Disclaimer: The characters are property of Janet Evanovich and I am not making any money from this story. The story line is mine.
Sequel to: Finding Yesterday
Warning: Angst and High Drama
Bed of Lies
Chapter 6
By Elissahara30
Milton, Delaware
The fall out of Eleanor's escape caused DM and I to be very wary of each other and the NSA. I had to abandon my things that were left at the motel in DC. Thankfully I'd taken to the habit of keeping my bag with my most important information with me. Always have a handy stash while in town you never know when you need to leave it abruptly.
All networks were busy on the SGO's site and my back door hack didn't work anymore. I knew if I used it the NSA would be on us faster than I could turn around. God, all this watching and waiting was making my skin itch. My information on Aaron Mantinkin wasn't helpful and if good o'le Eleanor played me to get her ticket out of jail card then I was going to kill her this time around.
I sat in my old Nissan fingering the alarm key fob in my left hand. The last known address of Aaron Mantinkin was in Delaware. The apartments were white and squashed together with a postage stamp sized lawn in front. The circle complex reminded me of a lot of neighborhoods in Trenton.
I reached down and picked up my cell phone as it buzzed loudly against the center console, "Yeah," I said.
"He's not there," said Eleanor over the line.
I sat up straight as I said, "Where are you?"
"Close enough to keep an eye on you, but far enough that I can getaway before you got me," she chuckled. "Tell me Stephanie do you always stumble through life on pure dumb luck or is that an acquired skill?"
"I should have left you at the center," I growled as my grip tightened on my phone.
"Tsk, tsk Stephie," Eleanor purred, "I keep my deals."
"You were able to decipher the flash drive then?" I asked.
"Very clever to disguise it as a barrette," She replied, "Almost something I would have done."
"Did you have something to say or did you just want to shoot the shit," I reached down and flipped open a panel on the passenger side of the car and started the GPS tracker."
"Aaron's gone to ground since The Christian was picked up. Go to Georgetown, I left you some interesting tidbits regarding where you could locate him and Stephie?" Eleanor's voice held a trace of humor.
"Hmm," I said as I typed in the GPS keypad to get a lock on the tracker.
"If you're hunting for the tracker, you're wasting your time," she laughed, "I attached it to the package back in Georgetown."
Frowning I could see the tracker beep several miles away. "Bitch," I mumbled before saying out loud, "How can I trust that the information you gave me is good."
"You don't," she said before hanging up.
I calmly snapped my phone closed and set it down on the seat beside me. I loosened my grip on my key fob ignoring the sweaty finger prints left behind. I opened the car door and got out of the car. I moved away from the Nissan and stood in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the apartment complex.
"sonofafuckingbitchwhoreslutgoddamnsna . . .," and I noticed the elderly lady carefully walking away from her trash can white trash bag still in hand. Feeling my skin grow hot I tried to smile when the lady turned around and walked as fast as she could back into her apartment.
I put my finger against my twitching eye and went back to the car. Once inside I set the GPS to give me directions to the tracker in Georgetown and I started the car and made my way to whatever it was that Eleanor left behind.
SRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSRSR
I pulled into an empty parking lot in Georgetown and turned the engine off on the old car. I reached over and opened the glove box pulling out a pair of binoculars and watched the building in front of me. It looked like an old 2 story office building that had seen better days, and from the outside it looked completely abandoned.
Underneath the passenger seat I pulled out the hidden drawer and picked up my P220, I checked the magazine before tucking the gun into the back of my jeans. I snagged my lock pick set, my mini mag light and stuffed those into my pocket of my hoodie. Reaching back into the drawer again I pulled out my soft black leather gloves. Once I felt ready I opened the door and got out of the car. I keyed the fob to set the alarm and slipped into my pocket before I slowly made my way to the alley way on the side of the building.
I panned my mini-mag light along the side of the building to see it there were any security cams in the alley way. Not seeing any I kept going until I came to the side of an emergency exit door.
There wasn't an outside lock on the door and but there was a metal plate along the door jam and side to the door. Putting the end of my flashlight in my mouth I reached into my pocket and pulled out my lock pick kit.
I eyed the brackets on the door critically before removing my miniature drill. I put in the three slotted bit and started the drill and begin to systematically remove reach of the screws. As each screw fell away I grabbed the metal plate and carefully set it on the ground.
