Woke Up One Morning... Part 21
As soon as I begin to wake, my hands instantly reach for the side of the bed beside me to grasp at the empty sheets there. Eyes blinking open, I sigh and roll onto my back to take in the hotel room that I've become familiar with for the last week.
Every morning, it's been the same since Heero and I arrived here with our team. I reach out for him when the first conscious thoughts come. Unfortunately, we can't share the same bed in case we should get a rude awakening in the middle of the night from the others.
Seated at the bedroom window, hiding behind the open curtain as to not be caught watching Krutza's house with the binoculars in his lap, my partner looks back and gives a small smile while greeting, "Good morning."
"'Mornin'," I slur as I rub my tired eyes.
To my pleasant surprise, I feel a gentle kiss pressed against my forehead before I lower my hand and look over to watch while 'Ro returns to his seat. Smiling to myself, I keep my gaze on him as he pretends nothing happened, raising the binoculars back to his eyes to continue his lookout shift.
We really have to hand it to Penelope for getting us booked at this place. From our windows, it's easy to see everything that is going on inside Krutza's house on a little hill about a mile away from our hotel.
Still smiling from that little kiss, I push myself out of bed to change. And I'm fully clothed again just in time for a quiet knock on the main door.
Quickly moving into the main room with 'Ro closely behind, I open the door to find Trowa, Wufei, Tyce and Bryant. Stepping aside so they can enter, I close the door behind them and move for the table in the center of the room and have a seat. Moving for the window, my partner opens the curtains and moves a chair close by to resume his watch.
"Top of the morning, guys," I smirk as the others all file around. "I take it we can start discussing a game plan now?"
Nodding firmly as he leans against the wall with his arms folded , Tyce replies, "Actually, that was the reason for our coming here. Now that we have had a week to observe Krutza, we know enough about him for us to move in and set the recording devices."
At that, Wufei sits at the table along with me and comments, "It's Saturday, so his cleaning and serving staff will be away. No one else lives with him, no children or a wife, so we would only need to wait for him to leave tonight for another one of his outings."
Since coming here, we have come to learn that Krutza loves hitting the town at night. Whether it is going to the bars or the strip along the shore line, he is more than happy to take in his surroundings for hours at a time. More often than not, he has returned to his home just before sunrise not to emerge from his bedroom until well past noon... sometimes with a different lady on his arm.
All just some of the perks of not needing to worry about a damned thing.
"The security system is easy enough for me to hack into," Trowa states. "I've been running a few tests now that I know the way to punch through the firewall. The signal can be tricked to shut down without alarming anyone working at the database. As far as they'll be concerned, the system in the house will still be functioning normally."
With a shrug, he hints, "Of course, the sooner we're in and out of there, the better in case someone real good is watching the system."
I take a deep breath and look over at my partner still seated by the window. Our eyes meet as I question, "Any movement yet?"
Shaking his head, Heero responds, "No. If he had plans of making this evening an early one, he would have been up by now." Just as I had figured.
My arms stretching over my head, I turn to face the others and grin, "Well then, let's get moving on this. Who will be heading in with me to set up the stuff?"
Bryant, every bit as tall and imposing and experienced in battle as his team leader Tyson, raises a hand with his red hair shining in the sunlight filling the room. When Une said some muscle back up was needed, she did good to approve his add on for this mission.
"Chang and I will be assisting in that," he answers, "Between the three of us, we'll be able to cover all of the rooms quickly without having too many bodies around to draw attention from the passersby."
Heero chews on the inside of his cheek and I am the only one to notice it. By the look on his face, I can tell he is silently wishing he could be in there with me to keep an eye out and watch my back.
After all the times 'Ro and I have worked together, neither of us is ever happy when we're split up for any reason. It's not at all because we don't trust the other to handle themselves. It's more of a comfort of knowing we're there to help out if the situations should change.
In this case, however, neither of us can risk having too many dark-clothed people running around before the neighbors start calling the cops.
Reluctantly, my husband nods, "That works. I can stay here and assist Trowa with hacking into the security system."
Tyson adds, "And I will be following Krutza as a lookout for when he starts heading back home just in case he does not stay out as late as he tends to."
"So, we're all settled, then," Wufei thus concludes the planning phase. "His neighbors at either side of the hill are in bed before ten every night and it will be more than dark enough for those of us going into the house to go unnoticed since we'll be traveling on foot."
It all sounds good to me- and apparently to everyone else since no one is voicing an objection.
My stomach begins to growl in objection of my being up for a while without feeding it. And at that, I know what my next plan of attack is.
Stretching my arms behind my head, I suggest, "On that note, then, I say we head out for breakfast. You all know I can't function well without a good meal in me first." A few chuckles and nods in agreement at the idea are my answers as I get to my feet.
