tap to his shoulder stopped him. “If you don’t want me to work the video remote, then you need to go back to the point when they first came in. We need to see the whole thing and what happened. We might have to see it a few times. If you need to walk away, you walk away. Okay?”
Ben nodded and backtracked the video. He could do this. He had to do this.
Everyone stilled as the scene replayed. Gabriel napping on the couch, turning to find three men in the living room. The hidden camera didn’t record audio and the masks made it impossible for Ben to read their lips.
His breath froze in his lungs when the man shot Gabriel.
Twice.
The techs had found one of the darts on the ground and had sent it off to the lab. Ben’s lip quivered when Gabriel stumbled, clutching at his chest. Gabriel was in pain, fighting to hang on. One punch. A few more words, then one last punch before they all dragged him out and away from the living room camera.
Ben exhaled a slow, shaky breath, seeking that inner fighter Gabriel claimed lay dormant inside him. He took a deep breath and straightened, rewinding the video again for another replay.
He watched.
Again.
And again.
There had to be something.
His hands shook as he replayed the video a half dozen more times, numbing himself from the emotion and forcing his mind to see every detail. He pretended he was watching a movie with some actor he didn’t know.
Anything to desensitize himself to the images and spiraling thoughts.
After two more replays, he gasped, quickly pausing the video. He pointed at the screen.
“What?” Aidan asked, swinging him around to face him. “What did you see?” Ben raced away and grabbed Gabriel’s tablet, pulling up the writing app. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could steady his hands enough to type on the small phone keyboard.
He resumed the video and typed each letter Gabriel had signed when he had moved his hands behind him.
A string of letters. V-i-p-e-r-s-o-n.
He continued watching. He flinched with each viewing, but kept his eyes trained on Gabriel’s hands, refusing to miss the tiniest detail. The second set of signs seemed random, more like a series of letters strung together. C-h-i-c-a-g-o…m-a-n…b-r-o-w-n-s-h-i-r-t…l-o-v-e-u-b-e-n.
He sharply inhaled as tears burned in his eyes and finally broke free. A comforting hand on his back settled him. He glanced over his shoulder. Julian had obviously interpreted the signs as well. He returned his attention to the television feed. Gabriel knew. He knew Ben would remember the camera and find the clue.
He quickly double-checked the video and confirmed the other random words Gabriel had signed—saving the end for himself—and handed the tablet to Aidan.
Aidan read the tablet, the color draining from his face as he pointed to the first thing Gabriel had signed that made the least amount of sense.
“Are you sure that’s what he signed?”
Ben stared at Julian, but the man didn’t respond. Almost as if he sensed this was something Ben had to do on his own. Ben nodded at Aidan and pointed to the tablet again.
Aidan quieted. His lips weren’t moving but his mind was obviously racing. “Guys, you can all leave. You’ve dusted enough and we saw in the video they all had gloves. You won’t find anything more if you haven’t found it by now.” Something was different about the way Aidan spoke. His mouth was more controlled, and the words seemed to leave him more sharply, likely because of the tension and rage screaming from his body and that pulsating vein at his temple.
He was pissed. Angry as all hell.
But he was obviously shaken.
As if waiting for the command, the techs collected their things, sealed up their equipment and left. Aidan turned and said something to the other two task members who had stayed behind. They both glanced at Ben, nodded at Aidan, then left, leaving him, Cal, Julian, and Aidan alone in the room.
Ben pulled his phone from his back pocket and typed out a quick note on his app. Funny how the anger rolling through him steadied his fingers enough to type on the tiny keyboard. What are you doing! We need to find him!
“I know,” Aidan said, raising his hands, trying to calm Ben down. “But we need a different pool of resources.”
Ben frowned as Aidan placed a call. He stared at Aidan’s mouth, ready to read every single word he mouthed even though it would be a one-sided conversation. He inwardly