The Protector

13

They left the Taurus in a parking garage and followed the shadowy jogging path to the opposite edge of the park. There, concealed by trees, they peered across a busy street toward a brightly lit condominium building.

"The sixth floor," Cavanaugh said. "On the right. The fourth unit from the end."

Jamie adjusted her gaze. "Lights in one window." "That's the living room. John loves his view of the park." "Not tonight. The curtains are closed." "The window next to it, on the right-any lights in his bedroom?"

"The curtains are closed there also, but no lights. Any other bedrooms?"

"No." Cavanaugh wished they could get in the car and drive away. "After John's wife died, he sold their house and moved here. Wanted a simpler life, he said. Became kind of a hermit, reading his Bible when he wasn't hunting bad guys."

"What's the arrangement of the rooms?"

"Past the front door, there's a corridor that leads into the living room." Talking about what he knew helped distract him from what he was feeling. "As you go along the corridor, there's an archway on the left, leading into a small kitchen. An arch on the other side of the kitchen goes into the living room. To the left of the living room is the door to the bedroom."

"Bathroom?"

"Off the bedroom. On the left."

Cavanaugh's attention quickened as a shadow moved beyond the closed curtains in the living room.

"How many people are watching him, do you think?" Jamie asked.

"At least two, so one can sleep while the other's on guard."

The details of tradecraft continued to help distract him from his emotions. "He'll be tied up in a chair in the living room. That way, the bedroom's all theirs, so they can spell each other and take naps."

"But how do we get him out?"

As Jamie spoke, a man and woman approached the building's entrance and went into the gleaming lobby. Visible through floor-to-ceiling windows, a security guard stood behind a counter. He spoke to the couple, picked up a phone, said something into it, nodded, and pressed a button. That unlocked a gate on the right, allowing the couple to go farther into the lobby and reach a bank of elevators.

"For that matter," Jamie added, "how do we get into the building?"

"The law says there have to be other exits in case of an emergency. We can always go around to the back, find one, and pick the lock."

"Which you haven't shown me how to do yet."

"I've been remiss, 1 admit, but we don't have time to make up for that now. Anyway, in this busy neighborhood, there's always a chance we'll be noticed. We can't help John if we're in jail. Why don't we walk up to that corner store and buy some cigarettes."

"Cigarettes? What are you talking about? You don't smoke."

"I used to when I first joined Protective Services. Duncan put a stop to that. I can still hear him scolding me: 'How can you hope to protect somebody when you're fumbling around, trying to light a cigarette?'"

"And now you're going to start smoking again?"