The Rescue(98)

He liked working with Ramirez. The guy was sharp and had embraced valuable skill sets ignored by most Aegis operators.

“Hold on,” said Gunther, typing furiously on his laptop. “Forty-four feet. Fifty-two feet in length.”

“How skilled is the pilot?”

“Night Stalker skilled,” said Gunther.

“Then I’d say no problem,” said Ramirez.





CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Harlow startled from a light sleep, a hard pinch to her shoulder launching her upright on the leather couch in the great room. Sophie loomed over her, a dead-serious look on her face.

“What the hell?” she said, rubbing her eyes.

“Pool guy,” said Sophie. “Or not.”

Katie and Pam piled into the room from the SCIF area, carrying compact P-90 submachine guns that were far from California compliant. Harlow took Sophie’s hand and let her hoist her off the couch. Sandra appeared in the kitchen with a pistol, edging toward the slider leading to the patio.

“Pool guy?” said Harlow. “How many?”

“Just one. But the agent leasing this place swore this wouldn’t happen.”

“Well, there’s a pool,” said Harlow, still feeling groggy. “It’s gotta get cleaned, I guess.”

“Maybe,” said Sophie, looking a bit uncomfortable. “There’s something else.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. He just doesn’t look like a pool guy.”

“What does he look like?”

“Black guy with his head shaved bald.”

“Like Reeves?”

“I don’t know Reeves by sight,” said Sophie. “But the description matches.”

“Okay,” said Harlow. “And he’s alone?”

“I think,” said Sophie. “He parked the pool van at the bottom of the driveway. It doesn’t seem right.”

“Why? Where should he park it?”

“Not blocking the driveway, from the street. If he’s the regular pool guy, he’d just drive up to the house.”

“Maybe he’s trying to sell his pool-cleaning service?”

“It’s a gated community,” said Pam.

“There’s a dozen service trucks in here at any given time,” said Harlow. “Nobody in here does anything themselves. Lawns. Pools. Housecleaning. He’s probably just trying to drum up business.”

“You want me to get rid of him?” said Pam.

“Without waving that P-90 around,” said Harlow. “In California—that’s five to ten. No parole.”

“Better than dead.”

“I’ll handle this,” said Harlow, heading for the main entryway.

“You want us to stand down?” said Katie.

She shook her head. “No. Better safe than sorry.”

They followed her to the door, taking partially hidden positions in the two-story foyer. Harlow touched the security panel next to the door, activating the screen and displaying the “pool guy’s” face.

“What the hell?” she said, turning to her partners. “It is Reeves.”

Pam reacted immediately. “Katie. Give me the P-90. I’ll put it in the safe room.”

“Stop. Just stay out of sight. I’m not letting him in,” said Harlow, nodding at Sophie. “Time to find a new location.”

“I have a few backups,” she said. “Assuming we can shake them. I don’t know how the hell they found this place.”

“It worked for a week,” said Harlow, gripping the door handle. “We’ll make another place work.”

When everyone had ducked out of sight, she opened the door. Reeves stood there holding a clipboard, dressed in khaki pants and a light-blue, short-sleeved oxford shirt.

“Supervisory Special Agent Joseph Reeves,” she said. “I assume you’re not here to clean the pool.”

“I wouldn’t know the first thing about pool cleaning,” said Reeves. “But I do know something about surveillance.”

“Congratulations,” she said. “You found us.”

“I’m not the only one that found you. Gunther Ross followed Ms. Murphy and Ms. Stack here from Natural Foods, too.”

“Nope. No way,” said Katie, poking her head around the corner of a doorway. “Nobody followed us.”

“Nobody followed you by car to the house,” said Reeves. “I had a surveillance bird track you from Sherman Oaks. Gunther Ross launched a drone at the Narrows Outlook, which circled over this house a few times before landing a mile or so south of here, in an ungated neighborhood just off Mulholland.”

“Son of a bitch,” said Katie.

“My sentiments exactly,” said Reeves, looking directly into Harlow’s eyes. “We need to talk.”

“I’m not rolling on Decker,” she said.

“I’m not asking you to. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Why are you here?”

“Can I come in? We’re pretty sure Gunther’s people left the area, but I don’t want to take the chance.” He glanced at the van down the driveway. “As you can see.”