Chapter 2 — Walking to the Monitoring Room
The hallway leading from the commercial kitchen to the admin block was narrow and lit by flickering fluorescent panels.
Aiden marched ahead with long, deliberate strides.
His leather shoes clicked sharply against the linoleum floor.
Bianca hurried to keep pace behind him.
Her professional composure had completely vanished, replaced by tight, shallow breaths.
Liam walked a few paces behind them, keeping his hands tucked into the pockets of his apron.
They reached the heavy wooden door marked Authorized Personnel Only.
Aiden pulled a small electronic key fob from his pocket and pressed it against the security scanner.
The green light flashed with a sharp electronic beep.
The heavy door clicked open, revealing the cramped monitoring office inside.
Rows of glowing computer towers hummed against the back wall.
A large, multi-screen display panel dominated the far desk.
Aiden walked directly to the central workstation.
He pulled out the rolling mesh chair and sat down.
Bianca stood near the doorway, her arms tightly crossed over her white shirt.
“Let’s see what’s on these tapes, then,” Aiden said.
His fingers flew across the keyboard, bringing up the directory of the facility’s camera network.
“There’s really no need to dig through old files,” Bianca said, her voice strained.
“It was just a simple scheduling mix-up on the weekly roster.”
Aiden did not look up from the glowing monitor.
“If it’s just a mix-up, the cameras will prove it in ten seconds,” Aiden replied.
“Let’s pull up feed number four.”
Feed number four covered the main dishwashing station and the adjacent prep counters.
Aiden’s cursor hovered over the timeline scrubber at the bottom of the display.
“Which day did you mention?” Aiden asked, glancing back at Liam.
“Yesterday afternoon,” Liam answered, stepping closer to the desk.
“Around four-thirty, right when my shift was supposed to end.”
Aiden clicked on the calendar utility and selected the previous afternoon’s date.
A progress bar flashed across the screen as the high-definition video file loaded from the local server.
The monitor lights up, displaying the exact timestamp of yesterday’s closing hours.