A brief discussion on where to eat later and we are off to get some air and nourishment before having to get into the grind of our plan of attack.
* * * * * *
The room that Heero and I have been staying in becomes our headquarters since it has the best view of Krutza's home. Trowa is sitting along with Heero at the table with their laptops opened and firing up. For the accomplished hacker that he is, my partner is quite impressed with our tall friend's ability to break into the security system the way that he has.
Pulling on a black, long-sleeved top that clings to my skin as much as my matching pants, I move to pull on my black work boots. As I bend over, I manage to catch Heero's eyes locked on me, taking in every inch with a predatory gleam in his eyes that the others miss. Smirking when his eyes meet mine, I wink and he barely manages to fight a blush while focusing back on his computer to type feverishly.
As I sit on the edge of my bed to lace up my shoes, I ask, "Any movement at Krutza's yet?"
Tyson, dressed as a normal civilian ready for a night out, lowers the binoculars from his eyes to peer over and answer, "He's moving from room to room getting ready to head out as usual. There are only a couple of his neighbors that have lights on in their homes, but not many." Checking his watch, he announced, "It's 21:48, so they should be going out for the night soon."
Everything is on track, then.
Grabbing my black ski cap, I pull my braid up under it as I pull it over my head. Once the gloves are in place, my head turns as Wufei and Bryant step in fully dressed in their own dark clothes.
"We have clearance to use the emergency exit doors to get out unnoticed by the other residents here," 'Fei informs me. "Security at the hotel has the alarms shut down until and will bring them back up when we've confirmed we're back inside."
The corner of his mouth curls up as he comments, "They were more than accommodating when we flashed our Preventers badges."
If anyone thinks that I am the only one that gets off on throwing the authority that comes with the badge showing, they haven't seen Wufei at it. Having any kind of authority for us is a far cry from hiding out for our lives during the wars, so there is a bit of excitement involved with working for such a high profile organization like the Preventers.
Suddenly on his feet, Tyson continues to stare through his binoculars, telling us, "Krutza's left his house. He's moving for his car now." Without another word, he hands his binoculars over to Heero for a changing of the guard.
Before my partner can even finish sitting by the window, the former military leader moves for the door while raising his radio and says, "I'll be in touch."
Through all of this, Trowa continues to type at his laptop and finally stops when the door closes after Tyce. "Ready to bring down the system whenever you're set," he announces.
Moving to the window, I squint to make out the view of Krutza's red convertible rolling down the curvy path in the hillside in the light of the occasional street lamp that he passes. When he is more than half-way down the hill, the large steel gates securing his darkened property close.
Only a few moments later, Tyce's rented car pulls away from the hotel to follow our target at a safe distance. It's not long before vehicles disappear within the city limits, but I was able to make out their direction.
"He's heading for the shoreline," I realize out loud.
Bryant snorts, "Good. He tends to stay out longer when he goes there." My thoughts as well. Any little nerves that come with any situation like this are managed in knowing that we have time on out side by the looks of things.
The last to secure my right ear piece and mouth piece, I quietly mutter, "Check. Check." Everyone around gives a thumbs up to show that I had been heard. Once Wufei and Bryant are cleared for good transmission we each grab a large duffle bag of our gear and wait anxiously by the door.
After what feels like for-damned-ever, Heero lowers the binoculars from his eyes to turn to us and inform, "The neighbors' lights are all out."
"I'll have the system down before you reach Krutza's gates," Trowa smirks while cracking his knuckles.
Not needing to be told twice, Bryant opens the door and we move to hurry down the hall for the emergency exit. As the last to leave, I turn my head over my shoulder for Heero to mouth a discrete, "Be careful." Nodding firmly, I hurry out of the room right behind Wufei as I close the door behind me.
* * * * * *
Running for about a mile, a good portion of that being uphill through mossy grass, was not a problem. Undoing the lock at the gates and a back window to climb into the house was a cake walk.
Now for the tedious work of setting up the micro-cameras and recorders throughout the estate. Since there are three floors in this place including the basement, we've each taken one level. Wufei has the lower floor, Bryant the 2nd and I have the top level.
Using dark lights to see our way without anyone outside seeing anything out of the norm, we've been working from the front of the house to the back, covering every room.
After I finish hooking one of my last tiny recorders in one of the attics in a way that it would never be found, I move back to the doorway to test the range that it can pick up from the other end of the room. "Testing recorder thirty-two," I announce in a normal voice.
Heero responds into my headset, "Recorder thirty-two functional."
Perfect. Three more rooms up here to go for me and I can start packing up to head back to the hotel. I grab onto my duffle bag and head out to the hallway.
