When he opened the case, Caitlin could see a small plastic box with a display screen, a couple of switches, and a micro jack. John took out the box and a telescoping antenna she hadn’t noticed before. He screwed the antenna into the top of the box and drew it out to about two feet in length.
Next, he took an earbud from the case and plugged its jack into the box. He put the earbud in his right ear and flicked one of the switches. The display lit and numbers scrolled across the screen at a pace that was too fast to follow.
“You mind telling me what you’re up to?”
“Not at all. If there’s a watch on your parent’s house whoever is watching will report in regularly and definitely will call in if they receive a late night visit. This scanner will cover the standard bands up to nine gigahertz. If they transmit in the clear, I’ll be able to listen in.”
“And if they don’t?”
“If they’re using the latest digital radios, and I expect they will be, then their broadcast will be encoded.”
“Then what good will this do?”
“If anyone starts transmitting there will be a significant increase in background power levels. This will detect those changes and warn us.”
Caitlin shrugged, it made sense, and if John thought it’d work then, it probably would.
“Here, you hold it. Try to keep it upright. It’s not critical, but it’ll help reception.”
Caitlin took it and watched the numbers scroll for a moment then looked at John as he put the car in gear. “Couldn’t we just cruise past their place and see if there’s a stakeout?”
He grinned at her.
“Did I say something stupid?” she asked.
“Do you mean look for a panel van with black windows and antennas on the roof that’s parked across the road from their driveway?”
“Well, yes, sure. What else would they be in?”
“It depends on how bright they think you are. A dark van might work in the city, but how many people out here would go by one without calling the police to investigate it?”
“All right. I’ll give you that. If it stayed for long, then someone would probably check it out. But couldn’t they just show the police their credentials and maintain the stakeout?”
“Sure they could. But the purpose of a stakeout is to watch without being noticed. If the local police were going to stake out your parents’ place, they might just use a van and not worry about being spotted, but I think these guys are more devious than that.”
“Then what will they do?”
“I’m not certain. It could be set up in several ways. The simplest is to move into a neighbor’s house and watch from there, but I’d bet that wouldn’t work out here. The houses are too isolated, and people tend to know each other too well.”
“You’re right there. Mom and Dad have lived here for over twenty years. They know everyone out here.”
“Then it’s not likely that someone could be using a neighbor’s house without the neighbors learning of it. They could also have a blind set up in the woods.” He paused to gaze out the side windows at the tall pines shrouded with snow. “But I don’t think the forest is thick enough to hide them.”
“What’s that leave?”
“The simplest thing would be a remote surveillance with a radio link. If it were my case, I’d disguise a camera and transmitter in a box of some type, a telephone junction box, cable TV, or even on a power pole. The camera would only activate whenever a vehicle turned into or out of your drive and would then transmit a picture back to wherever these guys are operating.”
“How can we get past something like that?”
“It’s not impossible. We’ll cruise by their driveway and see if the receiver picks up anything. If we don’t pick up any transmissions, or spot anything suspicious, we’ll try the driveway.”
A half-mile up the road, they passed the mailbox and driveway to her parent’s house. Caitlin remembered his scolding her about facing a possible camera back in San Francisco and kept her face partially shielded with her hands as she watched the receiver. They passed the house without any indication that the receiver had registered a hidden transmitter.
“Well?” John asked.
“It all looks normal to me.”
“Yeah, that’s what it should look like if they’re doing their job properly.”
A quarter mile farther, John turned into another driveway. He backed out onto the road and accelerated back the way they’d come.
“We’ll try the driveway. If the receiver picks up something, we can leave before anything happens. They probably aren’t watching out here yet, and with any luck, Mama Squeeze will have convinced them that you’re still in the Bay Area. Keep your face down, though, there’s no sense taking unnecessary chances.”
“All right.”
“Didn’t you say that your parents didn’t have anyone watching the house?”
“Yeah, but Abe Jackson drops by if there’s an extremely heavy snowfall or anything like that. You know, in case the snow needs to be cleared from the roof.”
“There are fresh tire tracks to their house.”
He was right. “I didn’t give it any thought, maybe Abe was out here.”
“Maybe or maybe someone else.”
John shifted gears again and pulled into the driveway. The drive curved in a gentle sweep to the left around ponderosa pines whose branches drooped under a load of nearly eight inches of snow.
Caitlin stared out the windshield as the headlight illuminated the front of her parent’s home through the trees.
“God, maybe we shouldn’t have come here,” Caitlin said.
“It’s your choice. It’s not too late to turn back.”
“No, we’re here now.
