This is a longer chapter. There was really no good place to cut it off and start a new one. Thanks again so much for the continued support!
Chapter 8
The phone rang for the third time and Evans knew he was going to have to answer it.
"Hello."
"Evans, why haven't I heard from you yet? Where is that baby? Or do I need to send someone out to get you?" the caller on the other end asked.
"I am working out a plan. The baby was released from the hospital today but he was surrounded by official looking people. Agent Lisbon is still in the hospital and her husband is with her. I am making plans to get the child tonight or tomorrow once I can determine who and how many people are watching him. They took him back to Agent Lisbon's house. Sir, I know you are eager to have your hands on the kid, but I need just a little more time to make sure I can get him without getting caught and to you." Evans explained, hoping his explanation would buy him some more time.
"Fine. I am giving you some more time. But I want that child soon. If you get caught or don't bring me that kid in the next day or so, you will have nowhere to hide."
"Yes sir, I understand. I will call you as soon as I can." Evans said apprehensively.
"Make it soon, real soon. Remember, you do not want to cross me."
Jane's phone buzzed as he watched Teresa sleep.
"What do we have Cho? Anything on the fingerprints?" Patrick asked after seeing it was Cho calling.
"Well Jane, there were 11 hits on fingerprints and 4 that did not come up in the system. We knew there might be multiple hits because the accident was staged. Austin PD is running the names from the hits to see if they can determine where the individuals have been in the last 48 hours and Wylie is running the names against cases you and Teresa have worked at the FBI and the CBI. I will get back to you with that information. How's Teresa?" Cho explained.
"She is sleeping right now. If she doesn't have any problems overnight, they will move her to a regular room tomorrow and then release her a day or two after that. Thanks for the info on the fingerprints. Keep me updated." Jane answered.
"Glad to hear she is going good. I will get back with you when I get more info. Remember Jane, your place is with Teresa. You know we will do our best since this case is personal." Cho said.
"Thanks Cho. I know I am where I'm supposed to be." Jane said as he hung up.
Evans made his way up to the house. It was just turning dusk outside, so he could move around without being seen, but having enough light to see well enough to move around. There was only one car in the driveway and an Airstream RV. He carefully tried the door to the Airstream but it was locked so he assumed no one was in there and no one opened the door after he jiggled the handle. He made his way to the back of the house and looked in the side of one window. It was a bedroom, probably the master bedroom since he saw a door that led to a bathroom. No one was in the room, the lights were off and it didn't look like anyone had been in there. He moved to the next window and looked in the side. Bingo! He found what he was looking for. The window belonged to a baby's room, decorated in a blue jungle theme. There was a night light on in the room and he could see the outline of what looked like a baby laying in the baby bed. The door to the room was slightly open. He carefully tried the window to see if it was locked. It didn't budge. He knew it wasn't going to be that easy to get to that baby.
He needed to check out the entire perimeter of the house. The next window was a smaller window and he assumed it was a bathroom. The next window over was larger so he looked in the side. It was another bedroom, maybe a guest room. There was a suitcase on the bed and another travel type bag next to the suitcase. The lights were off in that room also. The person who was watching the baby was probably using this room.
He passed another set of windows and found what looked like another guest room or office. There was a desk and a couch. The couch looked very comfortable and could probably be used as another sleeping area for someone. The desk had a lap top and a stack of files on it. The light was off and the door closed.
Evans made his way around the side of the house. He would be the most exposed here in the event someone drove up the driveway. This side of the house faced the driveway area. There were several large windows on this side of the house and he would have to be careful not to be seen by whoever was in the house. He slowly made his way to the first large window and eased his way up to take a quick look inside. There was a dining room table and he could see the figure of a red headed woman at what looked like the sink in the kitchen. The woman turned around and walked towards the table in the dining room. Evans quickly crouched down so as not to be seen. The other large window was just another window looking into the dining room.
