Page 33 of Rattler
Shadow had supplied us with smart watches that doubled as communications devices that couldn’t be detected unless you were the fucking CIA, so we could keep tabs on each other without being noticed.Once we picked our spots, we all hunkered down in place, conserving our energy.We all knew how to catnap with one eye open during the lulls in action, and that came in handy when we were doing shit like this.
Shortly after six in the morning, Preacher alerted us that the suspect was up and moving.
I unfolded myself from the bench I’d been sleeping on and stretched.“Looks like he’s planning on heading to the office.”Slinging my backpack across my shoulder, I headed to the coffee shop down the block.
“Not yet.Made himself one of those sissy coffees and is sitting on the back porch reading the newspaper on his laptop.Looks like he’s checking out the stock markets.”
“You can tell that from where you are?”Preacher never ceased to amaze me.
“Easily.Scope on my rifle is a fuck-ton better than a set of binoculars.”
I knew Preacher had brought his rifle along.He’d been a sniper long enough to feel like it was part of him.I hadn’t considered just how powerful that scope was.The tree he’d set up in was only seventy feet from the target’s house.Practically kissing distance for a good sniper.“Let us know when he starts moving.”
“You going to follow him?”
“Not yet.Got the bugs on his car, so we can find him later.I want to search that house, see what we can find.It’s just a hunch, but if he’s got anything he wants out of sight I’m betting he’s the kind of guy to hide it in his house where he can keep an eye on it, not at his office all the way downtown.”Shadow said something didn’t add up, and I wanted to know why.“You getting any good shots of him?”
“Fuck yeah.The guy is almost too clean cut.Hair combed perfectly, dressed to the nines, and I swear there’s actual creases on those pants he’s wearing.”
I snorted.“Bet he’d stick out like a sore thumb at a BBQ back at the clubhouse.”
“Guys like this don’t go to a BBQ unless there’s a chef and some pansy in a white shirt to serve the food and wipe his chin for him.”
Joker chuckled.“Sounds delightful.What the hell did Jack’s sister ever see in this asshole?”
Good question.I had a feeling she saw an escape from a bad situation.Unfortunately, it’d just landed her in a worse one.
I picked a table outside the coffee shop and sat down, placing an order for an extra-large coffee from the girl waiting tables.Good location, just around the corner from the fucker’s house.From here, I’d be able to see him if he took off in this direction.Joker had picked up breakfast from a food truck and was sitting in the park at the other end of the street in case he exited that way.
A shiny black Porsche rolled up the stop sign at the corner in front of me.It looked out of place in this middle-class neighborhood.I took a sip of my coffee, watching the vehicle out of the corner of my eye.I spoke softly, just loud enough for the com unit to pick up.“Black money pit heading your way, Preacher.”
“Roger, I see it.”The radio was silent for a few minutes.“It just pulled into the driveway.Our boy is closing his laptop and getting up to meet it.”
“Can you see who’s in it?”
“Not yet.Tinted glass on the driver’s side windows.Wait.The driver just got out and is opening the back door.Looks like he’s just a driver.Suspect is getting in.”
“Anyone else in the car?”
“Not sure.They’d be on the far side if there is.”
“They on the move?”
“Not yet.”The silence stretched on, and my nerves tightened.“Okay, the car is backing out, heading your way.”
“Roger.”Just what I wanted.A chance to search the house.“Can you tell if the place is wired?”
“Negative.I can see a couple of security cameras, but the wires aren’t hooked up.Looks like they’re there to make people think the place has video surveillance without actually having any.”
Joker spoke up.“Makes sense if he’s doing something shady.You know Shadow can hack into anyone’s security system.This guy might want to make sure no one can see what he’s up to.”
Now I really wanted to see what was in that house.From Preacher’s description, he didn’t sound like the kind of guy to be cooking drugs in the basement, and I doubted he could have been involved in human trafficking with Lily living in the house with him.That still left a lot of nasty crap he could be pulling.
Just then, the Porsche pulled around the corner and sped off down the street, away from me.
I stood and gulped down the rest of my coffee.“Time to move in.Joker?Preacher?”
“Heading to the house.”
