Secrets And Lies [Completed]

21. in the dark

Song of the chapter is
Mind by Maison Ware

-21-
-Kartik Malhotra-
-Present-

_____________

Delmore Inn
20 November, 2030
12:12 am

Moving past me, Veronica entered the surveillance room. I followed, closing the door behind us with a click.

I went and stood next to her as she appraised the multitude of computer screens before us, showcasing different areas of the Inn. I glanced at her, looking at the glow of the blue light gracing her features.

"Do we even know what we're looking for?" I asked.

"Not yet." She shook her head.

I turned my gaze and focussed on the task at hand, observing the grainy shots of the Inn. The technology had been upped since the last time we had had to do this, with touchpads replacing the keypads and security lock system guarding the entire place.

Veronica took a step closer to the screen before slowly raising her hand and pointing at one in particular, "That'll be the one."

It was a shot of the third floor hallway, where no activity was happening. It gave a view of the caution tapes that the police had put as a barricade to secure the crime scene. The door to the room where the incident had taken place was closed, similiar to the rest of the rooms.

Veronica sat down in one of the swivel chairs, in front of the keyboard, and I tentatively took the seat next to her, feeling my palms beginning to sweat. Swallowing, I focused my gaze on the monitors, trying to help.

I scooted my chair a little closer to both the monitors and leaned forward.

" So you can just type in a date and it'll pull it up?" I asked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her looking at the monitor with a curious gaze. " That's what I'm hoping for." She said, before entering the date of four days ago into the system.

As she clicked enter, a static sound was heard before the screen just cut to black, flashing the message,
'File Doesn't Exist'.

I narrowed my eyes as Veronica tried once more. Static and then nothing, again.

"What's going on?" I asked, turning my gaze to her.

Her brows furrowed further. "That's what I had feared."

"What?"

"The security tape. It was taken....by the police or...."

"The killer." I completed for her. A look of forlorn washed over her as she nodded.

I breathed an exasperated sigh.

"It's a dead end." I uttered, standing up. I felt utterly exhausted at that moment. There was nothing we could do to be one step ahead of this bastard. "What do we do now?"