He moved around to the front of the house. He would have a little more cover here because the front of the house overlooked a large pond. He could look in one window in the front of the house by moving behind the shrubs next to an elevated front porch. From the window he could still see the woman sitting at the table. The living room, dining room and kitchen must be one large open area that all the windows in the front of the house looked into. He knew he would have to be very careful since the woman inside would have an easier view of him from all the windows.
Next, he carefully made his way up the steps of the elevated porch. His heart was pounding in his chest because he knew this is where he would have a harder time of hiding. The front porch had two rocking chairs with a table in between them. There was also a baby swing hanging from the ceiling.
"What am I doing?" Evans thought to himself. "This looks like the house of a very happy family. It would be nice sitting here in the rocking chairs with a baby swinging and overlooking the pond with the ducks swimming around. If I don't do this, I'm dead. Why, why, why did I get involved? The money is not worth it. If I ever get out of this in one piece and don't go to jail, I am going to live on the straight and narrow and do something good with my life."
Evans slowly and quietly made his way up to another window overlooking the porch. The woman was talking on her cell phone. Next, he made his way to the other side of the front door and looked into a set of large windows. This was the living room. It was nice with a fireplace on the side wall. It was a great view out to the pond if you were sitting on the couch.
The woman suddenly stood up and looked towards the window where Evans had been looking in. She quickly looked towards the back of the house and then back at the front window. He wasn't sure if she saw him. He was pretty sure she didn't. She then looked towards the back of the house again. The baby must have made a noise. He slowly and carefully looked in the window again and saw the back of the woman as she walked down the hall to where he assumed she was checking on the baby. He kept watching and a short time later he saw her return to the dining room with the baby in her arms. She placed a kiss on his forehead and appeared to be talking to him. Evans knew he needed to make his way to the other side of the house to complete his survey of the perimeter. He slowly made his way over to the steps leading down to the front yard. He quickly looked back towards the windows to see if he could still see the woman and the baby. As he turned back around, his foot slipped off the first step and hit a flower sitting on the corner of the step, knocking the pot over.
"Damn!" Evans said to himself as he jumped the rest of the way off the steps and threw himself under the shrubs on the side of the porch.
Grace was calling Cho and he picked up just as she heard a noise on the front porch.
"Cho? Hang on. I think I heard a noise on the front porch." Grace explained.
"Be careful Grace. Is the alarm set?" Cho asked.
"Yes the alarm is on. I just turned the porch light on and I don't see anything. Wait. It looks like the flowerpot that was on the front porch step is turned over." Grace relayed to Cho.
"Stay inside. It could just be a squirrel, rabbit or raccoon. I know Jane said they had a lot of little animal visitors at night on the front porch. But, I don't want you to take any chances. Rigsby and I are on our way, we should be there in about 10 minutes. There are flood lights on the corners of the house. Turn those on and they will light up most of the yard."
Grace walked over to the front door where the alarm pad and light switches were. She tried the switch next to the front porch light and suddenly the whole front of the house lite up.
"Wow. Jane and Lisbon has this house well lit. It looks like daytime again out there." Grace observed.
Cho laughed as he said, "Yeah. I teased Jane about all the outside lighting and some of the security measures. I guess with things the way they are right now he will be able to gloat. Just what I need. But, if he, Teresa and Noah are safe that is all that matters."
"Well I still don't see anything so it must have been a small animal. Noah just woke up and I am going to feed him and give him a bath. You have a key and the alarm code so just come in when you get here but shout out to let me know you are here so I don't shoot you." Grace said.
"Will do. See you in a few minutes." Cho said, disconnecting the call.
When the flood lights came on outside, Evans thought he was caught. They were very bright and covered the entire front yard of the house all the way to the pond. He should have known two FBI agents would have security lights everywhere, especially with a house that set off the road and secluded.
Evans crawled out from under the shrubbery and crawled to the side of the house. There were a few more windows on this side but he would have to be more careful now that he had possibly alerted the red headed lady that something was outside.
