by D D Loomis
John turned down a side street. “About ten more blocks according to the GPS. What then?”
“After you drop me off, park a block or so away; somewhere the streetlight doesn’t shine on you and you still have a good view of the front of the place so you can be my lookout. Then when I give you the word, go four blocks west to the neighborhood bar. Park in the lot, and I’ll meet you there.”
We passed in front of the single story home, me eyeing the place while he studied the neighborhood. After ten, and no one out for a stroll. Good.
We swung around the block, and John slowed long enough for me to slip out. Dressed in black and with a ski mask pulled over my face, I was almost impossible to see unless close to one of the streetlights positioned every other block around the area. I tapped the small microphone attached to the front of my sweater. “Radio check.” A click in my earpiece signaled John’s reception of my message.
Moving slowly, I catfooted it to the back of the target. Wilbur had gotten information about this particular place. They used the Melrose Security Company, and had a vehicle drive by every other hour. Their last visit had been fifteen minutes ago, which left me plenty of time to do what I’d come for.
I slipped on a pair of night vision goggles when I was close to the rear door. A quick study showed it was a simple Callan lock. I didn’t have a master key, but these were easy to open with a pick. An external jack on the wall to the left side of the door beckoned. Taking a small device with a plug attached, I inserted it into the jack. Once connected, I pushed the tiny button on it and unlimbered my lock picks.
The gizmo was now bleeding energy off into a small capacitor it had. Once filled, I could push the button again and send a surge of electricity into the home. This would shut down the electronic security device that protected doors and windows for sixty seconds. The security outfit would probably just be noticing it was down when it would re-boot automatically, at least according to Wilbur.
I’d just gotten into position when there was a quiet “pop” that let me know the capacitor was full. Thirty seconds later the lock yielded to my efforts. I pushed the button, hearing a double click when the door’s security system went down. Within seconds I was inside, holding still until there was a “Clack” when the system came back on.
A quick scan of the entryway showed no other defenses to worry about, as I did my slow walk through the 1700 square foot home. Not a bad place. Two bedrooms, large office, and huge living room. I gave both bedrooms a looksee, finding a metal box under a bed in the second bedroom. The sturdy Yale lock on the box would normally have given me fits, but I had a master key for all the larger Yales. Inside were three finger drives and a stack of money. I couldn’t help myself when one packet of hundreds found its way into my shoulder bag. I exchanged the finger drives for blank ones, hoping no one noticed for the next couple weeks. Hopefully we’d be done with this particular crew by then.
The office seemed like a typical one, with a locked cabinet that only yielded up tax files and other business records. The desk seemed deeper than normal. Sure enough, there were file drawers on the backside of the desk, holding transaction forms with no names as to whom they’d dealt with. Not much good without a code. Disappointing. I took pictures of the last two months of data with my phone camera.
My mind twanged. I ducked behind the desk, all senses alert. An impression of movement from a window behind the desk–I slipped over to it, and did a slow scan of the outside. Nothing. No movement. Well, crap. Must’ve been a piece of paper or something blowing by outside in the breeze. Wasn’t like me to be ducking at shadows. Better finish up and get out of here. I unfastened the phone line from the wall and slipped a connector into the hole, then plugged the line back in. Now Wilbur could listen in on all the calls.
Luckily the computer part of my work was easy. I turned on the computer and when it asked for the password, I inserted a thumb drive. After thirty seconds I took it out, shut down the computer and vamoosed. Getting out was simpler, since I only had to find the wall-mounted security box next to the door and push a button on it. Gave me thirty seconds to get out, which I did. I tapped on the mike attached to my sweater. “All done.” That should get John headed to our rendezvous.
While still in the shadows I stopped, completing a 360 scan before striding off. Nothing. I shrugged. Now to the neighborhood bar. Hope I caught up with John while he was still sober enough to drive.
* * *
“Trust me, this’ll work. I guarantee it,” Marty said with a satisfied smile.
Two days had passed since John headed back to San Francisco, and we’d gotten stuck on how to break into the most promising place left on the list.
I shifted around again. “Having a hooker entertain the guard sounds good, but the question remains. When his boss gets back from the trip he went on, the guard might get suspicious if he finds out it wasn’t one of his cronies that set him up. And would he be distracted long enough to get the job done?” I shrugged. “Not sure it’s worth the risk.”
Wilbur started to raise his hand, but caught himself. “I’ve gotta remind you, it’s only a rumor they were talking with Willie concerning the counterfeit bills they got from the North Koreans. Can’t find anything solid to go on.”
Marty shrugged. “Yeah, but they’re the only ones we know of that deal in large amounts of counterfeit bills.”
I nodded at Wilbur. “You’re right, of course. But if you wanted to get rid of the fake money, this group would probably do it pretty quickly. They’ve got a network in place to spread out the bills. More expensive to use ‘em, but still, they’ve got a reputation for getting it done.”
Let’s give this one a little more thought,” Tony said, scratching his chest. “If nothing else, we could do the old ‘hi, I’m from the phone company’ ploy.”
