Naomi was ready and waiting for him with the van door.
"Are you OK?" she said with concern as he clambered in. Falling into the chair, he panted in the affirmative. "Did anyone see you?" He shook his head, breathing hard.
"No," he gasped. "I think I'm good."
"What was through there?" Brendon took off his hat and coat.
"Some kind of examination room, like they gave them a medical or something before moving them out."
"I've left the drone loitering around the building outside," said Naomi, pointing at a screen with a bird's eye view of the street on it.
"OK," said Brendon, scratching his chin.
"You think Grace came here?" asked Naomi.
"No, I don't. Doesn't make sense," said Brendon slowly. "What do we do now?"
"We keep watching, hon. None of them have left the building. Let's see what they do next." Brendon twisted open a bottle of water and took a long gulp.
An hour passed in silence.
"What's this?" On the screen they watched as a heavy goods lorry pulled up outside the cinema and then backed into the alleyway next to it. It filled the entire alley. The driver barely had room to get out. He was also wearing a blue jacket and cap.
"Is he picking up or dropping off?" asked Naomi.
A few minutes later a sleek town car pulled up. It was a black Tesla with one occupant. "That doesn't look out of place one bit," commented Naomi. The driver, a man in a trench coat, got out and glanced over his shoulder before darting into the building through the front door.
Brendon's eyes widened. "You're recording all this, right?"
"Yeah."
"Can you play it back?" Naomi clicked about with the mouse and rewound to where the man got out of the car. "There! Can you zoom in?" Naomi leant into the touch screen and expanded into the man's face. "Shit!" exclaimed Brendon.
"What is it?"
"It's fucking Dorian!"
"Who?"
"My friend… From work."
"You know this guy?" said Naomi, incredulous.
"Yeah," Brendon frowned as he processed this. "He's the ER Director at the hospital. I've known him for years. Fuck, he was the best man at our wedding."
"Well, what the fuck is he doing here?" asked Naomi forcefully. Brendon looked at her.
"I have no idea." They both stared at the screen. Their attention, now absolute, remained glued to the monitors watching for any movement.
A few minutes passed.
"Can you get the drone in there again?" asked Brendon.
"It'll be risky in an empty building," said Naomi. "I can give a sweep of the windows from outside." She picked up the controller and started pulling the headset over her head.
"Wait! There, something's happening."
A double door at the back of the building had swung open. Naomi held the height but manoeuvred the drone to get a better angle. "Can we get audio?"
"Not at this height, and not with this rain."
"They're moving something."
They watched as four blue jackets pulled out a large wooden crate lying flat on a dolly. Two of them pulled it down the back alley towards the parked lorry round the side. One figure jogged past them as they heaved it and ran to the truck and opened its loading doors. He then lowered the tailgate lift.
The crate must have been at least six foot long and four foot wide. It was difficult to judge height from high above, but it seemed heavy. They loaded it on the tailgate, raised it and then pushed it into the truck out of view. A few moments later the dolly came out and the team reversed the procedure to take it back inside.
Brendon and Naomi watched them load three more crates. "What do you think is in those?" asked Naomi. "The people?"
"Maybe," replied Brendon. "But there were five winners."
"I guess one didn't pass the medical." Brendon grunted.
"They're moving out." The driver was closing the back of the truck and heading round to the cab.
"Shit, so is your buddy," observed Naomi on the other screen. "I need to get the drone in." She quickly started piloting it back in. "Can you get the hatch?" She pointed up. Brendon quickly obliged.
"What do we do now? Which do we follow?" he asked, looking at Naomi for guidance.
"We follow the goods," said Naomi confidently. "This Dorian, you know where he works and where he lives, right?" Brendon nodded. "We can pick up with him later. Let's see what they do with this truck."
"Got it," acknowledged Brendon and motioned as if he was going to get into the cab, but Naomi, still manipulating the drone, stopped him.
"What the fuck you think you doing?"
"Following the truck," informed Brendon.
"Oh, you know how to follow a car and not get spotted, do ya? Especially in something like this."
"No," he said bashfully.
"Well then, sit down and let me do it. You ain't got any avatar skills in this world, you know." Brendon did as instructed. Naomi swiftly packed the drone and jumped into the driver's seat. They watched as Dorian pulled an aggressive U-turn and shot past them. Naomi waited for the truck to pass them on the right and then started the engine a few seconds later. She then slowly pulled away, keeping a good distance behind.