Tuesday, 10:16 a.m.
JAKE AND ANNIE sat in the Firebird taking turns watching the merchandise through the binoculars. Several people had shown interest in the televisions. One was sold, and the clerk was careful to select the second carton in the stack.
Jake sat with the seat pushed back, his hands behind his head, his eyes closed, while Annie took her stint at surveillance.
“We might have a live one,” she said at last.
Jake sat up and opened his eyes.
Annie dropped her glasses in her lap, leaned forward in the seat, and pointed to a red Hyundai hatchback sitting outside the front door of the store. “A guy in a hoody got out of that vehicle a second ago. He left the car door open, opened the trunk, and went into the store. The driver’s waiting.”
Jake grabbed his binoculars and trained them on the store. A hoody covered most of the man’s face as he stood in front of the stack of TVs. Jake glanced toward the checkouts. The clerks were busy with customers. They watched the man spin around casually, then he picked up the top two cartons, hoisted one onto each shoulder, and strode from the store without a look back.
The man slid the cartons into the trunk, slammed the lid, jumped into the front seat, and the car sped away as the front door closed.
Jake looked at Annie and grinned. “It’s definitely a live one.” He grabbed his iPhone and booted up the web-based map. A small red dot moved away from their current position. He handed the phone to Annie. “Let’s see where he goes. You can navigate.”
“Keep well back,” Annie said. “We don’t want to be seen. All that matters is where he ends up.”
Jake started the Firebird, backed from the slot, and zipped across the parking lot. As they approached the street, Annie kept her eyes on the map and pointed to the right. “He’s that way about two blocks.”
Jake turned and followed, making sure to keep a safe distance between him and the fleeing boosters. Jake lost track of him before long, but Annie guided him back on the right route. Five minutes later, after several turns, Annie held up the phone. The small red dot was at a standstill.
“It stopped,” she said, and pointed. “Turn there.”
Jake slowed and turned the wheel. “If we knew we were going to be following someone we could’ve brought your car. It would be invisible anywhere. This thing is as obvious as a pimple on the tip of your nose.”
“You’re comparing your car to a zit?”
“Okay, bad analogy.”
“You’d better pull over here,” Annie said. “He stopped right up there.”
Jake pulled to the curb and stopped, picked up the binoculars, and trained them down the street. The Hyundai was pulled into the driveway of a house half a block away.
A few minutes later, a white van backed in behind the Hyundai.
“They must’ve called their connection on the way,” Jake said. “It looks like they’re about to make an exchange.”
Jake and Annie watched through the binoculars as a man jumped from the van and opened the side door. The guys from the car stepped out, opened the trunk, and a booster began to transfer the stolen televisions to the van.
The other booster opened the garage door and spent the next few minutes carrying cartons and bags to the van.
“There’s a whole treasure trove of stuff in there,” Annie said.
“These guys are professionals. Those boxes probably hold anything from detergent, to cologne, to high-end electronics. And at ten cents on the dollar, a van full of stuff can add up pretty quickly.”
The driver of the van inspected the contents of each container as it was loaded, jotting something in a notepad.
“We should’ve brought the camera,” Jake said.
“I didn’t know we’d get into this so soon or I would’ve.”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as the tracker’s in there, we’ll get them.”
“He’s counting out some bills,” Annie said. “That guy must know his prices pretty well.”
“This is likely all he does. It’s his job to know prices.”
The money was handed to one of the boosters. There was a lively discussion and the van driver peeled off a couple more bills and handed them over. He slammed the side door of the van, climbed in behind the steering wheel, and drove away.
The red dot on the cell phone began to move.
Jake sat the binoculars down and turned to Annie. “Phase three coming up.” He waited until the van was out of sight and then started the car and eased from the curb, careful to keep well back.
“I got the address of the house,” Annie said, as they drove slowly past. She dug in her handbag for a notepad and jotted it down. “I’ll bet that house is fully furnished with boosted goods.”
“Call Chris,” Jake said.
“Good idea.” Annie got out her cell, called Cranston’s, and was put through to Chris immediately. She filled him in on their progress. “You can probably move those TVs away from the front of the store now. No use attracting any more flies.”
Chris laughed and Annie promised to keep him informed.
Annie had propped Jake’s cell phone on the dash and Jake kept his eye on the red dot. “It’s moving fast now,” he said.
“He’s on the freeway. I hope he’s not leaving town.”
“Doesn’t matter. The tracker uses cell towers. We can find him anywhere.”
“He’s pulling off again,” Annie said. “Step it up a bit.”
Jake followed the route the van took, and in five minutes, pulled off the freeway into an industrial area. The red dot indicated the van stopped two blocks away.
“Should we drive by?” Jake asked.
“Better idea. Stop back half a block and we’ll walk up and see what’s going on.”
Jake pulled the Firebird over a hundred feet short of the suspected industrial unit and they got out, walked up the sidewalk, and approached the building.
“He’s likely behind the unit,” Jake said. “They’ll be unloading through a back door.”
Annie started ahead, moving toward the side of the building. “I want to make sure this is the right place before we call the police.”
Jake followed her along the side of the unit to the back of the building. “This is it,” he whispered, glancing around the corner. The van was backed up to an overhead door and men unloaded the goods, carrying everything inside.
“We got them,” Annie said, dialing Hank’s number. When the cop answered, she gave him a quick version of the story along with the address of the building as they hustled back toward the street.
“Wow. Good job, guys, but I can’t come now. King and I are about to execute a search warrant. I’ll talk to dispatch and we’ll get some cars there immediately.”
Annie hung up. “We’ve done our part. We might as well wait.” They crossed the street and sat under a tree. In a few minutes, a black van pulled up silently, spun into the lot, and an elite team dressed in full SWAT gear poured out and surrounded the building.
The Lincolns crossed the street, keeping well back as they moved to the rear of the unit. Through the large overhead door they saw row after row of items, sorted and stacked on shelves.
Half a dozen men were cuffed and loaded into a paddy wagon that had followed the team in.
Jake put his arm around Annie as they watched the arrests. “Those guys will be going away for a while. Congratulations, my dear.”
Annie smiled up at Jake. “Thanks, but you helped a little bit.”
Chapter 10
Tuesday, 10:49 a.m.
HANK WAS ABLE TO obtain a warrant for the search of Michael Norton’s residence, and after contacting Sterling Auto Parts where Norton worked as a production line operator, Hank was informed he hadn’t clocked in to work that day. According to Sterling’s records, Norton had left the day before at 5:00 pm. That’s all they could tell him of the whereabouts of Michael Norton.