The movement caught my eye. Three doors down. Subtle motion, something close to the ground. A cat. Dog. Maybe a snake, or possibly a rat. I stared and didn’t see any motion this time. Snakes and rats lived in palm trees and orange trees, and there were five scraggly palms planted around the perimeter of the parking lot. I was scared to death of snakes and rats.
A cloud drifted over the moon and the lights from the parking lot barely cut through the nighttime gloom. I slowly walked toward my car, hoping there was no broken glass in the lot to cut my bare feet. No glass, and God, please don’t let there be a snake. Or a rat.
Soft steps. I should have worn shoes.
Something had moved. Now everything was quiet. The hot, muggy, Carol City night was oppressive. Our small room air conditioner in the apartment didn’t do much except make a lot of noise, but it cut a little of the humidity. Outside, the moisture clung to me like a net.
I stared at the spot where I’d seen the rapid movement. Probably a neighbor’s cat. There were a lot of them in the complex.
As I got close to my car I said it under my breath. “Anybody there?”
Silence.
I was a little louder next time. “Anybody there?”
I stepped up onto the sidewalk and walked down toward James’s vehicle. Jesus. Now there was a flash of movement under the bed of his run-down truck. I believed it might be my imagination. A movement under my car? A movement under James’s truck? I stopped still, waiting for something else to happen.
There it was again. Bigger than a rat, bigger than a cat. I could feel the humidity and the perspiration on my face and arms. Now I wished I’d stayed inside and just tried to go back to sleep. Something was between me and the door to my apartment. Something, or somebody. It had to be just an animal or a figment of my imagination. If I yelled and it was just a large dog, I’d wake people up and be embarrassed. If I-it moved again and I could hear some scurrying.
“Who’s there? Come out where I can see you.” I was surprised at the volume of my voice. “Move. Now.”
The cloud moved off the moon’s smiling face and the parking lot was brighter. Cracks and holes. Large pieces of asphalt were missing like a jigsaw puzzle and the holes were large enough to swallow a car. Well, maybe a small motor scooter.
“Who’s out there?”
What could they do to me?
I stepped closer, my eyes aching from staring. Nothing. Now I was about ten feet from the truck, and I thought about waking James. Open the door and ask him to get his lazy ass off the couch, wake up from his deep sleep, and help me out. And then I thought about how pitiful that might be.
I knelt down on the blacktop and peered under the truck. Now I couldn’t make out anything. I stood up and backed my way up the small stoop in front of our door. I froze right there, trying to blend in with the cheap stucco wall.
A night bird called with a mournful howl. Maybe a loon. No motion. I waited about two minutes, the sweat beading on my face and running down my bare chest. When the bird was quiet, there was a deathly stillness in the early morning air. Finally, I turned and went back into our apartment.
“Amigo, where were you?” James was sitting up, watching some car commercial where girls in bikinis were dancing around the dealership. Now he wakes up.
“I took a walk. Thought I saw something in the parking lot.”
“There is something out there.” His voice was low and sinister.
“You saw it, too?”
“Yeah. Cars. Trucks. Vans. That’s what parking lots are for.”
“Funny.”
An engine started nearby, kicking over on the first turn of the key. I hesitated, then stepped back outside. The car parked next to James’s truck, the one in my spot, was gone.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I t’s a GPS.” The gray block was a little bigger than a brick. “You put a plastic binder on it, like this, with the magnets attached.” Jody was wrapping the plastic binder around the gray contraption lying on his countertop.
“One on each end, right?” James was so excited I expected to see drool run down his chin.
“Right, James. These magnets are really strong.”
“And to install it?” Em was skeptical. We stood in a tight group as Jody put on his show.
He smiled at her. Maybe a little flirting. Em is a good-looking girl, and Jody is a good-looking guy. “You reach under the car, set it on top of the gas tank, and you’re good to go.”
“It’s that simple?” James had a glassy-eyed look, with a big smile on his face.
“You still have to load the software onto your computer. Desktop, like this, or a laptop. You can be portable if need be. Once that’s done, you can check the location of that vehicle twenty-four-seven.”
“Anywhere, right?” James had told me we could use a laptop in the almighty truck.
“Anywhere.” Jody walked behind the counter and flipped on a countertop monitor. “Here. Emily, why don’t you come over here where you can see-”
I wondered what about James and me? Since we were setting this all up, it would be nice if we could see too.
“Now, here’s a map of South Florida, and here are the seven cars I’m tracking today.” He pointed to the screen, and we all crowded in.
Seven dots appeared on the roads, four apparently moving on highways and byways. Three were stationary.
“This one,” he pointed to the third car up on the map, “she’s supposed to be at the mall.”
Em nodded. “That’s not a mall?”
“Most definitely not.”
James chimed in. “Maybe a drugstore? Laundromat?”
Jody laughed out loud. “This isn’t guesswork, my friend.”
“No?”
“No. This is,” he paused scrolling down a subscreen on his monitor, “this is 2867 Briar Lane. Just north of Miami.”
“And?”
“Home to Mr. Fernando Lopez.”
We all watched, marveling at the technology.
“Guys,” he smiled, looking into Em’s eyes, “this is nothing. I mean, this is easy stuff.”
Em watched the computer, ignoring Jody’s probing eyes.
“So this Lopez, he’s what?”
“The guy my client’s wife is supposedly screwing around with.”
Outside the showroom people were walking down the sidewalk. The town of Delray Beach was hot, in the low nineties, and through the large windows I could see men with sleeves rolled up and ties loosened. A couple of women walked by in sundresses, but the window wasn’t low enough to see their legs.
“Wow.” James wasn’t paying any attention to the sights outside. He was staring at the stationary number three car. “You monitor this lady all the time?”
“I can. But her husband has the same software. He can watch her wherever she goes. It’s part of the package. You can join in the action.” Jody laughed, a low, throaty chuckle.
I stepped back and looked around the room. Gadgets of every kind. I’m sure Jody would have been upset to hear me refer to them as gadgets, but that’s what they appeared to be. Hidden cameras, motion detectors, secret audio devices, and an assortment of items that defied description.
“What kind of spy work are you doing?”
He looked straight at me. I couldn’t tell him. I didn’t have any right to confide in him. The job I was doing was strictly confidential. I couldn’t possibly tell him anything about the delicate position I was in. If I told him anything, I could put myself and my friends in serious jeopardy. I wasn’t about to do that.
“The daughter of the owner of the company Skip’s working for thinks she might be the target of a murderer. Skip’s installing a security system for this company called Synco Systems, and they’re designing a software program for the United States Department of Defense. There have been some strange things happening at this company.”
Of course, with a loud-mouthed roommate I didn’t have to say a word.
I saw Em shoot James a very dirty look, complete with frown, slanted eyebrows, and a squint. I’m sure she was thinking about her statement that James had an idiot image. I couldn’t argue with that.