“That’s a girl,” Zane said in a hushed tone. After peeking inside, he pulled back out and asked, “Are we all set?”
Carmen patted her coat pocket and nodded.
“I’m going straight up to enter the apartment. I’m not going to message you unless I run into a problem.” He then looked beyond Carmen and toward the courtyard. “And of course, let me know if we have any unexpected visitors.”
“Copy that.” Carmen gestured with her head toward a stand of trees that would offer a view of both the back door and the main path that led back to the fountain.
Zane nodded and entered the building, knowing that Carmen would walk back down the path to her observation post. She was experienced enough not to let someone walk out and find her standing there.
Preferring not to be seen through the glass in the front foyer, Zane decided to take the stairs at the rear. When he reached the third floor landing, he slowly opened the door. Despite the care he took, the hinge groaned loudly, making him pause. Hearing nothing more, he stepped out into the hall. He had determined that there were only two apartments per floor, one at the front and one at the back. The door immediately on his right read “300,” so Higgs’s apartment was exactly where he thought it would be.
At the door of the front apartment, he inserted the key and turned it. To his relief, it clicked open. Apparently, the owner didn’t know Higgs was gone, or if he did, he hadn’t gone to the trouble of replacing the locks.
Once inside, the operative waited a moment to give his eyes time to adjust. He was standing in an entryway, with a coat closet to his immediate right and a larger room directly ahead. On the other side of the room was a curtained window outlined with light coming in from the street.
Zane felt around until he found the wall switch and turned on the lights. Immediately, everything was thrown into view. He stepped forward into the larger room and noted that it was furnished with a large writing desk, several chairs, and a flat-screen TV.
There were several decorative pieces and two framed photographs on top of the desk. Zane recognized one of the people in the photographs as Amanda Higgs. The other was a woman in her late thirties or forties, who he guessed was her deceased mother.
Why would a man on the run take the time to set framed photos on a desk? And why would that same man leave and not take the photos with him? The whole thing was bizarre. After pondering it for a couple of minutes, Zane came up with two possible explanations. One was that Higgs had placed something in the frames themselves. That seemed too easy. What was more likely was that the engineer had left a number of things around in order to provide a distraction from the true location of the clue. But regardless, the operative made a mental note to check inside the frames before he left. The man was an engineer after all, and it was doubtful he had a feel for the world of secrets.
Zane paused for a moment, trying to figure out where he should begin his search. At that point he didn’t even know exactly what he was looking for or how Higgs had chosen to communicate with his daughter. He could only assume the message would be written on paper or stored electronically.
But where should he start looking? There were likely four or five rooms at most. To his right was an open kitchen and to the left a hallway, which he figured must lead to a bedroom and bath. The operative doubted that the man would have left the message in the room he was standing in, which was also the first room that one would find upon entry. That would be too easy. The kitchen might be the very place Zane would leave something hidden, as it was the last place someone would look. But Zane doubted an engineer like Higgs would think that way.
Which left the bedroom and the bath. With the clock ticking, Zane decided that’s where he’d begin his search.
A cold wind whipped through the grove of trees where Carmen was hidden. She pulled her coat more closely around her and wondered if Zane was having any success. She wished they had gone up to search the apartment together, but she understood why he wanted her to stay outside and keep watch. They still couldn’t be sure who did or didn’t know that Ian Higgs had been living there, and it was certainly prudent to expect the worst. After all, if they were there looking for clues, then it stood to reason that others might be on their way as well.
Carmen’s instincts told her that it might not be that easy to find whatever Higgs had left behind. He was a smart man and had to have known that the apartment could be cleaned out if something happened to him. He also had to know that Renaissance might find him there, regardless of how careful he had been. That said, a smart man such as Higgs would likely make sure any messages were well hidden.
Just as the wind began to die down, Carmen thought she heard something in the distance, roughly in the direction of the fountain in the center of the courtyard. She pulled her scarf away from her ears and soon realized that it wasn’t her imagination. Someone was walking down the sidewalk, and it seemed as though they were walking in her direction.
Just to be safe, the Italian removed the Beretta from her coat pocket, crab-walked over to the closest tree, and then got down on one knee. As she looked back toward the main path, she was finally able to make out a dark silhouette coming her way. She doubted she could be seen in the dark grove of trees, but just to be safe, she pressed up against the trunk.
As soon as she did the footsteps stopped.
Why weren’t they still moving? Had she been heard? She doubted it, but nonetheless disengaged the safety of her Beretta and moved her finger into place on the trigger. Years of experience often dictated her physical movements before her thoughts caught up.
Almost immediately, the footsteps began again. The person had turned off of the main path and was traveling down the path that led toward Higgs’s apartment building. Carmen’s heart beat a bit faster as she realized the person would pass directly in front of her.
Squinting in the darkness, she kept her eyes focused on a gap in the bushes next to the path. A few seconds later, a dark figure passed by. There was something about the way the figure moved that set off all sorts of alarms. The walk had a stealthy quality, not at all like that of a resident returning home.
As the person continued to walk toward the building, Carmen realized she hadn’t been able to make out many details. The only thing she noted was that the person was wearing a dark coat with a hood.
Needing a better look, she rose carefully to her feet. The person was standing near the rear door of the building and looking right, left, and then up. The hairs on Carmen’s neck stood on end as she realized she’d been right. That was not a resident, nor did it seem like someone out for a midnight walk.
Her senses on full alert, she pulled out her phone to text Zane a warning that they had company. Just as she was about to tap on his number, she heard a snap, much like someone stepping on a branch. It came from the trees on the other side of the path.
What the…?
Putting the phone back in her pocket, Carmen crouched down again and continued to listen. Was it an animal or was someone following the person at the door? She had to determine what she was dealing with before contacting Zane. But after listening for another minute or so she decided it must have been a squirrel or one of Vienna’s resident rats.
Just as she came to that conclusion, she heard another sound, a loud click, followed by a flash of light. Remembering the person at the door, she swiveled around just in time to see a hooded figure enter the building.
The person was inside, and Carmen had a feeling he or she was headed to the third floor.