The Signal

by John Sneeden

  The Oracle had once said that Carmen’s intoxicating mix of personality traits and physical prowess was the result of having an Italian father and American mother. He had met Carmen at an intelligence and security jobs fair in Orlando, Florida. The two had instant chemistry, and the old master was immediately impressed with the complete package that Carmen Petrosino brought to the table. The young Italian had pursued a degree in mathematics from Università degli Studi di Firenze, and graduated with honors. She had also played soccer as a youth, which in turn led to her lifelong involvement in physical training.

  It was that spectrum of experience that caught the Oracle’s eye. He knew that there were smarter candidates at the event, and probably a few who were more physically gifted than the Italian, but none that possessed her combination of skills. But it was Carmen’s family, in particular her parents, who sealed the deal. Her father was one of the most respected men in Florence, and he came from a family that had not a whiff of controversy. As one Delphi researcher put it, if there were an Italian candidate for best family in the world, it might be the Petrosinos. Carmen’s American mother came from a similar background, growing up in Missouri in a family that some described as salt of the earth. The future Mrs. Petrosino met her husband at a biochemistry convention in Paris, and the rest, as they say, was history.

  Carmen had told the Oracle she had always wanted to live in the US, at least for a while, so that she could get a sense of her mother’s country. The Oracle was more than glad to give her that opportunity. And it was a decision he had never regretted. Other than Zane Watson, he had no better operative than the Florentine beauty.

  Zane hoped his partner would find the right man one day, a man who would take the time to understand all the aspects of her complicated but attractive personality. Whenever Carmen dated, Zane noticed that one of two things happened—either she would lose interest, finding the man shallow and boring, or she would succeed in finding a man who stimulated her mind, but he would back off because of the mysterious nature of her job and her lengthy absences. The players would try to stick around because of their physical attraction to her, but the serious ones rightly wanted to know more about the woman they were falling for. One frustrated man had actually accused her of being involved in the drug trade.

  With that shaky dating history, the Italian opened her heart to Zane over drinks at their favorite restaurant in DC one night. She told him that for now she’d decided to stay focused on the job she loved so much, for the time being. It gave her a wonderful sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. In terms of when she might get married, she told Zane that a higher power would have to let her know when the time was right.

  The sound of nearby car horn brought the operative out of his thoughts. They had left the square and were walking along Wollzeile. It didn’t take them long to hail a taxi, and Carmen used her limited German to give the driver their destination.

  Precisely eleven minutes later they exited the cab, paid their fare, and walked three blocks to Baumannstrasse, a short, dead-end street that intersected a larger block. Each side of the street was lined with tall apartment buildings. They stopped at the third building on the left. A black-and-gold plate read “25.”

  Assured they were at the right place, Zane took in the building itself. Two ornate lanterns with flickering bulbs were hung on either side of the door. To the right of the door was a large glass window that revealed a small lobby with an elevator on the left and a hall that lead to the back on the right. Not surprisingly, the building was exactly as he had pictured in his dream.

  According to a plan they had conceived at the restaurant, Zane would enter alone and make a first pass through the flat, to look for any information Higgs might have left behind. Carmen would cover outside, entering only if Zane needed assistance or was unable to find any clues.

  “I guess Higgs didn’t like to… how do you say in English? Rough it?”

  “No, apparently not. If you’re on the run, I’d say this is not a bad place to shack up.”

  Zane started to say something else but was silenced by the barking of a nearby dog. Seconds later, a woman appeared out of the darkness, with a poodle stretching its leash and growling at the two strangers who had dared to interrupt his walk.

  The woman rebuked the dog in German and then said something to both of them. Carmen replied in German.

  When she had passed, Zane asked, “What did she say?”

  “My German isn’t the best, but I think she said not to worry… something about the dog being in a pissy mood at having to wear a little sweater.”

  Zane looked up and down the sidewalk to make sure there weren’t any other surprises. “I’m going in before anyone else comes along. Let me know if you see anything down here.”

  “Sure.” Carmen turned and walked away, trying to look as though she were out on a casual stroll. Zane got halfway up the steps and then cursed.

  “What’s wrong?” Carmen asked, as he headed back down.

  “Apparently, Higgs wasn’t as smart as we thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he gave his daughter the key to his apartment, but he forgot something else: the code to get into the building.”

  “Are you sure he didn’t give it to her?”

  “She said nothing about a code, and I can tell you unequivocally there was nothing in the letter about one.”

  Carmen bit her lower lip. “Hmmm. Not good. So there weren’t numbers of any kind in the letter? None at all? Perhaps he hid something in there thinking Amanda would figure it out.”

  “No. Nothing. I committed that letter to memory, and there are no numbers or numbered codes of any kind.”

  Zane stepped over and peered in through the large glass window. He stood there for a moment, his mind spinning through several ideas.

