He brought himself closer to his ear. "Why is it so important what she's having as wake-up drink?"
"That's a question for husbands. If a notorious coffee drinker suddenly switches to tea, there can really only be two reasons."
"Enlighten me."
"Either she has stomach problems - or this is no longer just about one human life"
"You say ...?" Hondo asked shocked when Deac held the door for him.
"Exactly."
Hondo muttered a curse.

As they walked through a narrow hallway, an elderly woman came towards them and showered them with a barrage of Spanish words. Joey appeased her with a few sentences in her language that contained the words 'Christina', 'madre' and 'ayuda', meaning help. The woman thanked them verbally and shook their hands, then went on into the shop.
"My mother hopes you will find Christie safe again."
"We all hope so."
They went into a small office with two monitors on the wall above the desk, on which they saw pictures of the shop, the owner and their colleagues. Joey sat down at the desk and typed something into the computer. The picture changed.
"That's two days ago in the evening. About half an hour before Christie got her tea. The guy didn't say much, paid cash. "
"The picture is razor sharp," marveled Deac.
"Wasn't cheap either. But Sean's friend gave us a good price. Legally, of course. Since baseball caps were in vogue again for some time, we also have a camera a little lower on the shelf behind the counter. "He enlarged the image." The upper edge of this shelf is exactly 1.80 m. That's the one from your photo, isn't he? "
Hondo looked at Deac, then nodded. "Damn it, man. You have just taken us a big step forward. Thank you. I'll give you an email address, send the video there. And see if you can find him anywhere else."
"I will. Is there anything else we can do? Besides praying? "
"You don't happen to know someone who lives on South Grand Avenue between 3rd and 5th?"
"You want to know if he passed there?"
"Yes."
"Wait a moment, I'll send the mail, then I'll introduce you to someone."
Hondo made a prompting gesture and the man turned to his keyboard. He watched as Joey packed and sent the data and took his cell phone out of his pocket. "Tan, you'll get an email with a video in a moment. We finally have a clear picture of the man. Send him through facial recognition, I want to know who that is and everything we have on him."
"Got it," confirmed his colleague.
Joey got up and they followed him back into the store.
"So?" Asked Street.
"We're on his track."
"Good."
"Could you help them?" Asked the old man.
"Yes. Can you hold out here a while longer? I'll take them to Kwan Oka."
"Go. And if I sit here all night, the main thing is that we'll find Christina."
"Thank you, Mr. Sanchez."
"Call me José. Otherwise you will never know who will answer here. We pray for you."
He nodded to the man and they left the shop.
"Should I get my car?"
"We'll take you with us and make sure that you come back later."
"You don't have to."
Joey climbed into the back seat of their car through the door Deacon held for him. Hondo turned and wheeled up the South Grand.
"The blue house. On the right. Kwan Oka is extremely suspicious and paranoid, but a law abiding citizen. And he has about fifty cameras on his house. He knows me, I've been doing his shopping for years, he hardly ever leaves the house. When he's having a reasonably good day, he'll help us. If not, hopefully he'll do it for Christie. She patched him up some time ago when he fell in the house."
"We're counting on you," Deacon said while Hondo parked on the side of the road.
When they got out, several cameras on the house and the fence turned on them. Joey wasn't exaggerating. He pushed past him.
"Mr. Oka, this is Joey Sanchez. We need your help, please. It's about Christina Brown. The cops need your cameras. May we come in please?"
A computer voice sounded: "Your badges. Camera at the gate."
Hondo pulled his badge from his belt and held it up to the lens closest to him. Deacon did the same. When Chris and Street tried to follow suit, the computer voice soundedagain. "Both of you and Joey. The others are waiting outside."
When Joey replied "Okay", a buzzer sounded and the garden gate opened.
Followed by various camera eyes, they ran up the steps to the house. The front door opened automatically, but not until the garden gate clicked into the lock again.
They followed Joey into the house and through a dim hallway into a room full of technology. On the armchair at the desk sat an Asian man in his fifties, who should hardly measure 1.60 m when standing.