Scrubbing video footage was actually a lot harder than expected. Sure I found the moment Jake left the building, but there were a lot of gaps in the city's CCTV of the area. Figuring out which camera he would appear on next, especially as he had been passively trying to avoid them, was quite difficult. Sometimes the camera would just catch his leg in the corner of the frame for a split second. I was losing a lot of time trying to track him and find the moment he was taken. I began to worry that his abduction wouldn't be on camera at all.

Comparing the cameras to street view I determined Jake must have been heading towards a convenience store on the outskirts of the area, but he never reached his destination. About three-quarters of the way there he just simply vanished from the cameras. I jumped from the last camera he was seen on to the next and nothing. Just to be sure, I checked all of the other cameras in the area, but it was as if he just disappeared. I knew that had to be the moment he was abducted, but why did it have to be during the brief time he was between cameras! Was it a coincidence or was it planned? At any rate, it made determining where he went nearly impossible. Sighing, I went back to the previous camera and rewatched Jake walking down the street over and over. Each time it replayed, I watched his movements more carefully. There was nothing to indicate that Jake saw anything unusual, which led me to believe he didn't detect his abductor. His movement across the camera's field of vision was so direct. Either he was that good at subterfuge or he was taken suddenly between the two cameras out of nowhere.

I leaned back in my seat and groaned loudly. How the hell did Jake use this system to track anyone when you can lose people to the blackspots in the surveillance just like that? He made it look so easy to find people! I spent hours teaching myself how to use this damn system and figuring out the locations of all the cameras and for what!? I was no closer to finding where he was! As the camera continued to play back the footage of the empty street, I slammed my fist on the desk in frustration. Then suddenly my prayers were answered.

A white, unmarked van drove in the opposite direction across the camera's field of vision. I leant forwards in my chair to scrub back and forth over those few seconds. Something about the van screamed suspicious to me. Sure, that wasn't particularly unusual for the industrial area, but it also just happened to be passing by Jake during the moments he was abducted? Going backwards through Jake's journey I noticed a hooded individual that was following several hundred paces behind Jake. He was so good he didn't even show up in my earlier playthroughs so it was no surprise that Jake didn't detect him either. He must've been one of Cyan's goons, recognised Jake as he was walking and called it in. As I continued to watch this hooded man, I even saw the exact moment he brought his phone up to his ear.

So Jake disappeared between cameras and that van is seen leaving the area a couple of minutes later? The next step was to work out where it went. I followed the van from one camera to the next as it drove across the district to the road running along the length of the docks. Remembering Jake said Cyan preferred a location near the docks, I knew it was heading in the right direction. Suddenly it stopped and turned into the loading zone for one of the warehouses across from the docks. Unfortunately it parked behind a shipping container and was hidden from view from the camera I was on. I swapped cameras to try to get a better view, but it was completely out of sight.

"Figures," I sighed out loud.

I went back to that last camera that a decent line of sight and zoomed in as much as I could. Rewatching the moment the van disappear behind the shipping container, I let the footage run in hopes I could catch something. After a few minutes, two blurry shapes appeared from behind the container. They were carrying a third shape- no dragging a third shape between them. They disappeared into the building and then nothing. There was no further activity on the outside.

It wasn't exactly concrete evidence to say that it was Jake those men were dragging, but my gut was convinced it was him. Just to be sure, I scrubbed backwards on the camera, looking for any activity to confirm my suspicions. That morning a car drove up to the front of the building and I saw Cyan exiting before the car drove off. Never before had I been so happy to see his ugly mug!

"I did it! I actually did it! I found Jake!" I cheered out loud to an empty building.

Then reality set in. Ok, I found Jake, but now what? How on earth could I get him out of there? It was just me against Cyan and his cronies. Calling the cops was completely out of the question. Even if they just committed an abduction and extortion, Jake was still public enemy number one. The police would definitely go after him and there was no guarantee that he could get away in his condition. Not to mention, he may have had no idea where he was and if Cyan still had his phone, he wouldn't know how to navigate back to me. I had to call someone, but who the fuck could I call?

"Bad Apple Tattoo," a familiar female voice answered.

"Trix, we need to talk," I said grimly. "You're the only person in this god-forsaken city I can trust."

"Don't call me here," she mumbled into the phone. "Can I call you back on this number?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

"Give me two minutes, ok?" Trix assured me.

I hung up and put the phone down on the desk. I stared at it intensely, waiting for it to come to life again. Even though I was expecting it, I still jumped when it suddenly started ringing.

