Free Invasion of Privacy: A Deep Web Thriller #1 (Deep Web Thriller Series) by Ian Sutherland Page A

down to the delay of transferring and processing video streams across the Internet. This suggested two things. Firstly, the call centre was situated in the UK, or at least in a country within the same time zone. Secondly, it wasn’t incontrovertible proof of a live feed. If a 24-hour pre-recorded feed looped, then the timeline could easily be synchronised. 
    He focused on the information scrolling across the readerboard, waiting patiently. The metrics may have been relevant to the call centre staff, who could presumably look up from their desks to observe their progress against their colleagues’, but they were fairly meaningless to him. He waited, hoping . . . 
    . . . and then he saw it. The scrolling text now displayed a date moving slowly from left to right across the board.
    Satisfied, Brody closed the tablet PC and threw it in his khaki man-bag. Stefan was now behind the counter. Brody stood up, pointed at the money on the table and called over to him, “Thanks Stefan.”
    The barista nodded hesitantly and then spying the £10 note, formed a toothy smile. “No problem, Mr Brody. See you tomorrow.” 
    Brody turned away with a wave, his mind full of the implications of what he’d seen. 
    Today’s date. 
    Brody whistled to himself in disbelief. 
    The feed really was live. 
    Which strongly indicated that all two hundred locations were live. At an average of five cameras per location, that equated to around a thousand live feeds. The magnitude was enormous. Especially if, as the site claimed, the people being observed in the feeds had no idea they were being filmed.
    * * *
    I’m really worried about Anna now , Kim Chang typed into the Facebook chat box on her mobile phone. 
    She had said the same thing numerous times since Friday, but she meant it now. She never goes an hour without texting me or updating her status on Facebook. Never mind three whole days. She pressed ‘Send’.
    Patrick’s response came back. She can take care of herself . 
    Kim paced up and down the kitchen floor. Seeing a mark on the kitchen counter, she grabbed the cloth and wiped it clean. Normally, the kitchen was piled high with used plates, empty takeaway cartons, and unwashed cups and glasses. The kitchen hadn’t been this clean since she and the other four girls had rented the house together eight months ago. Cleaning was all she could do to distract her mind from worrying about Anna. 
    She tapped into her phone, If only I’d written down the address of her audition. Then I could go see if she turned up or if they know where she went afterwards.  
    Kim racked her brains. She could remember that an agency working on behalf of the Royal Opera House orchestra had invited Anna to an audition somewhere near Paddington Station. On Saturday afternoon, a day after Anna had left, Kim had googled ‘Royal Opera House’ and ‘Paddington’ but only the famous landmark in Covent Garden came up. She had phoned them anyway but they told her they were not currently auditioning for their orchestra. That was odd. And no, they had no offices near Paddington. Odder still. Yesterday, Kim had even called Shirley, Anna’s mum, but Anna hadn’t shown up there either. Of course, that had set Shirley off as well. Yesterday evening, she finally rang the police.
    Patrick’s words appeared on the screen. I bet she met some other people at the audition, most probably some bloke – you know what she’s like – and went off partying for the weekend.
    Automatically, Kim felt the need to defend her friend. Anna’s not really like that, Patrick. Her thumb hovered above the ‘Send’ button.
    But, he had a point. Pretty much ever since Kim had got together with Patrick a year ago, Anna had been blatantly putting herself about. Lately, her behaviour with men had been getting even worse. She’d brought back at least four different men over the last few months –  all one night stands. And then there were countless nights where she didn’t come home