Hide and Seek
Come out, come out…
“How do we get to him?” Theo asked, speaking Greek, his smile awash in the glow of the black van's multitude of screens. “He can't stay there forever. Where is the closest hotel?”
“Montana Street. Closest apartment is on San Vicente. Maybe he rented a room?” Theo asked.
“Maybe. He has to have transportation. Make note of all the cars that are street parked. Enter them into the system and have Jessie run the plates.” Simo looked into the monitor that showed a green-hued night-vision shot of a dim figure lying on the ground.
His head was pointing toward Joel's home on the brush-covered hillside above Joel's mansion.
“He must have blankets on him; his head shows the most heat. The rabbit close to him shows up hotter,” Theo pointed out.
Simo kept staring at the screen, watching for movement.
“There,” Simo pointed at the screen, “he moved. He is watching through a scope. See there?”
“Nea... is there a rifle with the scope?”
Simo paused and watched the image on the screen. “No. He will know if we come at him from his position. He has his spot picked out well.”
“Too good. No military records on him… let’s not underestimate him.”
“Yes, you are right, Theo... though he has a chest wound to take care of.”
“Drone will be low on battery soon.” Theo pointed at a monitor.
Simo nodded and returned to the screen, watching the man’s visage.
“If Gunnar thinks he is still undetected at the rec center, swap the batteries out and get the drone back up. I am thinking he won’t stay up there all night.
” Simo tapped at the screen with excitement.
“Call up the daytime shots of the area, compare them with Google maps right here, hurry.”
“Nea,” Theo responded and quickly called up the daytime mapping done multiple times around Joel's home. “Here. What is it?”
“Perimeneta! Wait!” Simo said. “Bring up Google maps over here on this screen.” Simo scanned both screens, which showed the rooftops of all the homes in the area, as well as the roads and topography.
“Zoom here on Rivers Road.” Simo pointed to a house.
“Look here, very little change in construction on this house. He is hiding out there, or he is using it as a staging point.”
“I see it, yes! It is still a long way… maybe a kilometer walking distance. He has a bullet hole through his chest. You think he walks there and back again?” Theo commented doubtfully.
Simo replied, “Yes. What is Gunnar's position on the drone?”
Theo checked another smaller computer screen. “Going up in ten minutes.”
“Good, tell him to hurry. I will call Ari.” Simo moved to the front passenger seat of the van, called Ari, and apprised him of the situation. After a short conversation, Simo hung up and returned to Theo, who was watching a blank screen of the drone feed.
Theo switched to English, “What do Ari…”
“Theo, it's: What does Ari want,” Simo chided him.
Theo chuckled. “Nea, what does Ari want?”
“Keep things quiet, get him, then bring him to the boss’s office tomorrow... Ronson and Ari want to take a measure of who he really is. Oh, and we are not to let on.” Simo shrugged, then grinned at Theo.
Theo arched his thick black eyebrow. “Really? Here, drone is up. I tell Gunnar same place.” Theo quickly typed instructions into his keyboard. “There it is, going close… he is gone!” Theo blurted out.
“Nea, have Gunnar fly a pattern around Tanner, Mandeville Canyon, and Rivers Road.”
“Done.”
Simo drummed his fingers on the table next to Theo's keyboard. “Quickly, get us going to Rivers Road and drop me off close to that house. Should take no more than fifteen minutes for him to walk.”
Theo left his chair in front of the monitors and jumped into the van’s driver’s seat. He started it up and headed up from Sunset Blvd, passed the recreation center, and soon was headed up Mandeville. Theo stopped at Rivers Road and looked back at Simo.
“Nothing yet, he must be keeping under the trees. Theo, I am going to go wait someplace quiet by the house I showed you. We need to be gentle, understand?”
“No want to have Halo angry at me. No shooting, nea. Simo, you don’t forget that he was shot... and he is Kostas’s son, but not ex-SAS like his father.”
Simo paused, “Yes, he’s an actor. I know.” He pointed to his earpiece. He opened the door and jumped out onto the dark street. Simo stepped back under an overgrown palm tree and watched as the van drove away.
Simo let his eyes adjust to the darkness, then glanced up the dimly lit street.
