“She’s not buying it, Davidson,” Garrett called out. “Hey, did you just flip me off?”
“We’vegotto get a visual feed in here,” Declan said, looking at Cal with a grin while Solace managed to get the woman to leave.
“You…” Solace started. “Wait. Little Po Beep is on the move.”
“Little Bo…” Cal looked over at a grinning Declan. “Who came up with that?”
“Get it,” Garrett said, snickering. “She’s ashepherd.” Of course it would have to be Garrett.
“She’s a shepherd in a hurry,” Solace said, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor following her words.
“Could wenothave decided on something better?” Cal rubbed his forehead. Hell, he didnotneed to have Haven in a Bo Peep getup running through his mind.
“I’m following. She’s at the door,” Solace said.
“We’re…” Cal sat forward and zoomed in with his binoculars. “I’ve got—”
“Someone’s approaching from her left,” Declan interrupted. “Male… Dark hair… Could be Middle Eastern.”
“I see him,” Garrett said, his previous humor gone. “Turning up the audio.”
Cal watched intently as the young man approached Haven while Solace took up a non-obtrusive position at her back. He refocused to get a good look at the young man who seemed harmless enough, but looks could be deceiving.
“Pardon me, Miss,” the young man said, stopping Haven when she was halfway down the steps.
“Yes,” she said, giving him a smile. “Can I help you?”
“Please. I’m new on campus. I’m following this map to get to Lawrence Hall,” he said, holding a piece of paper out to her, “but I can’t find this road here.” He pointed to a place on the sheet. “It’s University Way.”
“Hmm. Right. Let me see.” She took the piece of paper from him.
“I have to tell you guys,” Garrett said in a quiet tone, “this equipment is amazing.”
“Yeah, see this is an older map.” Haven moved closer to him. “They recently renamed the street to Woodson Lane after one of the alumni.” She smiled at the young man and handed the map back to him.
“Ah. Now it makes better sense.” He gave her a big smile. “Thank you. You’ve been so very helpful.” He turned and rushed down the steps, saying over his shoulder, “See you ‘round.”
Haven waved at him and then looked at her watch. “Crap.” She took off down the steps and then across the parking lot at a brisk pace.
Now where is she going in such a hurry?
Two hours later Cal found out, and it was a surveillance nightmare.
“How did we not know she was going to a party?” The four of them sat in the roomy customized van down the street from the frat house. Cal looked at Declan, Solace, and then Garrett in the light of the flickering monitors. “Anyone?”
“ItisFriday night,” Solace said.
“I told you we needed surveillance in her suite,” Garrett piped in.
Solace shook her head and let out a disbelieving laugh. “That would sonothave been a good idea.”
Garrett frowned at Solace. “They would’ve talked about it and we could’ve prepared.” He turned to Cal. “When I do my next sweep of their rooms for bugs, I can—”
“You’restillnot doing it.” Cal shook his head when Garrett opened his mouth. “Not even audio.”
Cal had already had this discussion with the Colonel who’d insisted his daughter and her friends have at least some privacy, and Cal had agreed. Once she found out about the surveillance and how much time Garrett had spent in their rooms doing sweeps, she was going to be pissed anyhow. The Colonel had figured she’d be able to forgive the intrusion into her public life. Her private one? No.
“So what do we do?” Declan questioned, peering out the back window. “The party’s in full swing.” He looked back at Cal and then at the other two. “Well?”