“For the most part. Like I said, I only use it for emergencies.”
Alexis couldn’t help but wonder if this was the application he used when he tried to look her up.
“First,” he began, “I need to track the phone call.” Holding up the phone from the office, Cliff scrolled through the recent calls and cursed when it came up as unknown. Without a word, Cliff brought up another program on the computer and typed in the phone number for the studio. As a list of numbers populated on the screen, Cliff highlighted a select few around the time her father called and requested the system to trace.
Most of the numbers came from Carson or the adjacent towns and counties. But after ten minutes, a few of the numbers pinged to other areas. Mexico City. Tokyo. Raleigh. Ontario. Phoenix. Chicago.
“These are the most likely areas associated with the number your father used. It is a cell phone so we could only trace to the area where the signal came from.” Spinning in his chair, he turned to look at Alexis. “So, tell me, which one do you think was your father?”
Alexis stared at the names. Raleigh would be too obvious. Though that was where they wanted to lead him, he would have been too smart to go there himself. She thought back to areas populated by the cartel they had been chasing and known associates. Mexico City and Chicago were the first to pop into her mind. Something about the windy city burrowed in her brain and stuck. She couldn’t pinpoint it, but somehow she thought that was where her father was located.
“Chicago. I don’t know why, but something about it is sticking in my head.”
“All right. Well, let’s see what we get.” Cliff selected Chicago and ran the program to trace the call from th
at area at the time they received it at the shop.
“While this runs, I want to talk about what we’re going to do moving forward. If we locate Alexis’ father, I want someone in here monitoring his movements twenty-four seven. Anyone and everyone. We need to know when he’s coming. And at this point, I don't care who knows what I have in here. Her safety is a priority.”
“What is the plan if he goes off of our radar?” Preston asked, just as a ping echoed in the room.
Cliff looked down at the screen then pressed a key on the keyboard. The monitors flickered then switched to a view of The Institute of Art.
“We just pray that our instincts are good because I have a feeling this is going to be more difficult than we thought.”
Alexis gasped as the screens flashed from face to face of the visitors moving in and out of the museum. They stood there for another twenty minutes while the application searched faces and phone connections.
“There! That’s him!” Alexis shouted, reaching across Cliff to smack a key on the keyboard to freeze the screen.
The image was blurry, but she could make out the dark hair with graying temples, phone pressed to his ear. Two giant henchmen flanked him on either side. But it was the eyes that did him in, Alexis would recognize them anywhere – they looked just like hers.
“Good work,” Cliff stated as he zoomed in on the image and brought it on all of the screens. “Now, let’s see what we’re working with.”
An hour passed as the four of them watched the application track the number across Chicago and adjoining cities.
“Fuck!” Cliff shouted, breaking everyone away from their monotonous stares.
“What is it?” Dylan asked.
“The trace died. Either he killed the phone about ten minutes ago or he has switched out the SIM card.”
“So, what do we do?” Alexis asked, but she was afraid she already had the answer.
“We wait.”
Begrudgingly Cliff left her with Preston, who offered to take the first watch while Cliff went to his next appointment. He kissed her forehead and sealed her and Preston into the apartment, making sure to show them where he kept a mini-fridge and food.
She had been curious about his job before, but now that she’d seen this hidden room with eyes on the world, Alexis wanted to know more.
They chat mindlessly, he told her how he still felt like an outsider after living in Carson for three years. That it wasn’t until recently that things were less strained between him and the Connelly family. She tried to assure him that once he finally moved on with someone else that the family wouldn’t continue to think he stayed in Carson for Sydney.
Around 8 p.m. Cliff came up the stairs with Jameson in tow. He explained that the tech whiz was going to work on setting up the monitors for mobile viewing, that way someone could stay at their house but monitor the program remotely. Now that the phone number was no longer detectable, all the program could go off of was facial monitoring. And within the town of Carson, the application would find her father and his henchman’s faces quickly.
After another hour, Cliff and Jameson weren’t able to detect any bugs placed in the town. Which Alexis knew meant that someone had been feeding her father information.
“Just remember, if your father can give them something that they desperately need or want, people will do just about anything,” Cliff explained as she stomped her foot in frustration. “We know the majority of people here and they’re trustworthy. But it’s the time of year then outsiders come for the summer season. We can’t do background checks on all of them.” She understood, but she couldn’t fight against the desire to do more. It wasn’t just her that she’s worried about. She worried for the safety of the people she’d come to know as friends and family.
Leaving Jameson in his own personal wonderland, she and Cliff made their way out back to his truck. He helped her inside the vehicle and before she could blink, he started the engine and headed toward his home.