Page 46 of The Devil's Ransom

On the one hand, we could probably penetrate the apartment right now and drain it of anything valuable, but that was a risk, and there was no ticking time bomb here. I didn’t want to crack that apartment without having eyes on the people who lived there. If that took three days, then it took three days. I saw no reason to push the issue, but seeing if anybody else was inside was something we could do while we waited.

The pictures came in and I saw two twenty-somethings walking down the hallway, caught midstride like a bad police capture you see when they want “anyone with information to call.”

One was dressed in torn jeans with acne scars and greasy black hair. The other was taller, with reddish hair and thick glasses. I confirmed that everyone had the photos, then called Brett saying, “Knuckles and I are going to penetrate just to see if the apartment’s empty. Radarscope only. Jennifer and Veep are going to find us a place to stage while we play the waiting game.”

I hung up and said, “You guys hear that?”

They nodded and I said, “Okay then, let’s go check it out. Veep, Jenn, find a place to stage where we can sit for a while. Knuckles, prep the radarscope. Right now, all I want to know is if that place is truly empty.”

The radarscope was a small device that looked like a cell phone on steroids, about eight inches long and three inches wide. It was designed to detect movement through walls, even cinder block. It didn’t matter if someone was actually walking around; it could detect the rise and fall of a diaphragm from a person just sitting in a chair.

Knuckles dug through his small knapsack as Jennifer led us to a narrow stairwell with a sign proclaimingmlinski stairs. Why this little footpath had a street name was beyond me, but it was obviously old. We went down it, passing small courtyards and windows, eventually reaching a larger north–south thoroughfare called Radiceva. Jennifer stopped and said, “It’s the next building up on the right.”

I looked the other way, seeing one of the ubiquitous outdoor cafés down the street. I said, “We’ll meet you back there. Be gone about ten minutes.”

She nodded and said, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

I smiled and said, “Not yet. Too early in the game. That’ll come later.”

We separated, with Knuckles and me going to the next building up, stopping at an arched stone doorway leading into the building, a stair landing on the left inside. I put in my earpiece, Knuckles doing the same, and said, “About to make entry. Commo check. Blood/Koko, you got me?”

Knuckles nodded his head, saying he could hear me. Jennifer came on, still hating her callsign, “This is Koko. I have you, Lima Charlie.”

Brett said, “This is Blood. I’ll call when you’re on camera.”

I said, “Okay, breaching now. Give me early warning to anyone coming up.”

We entered, the building looking like it had been constructed sometime in the eighteenth century, if not earlier, the hallways seemingly built when the human race was a lot smaller. We skipped up the stairs two at a time, went past the second landing to the third floor, then proceeded down another narrow hallway, doors on the left and right.

Brett said, “I have you. I see you.”

I held up a thumb, knowing he could see that and saving me from making any noise. We skipped down to the corner room where the hallway took a sharp left. I went down it for early warning and Knuckles pulled out the radarscope. He employed it along the length of the wall like a doctor using a stethoscope, moving it higher and lower as he went along, holding it steady for a minute before placing it in a new position. He was done in under three minutes. He snapped his finger and I returned. He shook his head.

Two minutes later we were back on the street; thirty seconds after that we were sitting with Veep and Jennifer at an outdoor picnic table with an umbrella.

I said, “Apartment is empty. It’s only those two guys.”

Veep said, “Now what?”

“Now we wait for them to return.”

Chapter26

Jennifer checked her watch, seeing they’d been sitting at the café for a little over two hours. She turned to Pike to suggest they might want to jump to another location when she saw two men walking down the street to the arched entrance of the building. She pointed, and Pike turned around just as the two entered a doorway. The distance was too great to identify them, but Jennifer knew they didn’t need to. Four minutes later Brett called and said, “They’re back. Both in the nest.”

They’d been at the café for about as long as Jennifer thought they logically could without generating questions, so she broached what she was originally going to say: “We should probably find another lily pad. This one is getting hot. Especially since we haven’t been drinking beer like everyone else.”

Pike said, “Probably right.” He looked at his watch and said, “Close to five on a Friday. I’ll be willing to bet they’re going to clean up and head out. Jenn, where are we going?”

She said, “We reposition on the other side of the buildings, back up that stairwell. That pub right next to the arch looked right up your alley, pun intended.”

Pike said, “That Oliver Twist place?”

“Yeah. It’s close enough for me and Veep to interdict, but far enough away to keep us from being burned. This time we can get some dinner to stall. I’m starving.”

Veep said, “Me, too.”

Pike smiled and said, “Sounds good.” They retraced their path, then settled in at the new pub, the waitress bringing them menus. When she was gone, Pike clicked into the net. “Blood, Blood, we’re repositioning to the other side of the buildings. Getting some chow. Keep eyes on the camera. When they leave again, we’re going in.”

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