* * *
Tony took the last box out of the back of our rig and stacked it on top of the other three I was holding. “Damn, man, I could get used to having a mule around to carry all my gear.” We walked across the parking lot towards the Wholesale Furniture Warehouse-advertised as the cheapest furniture in Tacoma.
“I knew I should’ve called tails on that coin flip,” I said. “But this way you have to be the big boss while I’m just a flunky. Means anything goes wrong it’s your fault.” By now we’d entered the side entrance into the office area, and a nice looking brunette was rising from behind her desk.
Tony’s eyes lighted when she stood, and his smile stretched even bigger. “Hi, we were told this is the business that is having upgraded phones installed?”
“I’m Genevieve Wilson, the receptionist. We really appreciate this,” she said, holding her hand out to Tony who immediately captured it. “Maybe now we can get our communications caught up to the twenty-first century.”
The way those two were sparking towards each other made me want to cry with envy. I walked towards the other lady, probably just out of high school from the looks of her. “Is it all right if I put your phone in first, Miss?”
She gave a tentative smile. “Sure. I’ll just get out of your way.”
Minutes later I was in the manager’s office connecting his phone to the jack in the wall. The gizmos Wilbur had attached to each phone line were hardly noticeable. Tony had taken the task of installing the receptionist’s line. Hope he got some information from her, besides bra size.
Once finished with the phones I wandered around with a meter in my hand, acting as if I was doing something important. Finally, Tony broke free from the receptionist long enough to wave me out the door. Now what? Jeez, what had come over him? Plus I couldn’t just leave him–he had the keys.
To kill some time, I strolled through the businesses next door to the furniture place. Seemed like a normal looking strip mall. There was a small fountain halfway down the line of stores, where I pivoted around and started back. Two men in dark clothes stood next to it, in quiet conversation. Something about their stance gently strummed my nerves. Without hesitation I strode up to the closest one. “Hi, I’m Francis. Have we met?”
The man turned to me, dark eyes mild and unassuming. “No, sir; don’t think so.”
“Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else.” I half-bowed and walked on. Interesting. He’d checked himself when I bowed, almost following suit. My suspicions slowly eased as I kept walking. Hm. Maybe nothing. I quickened my pace back to the parked car and clambered in after giving a scan of the warehouse front. Still no Tony.
I waited impatiently in the vehicle until he finally showed, sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the vehicle. “”What was that all about?” I asked.
“I got a date tonight,” he said with a large smile.
I felt my stomach bottom out. “You’re kidding, right? Here we are on a job, and you suddenly get urges…”
“No problem,” he said, steering towards the exit. “The clerical staff is on monthly contract from a local temp agency. Genie said the outfit saves a bundle doing it that way, rather than full-time hires.”
I shook my head, still worried. “Genie, huh? I’m still not sure it’s a good idea dating a woman from a place we just set up for surveillance.”
He drove towards the freeway entrance, five blocks away. “Good way to get additional information about the place. I didn’t get a chance to find out about their operation in the back, and this way I can pump her for more information tonight.”
“Yeah, and I trust your instincts,” I said, shrugging. “By the way, I noticed two different looking men further down the row of businesses that grabbed my attention right away. Something about the way they moved. Seemed too disciplined or something.
Tony laughed. “Man, you’re jumpy today. They were probably part of the judo school that’s in one of the buildings. I had a gander at a list of the businesses, and that one caught my eye.”
“Ah.” I relaxed into my seat while he pulled onto the freeway. “Well, I got all the phones put in. No problems.”
I sat up, a thought penetrating my usually dull brain. “You know, it suddenly dawned on me. You haven’t shown this much interest in a woman for several months.”
Tony lifted a shoulder. “What can I say? Soon as I saw her, I felt these sparks shooting out of my head. I think it was mutual, too. Which means I’d be an idiot to not follow up on my instincts.”
It also means we’d better keep our debriefing short so you can go and get all prettified for tonight, too.”
Our banter continued all the way to the office, with Tony talking more than I’d heard in a long while. Hope this woman was a nice one. He’d been stung the last couple times he got serious.
Marty leaned back in his chair, a pleased look on his face. “So that’s that. Two places bugged, and the others taken care of by the feds one way or another. Should be a piece of cake to monitor just two places.”
Alice patted his shoulder. “Thanks for volunteering to pitch in and help me with the monitoring. And you’re right, two of us should be able to handle it with no sweat.”
“So now we wait?” Wilbur asked, looking around the table.
“That’s right,” I said. “Except for the day to day work we do.”
“Which has been building back up,” Nate said with a satisfied smile. “Something about this new location seems to’ve increased the contracts. I’ve got both my repo guys working full time, and could hire a couple more