He slowly crept up to the first two windows and could tell they were on each side of the fireplace. As he looked in, he didn't see the red head. Hopefully she decided there was nothing outside and was taking care of the baby. He raised up to see if he could get a better look inside. Just as he thought, the house had a security system. He could see the key pad on the wall by the front door. He assumed the lady inside had the alarm set since she was here alone with the baby.
He moved down to the last window on the last side of the house and found it was another set of windows for the master bedroom. He needed to think of a plan. He thought he could take the red head if he could get in and catch her off guard. She would probably be too worried about the baby being hurt to fight back. He definitely would not hurt her, he would not hurt a woman. He just had to decide what he was going to do.
As Evans moved back around to the back of the house to sit and think about a plan, he could see a set of headlights coming down the driveway. He quickly moved back around the side of the house but stayed at the corner out of view where he still had a view where the car was parking. Two men got out of the vehicle and walked to the front of the house. He ran down the side of the house hoping to get to the corner where he could see the porch and the men going in. One man was really tall and the other was shorter but had a muscular build. Both were dressed in suits and were probably FBI agents.
"I can't take three of them. I need to wait to see if they all three stay or if the men leave later. If the men leave tonight or in the morning, I may be able to catch the red head of guard and get the baby. I am in for a long night."
Cho unlocked the door, walked in and turned off the alarm. "Grace? We're here." yelled Cho.
"Okay. I will be right out. I am getting Noah dressed."
"Hey Cho. You want a beer?" Rigsby asked.
"Yeah, but just one. I'm going to walk through the house and check the windows. Check the door in the kitchen while you are getting the beers." Cho answered.
"Ok. Grace has cooked so when you get back in here we can eat." Rigsby said happily to Cho.
"You don't need to wait on me, you never have." laughed Cho.
Grace passed Cho in the hall. Noah gave Cho a big smile when he saw him. "Has Aunt Grace been taking good care of you Noah? If not, just tell your daddy and he will take care of her." Cho asked Noah as he gave him a kiss on his forehead.
"I am taking very good care of him thank you very much." Grace replied.
"I'm going to check all the windows again just to make sure they are locked." Cho said, seeing the look on Grace's face. "I know you checked them all but it will make me feel better."
"Ah Cho. Getting soft in your old age?" Grace laughed.
"I am not getting soft or old. I just want to know Noah is safe. This kid has me wrapped around his finger!" Cho laughs as he runs his fingers through Noah's blond curls.
"Yeah. Noah is pretty special. Still can't believe Jane and the boss are married and have a baby. All those years trying not to acknowledge how they felt about each other. Glad they finally came to their senses!"
"They are very happy now and that's why we are going to catch whoever is doing this." Cho stated.
"Absolutely. Dinner is ready when you're done. Hurry up or you may not have anything left after Wayne is done."
"I know. I'll hurry." Cho said as he turned to check all the windows.
Evans had been sitting at the side of the house for over two hours when he heard the door opening. He carefully looked around the corner and saw the muscled, Asian man step out and telling the tall man and the red head good bye. He watched as the Asian man walked to the car, get in and leave. That meant the tall man would be staying in the house tonight with the baby and the red head.
Evans made his way through the woods back to his car to retrieve a few things to make it through the night waiting for the tall man to leave, thereby leave the red head alone with the baby and his best chance to overtake her.
When he arrived back at the house all the lights were off inside the house except for a light coming from the living room window. He carefully walked around the perimeter of the house carefully checking each window to see if the rooms were occupied. When he got to the baby's room, he could see the baby was once again asleep in his bed and the night light was on. The door was slightly ajar.
After making his way around the house, he made his way to one of the living room windows and carefully got into a position to look inside. The tall man was sitting close to the red head with his arm around her on the couch. They were watching something on television.
He made his way over to the shrubs next to the porch where he could settle down between them and the house and wait for morning and his chance to get to the baby. The quicker he could get the baby and deliver him to the man on the phone the quicker he could get on with attempting to live a better life, free of crime.
