Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (24 page)

He called Serena as soon as he got in the car. She answered on the first ring, sounding breathless.

“I had fun meeting Midnight!! But I’m sitting in the Jacuzzi now. I hurt in places where I didn’t even know I had muscles. How was your meeting? When will I see you?”

He laughed at her rapid-fire questions, asking, “Honey, which question do you want me to answer first?”

Then his mind rewound. What had she said first?

Jacuzzi. She said she was sitting in the Jacuzzi.

His breath hissed out, his mind running wild as he imagined her naked in the tub, covered with bubbles but the tips of her breasts peeking out.  Her hair would be piled in a messy bun, leaving her slender neck exposed. He would start there and.....

“Sam?” Her voice broke through his fantasies. He had also arrived home without conscious thought of driving there. They spoke for a while and then said goodnight.

The house was dark; his parents were obviously fast asleep at this time of the night. Sam entered through the garage, then went into the kitchen and drank cold milk straight out of the container. Dinner had been a long time ago. In his room, he took off his clothes and walked butt naked into the bathroom, standing under the shower and letting the cold-water cool his overheated body.

He turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist, then brushed his teeth while wiping the fogged bathroom mirror with his fingers. The face in the mirror had red-rimmed eyes and looked unkempt. He threw the towel in a hamper, and padded into the bedroom naked, then pulled on a fresh pair of boxers and dropped onto his bed, falling asleep within seconds.

THE SURVEILLANCE

Sam jogged slowly to a GMC white cargo van parked at the end of an alley. It had “Julio’s Landscaping Services” stenciled in large lettering on both sides. He tapped on the side panel, which opened immediately, courtesy of the cameras watching him from inside.

He climbed inside and shut the door, recoiling at the blast of cold air that hit him. The van’s temperature was always kept close to freezing and everyone who worked surveillance in the van, layered up to stay warm. Underneath his gray sweatshirt, he wore two short-sleeve T-shirts to keep himself warm.

Soo sat in a leather chair, leaning over a monitor doing something to it. Next to her in a matching chair sat Samatha Diaz, the wiretapping genius of the team, typing away on a laptop.

The first phase of the operation, the surveillance of the Criket Club, had begun.

The van was cramped with equipment. One side of it had built-in benches while the monitoring equipment and optics lined the other side. A thick blue and gray carpet covered the floor, probably some decorator’s idea of creating a “peaceful, calming work environment”. 

Two audio recording devices were hidden in the side panels of the van, and two DVR’s were connected to video cameras hidden in the van’s dashboard. The van also had six DVRs and six cameras covering the 360 degrees of the van’s exterior. A camera with a powerful periscope was mounted on the top of the van. All cameras had enhanced lens to capture night-vision video footage. Dozens of wires ran crisscross but were taped to the floor of the van to prevent people from tripping over them.

Carter was out there, somewhere in the shadows from where he would track Sasha and capture his every move on his eyeglass cam, which would then be live-streamed on one of the monitors on the desk in front of them. He was an excellent tracker, and could remain in cramped quarters for days, conducting covert surveillance on a subject, without ever leaving a trail.

“Carter in place.” He heard on his earpiece. So did the rest of the team.

“Copy,” Soo said.

Nine people on surveillance would be overkill, so he and Audrey had placed the remaining four members of their team on stand-by, asking them to be ready to jump in with a moment’s notice.

There was a knock, and he opened the door to the van to let in Audrey.

“Brrr,” she said, sidling up to him. He put his arm around her, as much to warm himself, as to warm her.

The 360-degree camera located at the top of the van gave them an excellent video of the entrance and the side door of the Criket Club. A steady stream of men and women poured in and out of the club all night long.

No cars pulled into the parking lot. And they didn’t see Sasha either.

The night was slow. Soo took a nap on the air mattress in the corner. Samantha dozed in her chair. Audrey sat on the floor, looking at the feed from the camera mounted atop the van. He watched the monitors on the desk.

“A cup of coffee would go a long way,” said Audrey.

“Yep.” He saw her grinning and felt a matching smile form on his lips. They were both recalling the reason all food and beverages were banned in FBI surveillance vans.

Two years earlier, an agent named Detective Michael Lance was using the porta-potty, while his partner was taking a shuteye. They had been watching an accountant for tax fraud and evasion. During his five-minute potty break, the accountant had vanished. He was captured a day later, but the agent had to explain to his superiors why he had been lost in the first place.

Since then, a no-food-or-drink rule, was self-imposed by all the detectives because no one wanted to be caught with their pants down, literally.

“Thank you, Pantsdown Lance!” Audrey mock saluted the absent agent, using the moniker he had earned after the embarrassing night.

At five am, Sam announced to the team, “It’s time to call it a night.”

“Roger.” Carter replied. He would leave for home, and be back in position the next night, and every night until they captured Sasha.

He and Audrey left almost immediately after. Samatha and Soo would remain for another hour; then Samantha would drop Soo at her apartment, and take the van home.

xxxx

Their break came three days later.

