by Glenn Rogers
“I hope so,” I said, giving her my best smile in return. I took out my phone and brought up the photo of the Durrain’s Bel Air home. I held it out so she could see.
“I saw this house the other day. It's in Bel Air. Very nice. Just what I'm looking for. I heard that the architect who designed it was in Beverly Hills, but I didn’t get his name. So I'm literally going door to door trying to find him. I want him to design one like it for me.”
She looked at the picture of the house. Shaking her head, she said, “No, Mr. Brimmer didn't design that one. I'm sure of it. Mostly he does office buildings. But the few homes he has designed have all been single story modern style homes. He doesn't do traditional and certainly not Tudor.”
“I see. Any idea who might have done this one.”
She thought for a moment. “I'm not familiar enough with the work of other local architects to be able to say. I'm sorry.”
“That's fine. No problem. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.”
The next office was on up the street a ways on North Doheny. The office complex was a one story affair. Each office suite had a separate entrance off the parking lot. Ralph Henderson's office was suite eleven. Henderson's receptionist was an annoyed, middle-aged woman who squirmed around in her chair like she might have been suffering with hemorrhoids.
I went through the same routine as I had in Brimmer's office.
“No. Mr. Henderson's specialty is luxury apartment complexes. He doesn't do single family residences. And if he did, he certainly wouldn't do anything like that.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure I understand. Is there something wrong with English Tudor?”
“Not if you live in England,” she said, haughtily. “But in Southern California? Please. That’s just new money trying to look like old money. It’s tacky.”
What an obnoxious ass. “Really,” I said. “You work for a guy who has his office in the low rent district of Beverly Hills, sandwiched between an insurance agency and a tanning salon, and you have the nerve to look down your nose at people who appreciate classic architecture? Tell me, is Mr. Henderson a jackass too, or does he just hire jackasses?”
I could feel the daggers in my back as I walked out. I knew my response to her had been something of a childish indulgence, but what's life without a few indulgences? Besides, I thought the Durrani house was nice. I liked it. And the receptionist's obnoxious arrogance had pissed me off. Of course, given my frame of mind, pissing me off wasn't that hard to do.
Fortunately, receptionists three and four were nice ladies. However, their bosses had not designed the Durrani house. Before I got to the fifth office, Alex called.
“Got it,” he said, when I answered. “Arnold Newman. On Wilshire Boulevard. They even had a picture of it on the wall. It won some kind of an award.”
“Okay. Let's go back and get started on the next step.”
I had stopped by Mildred's and picked up Wilson. Alex was waiting for us when we arrived. It was a few minutes after five when I opened the front door of my office.
“So who do we know,” I asked, as Alex got Wilson a cookie, “who can hack into Newman's system and download the plans?”
“I've got a young woman in tech support who can do it,” Alex said. “Kodi Graham. Little body, big brain.” He was finding her in his contacts list as he spoke. “Knows more about computers than anyone I've ever seen.”
“Kodi, it's Alex. You still at work? ... Okay, good. I need you to do something for me. It has to do with the Nolan kidnapping ... Well, it's a little out of the ordinary, but time is of the essence here and we don't have time to go through normal channels ... I need you to hack into a system and download a set of architectural plans ... Yes ...”
Alex gave her Arnold Newman's website URL, reading it off a business card he'd picked up while in Newman's office. He told her the plans were for a house belonging to a family named Durrani. He gave her the address of the house, and told her it was a red brick, two-story Tudor style home. Then he gave her my email and told her to email the plans to me when she had them.
When he ended the call, I asked, “What if the file doesn't have the owner's name or address as part of the file name?”
“Then she'll get back to me and we'll have to come up with a plan B.”
We didn't need a plan B. In twenty minutes Kodi called Alex and said she had just sent the plans.
“Thanks, Kodi. I really appreciate it. You know this never happened, right?”
Alex smiled at whatever she said. “Thank you.”
I had been pacing back and forth across my office, thinking about different aspects of the rescue. I sat down at my computer. The email had come through. I had just recently upgraded my computer system and had a new iMac with a nice big monitor. I opened the email. The plans filled the screen.
Alex came to look over my shoulder. “Be easier to work with,” he said, “if we could print it.”
He was right.
“There's an office supply store not far down Ventura Boulevard. They've got a printer that can handle large paper. I'll send it to them and we can go pick it up.”
I called the store and told them what I was sending. They said it would be ready in fifteen minutes.
“Let's pick up the plans,” Alex said, “get some Chinese take out, and put a plan together while we eat.”
Chapter 43
Tuesday Evening
“Looks like a pretty good alarm system,” Alex said, pointing to several different possible entry points. The plans were spread out on my desk. “We'll have to disable it.”
“There's no external access,” I said. “How do we access it?”
Alex took out his phone and made a call.