Keeping to the side of the narrow street, he passed a number of gated driveways.
All the homes here were high-value and walled off with high walls or some sort of shrubbery blocking the view inside.
He came up to the home that he had seen, that at one time, was under construction.
The area around the gate was dark; he peered over the gate and found that the driveway had construction material strewn around.
The area surrounding the house was dark, and no lights were visible inside.
Going to the stucco column that held the wood gate, he agilely and quietly went over the wall. He landed softly and squatted down, watching and listening for any sounds. He tapped his earpiece, and Theo's voice came through.
“Simo, you are clear. No heat signatures in the area.”
Simo could see well enough with the crescent moon and stars overhead. He followed the stucco wall that paralleled the road. He soon found what he was searching for: a small hidden gate with access to the street. Several garbage cans were strewn about. Simo tapped his earpiece again.
“Clear, no signatures.”
Simo found the latch and slowly lifted; it moved up silently.
Simo brought his fingers to his nose and sniffed: new lubricant.
He opened the latch, and the door opened silently on its metal hinges.
Simo stepped out into a twenty-foot-long pullout adjacent to the street, where the garbage cans would normally wait on garbage day.
He scanned the area and closed the gate behind him.
He was fairly exposed, so he moved across the street and blended in with the overgrowth; his black jacket and pants camouflaging him well.
Suddenly a voice in his ear exclaimed, “Contact! Thirty meters from your position, heading southwest from your east. Moving slowly to you. Contact visible in thirty seconds.” Simo tapped his earpiece, then reached in, unfastened the restraining strap on his big gun, and waited.
Twenty seconds later, a man wearing dark clothing and carrying a black bag came into view.
He was moving painfully and breathing heavily.
His body type and height matched Xander’s.
As the man approached the pullout, Simo moved silently up behind him.
By all rights, Simo should have seen it coming.
He cursed at himself as he suddenly found himself grappled, Judo style, and flying through the air toward the gate he had just exited.
Xander Kostinos's chest was throbbing painfully as he headed to his hideout off Rivers Road. Climbing out of the ravine the previous night, he tore two of the stitches in his chest when a boulder he had counted on for support gave way and sent him sliding face-first down the rocky slope.
Back up in his dugout overlooking Joel's house, he was making notations on Joel's movement and personnel count when he saw a small aircraft or drone circling silently in the distance.
Using his scope, he confirmed it was indeed a drone.
He was wondering if it was a new security program, then it flew off in the direction of the city.
He decided that someone was watching him or Joel, or it was Joel himself.
He rolled up his blankets and stowed them in a depression under a nearby bush and headed back.
As he got closer to the gate of his hideout, hair began standing up on the back of his neck.
He moved quickly into a tangle of bushes and tried his best to control his breathing.
He watched and waited as he scanned the road and visible sky.
After a few moments, he stepped back out and began slowly moving toward the pullout and his gate.
His breathing was coming hard; the exertion was taking a toll on him.
The pain was a constant reminder that he was not even close to being fully healed, which was made more evident by his frequent coughing up mouthfuls of phlegm with blood, waking him whenever he slept.
If someone was shadowing him, he thought using his weakness was his best offense. He stepped out further into the street and began walking slower, like he was in pain, which really wasn't difficult at all. He didn't even have to act.
He let his breathing get heavy and felt better for it.
As he approached the pullout and closed in on the gate, his hackles were in an uproar, screaming at him.
There was someone coming up very quietly behind him.
He suddenly smelled cologne and made his move: he spun toward the man and was immediately shocked at how big he was.
He instantly changed his attack and grabbed hold of the man’s jacket.
Stepping in, he threw his hip into him and, pulling the man's thick arm along with a handful of jacket, easily heaved the giant over him.
He watched the black-clad monster fly through the air and thought he caught a glimpse of a long ponytail whipping around.
What shocked him and made him reach for his gun was that the monster of a man, instead of slamming hard onto the pavement, rolled like a silk scarf in a gentle breeze.
“Oh shit,” Xander muttered as the man came right to his feet as Xander pulled his gun out.
He caught sight of the biggest handgun he had ever seen in his life being pointed at him as the man settled himself.
His father’s .45 was up and pointing at the man in time with the giant’s own gun.