He had arrived with Audrey in tow. Now Soo and Samantha were dozing on the mattress, while he and Audrey sat in the two leather chairs, taking over the watch.

“Whoa, all eyes on deck,” said Audrey. Soo and Samantha woke up and took up position behind them as Sasha’s black Escalade entered the parking deck and disappeared from view.

The monitor connected to Carter’s eyeglass cam came alive, and they watched Sasha exit the vehicle, then look around the parking lot as if he felt someone watching him. Two large men got out behind him. Sasha did another quick surveillance, at one point looking directly into one of their cameras.

“Damn, it’s as if he knows we’re watching him,” Audrey said.

“Remember, he has inside sources.” Soo’s raspy voice came, barely above a whisper.

“Stop that already! No one knows we are here, except our team.” Admonished Samantha softly.

“And the SAC.” Soo reminded her.

“You better not be accusing the SAC…” Audrey gave Soo a heated look.

“No, of course not,” Soo said indignantly. Audrey recalled then that Soo’s parents were family friends of the SAC and his wife. She apologized to Soo; then returned her gaze to the monitors in front of her.

xxxx

They watched the Escalade pull out of the parking deck two hours later.

The patrons of the Criket Club had two options to leave downtown; one would take them past the New Polish Bar and Restaurant and on to I75 Interchange, the other would require them to turn on a side street, going west, and then entering I75 from there.

Stucky waited in a darkened unmarked vehicle outside the New Polish Bar and Restaurant, a mom-and-pop dining establishment, popular for its authentic Polish cuisine, and perhaps also because of its “open till four am, every night” advertising.

Sanders waited at a Coney Island.

“They’re heading towards the Polish bar,” Samantha told Stucky, her voice a whisper in the van.

“Copy,” Stucky replied. They watched his GPS tracker, which showed him pulling out of the parking spot and driving towards the I75 Interchange. They couldn’t see the Escalade because they had opted not to place a bug on it, not wanting to arouse any suspicion, in case it was discovered.

The Escalade would now either go north or south on I75. If it went North, Sanders would take over, and Stucky would hop off the interstate. If they went South, Stucky would continue, and hand off the tail to Dickson, who waited nine miles south, at the I94 interchange.

The deserted interstate at this time of the night made tailing the Escalade a challenge, but he and Audrey had devised a plan.

Dickson was waiting at the I94 and I75 interchange to pick up the tail if the Escalade got on I94. If it continued on I75, Stucky would take the first exit, Grand River, which came up within five miles, and Sanders would enter the expressway using the same exit. They would lose sight of the Escalade for a brief period, but they now had a license plate number, so Sanders wouldn’t have a problem keeping track of it.

As it so happened, the Escalade took the I94 West exit and Dickson picked up the tail, while Stucky took the first exit off the expressway, and waited for further instructions.

“Sanders, head North on Lodge and wait at the interchange to pick them up; Dickson you get off at Ford.” Sam’s voice was calm; his mind focused as the plan unfolded flawlessly.

“On it,” said Sanders.

“If the Escalade exits before Carter gets there, let them go, Sanders. Do NOT follow them alone. If they stay on the expressway, you get off and Carter will pick up the tail at Wyoming.” Sam’s voice was even, but firm.

“Copy that,” Sanders confirmed. He was a veteran at this, they all were, and Sam knew that he would follow instructions to a T.

“He’s taking the Wyoming exit; I’m going to continue on I94 and turn around,” Sanders said quietly.

“Copy.” said Audrey.

Carter’s GPS showed him heading towards Wyoming using an internal road. He had cut the travel time in half by throwing a blue and white probe on his dash, and raced across town.
 

“Carter, turn off your probe and stay on Wyoming; do not enter the freeway. But fall way back. If they slow down or speed up, LET THEM GO.” Sam reemphasized the need for caution.

“Roger that.” said Carter.

There was silence for almost six minutes. Then Carter came back online.

“Package delivered. They entered a warehouse off Wyoming and Dixie, and my guess is they are in for the night. I’ll meet you guys at Audrey’s.”

xxxx

The rest of the team assembled at Audrey’s while Soo and Diaz remained in the surveillance van for another hour, after which they would head home.

Audrey made coffee for them, and they all sat around the kitchen table.

“The Escalade turned right on Dixie. I thought for sure I had lost them. But in my rearview mirror, I could see the Escalade turning into a side street. I pulled over and watched them stop outside a long one-story building, set way back from the road.” Carter’s voice was alert, showing no signs of tiredness.

“Think we got him?” asked Stucky.

Sam drank his coffee and pondered for a long moment.

Was it going to be that simple? They were going to catch a fugitive who’d evaded capture for over a decade, after only three nights of surveillance and one night of tracking?

“Tomorrow we set up around-the-clock monitoring of the warehouse,” he told them, then outlined the plan for them.

Stucky and Carter would take the night shift; Sanders and Dickson would take the day shift. They would document all comings and goings, and record the activities of the warehouse.