My biggest regret is that I was unable to help you find your answers before I died.
Be well, Abraham. I wish I could still be there to answer your calls.
Eli
“I don’t get it,” Quinn said. “Did he know he was going to die?”
“I don’t know,” Abraham said, confused.
“I don’t think so,” Orlando said as she gently took the letter from her mentor and looked it over. She then picked up several of the envelopes and examined them. “I think these have been waiting here for a while. Just in case.”
“Just in case he suddenly died?” Abraham said.
“Look, you’ve as much said it yourself. He was a bit odd. Maybe he thought because of his work, there was always the possibility he might not be around that long.”
Abraham thought for a moment, then said, “Maybe, but who knows?”
“I do,” she said. “Look at these envelopes.” She held out the ones she’d been examining. “The edges are darker than the fronts and backs.” She set them down and grabbed one of the others. “Except for the front of this one. It was the one at the front of the stack. It’s darker, too.” She rubbed her finger across it. “See? Dust. These have been here a while.”
Abraham took the envelope and held it up for a closer look.
“Then there’s this.” She picked up the opened letter again and read, “‘My biggest regret is that I was unable to help you find your answers before I died.’” She lowered it again. “He did find answers. That’s why he wanted to meet you.”
Abraham still looked confused, so Quinn put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Find anything else?”
“Uh, no. Not yet.” Abraham dropped the envelope he was holding on the nightstand. “I don’t even know if there’s anything here that’s going to help us.”
“No sign of a computer?” Orlando asked.
“No,” Abraham said.
That was the top item on their search list. Eli must’ve had one, and if any of the information he intended to give Abraham was on it, Orlando should be able to dig it out.
“We need to keep looking,” Quinn said. “We don’t want to be here when the neighbor gets back.”
While Orlando helped Abraham search through the main part of the bedroom, Quinn checked out the walk-in closet. On one side was a large collection of T-shirts that spoke to Eli’s passion for sci-fi, while on the other were the utilitarian suits and shirts and ties Quinn guessed he wore to his job. The shoes were also subdivided—five pairs of nice leather dress shoes in varying degrees of brown under the suits, and three pairs of broken-in sneakers under the T-shirts. Quinn ran his hands through all the clothes, feeling for anything unusual. He came across a comb and some change but nothing useful. He also checked behind the clothes along the wall for hidden compartments. If something was there, he didn’t find it.
Above the clothes racks, running around the entire room, was a two-foot-wide shelf holding boxes and stacks of sweaters and a few other odds and ends. One by one, Quinn checked through the boxes. Most contained the junk people accumulate over the years—magazines and photographs and Christmas cards and the like.
It wasn’t until he moved a pile of thick sweaters that he came across something unusual. It happened when the bottom sweater caught on something, causing the ones on top of it to tumble onto Quinn.
He gathered the sweaters and placed them on the ground, out of the way. He then tried to free the remaining sweater from whatever it had snagged on. The shelf was too high for him to see over the top, so he moved his hand under the sweater and felt around. The yarn had hooked onto what he thought at first was a small knot of wood. But as he tried to free it, the knot clicked down.
He froze and listened, expecting to hear the sound of a latch releasing or a drawer opening, but there was nothing. Maybe the knot was just a knot. He pulled down one of the boxes stuffed full of papers and used it as a stepping stool so he could see for himself.
While it did look a bit like a knot, it most definitely wasn’t. He pressed it again and the button popped back up. Still no responding sound, though.
“Anything happening out there?” he called toward the door.
Orlando stuck her head inside the closet. “What?”
“I found a button and pushed it a couple times, but nothing’s happened in here. Thought perhaps it controlled something out there.”
“Do it again,” she said, and ducked back into the bedroom.
Quinn depressed the button. “Anything?”
For a few moments there was nothing, then she called, “In the bathroom.”
When he entered, he found her kneeling near the toilet and Abraham standing a few feet behind her. In front of them, two of the large tiles that went up the side of the wall were now sticking out at an angle, creating an open wedge at the top. Visible behind the tiles was a metal door with a keypad and digital read.
Orlando looked at Quinn. “You are a genius.”
“Hey, you can’t say things like that unless I have a recorder on. But yes, I am a genius.”
“You’d be more of a genius if you could get that safe open,” Abraham said.
“That’s my job,” Orlando told him.
She moved the tiles until they were completely out of the way, and then pulled out the same device she’d used on the alarm. After she’d navigated through several menus on the touch screen, she placed the box against the keypad and touched the screen one more time. Suddenly numbers began blinking on an off.
After approximately ten seconds, the number 6 appeared and stayed there. A beat later, the same number showed up on the safe’s digital display. Next up was 1, and then 0, and 2, and finally 7. The display on the safe blinked on and off three times before they heard a loud clunk.
Orlando removed the box, slipped her fingers into the divot that served as the handle for the safe’s door, and pulled.
“Hello there,” she said.