  “What are you thinking?” Carmen asked.

  “I’m remembering the satellite view of this neighborhood. This street partially bisects the block, with the buildings on each side forming two large squares. In the middle of each square is an inner courtyard. If we can find a way to get into that courtyard, it’s possible we can find a rear entrance.”

  “Wouldn’t we run into the same problem? I can’t imagine they’d have one secure entrance and another open entrance.”

  “You’d be surprised. But even if the rear entrance does require a code, I’d much rather force my way in back there than out here on the street.”

  Carmen was already using her phone to pull up the satellite view of their location. A couple of minutes later, she said, “I’ve found our block. And I see the two inner courtyards you referred to. Unfortunately I don’t see a way to get to it except through one of the buildings. All of the structures appear to be pressed against each other. No alleys, no streets, nothing.”

  “The key word is ‘appear.’ I still think it’s worth it to walk around the block.”

  Carmen put her phone back in her pocket. “Agreed. At this point there aren’t many other options.”

  Fortunately, it only took them fifteen minutes to find what they were looking for. On the opposite side of the block, they found an archway and tunnel that led to the courtyard. The covered tunnel would have looked like a building in the satellite view.

  “Well, well. It looks like we found our ticket to paradise.”

  “Indeed it does,” replied Zane, looking at a sign for an outdoor music series to be held in the courtyard that weekend.

  After determining no one was watching, the two passed quickly through the tunnel and entered a small park. Stone pathways meandered through a maze of trees and neatly trimmed hedges. Apartment buildings towered on all four sides. The entire space was mostly dark, with the only light coming from the windows of apartments and a few small ground lamps scattered along the stone path.

  Knowing the general direction of Higgs’s apartment building, the two operatives stole quietly down the path until they finally found themselves standing in front of a fountain in
the park center. Water gurgled out of the top and cascaded down three levels. Dim lights were hidden in the base, giving the water a shimmering glow.

  “Nice,” Carmen said softly.

  Zane looked at all the buildings one more time in order to get his bearings, and then nodded past the fountain. “Let’s keep moving in the same direction.”

  “Can you tell which building is ours?”

  “If I’m right, ours should be just down on the left. I'll recognize the stonework once we get down there.”

  After walking about thirty yards, Zane held up his hand. They were standing at the point where a narrower path turned off toward a gray stone building. “I think this is it.”

  As they approached the building, Zane noted that it was much darker at the entrance than other buildings they had passed. There was a light fixture above the door, but the bulb had apparently gone out. The only illumination was the soft light coming out of the square glass panel set in the door itself.

  Zane turned on his flashlight and directed the beam toward the door. “Perfect. I think we’re in.”

  Carmen stepped closer and saw what he was referring to. Just above the doorknob was a circular lock, and as far as she could tell, there were no panels for coded entry.

  Zane pulled the key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock. Both held their breath and then exhaled when the key turned and the door cracked open.

  “That’s a girl,” Zane said in a hushed tone. After peeking inside, he pulled back out and asked, “Are we all set?”

  Carmen patted her coat pocket and nodded.

  “I’m going straight up to enter the apartment. I’m not going to message you unless I run into a problem.” He then looked beyond Carmen and toward the courtyard. “And of course, let me know if we have any unexpected visitors.”

  “Copy that.” Carmen gestured with her head toward a stand of trees that would offer a view of both the back door and the main path that led back to the fountain.

  Zane nodded and entered the building, knowing that Carmen would walk back down the path to her observation post. She was experienced enough not to let someone walk out and find her standing there.

  *

  Preferring not to be seen through the glass in the front foyer, Zane decided to take the stairs at the rear. When he reached the third floor landing, he slowly opened the door. Despite the care he took, the hinge groaned loudly, making him pause. Hearing nothing more, he stepped out into the hall. He had determined that there were only two apartments per floor, one at the front and one at the back. The door immediately on his right read “300,” so Higgs’s apartment was exactly where he thought it would be.

  At the door of the front apartment, he inserted the key and turned it. To his relief, it clicked open. Apparently, the owner didn’t know Higgs was gone, or if he did, he hadn’t gone to the trouble of replacing the locks.

  Once inside, the operative waited a moment to give his eyes time to adjust. He was standing in an entryway, with a coat closet to his immediate right and a larger room directly ahead. On the other side of the room was a curtained window outlined with light coming in from the street.

  Zane felt around until he found the wall switch and turned on the lights. Immediately, everything was thrown into view. He stepped forward into the larger room and noted that it was furnished with a large writing desk, several chairs, and a flat-screen TV.

  There were several decorative pieces and two framed photographs on top of the desk. Zane recognized one of the people in the photographs as Amanda Higgs. The other was a woman in her late thirties or forties, who he guessed was her deceased mother.

