehow manage to recover it, call me.”
The guard looked stunned as he accepted the card. Vaughn could tell that Darnell was about to shit on this guy.
“Let’s go, Darnell.”
They started toward the door, Vaughn in the lead. Darnell stopped.
“Hey, it’s your job to watch the cameras, right?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Then watch the fucking cameras! You know what? I want to speak to your supervisor.”
“M-m-my supervisor?”
“Yes, your—”
Vaughn grabbed Darnell’s arm, tried to reel him in. As much as this kid had fucked up by not noticing the black video before now, he was just a kid. This was probably his first job. Besides, getting him fired would bring them no closer to the missing tanks. It would also waste time.
“What?” Darnell bared his teeth and shook free. He was on the verge of becoming unhinged, but somehow managed to regain his composure. “Fine—let’s just get the fuck out of here before I strangle someone.”
Vaughn believed him.?
?Chapter 19
“Fucking useless.”
Vaughn couldn’t argue with his partner. But he also knew that they were coming at this from a different angle—in hindsight.
They knew the crime, were working backwards.
A few missing tanks that were rarely used. A keycard belonging to an ex-employee that was supposed to have been deactivated. An overwritten video file. Separately, none of these amounted to much.
Together, however...
“Speaking of useless,” Darnell continued unprompted, “I’m gonna call Delaney again.”
Vaughn was still wrapped up in the four missing gas canisters. The elaborate setup. TheSquid Game or whatever the fuck it was.
Couldn’t help but think:one down, three to go.
He shuddered involuntarily.
“Delaney!” Darnell barked. “Any update on an address for Aaron Treadman?” Pause. “No? Why not?” Pause. “Get ‘em printed already. Upload them. We need to move—”
