Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles ~

Friday, October 25, 9:32 AM

Oscar was in the back of the car, reading the latest business news when he got a call from Jeff.

"What did you say?", Oscar needed to hear again that Aiden and Sarah are missing. Jeff also said that they are last seen after the event previous night, when they stayed back to debug a production issue and that they found their GPS trackers in a park.

"Where are you?", Oscar asked after Jeff finished his explanation.

"We are on our way to trace their steps.", Jeff explained.

Oscar narrowed his eyes and started scolding Jeff: "Don\'t be stupid. Get to the HQ building right away! You have men to do this legwork, and you need to be in the command center. Are you putting all your hope that this one search will bring you to your brother and Sarah? They could be anywhere! Who knows who did this and how many people are involved. But you will not find that out because you are out in the field instead of collecting all the information available and making logical decisions. Your rash actions are allowing the enemy to get ahead. Learn to act like a leader no matter how taxing the situation is." Oscar took a deep breath before continuing. "I know that you want to find them, but this is the time to use your head. Based on what you told me, this was not random and finding them will not be a simple task."

Jeff sighed. Just like Sophia (and Felix and JoAnna), he has the need to go in person. Staying in one place and waiting for some news sounds torturous. But he can\'t deny that what his father said made sense.

"OK.", he accepted that Oscar is right. "I\'m heading there."

"Not just you…", Oscar said in a stern tone. "Other three boneheads also. I will call your mother, and I expect to see you in your office ASAP." Oscar ended the call.

~ Seattle, Hill Family villa ~

9:39 AM

Edward and Stella are on the phone with Elanor.

Elanor told them how much she knows: "Aiden and Sarah were last seen in the coliseum after the event. They stayed to debug some production issue. Both of their GPS trackers stopped sending signals at 6:56 AM. Kids found their phones, rings as well as wallets in a tin box and wrapped in aluminum foil in a park in Glendale. Our people are backtracking their movements based on the GPS logs from last night but considering how we found their devices we can assume that Sarah and Aiden will not be found in any of those places because whoever has our kids knows that they can be tracked. They even removed Aiden\'s belt. At most, we can hope that they left behind some evidence."

Edward and Stella exchanged concerned glances.

"Can you close off Los Angeles area?", Stella asked Elanor. "Just in case they are still there."

"We are working on it." Elanor confirmed.

"We are on our way." Edward said. "I will check the surveillance from the coliseum and the surrounding area and let you know what I find. In the meantime, ask Oscar to give me full access to White corp. network. I want to see what is the issue that made Aiden and Sarah stay after the event."

Edward can hack into White corp., but he knows that Sarah worked on security of their system, and he will probably need time to get around the firewall. And there will be a possibility for him to be blocked and sidetracked on the way. It\'s easier for Oscar to give him access. He can use that time to look into the footage from coliseum.

Edward ended the call with Elanor and looked at Stella who was on another call, telling the pilot to get their private jet ready.

"We have half an hour before we can head out." Stella told Edward. "I will pack few things and you look into that surveillance."

She headed upstairs while making another call to her people in Los Angeles. She needs to know if Eastern European organizations made any moves last night. Her people will start digging up the information. Sarah and Aiden could not disappear into the thin air. Stella only hopes that they are still in Los Angeles area… or at least in the United States.

...

9:56 AM

Edward is looking at the surveillance from the coliseum.

He can see Sarah and Aiden leaving coliseum at 7:41 PM. And they don\'t reach the parking lot where the next surveillance camera is.

He rewound the video of Sarah and Aiden leaving few times, but nothing stood out of place.

Coliseum is a place where a lot of people gather for various events, that is why the cameras cover a most of areas.

Edward can see two of them from the moment they left the VIP lounge, through the hallways, down the stairs… He sees the moment when Aiden opened the main door and held it open for Sarah… and Aiden wraps his arm around Sarah\'s shoulders, and they walk away… outside of the view of the camera.

He stared at the video of the deserted street in front of the entrance helplessly. He wishes to change the angle of that camera so that he can capture more of the street. Maybe he sees where they took a turn or if they met someone or… anything other than this video which is completely devoid of motions and it looks like a still picture. Frustration built in him and he angrily smacked the keyboard, making the video fast forward. He sighed at his own helplessness. What is the point of having all the glory of a SP3CT3R if his daughter is missing and he can\'t even trace her?

Edward reached to close the window displaying the video, when he saw a shadow dash on the screen, opposite from the direction where Aiden and Sarah left.

He held his breath as he rewound it slowly… it\'s a female… looks like a homeless person… but she is holding a cell phone and… a gun!? Can she be related to the disappearance of Sarah and Aiden? Why is she holding a gun!?? Edward took few deep breaths to calm down.

\'Focus! Focus!\', he told himself.

Cell phone… if she is holding it while running, there is a high chance she was using it. Did she text someone? Or made a call?

Edward\'s fingers flew over the keyboard while looking into history logs of nearby cell towers.

He is looking for a text or a call… or anything around 7:53 PM. The street is practically deserted. It should not be difficult to find traces of communication, if any happened.

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