Marty nodded vigorously. “Good idea. And on that note, why don’t we break for lunch? Alice should be back any second with mine.”
“I suppose you didn’t have her get anything for us,” Tony said with a grimace.
Wilbur stood and headed for his desk. “That’s all right with me. Wanted to get out for awhile, anyway.”
I gathered up all the papers we’d been scrawling on. “Hey, Wilbur. Want some company? I could do with some lunch myself.”
“Sure, long’s you don’t mind getting it to go. I gotta be back here by one.”
I hurried to catch up. “Man, you have to relax sometime. All this work is going to stunt your growth.”
He gave me a guilty look. “Well, actually, I wanted to be back in time to watch ‘Days of Our Lives.’ Afraid I’ve gotten hooked on it.”
By the time we returned, Alice was back at her desk. “You got a visitor. Al’s waiting in your cubicle.”
Huh. A visit from Al usually meant something-interesting. He stood when I entered my cubicle, offering his hand. Wow. Must need a favor to act so nice. “How’ve you been doing?”
He smiled and sat down. “Just fine, Francis. I’ve got to admit, your team never ceases to amaze me. How’d you get word about the Branson gang?”
I stiffened. “How—Man, we were just—er, we’d recently heard they had dealings with Franks in past years. Thought we’d keep an eye on them, in case he showed again.”
He nodded. “You don’t need to worry about them. The Secret Service is keeping a very close eye on them. They’ve been suspected of dealing with overseas criminals concerning smuggling counterfeit bills into the U.S.”
I leaned both elbows on my desk. “Any hint of action between them and the North Koreans?”
“No, that’s usually done by an east coast group, the ones who probably managed to get the large shipment into the States for Franks recently. But the Secret Service thinks the Branson’s are about to get some brand new counterfeit twenties in this month from Brazil.” He scooted around in his chair, glancing out of my cubicle. “They’d a
ppreciate it if you didn’t drive by and get the agents watching the place so excited anymore.”
My eyebrows crept up. “They must be pretty good. We didn’t even get a glimmer the place was under surveillance.”
He stood, straightening his jacket. “I’ll pass on the compliment. By the way, how many other places you interested in?”
I gave him a piercing stare. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to let anyone else know.” I shrugged. “Plus might be a good idea to have someone from the law enforcement community informed, just in case something goes wrong. C’mon, let’s go bother Alice. She can get you a copy of what we’re doing.”
After he’d made his goodbyes to everyone, I strolled back to Alice’s desk and sat on the edge of it. “You notice that our pet FBI agent wasn’t dressed to kill today?”
“Yeah. I asked him about that. Said he didn’t have a circus to go to. Says he only breaks out the glad rags when it’s politically necessary.”
I chuckled, and headed for my desk. “Yeah, sounds like him.” I swung back. “Almost forgot. Let everyone know we’re not interested in the Branson place anymore. Too many feds crawling around it.”
“You got it,” Alice said. “By the way, any luck finding where the third place we’re interested in does its business? You said you’d dig up that information by today.”
I paused. “Oh, right. How about seeing if everyone can get together after lunch to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “You’re getting old, Francis. That’s the second time this week I’ve had to remind you of something.”
I gave a theatrical groan. “Dang. Good thing you’re not around for the other dozen times I’ve let something slip my mind. I’d never hear the end of it.”
The afternoon meeting was a full house for once, since Nate had finished his repo job earlier than anticipated. We’d gathered around the main conference table, and Tony had just brought all of us coffee. “Still think it was Nate’s turn to get coffee,” he grumped.
Nate shrugged, a smile on his face. “It was, but you were already getting it, so why interfere?”
“Thanks for reminding me,” Alice said. “I need to change the coffee roster around now that we’re moved in.”
Wilbur strode over from the copy machine. “Here’s a copy of what Alice gave me. Did I make enough for everyone?”
After we were all seated and had at least one drink of coffee in us, I began. “This is probably the last place we need to put ears in. The others are either under observation by the feds, or been arrested for something they’ve recently done. Take a minute to look over the information I’ve gathered so far.”
Tony was the first to look up. “A furniture store in a strip mall? Operating an art theft ring and who knows what else out in plain sight. That’s a first for me. Damn, security must be a headache.”
“I gave the place a look yesterday afternoon,” I said. “Not as easy as you might think. There’re always a couple sales people in the showroom and one or two clerks in the office area. Who knows how many in the back. Selling furniture is a pretty good cover, if you want to move things in and out without notice. They do fairly well, since they seem to always have a sale of some kind going on.” I paused and took a drink of coffee. “I dressed up like an old man and wandered around the outside for awhile. External cameras cover all sides. Also, the mall security put a top-of-the-line security system inside it a couple years ago, according to their records.”
Marty raised an eyebrow at me. “So what’s the answer to this place? Sounds like it’d be pretty hard to set up a job in the time we have. Mebbe in a couple weeks of observation and planning…”
“Nope,” I interrupted. “We’ll do it like Tony suggested for the Branson place. A couple of phone repairmen bringing in upgraded hardware just might be welcomed with open arms.”
