Page 51 of Daddy's Oath
Behind the steering wheel, the cop was shoving the last bits of a burger into his mouth. He picked up an In-&-Out cup, sucked on the straw, then put it back in the cupholder before pulling away from the curb.
“He’s not looking for Lana,” Ryan noted. “Just having lunch.”
“It’s not him I’m worried about. It’s whoever’s in this vehicle.” Ace took the drone up a little higher, hopefully out sight of the person—or people—in the big, black SUV. “Those windows are tinted beyond what’s street-legal for civilians.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Isaiah said. “Can you get a look at the plates?”
Isaiah, Ryan, and Ace all spoke in unison the moment the drone had a good shot.
“Government plates.”
“We have a winner,” Ace said. He hit a few buttons on the panel before him that patched him through to Jack, Stryker, and Harrison’s audio feed. Now, thanks to the earpieces they all wore, everyone involved in the mission was linked and hearing the same thing. “On Cherokee, south of Yucca. North of Hollywood. East side of the street. Can’t see how many guys are inside, but we have a black Suburban with government plates and some really tinted windows. I think we found our feds.”
“Nice work,” Jack’s voice came back.
“Thanks. I’m parking the drone on a nearby ledge so we’ll have a good view of the show. We’ve got about twenty minutes of battery life left.”
“Sit back and enjoy,” Stryker said. “I’ll be at Cherokee in about five minutes.”
“We’ll be in position, too,” Jack announced.
It was less than five minutes, actually, before the show began. Thanks to the drone’s hi-def footage, the guys in the van had the perfect seat, too.
Stryker started, driving the large, nondescript moving van he’d rented down the center of the street, avoiding the cars parked on either side of the curb. He stopped and hopped out.
“Hey! Anyone in there?”
Ace chuckled. It was a risky move banging on the SUV’s driver window like that.
Stryker might be a Little, but he sure had some balls.
“I need you to?—”
The window rolled down.
From the drone’s vantage point, and with Stryker blocking the view a bit, Ace couldn’t make out any details about the guy’s face or what he was wearing. But he still had little doubt he was a U.S. Marshal.
“Sir, do not put your hands on the vehicle.”
And that confirmed it. If it had been just a private citizen, he probably would have responded a bit more angrily. Might have even hopped out of the SUV and charged Stryker or something. But this guy was going out of his way to be professional, though there was still an authoritative edge to his voice.
“Sorry, man. But I gotta park right there. And you’re not supposed to be here.” Stryker pointed to the sign on the sidewalk that read LOADING ZONE.
It was a stroke of luck the thing was there. Obviously, they hadn’t planned it that way.
“My damn help isn’t here yet and I have to get all this furniture delivered within an hour.” Stryker paused. “You guys wanna make a quick fifty dollars? Give me a hand here?”
Guys.
Smart, Ace thought. Stryker was letting everyone listening know that there was more than one person inside the SUV.
“Sir, we cannot help you unload anything.”
Ace nodded to himself. Yeah, this guy talked exactly like a fed.
“Can you at least move then? Whether my crew shows up or not, I gotta get this stuff out of that truck and up to that damn apartment. Somehow.”
For a moment, Ace feared the guy would just move his car up the street a little. But as was typical for the area, there were already too many vehicles lining both sides of the streets.Finding real estate at the curb was difficult around that part of town.