"Ok, what the fuck has he done? Are you ok? Do you need me to come get you?" Trix asked hurriedly.

"No, I'm fine. It's Jake. Cyan's abducted him and is holding him against his will in a warehouse, threatening him to get him his money back - threatening his life!" I exclaimed. "Jake said to trust him, but I don't know if I can."

Trix sighed, "Of course you can't! God, the last thing you can do is trust him whenever he says that!"

"Fuck, Trix! Cyan's only giving him tonight to get it done!" I panicked.

"Wait, you do you know where he is?" she questioned.

"Yeah, I do, but it's not like I can just barge in there!" I defended.

"No, you can't," Trix reiterated. "Shit, couldn't you two have chosen another tattoo shop? I didn't want to get caught up in Cyanide's shit again! Saying he's vindicative is an understatement, did you know that?

"Trix, if you don't want to be involved, it's ok. I get it," I sympathised.

"No, we just have to play it smart," Trix groaned. "No one can know I am helping you, but I don't want the time I spent getting Nym out of Cyan's grasp to go to waste."

"Do you think Jake has any chance in completing his task tonight?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe? Without understanding the scope of what he's trying to achieve, it's impossible to guess. He's a very skilled hacker, but how much is he needing to obtain?" Trix thought out loud.

"He was dead set focused on his work," I commented.

"You saw him?" Trix pondered.

"Cyan turned the camera on so I could see him. He's been beaten, Trix," I lamented.

"As I said, Cyanide is vindicative. He didn't get that nickname by chance. I can't say he would be pleased after the raid the other night. It would've cost him a lot of in sales," she explained.

"Oh, then there was last night," I winced.

"Last night?" she questioned.

"We swatted him," I admitted. "Which sounds like an incredibly dumb idea now that I said it out loud."

"You fucking swatted Cyanide?" Trix laughed out of pure shock. "Though I am surprised, he normally shrugs off cheap tactics like that. You must've struck a nerve!"

"No, just a lab," I joked poorly.

"Oh yeah, then he's definitely pissed off," Trix confirmed. "Though you know Cyanide's not the top, right?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"He's just middle management. If you've lost him a lot of goods, well, then he's royally screwed as well," Trix explained.

"Is that why he's forcing Jake to do this job?" I gasped. "And the urgency!"

"Ahaha, Cyanide's got his balls in a vice. I bet if he doesn't deliver the money tomorrow, he'll end up in the river," Trix reasoned.

"Wait, he said it wasn't his life on the line," I recalled.

"Hmm? Cyanide did?" Trix paused for a moment. "Weird."

"What do you mean weird?" I pushed.

"Well, maybe, and this is a big maybe, maybe Cyanide was lying. The shock, I know!" Trix mocked.

"None of this is really helping me with getting Jake back!" I snapped.

"Maybe you just need to do what you did the other night. Why fix what isn't broken?" Trix suggested.

"Cause the police are onto our fake reports," I shook my head. "It's going to take a lot to convince them to respond again to an unverified report. And even if I could convince the SWAT team to raid the warehouse, there's no way of knowing whether Jake is in a position to escape."

"No, you don't need a SWAT team, you just need a good distraction. Nym can handle the rest," Trix pointed out.

"Like ordering them a pizza," I joked. "Wait, no, prostitutes!"

"What?" Trix asked confused. "You're going to order them a bunch of hookers?"

"It's what Jake said! Cyan can't say no to women!" I said all too gleefully.

"Um, well, if it's hookers you're looking for, I know where you can find a few," Trix offered. "I'll send you a number. If you have trouble convincing them, tell them that I sent you and remind them they owe me."

"Thanks, Trix," I smiled.

"Just get Nym back, ok? And keep him the fuck away from Cyanide," she sighed. "The more he spends near that piece of shit the more likely he's going to fall into that life again."

"I will," I said confidently.

It wasn't long after hanging up with Trix that I received the number from her. Convincing the woman who picked up the phone to meet me near the warehouse with her friends was surprisingly easy after I named dropped Trix. Now for the next part of my developing plan - dressing like a hooker to sneak in with them. I pulled out my clothes from the other night. They simply weren't slutty enough. A few cuts and tears, shortening everything, I had something something workable.

