his fist. After he opened the door and took a step inside, he pointed the key fob over his shoulder and locked the car.
“Rats,” he breathed. It would have been better if Remington had left the car unlocked, but at least they were prepared if he hadn’t. “I hope the relay box worked.”
“Mike has it covered,” Hala said with confidence.
Remington disappeared inside, closing the door behind him. Through the front window, Wally saw Remington toss something on a small table near the door.
“Bingo. I bet those were his keys.” Wally grinned.
Hala twisted around in the front seat. “What were his keys?”
“He just tossed something on a table near the door. That’s a break for us, because there won’t be any problem with the key fob relay signal since it only has to go from the car to the front door.”
“Wally, I have no clue what you’re talking about,” she said.
“It’s okay,” he said, his grin widening. “I’ll explain it to you later.” He double-checked to make sure the front camera motion detector was disabled and the continuous loop of nothingness of the front driveway was playing in the unlikely chance Remington checked the feed on his app. Still, a good agent covered all variables.
He held his breath as Mike darted out of the bushes and approached Remington’s car from the passenger side. It was smart, because if Remington happened to glance out the window he wouldn’t be spotted. Mike slipped the tracker beneath the back wheel of the car and then crouched down by the passenger-side door, adjusting something on the relay box before sliding it up by the door handle.
“Come on, come on, Mike,” he whispered to his screen. “Get inside that car.”
“Wally, we’ve got a problem,” Hala spoke from the front seat. “There’s a neighbor walking a dog, headed straight for Remington’s house.”
“Get Frankie on it. We have a problem on Mike’s end, too. Something’s wrong. He’s taking way too long to get into the car.”
Hala picked up her phone and punched in a number. “Frankie? We’ve got uninvited company to the north. Intercept and keep them there for as long as you can.” She shifted in her seat to look in the back seat. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. He’s still not in the car yet. Crap, crap, crap.”
“Well, he’d better hurry. There’s another neighbor taking a walk from the south. I’ve got that one. But it’s after work and people are starting to coming outside in droves. We can’t keep everyone occupied.”
“I know.” He glanced out the window as Hala slipped out of the car and began strolling down the street. She was right. More people were emerging from their houses to enjoy the nice evening.
He returned his gaze to the monitor where Mike was making zero headway getting the fob relay to work. If he didn’t get in the car soon, it would be too late. The entire plan was falling apart.
Suddenly, Mike reached up and opened the car door. He slipped inside, closing the door partially behind him.
“Finally,” he murmured, breathing a bit easier. “That took way too long, dude.”
They still weren’t out of the woods, however. Remington could return to the car any minute, or a sharp-eyed neighbor could have spotted Mike getting into the car and called the police. There were tons of variables, especially given the fact that more neighbors were walking around. Frankie still chatted up one neighbor while Hala was talking to another. They couldn’t keep everyone occupied, which meant there were dozens more chances for something to go wrong.
He mentally urged Mike to go faster, when the front door abruptly opened and Remington stepped onto the porch.
“What?” Wally screeched, pressing his hands on his cheeks in horror. Mike was still inside Remington’s car, crouched on the floor, presumably adhering the listening device beneath the dashboard. “Oh no. No, no, no. Go back in the house.”
He had no way to alert Mike and no way to stop Remington. It was a train wreck in slow motion.
Remington walked toward the car. Just as his hand was on the door handle of the driver’s side, Wally spotted motion from the side of the camera. It was Hala waving and calling out to Remington. Remington paused and turned to face her.
Wally held his breath. What in the heck was she doing?
Hala approached Remington and started to talk to him. Remington appeared agitated by their discussion. While they were talking, Mike quietly slipped out of the car, leaving the passenger door slightly ajar, clearly