"Hello?"

"[i]Melissa, it's Alison. Have you seen the news?[/i]

"No, I--"

"[i]It's Jake, he's trapped in a hotel. They're holding people hostage and the police are not giving me answers. I need to know he's okay. Not in a while, or whenever they hostage negotiators get there. I need to know [b]now[/b]![/i]"

"Alright, alright, settle down," Mellie replied, trying to get the woman to calm down. With the phone in one hand, Mellie hurried to the desk in her bedroom to get online. She took her computer out of sleep mode and immediately went to work, securing the cell  phone between her cheek and shoulder in order to get full use of her hands. The line went silent for a moment as Mellie attempted to bypass the hotel's network security in order to access the cameras. It took her a couple of minutes, but she eventually managed to get a live feed.

"Hmm..." 

"[i]Wha-what's wrong?[/i]" 

"Oh, nothing," Mellie said after a few seconds, her primary concern being what she was seeing on screen. She hadn't located the group yet as they weren't anywhere in the lobby, but there was a notification of another user currently viewing the live feed. Mellie wondered whether she should inform Alison, but then decided against it. The poor woman was worried enough as it is, and she would only pay her to find her husband, not to explain how the internet works. 

"They aren't in the lobby, but I still have to search the entire building." 

After Alison gave her a solemn "okay", Mellie quickly sent a private message through the server to whoever was viewing the feed as well.

>Are you police? What is the situation?

Mellie decided to keep it simple, ready to log off the moment she felt threatened. She wasn't too worried though, knowing all-too well that the cops weren't be able to access the cameras just yet, but there was always the small chance that they had a team fully capable of doing the same level work she did. 

[@Ciphra]