  Why would a man on the run take the time to set framed photos on a desk? And why would that same man leave and not take the photos with him? The whole thing was bizarre. After pondering it for a couple of minutes, Zane came up with two possible explanations. One was that Higgs had placed something in the frames themselves. That seemed too easy. What was more likely was that the engineer had left a number of things around in order to provide a distraction from the true location of the clue. But regardless, the operative made a mental note to check inside the frames before he left. The man was an engineer after all, and it was doubtful he had a feel for the world of secrets.

  Zane paused for a moment, trying to figure out where he should begin his search. At that point he didn’t even know exactly what he was looking for or how Higgs had chosen to communicate with his daughter. He could only assume the message would be written on paper or stored electronically.

  But where should he start looking? There were likely four or five rooms at most. To his right was an open kitchen and to the left a hallway, which he figured must lead to a bedroom and bath. The operative doubted that the man would have left the message in the room he was standing in, which was also the first room that one would find upon entry. That would be too easy. The kitchen might be the very place Zane would leave something hidden, as it was the last place someone would look. But Zane doubted an engineer like Higgs would think that way.

  Which left the bedroom and the bath. With the clock ticking, Zane decided that’s where he’d begin his search.

  *

  A cold wind whipped through the grove of trees where Carmen was hidden. She pulled her coat more closely around her and wondered if Zane was having any success. She wished they had gone up to search the apartment together, but she understood why he wanted her to stay outside and keep watch. They still couldn’t be sure who did or didn’t know that Ian Higgs had been living there, and it was certainly prudent to expect the worst. After all, if they were there looking for clues, then it stood to reason that others might be on their way as well.

  Carmen’s instincts told her that it might not be that easy to find whatever Higgs had left behind. He was a smart man and had to have known that the apartment could be cleaned out if something happened to him. He also had to know that Renaissance might find him there, regardless of how careful he had been. That said, a smart man such as Higgs would likely make sure any messages were well hidden.

  Just as the wind began to die down, Carmen thought she heard something in the distance, roughly in the direction of the fountain in the center of the courtyard. She pulled her scarf away from her ears and soon realized that it wasn’t her imagination. Someone was walking down the sidewalk, and it seemed as though they were walking in her direction.

  Just to be safe, the Italian removed the Beretta from her coat pocket, crab-walked over to the closest tree, and then got down on one knee. As she looked back toward the main path, she was finally able to make out a dark silhouette coming her way. She doubted she could be seen in the dark grove of trees, but just to be safe, she pressed up against the trunk.

  As soon as she did the footsteps stopped.

  Why weren’t they still moving? Had she been heard? She doubted it, but nonetheless disengaged the safety of her Beretta and moved her finger into place on the trigger. Years of experience often dictated her physical movements before her thoughts caught up.

  Almost immediately, the footsteps began again. The person had turned off of the main path and was traveling down the path that led toward Higgs’s apartment building. Carmen’s heart beat a bit faster as she realized the person would pass directly in front of her.

  Squinting in the darkness, she kept her eyes focused on a gap in the bushes next to the path. A few seconds later, a dark figure passed by. There was something about the way the figure moved that set off all sorts of alarms. The walk had a stealthy quality, not at all like that of a resident returning home.

  As the person continued to walk toward the building, Carmen realized she hadn’t been able to make out many details. The only thing she noted was that the person was wearing a dark coat with a hood.

  Needing a better look, she rose carefully to her feet. The person was standing near the rear door of the building and looking right, left, and then up. The hairs on Carmen’s neck stood on end as she realized she’d been right. That was n
ot a resident, nor did it seem like someone out for a midnight walk.

  Her senses on full alert, she pulled out her phone to text Zane a warning that they had company. Just as she was about to tap on his number, she heard a snap, much like someone stepping on a branch. It came from the trees on the other side of the path.

  What the… ?

  Putting the phone back in her pocket, Carmen crouched down again and continued to listen. Was it an animal or was someone following the person at the door? She had to determine what she was dealing with before contacting Zane. But after listening for another minute or so she decided it must have been a squirrel or one of Vienna’s resident rats.

  Just as she came to that conclusion, she heard another sound, a loud click, followed by a flash of light. Remembering the person at the door, she swiveled around just in time to see a hooded figure enter the building.

  The person was inside, and Carmen had a feeling he or she was headed to the third floor.

  *

  Zane had just begun his search of the bedroom when his phone began to vibrate. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Carmen. That can’t be good.

  He answered the call. “Yeah, what’s going on?”

  “I think you’re about to have some company.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Someone just entered the building, and I think they may be headed your way.”

  “You’re sure it isn’t just someone who lives here?” he asked.

  “Negative. This person stopped at the back door and looked around before entering, like they were trying to figure out if it was the right place. It may not be anything, but I wouldn’t count on that.”