Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jaxon steered into Mickelson’s driveway and parked in front of the mammoth white mansion.
“Man,” Miles muttered from the back seat. “I picked the wrong profession.”
Jaxon’s thoughts mirrored Miles’s words.
Who needed a house like this? Three stories high, the house had to be at least six thousand square feet, and he hadn’t even seen the rest of it.
They climbed out of the standard-issue white van, which that very morning had been decaled with the cable company’s logo.
They needed to get cameras inside the house and around the property before this week’s auction.
Mickelson had managed to secure an invite, and the plan was for him to bid up an item until he won, then secure delivery.
Hopefully, if it went anything like the last time he made a purchase, they would deliver the item right to his door.
Getting the license plates on video was mandatory, but it would be an added bonus to get glimpses of the men’s faces.
If they could identify one or more of them and get them out to the public, the house of cards would hopefully start to fall.
Once one of them started talking, they were bound to roll on the person in charge.
They still hadn’t seen anything suspicious over at Oliver’s shop, and he hadn’t contacted Davenport.
Richter had been calling Knox on a daily basis checking in and generally giving him crap, and everyone was getting antsy.
The police would handle the sting, but they had been commissioned to at least install the cameras.
They could do whatever they wanted with the information they obtained.
Aiden was still ass-deep in trying to trace the source of the auctions but wasn’t having any success.
Dressed in navy blue jumpsuits similar to what the cable company employees wore, they made their way toward the house, and Jaxon knocked on the giant oak door.
Mickelson opened it seconds later, his shifty eyes surveying the area before opening the door the whole way.
Jaxon didn’t trust the man as far as he could throw him, but he was their only source right now.
If this fell through, Jaxon wasn’t sure what their next move would be.
He was leaving that up to the local officers, though.
They got to work under the guise of setting up new cable and internet service for Mickelson.
After unhooking the ladder from the carrying rack on top of the van, Miles headed off, scouting the best place to hook up the cameras.
Once they had their placements marked, it took less than an hour to attach the cameras and run the wiring to the feed.
Next, Jaxon located the computer in Mickelson’s office and used the landline to call Aiden.
“Ready for that IP address?”
“Go.”
Jaxon rattled it off while Aiden worked his magic in the background. This would allow him to access Mickelson’s computer remotely during the auction so they could try to track down the source.
“All good.”
Jaxon moved away from the desk. “How does the feed look?”
He paused for a moment. “Camera two needs to move left ten degrees.”
Jaxon relayed the info to Miles, who made the adjustment, then spoke to Aiden again. “Better?”
“All good on my side.”
Jaxon hung up and gathered his things to go.
All they needed was one good lead to work with, and they’d follow it until they found the origin point.
The police were determined to nail the perps responsible, and Jaxon couldn’t blame them.
A lot of the wealthy members of the community who’d suffered from the recent burglaries were out for blood, screaming for justice.
The locals were doing everything they could, but they didn’t have the manpower or resources.
But they did. Knox had somehow worked out a deal with them—they’d pick up the slack in exchange for some leniency.
After the incident with Luke’s girlfriend last week, they seemed to hop on board pretty quick, knowing that Vantage would uphold their end of the bargain and help in any way they could.
They secured the ladder to the rails on top of the van and loaded all of the extra wiring and accessories in the back, taking one last covert look around to make sure nothing—and no one—was out of place.
They now had several high-powered cameras covering the exterior of the house, from the main point of entry, vantage points from both ends of the property, as well as another angled toward the side of the lot.
The vantage points all crossed paths at some point, so there was no space left unseen. If someone showed up, they’d see him.
They drove the van back to the body shop and dropped it off, leaving the keys on the back tire.
The next morning, the owner would strip all the lettering off, and no one would be the wiser.
Grabbing the stuff from the back, Jaxon shoved it in the back of Miles’s truck, and they headed back to Vantage.
It had been a long week with not a whole lot of answers, but Jaxon was hopeful—in more ways than one. It might take a bit of doing to trace the person—either his face or license plate—but it was a start.
That wasn’t the only thing he looked forward to.
He’d been spending as much time as possible with Adalyn and Jaclyn—and loving every minute of it.
Each touch, each kiss they’d shared seemed to lower her defenses and lift her self-confidence.
Jaxon would well show her how much he appreciated her and how perfect she was for him.