Chapter 38: Rain in the Frame

Suspension had taken Su's badge, pistol, and lawful access to every useful screen in Redwood Harbor. It had not taken the bakery's Wi-Fi. Jay Lin occupied a corner table beneath a painted menu of buns and sweet drinks, his messy hair dripping onto the keyboard. His gray jacket hung over the next chair. The red shirt beneath it bore a black smear from the laptop's failing hinge. Three copies of the HarborLock video filled the screen. "The internet removes metadata for privacy," he said. "Then advertisers collect your location, blood type, and childhood fears." "Files don't have childhood fears." "You haven't met this laptop." Rain struck the bakery windows hard enough to blur Wang Traditional Martial Arts next door. Police tape no longer crossed the school's entrance, but the red five-finger mark remained on the brick. Lili had refused to let anyone wash it off until Ruiz photographed every run…