* * *
Tony took the last box out of the back of our rig and stacked it on top of the other three I was holding. “Damn, man, I could get used to having a mule around to carry all my gear.” We walked across the parking lot towards the Wholesale Furniture Warehouse-advertised as the cheapest furniture in Tacoma.
“I knew I should’ve called tails on that coin flip,” I said. “But this way you have to be the big boss while I’m just a flunky. Means anything goes wrong it’s your fault.” By now we’d entered the side entrance into the office area, and a nice looking brunette was rising from behind her desk.
Tony’s eyes lighted when she stood, and his smile stretched even bigger. “Hi, we were told this is the business that is having upgraded phones installed?”
“I’m Genevieve Wilson, the receptionist. We really appreciate this,” she said, holding her hand out to Tony who immediately captured it. “Maybe now we can get our communications caught up to the twenty-first century.”
The way those two were sparking towards each other made me want to cry with envy. I walked towards the other lady, probably just out of high school from the looks of her. “Is it all right if I put your phone in first, Miss?”
She gave a tentative smile. “Sure. I’ll just get out of your way.”
Minutes later I was in the manager’s office connecting his phone to the jack in the wall. The gizmos Wilbur had attached to each phone line were hardly noticeable. Tony had taken the task of installing the receptionist’s line. Hope he got some information from her, besides bra size.
Once finished with the phones I wandered around with a meter in my hand, acting as if I was doing something important. Finally, Tony broke free from the receptionist long enough to wave me out the door. Now what? Jeez, what had come over him? Plus I couldn’t just leave him–he had the keys.
To kill some time, I strolled through the businesses next door to the furniture place. Seemed like a normal looking strip mall. There was a small fountain halfway down the line of stores, where I pivoted around and started back. Two men in dark clothes stood next to it, in quiet conversation. Something about their stance gently strummed my nerves. Without hesitation I strode up to the closest one. “Hi, I’m Francis. Have we met?”
The man turned to me, dark eyes mild and unassuming. “No, sir; don’t think so.”
“Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else.” I half-bowed and walked on. Interesting. He’d checked himself when I bowed, almost following suit. My suspicions slowly eased as I kept walking. Hm. Maybe nothing. I quickened my pace back to the parked car and clambered in after giving a scan of the warehouse front. Still no Tony.
I waited impatiently in the vehicle until he finally showed, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the vehicle. “”What was that all about?” I asked.
“I got a date tonight,” he said with a large smile.
I felt my stomach bottom out. “You’re kidding, right? Here we are on a job, and you suddenly get urges…”
“No problem,” he said, steering towards the exit. “The clerical staff is on monthly contract from a local temp agency. Genie said the outfit saves a bundle doing it that way, rather than full-time hires.”
I shook my head, still worried. “Genie, huh? I’m still not sure it’s a good idea dating a woman from a place we just set up for surveillance.”
He drove towards the freeway entrance, five blocks away. “Good way to get additional information about the place. I didn’t get a chance to find out about their operation in the back, and this way I can pump her for more information tonight.”
“Yeah, and I trust your instincts,” I said, shrugging. “By the way, I noticed two different looking men further down the row of businesses that grabbed my attention right away. Something about the way they moved. Seemed too disciplined or something.
Tony laughed. “Man, you’re jumpy today. They were probably part of the judo school that’s in one of the buildings. I had a gander at a list of the businesses, and that one caught my eye.”
“Ah.” I
relaxed into my seat while he pulled onto the freeway. “Well, I got all the phones put in. No problems.”
I sat up, a thought penetrating my usually dull brain. “You know, it suddenly dawned on me. You haven’t shown this much interest in a woman for several months.”
Tony lifted a shoulder. “What can I say? Soon as I saw her, I felt these sparks shooting out of my head. I think it was mutual, too. Which means I’d be an idiot to not follow up on my instincts.”
It also means we’d better keep our debriefing short so you can go and get all prettified for tonight, too.”
Our banter continued all the way to the office, with Tony talking more than I’d heard in a long while. Hope this woman was a nice one. He’d been stung the last couple times he got serious.
Marty leaned back in his chair, a pleased look on his face. “So that’s that. Two places bugged, and the others taken care of by the feds one way or another. Should be a piece of cake to monitor just two places.”
Alice patted his shoulder. “Thanks for volunteering to pitch in and help me with the monitoring. And you’re right, two of us should be able to handle it with no sweat.”
“So now we wait?” Wilbur asked, looking around the table.
“That’s right,” I said. “Except for the day to day work we do.”
“Which has been building back up,” Nate said with a satisfied smile. “Something about this new location seems to’ve increased the contracts. I’ve got both my repo guys working full time, and could hire a couple more guards for the added security jobs we got.”
“Make sure and do that,” Marty said. “I’m definitely not going out on any repos or guard jobs any more.”
“Me, either,” Tony said, standing up. “Which reminds me, I’ve got to get cleaned up.”