“That would be perfect.”
The agent was standing in the doorway when Wade arrived. He approached looking like an ugly American tourist with money. His disguise included a wig, dark sunglasses, straw hat, bright patterned Hawaiian shirt, and Bermuda shorts. He enhanced his disguise with a distinct Texas accent — sounding much like a used-car salesman.
Wade walked under the walled arch past the heavily-timbered yard gate to greet Ms. Barr with a smile. He was keenly aware of every detail of his surroundings, reinforcing his belief this would make an ideal safe house for covert operations. The seven-foot-high stucco wall protected a thirty-foot perimeter of interior courtyard before reaching the house itself, offering an excellent kill zone.
The entrance gave Wade the feeling of walking through the walls of an old Spanish fort. The house itself was modern-a combination of contemporary Spanish and mid-century design. Narrow vertical glass windows that opened at the top would allow air to circulate without inviting outside interest. In Wade’s mind, the place was a virtual fortress, and would’ve been his first choice for a safe house. In fact, by then he was convinced that it was exactly where Mashburn would’ve set up housekeeping.
Ms. Barr waited at the front door and greeted Wade like they were old friends. He returned her smile then followed her into the well-appointed kitchen. As she passed the center island, she set her red purse on the counter. A ring of four sets of keys fell with a metallic clank, to the side of her purse, catching Wade’s attention. Small tags confirmed his suspicion that every key fit the lock of this house, and the number of keys probably indicated the number of people who would be staying there.
Wade moved slowly around the kitchen, checking in drawers and turning knobs on appliances. He took out a few utensils like a seasoned cook might inspect in a kitchen. His comments showed interest and attention to detail. “The kitchen seems well equipped.”
Ms. Barr quickly responded. “It comes fully furnished by the landlord who had a professional chef furnish it.”
“Does the place come with bed linens, bath towels, and tableware?”
“Yes, it comes fully furnished. It also includes maid and garden service. It also has central air conditioning, which you’ll come to appreciate. It can get pretty hot down here during the day. In the evening we get the cooler ocean breezes that bring the temperatures down.”
Wade wanted the agent to be relaxed with his questions, hoping to get more information about his true objective.
“I’ve noticed the nice evening breezes here. They’re very pleasant. How often does the maid come?”
“She’s scheduled to come twice a week. There’s an extra charge if she comes more often than that.”
Wade hoped to find out more about the occupants as he finished his tour of the kitchen.
“I think twice a week would be fine for just my wife and me. We may have a relative come down while we’re here, though. Is the twice-a-week service the norm?”
“Yes, but I think the gentleman from Panama wanted three days a week because he’s hosting three other guests while he’s here.”
Wade was thinking about Yari’s phone tap when he asked the next question. “What about telephone service? Does the house have its own phone number?”
“Yes, it’s less expensive for the owners to keep the same number. The phone company bills us separately for phone usage during the rental period. We take that expense out of the renter’s deposit.”
“That would be fine with us.”
Wade left the kitchen area and turned down a hallway to the bedrooms. He passed a table with a telephone on it and glanced down, memorizing the number printed on the phone. Ms. Barr left the kitchen and headed for the living in the opposite direction from Wade.
As he continued his investigation, Wade kept asking questions in a louder tone so Barr could hear him. “Has the current renter told you when he’s coming down?”
“He said at the end of last week, but he hasn’t shown up yet. I’ve tried calling him, but his phone just keeps ringing. I assume he’s traveling. He’s already wired us the entire rent and deposits for the full three months, so they can arrive anytime they’d like.”
“That seems strange. I hope nothing’s happened to him.”
“I don’t think so. It happens with renters down here more often than you’d think. I’ve had situations where they pay us and never show up.”
“How often does the gardener come?”
“Once a week, usually on Saturdays. He handles several of our properties in this area.”
Wade moved down the hall, checking each room and recording a mental layout of the house including distances between rooms. Three bathrooms were shared by four bedrooms. He checked the locking mechanism on the door at the end of the hallway and confirmed that it opened to the driveway and covered carport.
Another side door off one of the bedrooms opened to a lush tropical interior courtyard. Like quickly putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Wade saw ingress and egress scenarios. He noted the locking mechanisms on each bedroom door and the exterior doors.
In one of the bedrooms, Wade noticed a light that didn’t work. He walked over to the jalousie glass windows in the same bedroom and noticed the glass slat was not properly aligned. A turn of the knob told him the lower louver was loose. A light push of that louver sent it to the ground outside the window a foot below the sill. It landed softly without breaking.
Ms. Barr was keeping busy in the living room checking the wall thermostat when she heard Wade call out.
“Ms. Barr, are you aware that one of the lights in this bedroom is out, and the window seems to be broken?”
That was all she needed to hear before she responded, “Where are you?”
They crossed paths just outside the living room. Wade explained, “There’s a louver missing in the back bedroom window, and the light doesn’t work. The light probably just needs a new bulb. It doesn’t look like the missing window pane is broken, just missing, but you might want to check the bedrooms, so you don’t get any nasty surprises later.”
As Ms. Barr headed down the hall toward the first bedroom, Wade strode toward the kitchen.
“Which bedroom did you say it was?”
“The last one on the right. Listen, I’m going to check out the living room while you do that.”
Wade wasn’t interested in the living room. He wanted to get at the key rings hanging on Ms. Barr’s purse. He slipped one of the sets in his pocket and replaced the others and quickly moved to the living room. Having done her research, she soon reappeared in the hallway near where Wade was standing.
“Thank you for pointing out those issues. Those louvers are always coming loose. I’ll have my repair guy come by and fix it in the morning.”
“This is a very nice property, and I’m sure it’s the one we saw when my wife was down here. It was on a caravan tour, and we saw so many houses that we couldn’t keep them straight.”
Wade was satisfied that he’d seen everything and was ready to leave. They met again in the kitchen. More questions from Wade kept Ms. Barr distracted as she picked up her purse. When the agent looked up, Wade had already prepared a piece a paper and handed it to the agent.
“Here’s my contact information. I really thank you for the quick tour. I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience.”
“I’ll mark my calendar to contact you when this property is available again.”
She smiled and handed him a business card.
He nodded. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Barr. I can’t wait to tell my wife about the property. Good luck with your rentals. I’ll be in touch.”
Chapter 17
After asking around, Wade found a nice quiet payphone in the lobby of the local library. It had a comfortable seat facing out into the large lobby area away from passing ears going in and out of the main library room. He took a seat and dropped a coin into the slot, hoping to reach Yari without a sea of static. But Yari had little to report. Wade proceeded to fill him in on the rental.