Chapter 30

Relda's eyes felt like clouds. She had stared into the viewing screen for nearly twenty minutes. Not long by any stretch, but it triggered a dopamine rush. A crash followed, and her brain felt saturated in chemicals. She rubbed her eyes and blinked. Sariah stared down the long, rounded corridor, and sucked her fingers. For a few seconds, she was no longer visible. The cams angled above her scalp. Sariah kept a close watch on the corridor. She passed Suite 1, 2, 3, 4...5. She brushed her hand over the entrance to Suite 5.

Relda speed read the screen. Their view of the Children's Suites had been a hack. A fluke. None of the menus, controls, or touch icons offered a switch to the Adult Suites 5 cam.

Her last glimpse of Sariah was when the little one stood on her tiptoes, reaching for the passcode pad just higher than her head. In clear digitized Anmerian, the combination appeared. N377A.

A door split open, and Anniston tilted her head. She rested it against the doorframe.