The plan that Ivy laid out would take over twenty-four hours. Joule was disappointed by the timeframe and trying not to slide into a minor depression.
She had desperately wanted to go out searching tonight. Every day they waited was doing more harm, there was greater likelihood that something went horribly awry, and that Cage, Sarah, and Aurora didn't make it out.
But she had to admit that Kayla and Ivy were right.
As she climbed into the back seat, she immediately texted Amber. She and Brooklyn requested a pick-up ASAP. That alone—that her new friends were ready to roll on no notice at all—settled her anxiety a bit. Luckily, Kayla and Ivy's car was large enough that Joule and the two HST employees could sit across the back seat on the long ride into San Antonio.
Ivy gave directions to Kayla as the rest of them tapped away on their phones until their connections petered out. Then they called where they could. The little, all-female crew made three different stops, picking up a slew of different thermal imagers.
“I can buy my own,” Amber offered.
“Only if you want to.” Kayla had volunteered to buy all of them, and she was buying a lot.
Gisela and Malcolm had both asked to come out the next night as well when they searched. Kayla’s solution had been to buy one for everyone who would be coming along as well as a couple extras for anyone they might add.
“You don't have to cover all of this,” Joule told her, hoping that Kayla and Ivy would at least let them split the bills.
Kayla shook her head. “Honestly, I'm pretty sure I can write it off as a business expense.”
Joule had almost laughed again. If anybody could, Kayla could.
They bought out three separate stores, taking the two to three that were in stock and renting a large handheld one for three days. Joule had been glad the city was big enough that they could do that. It meant they had several different designs. Kayla pointed out that each version had different pros and cons. And they would take advantage of that.
It was late in the day by the time they’d loaded up what they needed, including an expanded pack of walkie talkies. It would be well past dark by the time they got back to El Indio.
Even Ivy had given up and suggested they drive through somewhere. Across the back seat, all three of the HST workers were grateful just to get a different kind of food this time.
For a moment, despite the somberness of their task, the three had chattered. Joule had felt that maybe she had girlfriends. As long as she ignored that they were getting thermal imagers in an attempt to find a human trafficking ring and return their missing loved ones.
“So tomorrow, how are we going to do this?” Amber asked.
Joule turned to Brooklyn. “Do you have hints?”
“Oh no.” Brooklyn’s hands went up. “Thermal imaging is for live people with body heat. Dead bodies are cold. My sister doesn't know anything about this.”
Joule and Amber must have had interesting expressions on their face. Because Brooklyn simply held up her phone for a minute. “I've been texting her the whole way there and back to see if she knew anything. But she doesn't.”
All right, Joule thought. No help from that quarter. Though Brooklyn had been on top of it.
Joule would bet good money they could ask Jacob McQueeny, though Katherine was probably the safer bet. She was the one who didn't have to report to any agency.
Joule tucked the thought away in case it came to that. “Well, I think first we practice and see what we can see. How close do we have to get? How much detail will it give us? That kind of thing.”
The others were nodding along and then Kayla said, looking up into the rearview mirror, hands always at ten and two on the steering wheel, “Then we have to figure out how to do it without somebody spotting us.”
They headed back to Joule's small rental house, sending several of them inside at a time and leaving the others outside to try the equipment. They quickly discovered that two of the units—the small black ones—had smaller screens but were much more sensitive than the four red ones they'd managed to scoop up. Those tended to blur but had larger screens. They worked best if somebody managed to get close.
That might be a problem, Joule thought. They traded places and tried peeking through the bedroom windows and through the walls. They tried the garage and paced off how far away they could correctly guess what the person inside was doing, or how many of them were in the room.
“I don’t think we’re doing it right,” Amber protested at one point. “There has to be a better way to read these.”
“I know what we can do,” Ivy grinned. “Where’s the nearest fire station?”
The three girls turned and looked at her as if to ask what the fuck she was talking about, but Ivy tipped her imager back and forth in her hands. “Firefighters use these as part of their regular training and they tend to be pretty helpful people. A lot of times you can just knock on the door and ask a question.”
An hour and a half later they’d met three firefighters who were manning the El Indio volunteer station.
“You’re lucky,” one of them had said. “Often the building is empty. But we had a meeting tonight.”
They’d found the help they needed, with only a small lie about a school project. They’d wrangled pro tips on settings that made the imagers work better, and even managed to get help with tests. Amber had even gotten asked on a date.
After dropping Amber and Brooklyn off at their apartment, their thermal guns still in hand, Joule suspected that Kayla was going to wind up giving them as gifts to everyone who came along. If her brother was home, and safe, she wouldn't complain. But she sat alone again in the back seat on the way back to the small house, wondering if they would ever find him.
The next day had been interminably long even though they’d left early for San Antonio. The small team had set up a meeting in the city, Kayla and Ivy’s SUV leading the way. Amber, Gisela, and Brooklyn were right behind them.
They stood in a nearly empty corner of a warehouse parking lot, not feeling fully comfortable with their planning. The last-minute logistics weren’t quite coming together.
“How do we get anywhere near the houses?”
The shiny Buick pulled up. Malcolm climbed out with a bag slung over his shoulder. He offered only the most rote of hellos before adding, “I've been working with the boss—Dr. Murasawa—she basically gave me this drone. I've gotten good with it.”
That was a bit of a surprise that he had practiced with the drone . . . and that he was good at it now. Not that he had been spending his time improving his own ways to find his missing family. Joule reminded herself he had lost everyone.
It was Kayla who handed out the walkie talkies. “These are long range. They’ll definitely do the job.”
“They’re pretty small,” Amber commented.
“Exactly. If anything happens, try to hide it on you.”
Not something they should have to be thinking about. Kayla, as per usual, didn’t sugarcoat anything as she’d given the instruction as par for the course.
As she handed them out, Dr. Murasawa and David pulled up, having come from a different direction. They’d all taken off work to do this and Joule felt grateful for the effort. Kayla handed them each a walkie talkie which they accepted and a thermal imager which they didn’t.
David leaned into the back of the car. “We brought drones, too.” He’d clearly seen the one Malcolm had.
The group—all present at last—convened on the basics.
“We can't all go together. We'll have to split up.”
They all agreed, though it was clear they would have to stay in close contact. If anyone found anything, it would need to be reported immediately. Decisions would have to be made.
Joule hoped that they found something. In her heart a hard, cold kernel of hope lay dormant that they would simply find Cage tonight and she would be able to walk away with her brother. They all climbed back into their cars, Malcolm going with David and Dr. Murasawa, so that no one was alone.
Joule, Ivy, and Kayla climbed back into the SUV and followed the map the short distance to their stopping point. Her fingers flexed, squeezing the thermal imager a little tighter as Kayla parked on the side street.
They all got out, quietly closing the car doors as they snuck around the back of the first house.