Inside were two shelves. The top one held a few files and some closed envelopes, and the bottom the laptop she’d been hoping for.
As she started to pull the computer out, Quinn’s phone vibrated. It was Nate.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Company, I think,” Nate said.
“The neighbor’s back already?”
“No. Not that kind of company. Sedan just pulled into one of the visitor spots. Three men, one woman, all suited. Walked fast into the garage area. They’re out of sight now. Could be heading your way, could be going someplace else entirely. I didn’t like the looks of them, though. Wherever they’re going, they’re bringing trouble.”
Quinn touched Orlando on the shoulder. “Out. Now.”
“What about the rest of the stuff?” Abraham asked.
“We’ll bring it with us,” Orlando said.
“Fast,” Quinn told her.
As she began scooping out everything from inside the safe, Quinn hustled Abraham into the bedroom and said into the phone, “The front still clear?”
“Yeah, you’re good there for now,” Nate said.
“All right. We’ll use the—”
A pop from downstairs. Not loud, but distinct. The opening of a door a bit out of alignment with its frame.
“Check that,” he whispered. “We may be coming out hot.”
He hung up and glanced around. The master bedroom was at the back of the house. Not the way he wanted to leave.
He moved his mouth right up to Abraham’s ear. “As quiet as you can, go to the front bedroom. I’m going to grab Orlando and we’ll be right behind you.”
Abraham nodded and headed out of the room.
Quinn moved back into the bathroom, stepping carefully so that none of the floorboards squeaked.
“They’re inside,” he whispered.
She shoved the tiles back into place, stuffed the computer and papers into her backpack, and jumped to her feet.
Quinn led her through the hall and to the front bedroom. As Orlando carefully closed t
he door, Quinn unlatched the window and gave it a test upward push. He breathed a sigh of relief as it slid easily along its frame. Because it was winter, Eli had removed his screens, so as soon as Quinn had the window all the way open, he stuck his head outside.
The roof that covered part of the entrance-level deck was only a few feet below the windowsill.
“Come on,” he said. “Orlando first.”
She crawled out the window.
“Abraham,” Quinn said, holding out a hand to help the older man.
“It’s okay. I can do it.”
Abraham ducked through the frame and disappeared outside.
As Quinn lifted a leg over the sill, he heard a noise from the other side of the bedroom door that sounded very much like someone coming up the stairs. He hurried out and lowered the window, wishing he had a way to lock it.
He motioned for Orlando to head over to the deck roof of the townhouse that had looked unoccupied. Once there, he lowered himself and took a quick glance through the window, confirming no one was home.
“Abraham,” he said.
The older man’s legs appeared first. As he lowered himself, Quinn grabbed him just above the knee to help guide him. Without warning, his rate of descent increased. Quinn tried to catch him, but ended up becoming more of a landing pad as Abraham tumbled completely off the edge.
Quinn was sure the sound of the crash would draw the attention of the visitors next door.
“Move,” he said to Abraham, pushing him off.
As soon as he was free, Quinn jumped to his feet and called to Orlando, “Come on.”
She eased over the edge and didn’t let go until Quinn had a good hold of her. Quickly, he set her down, his eyes darting over to Eli’s deck. No one yet.
“You have any trackers with you?” he asked Orlando.
She shot a guilty glance at Abraham. “A couple.”
“Give me one, then you two go to the car. I’ll tag their vehicle and meet you a few blocks away.”
She pulled out a plastic box and removed a tracker identical to the one she’d put on Abraham’s collar. “Be careful,” she said.
He kissed her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
__________
QUINN HAD TO assume the intruders were professionals, which meant at least one of them would have remained outside the townhome, covering the entrance they had used. But when he looked down the access road at the back of Eli’s building, he could see no one.
He pulled out his phone, flipped up the collar of his jacket, and walked with purpose into the alley, pretending to scroll through e-mails. His eyes, however, were moving back and forth just enough so that he could take in both sides of the alley.
The backs of the units consisted of garages separated by narrow, fenced-off patios. Most people seemed to be using the extra space as storage areas for bikes and the like.
Eli’s patio was empty, the back door the others had used to get in, closed. Nowhere to hide there. So, was there a sentry or not? Or was someone waiting in the sedan Quinn planned on tagging? That would be a problem.
Quinn chuckled as if he’d read something amusing, then looked up, just a normal guy checking his progress.
There.
On a patio two homes ahead and on the right, where a permanent wooden shed had been built. Not big by any means, three foot wide at the most, and sticking out from the townhouse perhaps twice that distance. It was tall in comparison, seven feet with a sloping roof. There were two stacks of heavy-duty plastic storage containers, and another stack of outdoor chairs on the patio. A virtual fort someone could hide inside.
He tapped Orlando’s number and raised the cell to his ear.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m heading out now. Had to take care of a little thing here at home first,” he said.
“Oh, we’re playing that game, are we?”
“Yeah,” he said, a quick laugh in his voice. “Something like that.”
