"Check the router," he told her. "Should be dedicated IPs per seat, right?"
She was immediately back at it. "Yep, with a few switches."
"How many computers on a switch?" he asked.
"Um... looks like about twenty. Max of twenty, depends on who's in there."
Jason slammed the enter key. "Then he's offline." And he reached for his phone, quickly typing a message to Bradley.
Jason: Someone just got blocked on the net. Look for him to get up and leave.
Bradley: Everyone's leaving! They just announced an hour break. Results are gone so they'll restart at ten.
Jason: SR just hacked the server. It's HIM!
"Fuck!" he roared, shoving to his feet. "They're redoing the matches. Hour break."
"Jason," Dez said, catching his attention. "That means he might not realize he's blocked. The seats that match are 321 to 340. I'm sending Chance and Mark in there to talk to the hosting company, and they can check which machine it is. If he's already left, we'll catch him when he gets back."
"And if he knows he's busted and just walked out?" Jason demanded.
Dez smiled, and it was the cruel kind. "Then we have his machine, and that means I have his hard drive and everything on it. Everything, Jason, including his home wifi, probably a few documents, and anything else that can lead us to who this man is. Somewhere on there will be his real name, and then he's all fucking yours."
While she was talking, the door opened. Out of habit, Jason flinched, turning to the sound, but the laughter of women made him relax just as fast. "Fill them in," Jason told Dez, "and watch Crysis?"
She nodded. "Can do. Go get this guy, Jason."
He checked his weapons out of habit. For a split second, he thought about stopping at his room - that was where he kept his cuffs, rifle, and other gear - but he shouldn't need it for this. Not with so many police around, the hotel security having cuffs, and both Alex and Bradley being there. Jason was sending a text to Bradley with the seat block, and almost to the living room when Zara entered the hall, catching him by the shoulders. She had a big smile on her face.
"So, Riley's decided that we're calling you 'God' from now on. Guess you have a reputation to uphold now."
"Yeah," he mumbled, barely paying attention. "Babe??
"What's going on?" she asked. "You look distracted."
"I think I have him," he explained. "All of you, stay up here until you hear from me, ok? Tournament or no, just promise me that?" He looked over her shoulder, right at Riley. "I need to know she's safe."
"Promise," Riley assured him. "Go."
Jason went, hearing Dez behind him calling for Crysis to stay. His feet didn't slow as he headed for the elevators. Thankfully, the car was still at the top from when the girls had arrived. Stepping inside, he pressed the button for the first floor, and then pulled out his phone.
Forty-six floors was a long ass time to wait, and there was never any reception in an elevator. If Soul Reaper was down there, he could be removing his hard drive, or formatting it, or something! This man wasn't stupid. He knew how to keep from getting caught, and that was why he'd evaded arrest this long. Then again, for all Jason knew, he'd hijacked someone else's connection and set an innocent gamer up to take the fall.
That was what Soul Reaper did, but at the same time, they'd set the network up to make that basically impossible. The guy knew what he was doing, and he'd know he'd be caught, which left the other option as simply using someone else's unlocked computer. Jason couldn't rule that out, but if it was the case, surely someone would notice. If nothing else, it was a step, right?
Because this was the closest he'd ever been to catching the man. Soul Reaper was right there, now twelve floors away. Jason's heart was starting to beat a little faster, and his mind was definitely spinning. But why had Soul Reaper erased the match servers? Why would this man take such a risk, on such a tightly-controlled network, for something as meaningless as a team tournament? Was it someone else?
No, he did it because the Kings of Gaming was falling apart, Jason realized. So many members had been arrested. Too many people had been caught. Even before they picked up Arturo, there were already complaints against Soul_Reaper, making it