“Kodi,” he said. “Alex again ... Yeah, got them. Perfect. Thank you ...” He smiled. “I need another favor ... The plans you sent, you didn't happen to save a copy did you? ... Excellent. Ms. Nolan is being held inside that house. I need you to access the security system of the house and disable it ... Around midnight ... Really? I hadn't thought of that. So, what are the options? ... You can do that? ... I don't know. Thirty minutes ... Wow. You're even better than I thought you were ...”Alex smiled again. “Okay. Call me around eleven thirty.”
I swallowed the bite of Chow Mien I'd been working on and said, “Let me guess, she can hack into the system and disarm it.”
“Not only can she hack into the system and disarm it,” Alex said, “she can also hack the security company that provides the armed response service and shut them down so they can't see that the Durrani system is offline.”
“Impressive. That way we don't have to worry about someone unexpected showing up.”
“Exactly.”
“And she's gonna do that at midnight?”
“I figured that'd give us time to get ready and get in place. Let the Durranis get to sleep before we go in.”
I nodded. “Hard part's gonna be figuring out where they're holding her.”
He poured himself another cup of coffee and came back to look at the plans. “What are their options?” he asked.
“Well, there're seven bedrooms,” I said. “They could have her in one of the bedrooms. But there's a guesthouse out beyond the pool, and Mr. Durrani mentioned a safe room.”
“That's a lot of places to check.”
“We'll start with the guesthouse. If she's there, we don't even need to go into the main house. That'd be the easiest scenario.”
“And if she's not in the guesthouse?”
“Then we go in,” I said.
“Start with the bedrooms?” Alex asked.
“That'd be risky. No way of knowing which ones are occupied. Their help may live on the premises.”
“True. So, once we get inside we go the safe room?”
“Problem is,” I said, “the entrance to the safe room is in the room where Mr. Durrani is, through the walk-in closet.”
“That complicates it a little,” Alex said.
“Alex Wats
on,” I said, “master of understatement.”
“I wonder, though,” Alex said, “we both got the feeling that Mr. Durrani didn't know about Monica. But if she's in the safe room off his bedroom, how'd they get her in there without him knowing?”
“Good question,” I said. “Maybe he's a heavy sleeper and Mrs. Durrani put her in there while he was asleep.”
“Maybe. Still a complication, though.”
“How do we keep him quiet without hurting him?” I asked.
“We could reason with him,” Alex said, “and ask him not to alert the household.”
“Reason with him.” There were times when I couldn’t tell whether Alex was being serious or just kidding.
“He seemed like a reasonable man,” Alex said.
“Did he?”
“How about this,” Alex said, “I'll focus on keeping Mr. Durrani quiet without hurting him, leaving you free to get into the safe room.”
“And that's the next problem. Safe rooms are made to keep people out. How do we get in?”
Alex bent over, taking a closer look at the plans for the safe room. After a moment, he said, “Bet the locking mechanism is tied into the security system.”
He took out his phone again and called Kodi.
“There's a safe room,” he explained when she answered. “We think Ms. Nolan may be in it. Can you hack in and look around before doing what you're going to do later on? ... Perfect. Call me as soon as you know.”
“All right,” Alex said. “Let's say Kodi can open the safe room. Then what?”
“Then we take Monica and go.”
“You really think it's going to be that simple?”
“No. Nothing's ever that simple.”
“So what do we do?” he asked.
“We make it up as we go. Adapt and overcome,” I said.
“Marines?”
“Oorah,” I said. I hadn’t said that in a long time and as I did I felt a surge of emotion. The simple fact was that we were getting ready to go into battle.
“Okay,” Alex said, “so we adapt and overcome. I'll follow your lead. But what about our vehicle? We can't leave a strange vehicle on the road in a Bel Air neighborhood. They've got patrols. They'll stop and investigate.”
I thought for a moment. “We need a driver.”
“Any ideas?”
“Yeah. We'll get Heidi to drive us. She wants to help. This will be the perfect way for her to make a contribution.”
“Heidi?” He sounded concerned. Going into a possible gunfight didn't bother him a bit. But being in close proximity to an attractive woman who was interested in him unnerved him.
“Sure. It'll be fine. I'll do most of the talking. Less chance of you embarrassing yourself that way.”
“Oh, that’s hilarious. You're a riot. Mr. Suave around the ladies. Like you're so much more confident than I am.”
“You're right. I'm not. But then, I don't need to be. I've got Monica. I'm all set.”
“Yeah, you are,” he said, serious now. “She's a good woman. And you're a lucky man.”
“Yes,” I said, reflectively. “I am.”
“So let's go get her.”
Chapter 44
Tuesday Night
We left Alex's car at my office and drove to my apartment. It was seven thirty. I didn't know if Heidi was home or working. If she was working, I’d go see her and ask if she could get off early. Fortunately, she had worked the day shift and was home.
“Hi, Jake,” she said, when she answered the door.
“Hi, Heidi. Do you have a few minutes? Alex and I need some help with something and thought maybe you might like to help us. It has to do with rescuing Monica.”
“Of course, Jake. Anything.”
