Memory Lane

Chapter 16: Computerized

(Inspired by: THE SPIDERMAN THEME SONG AND THE BATMAN THEME SONG)

Rex's fingers were flying across the keyboard, spurred on by his two friends at his side. Jared had called both Violet and Rex to his home, and his mom was worriedly calling around for any sign of Rachel.

"What about Falcon?" Rex had asked.

"She's preparing for an upcoming performance with her brother. She won't be able to help yet," Jared said, but grinned sheepishly. "Miguel basically took the phone from her and the minute we need them, they are abandoning his performance."

"That's his performance," Violet protested, "we can't tear him away from that!"

"That's his choice, Violet," Jared shrugged, "got any leads, Rex?"

"Uh, yeah, here. I have access to the security systems of the hospital... their security is pretty easy. As long as they think it's one of their own, they won't try to shut me out," Rex said, peering at the screen. "Right. What time did you guys say you came in?"

"12.23 PM," Jared answered.

"Got it," Rex said, rewinding footage. "Rachel's being taken out."

"Oh God, Rachel's really... okay. That's bad, I can't access anything else," Rex exclaimed, angrily frowning at the grainy video.

"Why?" Violet asked.

"I don't know. Hey, Jared, is it really okay I'm using your computer for this?"

"Yes," Jared said.

"Gone. I got the car." Rex pulled up another video, zooming in on the car plate number. He runs it through a scan, and an endlessly scrolling list appears on the screen.

"What's that?" Violet asked.

"Car plate licenses. It's a fake. That screams shady business to me."

"Can you track it?" Jared asked.

"No, I don't have anything else. I don't know if the car has a GPS system or a black box," Rex pointed out, shutting down the hospital cams program, and instead pulling up another endless set of traffic footage. "I might have to manually figure the route of the vehicle, since I have the model and the car plate number of the car."

"That will take ages," Jared argued.

"What if we're overreacting? What if we just call Rachel and everything will be fine?" Violet asked.

They both looked at her as if she was crazy.

"I don't think you get it..." Jared said slowly, "Rachel always calls us where she's at."

"Not like Falcon, who always disconnects," Rex added. "It's all concerning."

Rex was just drawing a line idly through a digital map, alternating rapidly between the cameras and the map. He was just mapping the route of the car, followed by a long pause as he began to really click through the screens, hoping to spot the blasted car.

"This is going to take a while," Jared groaned.

"I know, can you spot it?" Rex asked, "Three pairs of eyes are better than one pair."

Together they scanned the footage for at least an hour, poring through every car and detail. That was until Jared's eyes locked onto one particular screen, and he pointed it out.

"There- that car. Zoom in on that licence plate."

Rex expanded the screen, looking between the map and the cameras.

"It's not that far," Rex declared. "It's even parked- look. There's no one inside."

Jared grabbed his bag, Violet grabbed her pack, Rex smoothly switched off the program with just a press of a button and took down the address.