Knowing the number of devices we have to set up, I'm sure the other two are probably wrapping up, if they're not already finished. They also have had less obstacles to overcome with their rooms. Lucky me was stuck with the more cluttered sections of the house.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have bothered with hooking up every room up here. But you never know what may be picked up from a simple conversation that could take place at any point in any space. That in mind and given the case that we are handling, it's best to literally cover every base there is.
"Guys, we have a situation," Tyson's voice suddenly breaks through the communicator on my hip, the urgency in his voice making me freeze in my tracks. "Krutza was taking some back roads before I realized that he is heading back to the house now!" he yells over the sound of cars passing by his own. "I repeat, Krutza is heading back to his house now! He's less than ten minutes away!"
The connection ends with an audible crackling.
Fuck! Ten minutes! It's going to take me five minutes to get out of here and I haven't finished setting up my floor!
Chang's voice whispers, "Maxwell, Bryant and I have just finished up and are heading out now. We have to move. Now."
A sudden calmness comes over me when an idea strikes. Shaking my head, I reply, "Negative. I still have three rooms to hook up. You both get out of here and head back to the hotel. I'll move out as soon as I can."
"Duo, don't worry about those other rooms," Heero chimes in my ear, his tone controlled but laced with worry at the same time. "Don't jeopardize your safety or the plan."
Taking a deep breath, I work myself to sound as calm and resolved as possible. "Listen to me. It's going to take me too long to get out of here in the first place to not be noticed. When you and Trowa set the alarms back up as soon as Wufei and Bryant are out, I'll already be inside and can't trip them off. Krutza will turn them back off when he gets back, so I can work on a way out after that."
If Heero was about to argue, Trowa cuts in, "You would have time after he arrives to get into the garage. If you can hide out there until you get a ride out, there are no alarms inside to worry about when he does put the system back up."
Already working on the next room, an office of sorts, I hook the next recorder under the computer desktop and reassure, "Then I'm all set. Don't worry about me. Chang, Roberts, you both get the hell out of here." There are a couple of muttered curses from my accomplices, but I know they're hurrying out of here without another choice in the matter.
Sprinting back to the doorway several feet away from the desk, I request, "Heero, check if you can hear me from microphone thirty-three."
"It's coming in fine," he replies, his voice tight and short. "Whatever you plan on doing, just be careful." I know that he's not thrilled at all over my decision to risk being caught, but I feel better knowing we finished what we had set out to do.
Forcing another deep breath, I move down to the next den and get right to work. "Trowa, just let me know the moment Krutza brings the alarms back down when he gets here," my voice commands as I secure the recorder behind a bookshelf at the furthest wall of the room.
Without hesitating, my friend complies, "Got it." Set to my plan of action on how to get out of here, I finish securing the room and run another sound test. The minutes tick away as I step into the last room and hide the last recorder and camera.
Just as I step finish securing the device behind a water cooler, Wufei's voice informs, "Bryant and I are away from the property gates. Put the alarms back up."
"Not a moment too soon," Trowa sighs in my ear. "I saw the target's headlights moving around to the front of the hill." There is the briefest of pauses before he confirms, "Alarms are back up and running. Duo, I will let you know when the alarms are turned back off."
Heading to the doorway of my last room, I test, "Checking microphone thirty-four."
With even more frustration in his voice, Heero replies, "Loud and clear. All microphones and cameras are up and running. Krutza is at the gates now, Duo. Watch yourself out there."
The job is finished. Releasing the breath that I had been holding in a sigh, I wipe the sweat from my forehead. Nothing like cutting it down to the wire. Throwing my now emptied duffle bag over my shoulder, I move over to the window at my end of the hallway at the back of the house and wait.
In little more than a whisper, Trowa warns, "The alarms are back down."
At that, my hands instantly move to lift the window open enough so that I can climb out onto the ledge. The night's considerably cooler with a steady breeze. Of course, it could just feel so much cooler because my heart is pounding enough from my rush of adrenaline to raise my body temperature.
Closing the window behind me, I press my back against it and carefully move for the metal drain pipe that stretches from the roof to the ground. Carefully gripping either side of it, I slowly climb down to the ground with little noise.
Only able to use the light from the moon, I tread as quietly as possible for the backside of the garage that is attached to the estate. When I reach its cover, I freeze and strain my ears at the sound of the car engine shutting down. Biting my lip, I hear the car door open and close. Rushed footsteps make their way to the front of the house and that door is opened and shut.
What I don't hear is the front gates closing. That has me relieved as a theory to what is going on sinks in. Maybe luck is on my side tonight, after all.
TBC...
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