Callan pointed toward the monitor. “Watch the delivery van.”
Dev stepped closer.
At first glance, nothing looked unusual. Employees moving through the service corridor. Cars entering and leaving the rear lot. Normal overnight activity.
The sequence repeated frame for frame.
Rhys went still beside him. “That’s looped footage.”
Callan nodded grimly. “Thirty-eight seconds inserted over the live feeds of three cameras. Long enough to conceal someone entering through the rear service corridor, planting the scrunchie, and leaving before Julia and Mateo returned inside.”
Dev stared at the frozen frame. “He walked straight through security.”
“Not ours,” Callan corrected automatically. “The venue’s.”
He looked at him flatly. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah.” Callan scrubbed both hands over his face. “I do.”
Rhys folded his arms, studying the monitor in silence for several moments. “The earlier offenses relied on isolation and opportunity,” he said finally. “This didn’t.”
“No,” Dev agreed quietly.
“This was deliberate and premeditated,” Rhys concluded, staring at the looping footage.
Callan nodded. “More than that, he understood exactly where the vulnerabilities were and how long he could manipulate the system without detection.”
Whoever did this was competent and prepared. Dev dreaded those two traits together. “Can you trace it?” he asked.
“I’m trying.” Callan zoomed in on another section of code. “He covered himself well, but nobody’s perfect.”
“Find me something.”
“That’s the plan.”
Dev pulled out his phone and stepped into the hallway. Leland answered on the second ring.
“What?”
No greeting. Just tension.
Dev almost smiled. “How’s Julia?”
A pause.
“Restless and bored, as expected.”
Dev propped one shoulder against the wall. “Cari invited her to my birthday party tonight.”
Another silence.
“Being social would be good for her,” Leland admitted finally.
“I don’t see a problem with it.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“No,” Dev agreed easily. “Because if you hadn’t vetoed my original protection plan, she’d already be there.”