She came with me back to my apartment. Alex smiled and greeted Heidi, but I could see that he was a little uneasy. We sat down around my table.
“We're pretty sure we know where Monica is, and we're going in tonight to get her.”
“Where is she?” Heidi asked.
“A home in Bel Air.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“We need a driver,” Alex said.
He surprised me by jumping in like that.
Heidi looked at him and nodded. “I can drive you.”
“Okay,” I said, “here's what we need. We'll leave about eleven and drive to Bel Air. We'll drive through the neighborhood to get a feel for things. We'll point out the house. Then we'll go look for a place for you to drive to after dropping us off at midnight. It needs to be a place nearby, so you can get back to us quickly. After you drop us off, you drive to that place and wait. When I call you, you come back and pick us up.”
“Sounds simple enough,” she said. “What if something goes wrong?”
“Depends on how wrong it goes,” I said. “If it's small wrong, we adjust. If it's big wrong, well, Mildred gets Wilson. The rest, I don't really care about.”
“Jake, don't talk like that. That's not what I meant. Don’t say stuff like that. I meant like if you need help but can't call. What do I do then?”
“If the situation is such that neither Alex nor I can call you, then there'd be nothing you could do anyway.”
“And speaking of calling you,” Alex said, “I need to put your cell number in my phone.”
She looked at him. “You mean you didn't put it in there yesterday when I gave it to you?”
“Well, I ah, I actually, um, ah, I have it.”
I thought he was going to wet himself.
“I just haven't had time yet to put it into my phone … yet. We've been kind of busy.”
She smiled. “Alex, I'm just kidding. Relax.” She put her hand on his forearm and gave it a little squeeze.
He smiled nervously. “I'll put it in now,” he said. “What is it?”
She told him and he entered it.
“So what's the answer to my question?” she asked.
This was a side of Heidi I had not seen before: serious, thoughtful, assertive. I liked it.
“If you haven't heard from either of us after thirty minutes,” I said, “drive by and take a look. Don't stop. Don't try to investigate. Just drive by and see if anything appears to be out of order.”
“And if it does?”
I looked at Alex.
“I'll give you a number to call,” he said.
“FBI?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He gave her the number.
“Why are just the two of you going in?” she asked. “Why not have a whole team of FBI people surround the place?”
“Couple of reasons,” I said. “First, the people who took Monica want me. So I need to go. Second, if they detect anyone coming after them, they might kill Monica. The more people involved, the greater the likelihood the operation will be detected. A small two-man team can function more covertly than a larger group.”
She considered what I said and nodded.
“What should I wear?” she asked.
“Normal clothes,” I said. “You need to look inconspicuous. So dress like you would if you were going out to the store or for a late night snack.”
“Okay,” she said. “Should I have a gun ... just in case?”
“No,” Alex and I said at the same time. “You won't need a gun,” I said.
She looked a little disappointed.
“Okay, so I should be ready at ten forty-five?”
“That'd be good,” I said.
She nodded. “I want you guys to promise me something.” She paused to look at both of us. We waited for her to explain. “I want you to promise me that you’ll be careful. No unnecessary risks.”
“We never take unnecessary risks,” Alex said.
“Good,” she said. “Because you owe me a date and I'm going to hold you to it.” She stood, leaned over and kissed Alex on the mouth. Looked like a pretty good kiss. Then she walked to the door and said, “I'll be back at ten forty-five.”
As soon as Heidi closed the door, before I could com
ment on the kiss, Alex asked, “I didn't want to say anything in front of Heidi, but her question about the possibility of something going wrong is a good one. Has it occurred to you that we may be walking into a trap?”
I decided not to comment on the kiss. “Yes. In fact, Mrs. Durriani would be a fool if she wasn't expecting us, given that she's been providing clues meant to lead me in. Even if they have been subtle, her intention all along has been to lead me in.”
“And so we're walking into a trap.”
“If you know it's a trap,” I said, “it's not a trap.”
“Countermeasures?”
“Countermeasures.”
“Such as?”
“Eliminating the security system,” I said. Before I could elaborate further, Alex's phone rang.
It was Kodi. Alex listened. “Excellent, Kodi. Thank you ... Yes, midnight ... Yes, call me when everything is offline and the safe room door can be opened.”
Alex ended the call and said, “Kodi can disable the locking mechanism. You'll be able to slide the door open.”
“After this is over,” I said, “I want to meet that young lady.”
Alex smiled. “I'll set it up.” He got up and got the coffee maker going. Then he said, “Before she called, we were discussing countermeasures.”
“Right,” I said. “Having all the electronics disabled is a countermeasure.”
“What else?”
“The element of surprise.”
“Are we sure they're going to be surprised?”
“Not at all.”
“How is a surprise that might not be a surprise a countermeasure?”
“I guess we have to make sure there’s a surprise,” I said.
“How do we do that?”
Chapter 45
Tuesday Night
“At the moment,” I said, “I've no idea. That's an aspect of adapt and overcome.”