phone buzzed. He answered. Gif said, “The five nineteen flight?”
“Looks like. Stand by.”
Three o’clock rolled around. Three fifteen arrived, and still there was no sign of them. By 3:22, with Drex on the verge of imploding, Jasper’s car backed out of the garage.
Drex called Gif. “They’re rolling.”
“Car service?”
“He’s driving.”
“On it.”
They clicked off. Drex watched to see which way the car turned out of the driveway, then waited at the door and counted slowly to fifty before bounding down the stairs.
He didn’t pick up their tail until he reached a major thoroughfare and saw their car stopped at a traffic light. Several cars were between them. He slowed down to let more pass him to create a safer barrier without blocking them from sight. He followed them across the bridge into Charleston, then north on the freeway toward the airport.
Jasper stayed within the speed limit and stuck to the outside lane, making him easy to follow. When Jasper signaled to take the airport exit off the freeway, Drex called Gif. “Looks like it’s a go. You in place?”
“Trying not to make myself conspicuous to ATF.”
“We’re here. Hang on.” Staying a discreet distance behind Jasper, Drex followed him toward the parking garages and reported to Gif when Jasper entered the short-term one directly across the street from the terminal. “They should be coming your way in a matter of minutes.”
“Roger that. Eyes peeled.”
“I’m on my way back to the house.”
He decided to go in through the screened porch, the obvious reason being that it couldn’t be seen from the street. But, also, that was the area of the house with which he was most familiar.
The latch on the screen door didn’t present a challenge. He pulled on a pair of latex gloves and had the flimsy lock busted within seconds. The lock on the solid back door took longer to pick, but he managed it easily enough. Then, with Mike’s foreboding about booby traps in mind, he held his breath and pushed open the door. The alarm began to beep. He punched in the new code as he’d heard Talia recite it the night before.
The beeping ceased.
He closed the door. Moving from window to window in the kitchen, he scanned various sections of the property, looking for a sign that he’d been spotted. But there was no movement except for rainwater dripping from the eaves and causing ripples in the puddles beneath.
Satisfied that he’d gotten inside without detection, he let out his breath, and that exhalation was the only sound in the house. The silence was absolute. No ticking clock or hum of an electrical appliance, no gentle whirring of air passing through a vent. Nothing.
Adding to the eeriness of the silence was the gloom. Blinds and shutters had been left open, but the dreary day had created a premature dusk. The light that did leak into the house was so feeble, Drex had to give his eyes time to adjust to the dimness.
When Mike had recovered the real estate listing for the house, he’d printed out the included floor plan. Drex had familiarized himself with it so, even though he’d only been in a few of the downstair rooms, he knew the layout of the house. He made his way from the kitchen, through the formal dining room, and into the two-story foyer where the main staircase curved gracefully upward to the second floor.
He had decided to begin upstairs, do a general walk-through to see what each room consisted of and determine what it might yield, then search the spaces one by one in order of priority.
He climbed the stairs to the landing. Extending from it was a wide hallway, and midway down it, a set of double doors. He pushed them open and stepped into the master suite. Moving his gaze from left to right, he took in the entire room, mentally cataloguing the furnishings. The bed was positioned even with the double doorway and directly in front of him. He walked over and stood at the foot of it.
They’d left it made, decorative throw pillows attractively placed. Identical night tables bracketed the upholstered headboard. The items on them indicated who slept on which side of the bed. On Jasper’s were a lamp and alarm clock only. On Talia’s were a matching lamp and alarm clock, but also a crystal tray holding several pieces of jewelry, which she must have removed just before climbing into bed. Drex recognized the bracelet and a pair of gold hoop earrings that she’d worn