Page 10

In the living room of Cameron Woods’ place, Lambchop and Mother were just finishing installing the cameras. They planted two. One was hidden in the light fixture in the entry, and it focused on the computer table set up, which should allow them to see what Woods would have displayed on his three monitors. They tapped into the electric to power it. They also had a listening device there. They planted a second listening device at the rear of the middle monitor. A second camera was installed in a floor lamp, angled to give a good view of where a laptop may rest if someone sat in the recliner while working on his laptop.
That was when they heard the creaking of the floor above and then the flush of a toilet. “Crash, knock again. Someone is upstairs,” Lambchop whispered, moving towards the back door, Mother following. Not only did they both have to make it out of the house, but he also had to re-lock both locks on the back door to hide the fact they’d been there. If this unknown person was in the kitchen as he worked the locks, they’d likely hear it or maybe even see the locking mechanism turn. Shit.
Roth stepped up to the door and rang the bell again. It only took a minute for the sound of the lock being undone was followed by the door swinging open. A mane of auburn hair hung from the head of the woman, who was bent over, scooping a tuxedo cat up from the floor. She stood to face him, tossing that gorgeous hair back over her shoulder. She had big emerald-green eyes, sparkling and magnetic. Across her nose was the cutest splattering of freckles. Her heart-shaped face was beautiful, youthful. He guessed her age to be late twenties.
“Hi, who are you?” he asked.
“The question is, who the hell are you and why are you here, waking me up so early?” She couldn’t wait to get a cup or two of coffee in here and a couple of ibuprofen, too. She knew she shouldn’t have stayed up as late as she had with Cam, nor should she have drunk as much as she had. She should know better by now that she can’t keep up with him, drink for drink.
Roth chuckled. “It’s after eight. It’s not that early.”
She didn’t say anything. She just stared at him expectantly.
“I’m Sebastian, Cam’s neighbor, from across the street. Is he home?”
“No, if he was, he would have answered, and I wouldn’t have had to get up. I’m sure he’s at the coffee shop.”
“Oh, okay, thanks. Sorry I woke you.” He waited, but she said nothing. She stared at him as though waiting for more. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” he said with his best smile.
“That’s because I didn’t offer it,” she said. “Anything else?”
Through his comms, he heard Lambchop. “All clear.”
“No, sorry again that I woke you.”
He turned and walked away, stealing a look back. She stepped out and picked up a couple of pieces of paper, trash, that were on the ground, still cradling the cat in her arms. Then she stepped back inside and closed the door. He took in her creamy white skin that was showcased by the black spaghetti strapped tank-top she wore blending into black yoga pants. Her arms looked toned and femininely muscled. She had alluring curves on her petite frame, around five-two, he’d guess. And she had an ample behind, he noticed. He always noticed women’s butts and hips.
“Yes, indeed, who are you?” he said aloud as he crossed the street, heading back to the borrowed unit. “I don’t think Woods is gay,” he added. “She’s a knockout.”
“With an attitude, it sounded like,” Tessman broadcast with a chuckle.
“Yeah, definitely not a morning person,” Roth agreed.
“And this will complicate things,” Lambchop added.
They regrouped in the loft. Burke listened in as he was still in the parking lot at the coffee shop where Cam Woods sat at a small table in the window with another man. Both had their laptops open. He snapped a few pictures of him and would try to get a photo of his car and license plate when the two men left so they could identify him.
Wilson was dispatched to take the other rented sedan to meet up with Burke. He’d go into the coffee shop to get eyes on the two men and then follow Woods when he left, leaving Burke available to follow his coffee buddy. As he was still long-haired with facial hair, his appearance could easily be altered with a shave and haircut. He wouldn’t be burned by being seen.
They were on the phone with Garcia at HQ. Roth gave a description of the woman who’d answered the door.
“There wasn’t a second vehicle in the garage, so either she didn’t drive there, or her vehicle is parked over in the guest lot,” Lambchop reported.
“I’ll take a walk after this call and get you the make, model, and license plate of every car in that lot,” Mother volunteered.
“I’ll be waiting for your call,” Garcia replied. “I’ll pull driver’s license pics of anyone around the right age and send them to you, Roth. Hopefully, we can positively ID her.”
“Yeah, if not, I guess I’ll be knocking on his door again after we see him get home with hopes of an introduction.”
“We’ll run that play later this afternoon under the guise of you asking the name of that country bar,” Lambchop said. “You can invite him and the mystery woman out and if we get lucky, they’ll both go, leaving the place vacant so we can get back in there and get HQ into Woods’ computer.”
“Either Smith or I will be standing by, waiting,” Garcia said. “Anything else?”
“No, we’ll sign off for now so Mother can go take a walk through the guest lot,” Lambchop said.
Cameron Woods and his buddy were still sitting at the coffee shop when Wilson arrived. He entered and went up to the counter. He ordered a black coffee of the day. While he was waiting for it to be poured and handed to him, he was able to see Cam Woods’ screen. He was playing some video game, one of those multi-player, first-person shooter type of games.
He chuckled to himself as he left with his coffee, seeing that the other guy was playing it, too. Once in the car, he spoke to the others through comms. “He’s playing one of those pretend to be special forces shooter games with his buddy.”