I replaced the drill into the kit and pulled out the flat jam. I concentrated on wiggling the flat jam between the door and the door frame, I smiled around the flash light when the door popped open.
I put my tools back in the kit and slipped them back into my pocket, I eased the door open and quietly entered the building. Using my flash light I scanned the empty room. The whole bottom interior was empty and my footfalls echoed in the room. I checked each of the doors and finding nothing I went up the stairs toward the second floor.
I walked up the stairs slowly and with each step took me further up the atmosphere around me grew heavier. When I reached the second floor landing I removed my Sig Sauer from my jeans. The first room I checked was empty and I slowly made my way further down the hall, the second door opened onto to what looked like the break room with a small refrigerator and microwave. I carefully opened the refrigerator door and noticed that it was stocked with a pretty good assortment of food.
Shutting the door I exited the room and a certain sense of wrongness skittered over me. The building felt still and the air stale, like it was holding its breath. I looked at the room behind me, why stock a fridge full of food if you weren't going to hang around and eat any of it? Looking at the end of the hall was the last door and judging from its size one could easily assume that used to be the executive office, the biggest single office room in the building.
I checked the door and it swung inwardly . I panned the room with my flash light and froze. Off to the right swinging back and forth along the end of a rope was a man.
"Left me some interesting tidbits my ass," I growled. I tucked my gun back into my jeans then reaching into my pocket I grabbed my phone and flipped it open. Hitting the speed dial I waited for DM to pick up, "Where in the hell are you Jersey," he barked.
"Your wife is really fucked in the head," I said as I walked closer to the dead man. I reached up and tried not to gag as I started frisking him. I pulled out his wallet and I noticed something strapped to his it chest. It was a black satchel.
"This is a fact we established a long time ago, now where are you?" DM demanded.
"Eleanor sent me to Georgetown, in order to get information on where to find the elusive Mr. Mantinkin," I said as I flipped open the walled and swore under my breath, "She left me a dead Secret Agent by the name of Declan Gamble."
I heard what sounded like an echo from down bellow through the heating vents. I shoved the guys walled in my pocket and I put the flash light back into my mouth. I reached up and removed the black satchel from Agent Gambles body and tucked it under my arm. I took up the flash light and swept it around the room again. I noticed another door and I quickly checked it out. It was connected to another stairwell. I went out the door and prayed that whoever else was in the building didn't come up the back stairs too.
I kept going down until I felt I was below the first level and I came out into a private underground parking garage. I flattened myself against the wall as I heard another set of foot falls going slowly through the garage. I switched off the light as I kept myself against the wall and slowly felt along the cold concrete trying to keep myself as hidden as much as possible.
I shoved the flash light into my pocket as I worked on strapping the satchel to my body so I could have both hands free. Once I had the bag secured I reached back and got my gun. The foot steps stopped and I sucked in a quiet breath, my heart pounded hard against my rib cage. I felt like I waited hours in a space of minutes when the foot falls headed away from me. Damn I was lucky the guy wasn't using a flash light.
I strained my hearing as I listened to a door opening and I could see a glimpse of light. I carefully pulled out the mag light again and using it to guide my way to different pillars in the area. When no one came back I made a mad dash to the door. I waited again not wanting to bungle into whoever was here, but I knew the longer I waited the greater chance of getting caught.
Squaring my shoulders I put the flash light away and with my left hand I started to open the door. The door swung open abruptly and someone reached out and grabbed me. A gun was pressed to my head and a hand pressed over my mouth. "You're lucky I was the one to find you Jersey," DM whispered in my ear.
I licked his palm and he removed it in disgust, "You could have just let me through the door without scaring me half to death." I hissed between clenched teeth.
DM removed his gun from my head and stepped away, "Just to prove a point, don't go anywhere without back up." He turned and walked away.
"How'd you find me so quickly," I asked as we made your way toward the front of the building. Then I should have known better of course DM would find me. He always seemed to know where I was no matter how far away I tried to distance ourselves from each other.
"I'll see you in ten," was all he said as he got into a gray sedan and drove away.
I looked back at the building behind me and up the second story windows and knew someone was looking at me. Whoever it was didn't want the authorities here yet or me for that matter. I pulled out the key fob and deactivated the alarm before getting in the car. I carefully removed the black satchel and tried really hard not to think of death cooties.
I turned the key in the ignition and put the car in drive. I headed toward my next destination swallowing my guilt at leaving Agent Gamble behind.