As he drew level with the shed, he kept his eyes forward and focused on his peripheral vision.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
“No, no. It’s all good. I should be there on time.”
A twist of a shadow. Simple. Subtle.
A civilian would have dismissed it as a trick of the eye, if the person would even notice it at all, but to Quinn it was proof he was right.
“If you could do me a favor and make sure everyone’s ready to go when I get there,” he said. “Better if we don’t waste any time.”
“South southeast of you,” she said. “Battery Lane. There’s a big ambulance dispatch station at the corner with Old Georgetown Road.”
“Uh-huh,” he said. He was past the shed now, only a unit away from the end of the alley.
“We’re in the parking lot on the north side.”
“That’s great. Thanks. I’ll see you soon.”
He put the phone away and shoved his hands into his pockets, tensing his arms to ward off the cold—not something he needed to pretend to do. Keeping his pace unchanged, he turned left out of the alley, toward the main road. As soon as he was out of the sentry’s line of sight, he angled over to the cars parked alongside the lot where the sedan was.
He pulled the tracker out of his pocket and dropped to a crouch. Using the other cars to shield his presence, he worked his way back to the sedan and slipped the tracker into its grill, jamming it into a niche so that even if the adhesive had trouble hanging on in the cold, the chip wouldn’t go anywhere.
He grabbed his phone again and sent a quick text to Orlando.
Tracker in place
Her reply came moments later.
Active and working
CHAPTER 17
THE FIRST SURPRISE came when Gloria and her team discovered the alarm to Becker’s home was off. The analyst had left town in a hurry, but Gloria found it hard to believe he’d have gone without properly securing his place.
Unsure what they would find, she and two of her men proceeded inside with extreme caution. They did a thorough check of the main floor first and found that the front door was unlocked.
She was willing to admit there was a slight possibility Becker had fled without setting his alarm, but there was no way he would leave a door unlocked. Someone else had been here. Why and how long ago were the questions.
She tapped Nolan on the shoulder and motioned to the stairs. He headed over with King right behind him and Gloria bringing up the rear. Halfway up he paused, pointed at the floor above and then at his ear. Next he held his thumb and forefinger about a quarter inch apart, indicating he’d heard something but it had not been very loud.
“Go, go,” she mouthed.
Once they reached the next floor, she silently asked which room the noise had come from, but he shook his head, unsure. The first door led into a master bedroom, while the second and third opened onto rooms crammed with shelves and boxes full of items she didn’t take the time to ID. All three rooms were unoccupied.
“We’re clear,” Nolan said, no longer muting his voice.
“So what the hell did you hear, then?” she asked.
“I don’t know. It was a short…whoosh, I guess. Like two things rubbing against each other. I guess it must have come from a neighbor’s place.”
“You’re sure?”
“No, but there’s nothing here.”
She walked over to the window and looked out. They were on the side of the house facing the road. Nothing out there but cold air and a dead lawn.
“All right,” she said, turning back to her men. “Let’s tear this place apart.”
__________
“ANOTHER BLOCK AND a half down,” Orlando said, checking the map on her phone. “It’ll be on the right.”
“Got it,” Nate said.
She looked into the back where Quinn was sitting with Abraham and Daeng and held out her hand. “I need to set you up.”
Quinn gave her his cell.
Quickly, she
went through his apps until she found the one she wanted, and then input the information that would allow him to track the beacon he’d left on the sedan.
Half a minute later, Nate pulled the SUV into an open spot at the curb next to a Starbucks coffee shop.
“Let’s go,” Orlando said to Abraham.
Quinn climbed out of the car so Abraham could exit, and then switched to the front passenger seat where Orlando had been. “We’ll come back for you in a while,” he said.
“Try to make it back before they close,” she told him. She swung her bag over her shoulder and looked at Abraham. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find a table.”
Quinn directed Nate to a street three blocks away from Eli’s place, where they found a parking spot at the curb and settled in to wait. It was another twenty-two minutes before the tracking dot on the map began to move, bringing the total time the others had spent inside the townhome to around forty minutes.
As Nate started the SUV, Quinn watched the dot move down to Old Georgetown Road and then head southeast. The sedan’s route would take it within a half block of their position in less than thirty seconds.
He watched the intersection, and as soon as he caught sight of the intruder’s vehicle, he said, “Let’s move, but slow. Give them a few blocks’ lead.”
Nate shifted into DRIVE and pulled into the road.
__________
ALL THE TABLES were occupied when Orlando and Abraham entered the coffee shop.
“I’ve got this,” Abraham said. “You get us something to drink. You know what I like.”
While Orlando was in line, Abraham walked slowly toward the area where the majority of the tables were located, taking on a small but noticeable limp, and donning a friendly smile that turned into a cringe every time he put weight on his “bad” leg. When he got to the tables, he slowed as if confused and looked around. Several of the tables’ occupants glanced at him then quickly looked away.
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