Page 207 of Bound By Fire
Crap!
Maybe he got out and went around the back of the vehicle and took the long way through the alley of the second building. It’s possible, if he was being extra careful.
I lean closer, the phone propped against the steering wheel.
A few seconds later, I smile because a figure walks straight across the front of the car.
He stops dead center. He looks left, then right. He pushes something into the front of his pants. I think he has a crowbar in his hand, but it’s hard to tell from this angle. I’m pretty sure the thing he’s pushing into his pants is a sealed, plastic envelope containing documents. He pulls his top over the envelope.
I’ll get my guys to blow it up. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get an image of what’s inside, but I doubt it.
The dash light catches his face at the perfect angle. It’s Dr. Raj Patel. Clear as day, with no room for doubt.
Yes!
He pulls the hood of his jacket up and slips around the side of Robyn’s building, heading for the strip of lawn that runs along the emergency stairs.
I let the footage keep rolling.
The street goes quiet again. Time passes. A cat sneaks across the lawn.
At the nine-minute mark, Patel reappears.
He’s running.
Of course he is, since Robyn caught him trying to break in.
Got you!
The hood has fallen back from his face. He’s sprinting toward the Mercedes like his life depends on it. He’s definitely holding a crowbar. The one he tried to use to pop the slider with.
He’s out of the picture in the next second, and a moment later, the Mercedes is moving fast.
I’ve got him.
I have him red-handed.
I scrub the clip back to the start of the relevant window and pull a thumb drive out of my pocket. The app gives me an option to export. I copy the file from an hour before the incident to an hour after just to be safe. The progress bar fills.
When it’s done, I unplug the cable, putting it back into my pocket. I switch the engine off and lock the car.
I walk to the front of the shop.
The male behind the counter looks up.
“Get what you needed?” His brows go up. “From the look on your face, I’d say you did.” He smiles.
I drop the keys into his palm.
“I caught him red-handed. I have footage of him going into his boss’s apartment.” I stick to the facts as much as possible. “Two guesses why he went in the middle of the night.”
He winces. “Sorry to hear. I like Mrs. Patel. She seems like a nice lady.”
“She is. Please don’t say anything to her. I know she’s going to be very upset about all of this.”
“I swear, I won’t say a word. Not my place.”
“I appreciate it.”
He gives me a small salute as I head out.
I walk to my SUV. Unless I can get a close-up that proves those are work documents, it still isn’t enough for a warrant. I know that. But it’s enough to drag Patel into a room and put it in front of him.
It’s enough to make him sweat.
Chances are that he and his family are being threatened. The Patels are nice people in a bad situation, the same as Rachael and Layla. He cares about his wife. He cares about those two boys in the photos on his hallway table. If I offer him the right deal, the same deal we offered the others, he might take it.
I pray he agrees to make this right.
