Page 107 of Maddy's Justice

“Agreed,” Carlos said.

The two men stood and shook hands. The entire time, Javier Lopez was staring at Gavin’s boss while Gavin watched him.

THIRTY-FOUR

“What do you think?” Sean O’Rourke asked the much younger woman he was with. Sean was wearing a suit and tie for the first time since he retired. Upon seeing him in it, Maddy felt compelled to tease him on behalf of Paxton. Although she did admit to herself the sixty-plus-year old did look great.

The name of the woman he spoke to was Ava Snell. Ava was a barely five-feet tall, one-hundred pounds (with rocks in her pockets) average looking brunette. A small woman who you would barely notice if you saw her on the street. Ava was with Sean because in all his experience in law enforcement, Ava was the absolute best burglar he had ever come across. In and out like a ghost.

“I don’t know, Paul,” she replied using Sean’s false name. “I mean, well, I told you. I get a little queasy up this high.”

The Cardiff Building’s rental agent spotted this as a negotiating ploy. She could play that game, too. Besides, this small space had been empty for a year. She could just about rent it for free just to get something for it.

“I’ll tell you what. This is six hundred square feet on a prime floor in an A plus building. I’ll admit, it’s been empty for almost five months. It won’t be easy to rent. Our normal price for these upper floors is thirty-four bucks a foot. I can let you have it for twenty-five.”

While she was saying this, Ava had sidled over to a window while Sean listened.

“Twenty-five, huh?” Sean said. “Twelve fifty a month.”

“No! No, no, no,” Ava said almost running away from the window. “I can’t do it. I’d be sick and scared to death all the time.”

Sean asked the rental agent, “You don’t have anything else of a comparable size?”

“No, sorry, I don’t.”

“My partner…” Sean started to say.

“I understand. Not everyone can take these heights, even inside a building.”

Two minutes later, Sean and Ava exited the front of the building. After they had walked thirty to forty feet Sean made a call.

“We have it,” he said to Maddy. “You were right, it’s perfect for us. Directly below Labelle and adjacent to his trading office on the fortieth floor. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“I’d feel a lot better if I was wearing dark clothes and a ski mask,” Conrad Hilton said for at least the tenth time.

“And we could carry a sign that says, ‘Pay no attention to the burglars’ while we’re at it,” Carvelli said. “Now shut up and wait for Ava’s signal.”

Conrad and Carvelli were waiting in a stairwell between the thirty-ninth and fortieth floors. If anyone happened along––not likely at midnight––they could go up or down depending on what was necessary. Ava had been with them and left them less than a minute ago.

Carvelli’s phone began to vibrate and he said, “She’s in.” What he meant was Ava was inside the office she and Sean had checked out earlier today.

The two men calmly walked up to the fortieth-floor door and stopped.

Carvelli told Conrad, “Remember, thirty feet to the corner, thirty feet left to the door.”

Carvelli opened the door, listened for a second and fifteen seconds later they were in with Ava. They went straight ahead into an empty office; the same one Ava had feigned being ill in earlier while looking out the window. There was no way anyone in the hall could see in, but they still used small flashlights that gave off just enough light to see their way around.

“Okay Conrad, it’s your show,” Carvelli said.

Earlier, when Sean and Ava had rejoined the others, they had drawn a map of the office perfectly to scale. Instead of being sick, Ava had walked off the offices’ distances. From that, they made the map. Now, Conrad could quickly do what he came to do.

For the next few minutes Conrad drilled several holes in the ceiling. Through them he ran fiber optic cables into James Labelle’s office. The previous day, Maddy had made a recon of the floors above. While doing that, she had stepped off distances and even opened Labelle’s door to take a quick look. Risky, but Labelle would likely not be too upset with a minor intrusion by a woman who looked lost.

Conrad got lucky with the holes he drilled. All three were positioned perfectly under the credenza behind Labelle’s desk. Another ten minutes and he had two more cables installed and ready to film and record the trading office of Labelle Commodities next door to Labelle’s office.

While Conrad was setting up the recording equipment, Ava was changing the locks on both doors. This space was completely empty which meant Conrad could not hide his equipment. To keep out nosy neighbors or building personnel, a new lock was installed.

In less than a half-hour they were finished and back in the stairwell. Ava had covered up the only camera in this part of the building. With fifty-four floors and the three elevators still running, they were betting anyone monitoring would not be watching at that exact moment.

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