Chapter 22

Davis and Jason were on the dayshift today. They'd worked last night then come back early morning and got some sleep early in the day before relieving Ray and Brock at lunchtime. Ray had discretely passed a couple of sandwiches through the passenger window to them as he walked back to his car and set off back to their base.

Lisa inspected the contents of the bag and looked happy with Rays choices, she passed Jason one as she took a bite of her own. She was already setting up her phone, taking-in todays view one handed while she ate. Some people already looked familiar, day after day they started getting used to the same faces, some of interest to them, some just locals going about their daily routine.

This spot was an ideal place, busy, lots of parked cars and near to where the two of the main roads intersected. It hosted a few of the places their HVT and contacts frequent. Today didn't seem too different to many of the days before and Jason prepared himself for another day in a hot car waiting for something interesting to happen.

Jason was joking about Davis getting sauce down her clothes due to trying to hold and watch the phone while eating, when suddenly Davis put down the phone and looked worried. She glanced at Jason

"Davis what is it?" Jason said suddenly concerned

"Just… give me a minute I might be wrong…"

She picked up her phone again zooming in on the camera, Jason watched as she seemed to be pointing it at the cafe on the corner of the street opposite them.

After zooming in and letting the video roll she then took a number of still shots before bringing her phone back down to examine them. The worried look she had before turned even more serious.

"Jason…." She turned the phone towards him to look "I'm not going crazy right, that is who I think it is?"

Jason raised his sunglasses to the top of his head as he took her phone and studied the photos one by one. At first he didn't get it, a woman in a sleek fitted black dress and wedge sandals, oversized sunglasses and what was probably an overly expensive designer handbag. Jet black hair poker straight in a sleek sharp bob that hung longer at the front than the back. Just the usual rich wife type of someone important. In the first picture her eyes and part of her face were obscured with the large sunglasses looking down at the table, but there was something familiar in the mannerisms that was making his skin prickle.

Her face was tilted down reading the menu but in the third photo she lifted her face to the waiter and smiled and Jason's heart stopped.

"Mandy?"

Davis looked across at him… "It is her, right? She doesn't take off the sunglasses but that is her. What the hell Jason?"

"Fuck" That was all he could bring himself to say. He passed the phone back to Davis watching the cafe, now torn what he should do. Before Davis could do anything he was out the car. But he had the sense to stay beside it he rested his hands on the roof, he'd placed his sunglasses back over his eyes looking towards the cafe. He leaned back in to the car to reassure Davis. "I'm not gonna do anything stupid, just a walk past, on the other side of the street. Pick up some coffees and walk back. You want one?"

Davis just gave him a look that said she wanted to kill him. "What if she doesn't know we are here? What if you're blowing her own cover?"

"Then this is our discreet way of letting her know we're here, I'll stay back"

Davis couldn't argue with the logic, as risky as it was it was more risky that they bumped into Mandy accidentally later on and could blow up what all of them were working on.

Davis nodded "coffee please"

Jason shut the car door and walked to the cross-roads. The cafe was on the diagonal corner, he glanced across as he waited to cross the road to the corner across where Mandy was sat, where there was a vendor selling newspapers and drinks.

He felt it the minute Mandy sensed him. The hairs stood on edge at the back of his neck as she turned her head ever so slightly. Raising her sunglasses she smiled discretely, before giving him a small shake of her head as if to say "not now" before placing her glasses back over her eyes and turning again to look straight ahead of her.

He continued to the vendor, ordering two coffees and picking up a paper. As he waited he watched as Mandy left her payment on the cafe table, stood and turned to walk down the street. He watched her, with her back to him as she walked. If he wasn't so stunned to see her he might have taken more time to appreciate how damn fine she looked in that dress or with that haircut, but as it was, he was distracted by the fact that the two suited men who had been sat two tables behind her now followed her at a safe distance. As she went to cross the road and looked behind her to where the men were following, she gave the men a nod and they politely nodded in return.

So she knows she's being followed thought Jason. They're not trying to hide their presence from her, or others, so not operators or agents. And she seems at ease with them…Bodyguards? Private security?

Before she was out of sight he walked quickly back to the car with the coffees "You catch all that?" He asked Davis as she put down her phone and reached for the coffee he was handing her

"She didn't look surprised to see you" Davis said matter-of-factly "so she's aware that we are here"

"What did you make of the two goons?" Jason asked as he reached for the phone and looked through the photos.

"Bodyguards of some kind?" Davis thinks out loud

Jason nods "that's what I'm thinking"

"Gonna be hard to make contact with those guys following her around" Davis commented and she was right.

"Mandy's pretty savvy, now we know she's here she'll find a way to make contact" Jason said confidently, at least he hoped it sounded that way because inside he wasn't sure how he felt.

"Follow them at a distance see if we can work out roughly where Mandy's basing herself"

"Yes boss." Davis started the car and followed the bodyguards