"How is it possible that no one caught this man's face on camera?"
"Sir we are doing everything we can. We have one more place we can try. Have you checked with the grocery store to see if they have cameras that may have caught them?"
I stopped in my tracks at that. I honestly hadn't even thought about checking in there. The couple that own it are elderly and have never needed security before, so I have always assumed they never had any. I was desperate and they were my absolutely last hope. If they didn't have any security cameras I don't know what I was going to do. My dad refused to help me unless I handed him a photos.
"I will be back."
I walked out of our security room and left the mansion. My family basically owned this town, we were the most powerful people here, well almost. I started my car and made my way to the town's grocery store. If I didn't find Annabeth soon, I would start ripping this town apart brick by brick. Her incompetent mother deserved to die for allowing her to escape, but since I am only an heir and not in charge yet, she is still alive and well.
My men kept asking me what my fascination with Annabeth was, and my answer was simple. She was easy to manipulate and control. I wanted a house wife. Someone who wouldn't talk back, take care of my needs when I demanded, and was obedient. Annabeth was all of these, until she ran off. Where her sudden guts came from I will never know, but I would be sure to beat them out of her the moment I found her.
Without realizing it I had parked my car and was heading into the store. I must have really been lost in thought. Making my way to the cash register I waited for the cashier to notice my presence, it didn't take long.
"Where are the owners?"
I wasn't one for pleasantries, they were a waste of my time and energy. The stammering of the cashier was starting anger me. I had asked a simple question that had a simple answer.
"Tell me! NOW!"
"Uh um in the o-office."
I stormed past the blubbering idiot and quickly made my way to the back office. They better have what I am looking for. I didn't even bother knocking on the office door before entering. The blanched faces of the owners caused me to smirk. Good they knew who they were dealing with.
"Do you have any sort of security here?"
The wife stayed silent as her husband did his best to keep eye contact and use himself to protect her.
"Yes. We have security cameras."
"Good. I need to see the footage from two days ago starting at three in the afternoon."
They didn't even bother questioning me, probably wanting to just get rid of me as quickly as possible. We sifted through the footage for a good hour before I saw what I was looking for. Annabeth and some man were loading up a pickup truck before she made her way to the passenger door. All I saw was the back of the man's head before he opened his driver door and glanced back at the store.
"Stop. Print me out at the image right there."
Making quick work of the computer they printed out a picture of the man and handed it to me. I turned around and made my way out of the office and to the front of the store. I made sure to walk by the cashier again just because I enjoyed the look of fear on his face as I passed by.
Once I settled into my car I picked up my phone and dialed my father's number.
"I got what you asked for."
"Bring it by the house tonight."
With those words he hung up on me which caused me to grit my teeth in frustration before I pulled out of the parking lot and headed home.