Hastily I applied makeup, nice and heavy. Partially to disguise myself, but also to better sell the look. It brought back memories of a Halloween party years ago that I had forgotten about. It kind of felt ridiculous, but fun at the same time. I tried to come up with a hooker name during the process. I considered going simple with 'Candy', but if Cyan went with a drug nickname, why shouldn't I? 'Ecstasy' it was.

My hair was already a mess, so teasing it a bit to look dishevelled wasn't much of a stretch. By the time I finished, the sun had set. Hurriedly I grabbed a stack of cash to pay the girls. Considering it was Cyan's money to begin with, I didn't think twice about using it. Before leaving though, I looked through our things for anything could be of help. Jake had taken his handgun with him so there wasn't a lot I could use. At a complete loss, I grabbed a steak knife and shoved it into my purse and headed for the door.

The last few times I was traveling the streets and alleys at night I was with Jake so I felt completely safe. Now though that no only was I alone, but I was dressed like a tramp and felt utterly exposed. So any little bump in the night had me jumping in fear. 'Please not Jack the Ripper,' I thought to myself repeatedly as I navigated around. I would have a hell of a time trying to convince him I'm not actually a prostitute, I'm just dressed like one. Actually, please not anyone. I don't think I could bear explaining this to anyone right now. I could only imagine what people would say. Somehow I could hear Dan laughing at me.

'Your grand plan was to dress like a hooker?'

Shut up, Dan of my mind. You're not helping.

Around the next corner I saw them waiting for me. Three call girls, standing impatiently.

"Are you MC?" one of them called out.

"Yes, that's me," I said meekly.

"This had better be good. I just passed up a cute one for you," the fake blond one whinged.

"Yes, I've got the cash. I'll give you half now, half when the party is over, ok?" I reached into my purse nervously and pulled out a chunk of the notes. "Trix said you were good for it."

"Honestly, it's only because of Trix that we're staying for the other half," the brunette glared at me.

"It's only because of Trix that we're not cutting you and taking the rest right now," the red haired one teased.

"What? Is sisterhood dead?" I joked. "Look, you just need to give me cover so I can get in. Put some music on, encourage them to party. That's the kind of stuff you're good at, right?"

The brunette shrugged, "If there's any weird shit, it's going to cost you more."

"Understood," I nodded. "I'll let you take the lead, ok? Get us in."

The brunette rolled her eyes, then gestured at me, "What do you even call this?"

"What?" I looked down at my outfit. "I didn't have a lot to work with."

"Clearly," the red haired one responded snarkily.

The blonde one took off her leather jacket and put it over my shoulders, "That almost works."

"It'll have to do. Let's go," the brunette turned and headed for the warehouse across the street.

"There had better be alcohol," the red haired one commented.

"I can almost guarantee it," I muttered under my breath. "And more."

The brunette went up to the front door and knocked heavily. After waiting for a few moments, she knocked again more heavily. It took another minute before the door opened a crack.

"What the fuck?" a large, thuggish man peeked through the crack.

The brunette greeted him in German, behaving promiscuously. The others joined in by acting rather suggestively. I tried to follow suit in the back. The red haired one gave me a sideways glance, then shifted to stand in front of me. I took her hint and tried to stay out of sight, lest my pitiful performance ruin the entire operation.

The man stepped away and shouted to the others inside the building. I began to worry that my plan wasn't going to work, but then the door opened widely and the thug gestured for us to enter. I followed the others into the building. We walked past a small, long forgotten lobby, down the corridor to an old cafeteria where the other thugs were hanging out. If it wasn't for the first thug following me close behind, I would've snuck off then. However, he stood by the door, while the other thugs approached us to check us out. I looked around the room. There was indeed a lot of alcohol and drugs already being consumed in the room, but there was no sign of Cyan.

What I didn't account for was the number of men greatly exceeded our number of women. Even after the swatting operation the night before Cyan still had more available manpower. Clearly the police didn't arrest nearly as many as I thought. This was going to make my operation complicated, to say the least.

A man came up behind me and felt up my ass. I had to resist the urge of punching him right then and there. The brunette pushed past her gropers, talking loudly in German. All attention was drawn to her as she started playing music loudly on her phone, then grabbed a bottle of rum and cheered happily. I used the opportunity to back away from the group.

"Where are you going?" the thug guarding the door asked me as I approached.

"Just looking for the bathroom. I want to take a leak before I get started, you know," I lied.

"Don't be rude to our guest," a voice suddenly spoke up as an all too familiar face appeared from behind him. "Let fräulein freshen up."

My skin crawled. So much for going in disguise.