"The Coffee House Spy" 8

Thies was about to reveal the location of Russ’s apartment contents when the sound of a knock filtered through the room but it hadn’t come from the apartment door; it came from the receiving device on Brent’s desk.

Brent got up and walked to the desk and saw, on the small monitor, an image from the video cam on Emily’s door, a heavyset man was standing outside her apartment.

“We may have a problem; there’s someone at Emily’s,” he said heading for the door.

"Wait; you're not in disguise." Stacy warned him.

"No time," Brent said opening the door.

"You'll blow you're cover; let me go instead,” Thies volunteered as he stood up, “Emily already thinks I’m your brother.”

“What? When did this happen?” Brent turned back with a frown.

“As you said, there’s no time to explain; Stacy back me up and Brent, you keep watching the monitor and keep us posted." Thies instructed as he walked past him into the hall.

Brent wasn’t thrilled with the command but knew he’d blow his cover if he went undisguised so, grudgingly, he stepped back to the monitor as Stacy followed Thies into the hall.

The man at Emily’s door raised his hand to knock again when his expression suddenly changed and he looked nervously around the hallway before quickly walking away.

Brent wasn’t sure if the man had simply mistaken the apartment number for another but he couldn’t rule out the possibility the man knew exactly who lived there, and had aborted his mission because he saw the camera tucked in the doorjamb. Either reasoning could be true but since the man had left; it changed the urgency.

Brent sent a code of all clear to Stacy advising there was no longer an imminent threat.

*

Thies had already raced up to the fifth floor landing. When he reached the top step he looked down the hallway but saw no one outside of Emily’s door. He walked down the hall hoping to find where that man had gone to, but as stepped near Emly's apartment door, it opened. She stood there looking at him with an odd expression and the dog stood behind her and poked his nose into the hall.

"Oh, it’s you,” Emily said, remembering the man Sir Harry had raced past on the stairs earlier. “How did you know where I live?”

"Uh, I seem to have made a mistake. This is the wrong floor for my brother’s apartment,” he chuckled, “I don’t know what I was thinking walking past it." He gave her a sheepish grin as he surreptitiously looked around, trying to determine where that man had gone to because he hadn’t passed him on the stairs.

"Oh right, you did say your brother had moved in…” she began then hesitated as she wondered if the man at the mailbox could be his brother? Her eyes scanned his perfect features as she asked, “Is your brother’s name, Peter Perocino?"

"Uhhhh, yes,” he said with an unusual lack of confidence; he hadn’t known Brent’s undercover moniker, but it was too late to ask him about it now. He hoped he was right.

“I met him today; our mail crossed,” Emily said but she couldn’t help comparing him to his brother. “You don’t look anything alike,” she stated honestly then bit her lip because she shouldn’t have said that out loud and tried to walk it back. "What I meant..."

"I know what you meant and you're right; we don’t. We have different fathers."

"Oh…well…that’s why,” she stammered, flustered by her rudeness and offered lamely, “Your brother lives in 4D, one flight down."

"Got it, and thank you," he said with a wink.

"No problem,” she tried for indifference but it was hard not to react to his attractiveness and then suddenly she was reacting to something all together different. She was being pushed forward from behind by the force of a very large dog and she nearly fell into the man’s chest.

“Sorry,” she said catching herself in time and stepping back just as Sir Harry poked his head around her right knee.

“Harry!” she reprimanded the dog, but the dog ignored her. He sniffed the air and gave a low menacing growl. That was a sound Emily had never heard him make; it made her look at the handsome man with some trepidation.

Thies wondered if the dog had picked up the scent of the heavyset man who’d been there but unfortunately whatever it was, it was making him look suspicious to Emily. He reached out and patted the dog's big head to calm him.

“Good dog,” he said rubbing the dog’s ears and earning a hand lick from Sir Harry. The trusting gesture appeared to ease Emily’s suspicion of him; at least a little bit.

"He’s a smart dog; I'm a stranger and he's protecting you," Thies said with a shrug.

"Yeah; I guess so," Emily agreed, but her eyes remained a shade suspicious.

 

Heather stepped up onto the landing from her crouched position, no longer needing to back up Thies but realizing he needed a different kind of rescue.

“Hi,” she said breezily, walking over to Thies and Emily, “I think you missed-”

“Yes, I know,” Thies cut her off and as she stepped next to him, he placed a possessive arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “This is my wife; we were both coming to visit my brother Peter.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you; I’m Emily Smith.” Emily held out her hand.

Stacy’s eyes were fixed with disbelief on the arrogant agent and it took her a second to un-rattle her composure. She quickly stuck her ring finger hand in her pocket, since it was ring-less, and extend her right hand to Emily with a smile. “I’m Heather Perocino,” she said shaking Emily’s hand, “I see you’ve already met my husband…Paul,” she improvised then added with a chuckle, “but our friends call us H.P. and P.P.”

Emily’s brow lifted in surprise, unsure if Heather was joking.

“Do they?” Thies asked drolly.

“They do; I find it cute. Don’t you?” Stacy cooed this question to Thies, expecting an annoyed expression but what she got was a twinkle of humor, and it destroyed the fun of humiliating him.

"Well, I’d better go; I need to get my dog outside for his afternoon walk.”

Sir Harry sniffed the air and gave another low growl.

“What a good watch dog,” Stacy complimented, giving the dog a hard stare and a brisk nod.

Sir Harry tilted his head at her but sat down as commanded.

Emily frowned at the dog, not sure what to make of his strange behavior.

“Enjoy the walk,” Stacy said to her with a friendly smile.

“And I’m sure we’ll see you around Emily," Thies added as he took his fake, wife’s hand in his and they turned and walked back to the stairwell.

“Yeah, I’m sure we will," Emily mumbled, watching the couple descending the stairs before she locked her door and walked Sir Harry down the hall. She wasn’t sure what to think of them. They’d been friendly enough, but if something about them bothered Sir Harry, she’d have to reserve her opinion.

*

Thies and Stacy stepped back into Brent’s apartment but Thies stayed just inside the door until he was sure Emily had passed their landing with Sir Harry. Then he whispered to Stacy that he was going up to the roof to look for the man they’d seen at Emily’s door and he slipped back out into the hall.

Thies crept slowly up the steps leading to the roof and at the roof landing, he found the entry door was slightly ajar. He stopped and drew his gun as he reached out to push open the door but hearing foot steps from behind he turned with a smooth, kill motion. He stopped short of firing when he saw it was Stacy. He relaxed his trigger finger and shook his head at her. “I thought you went back to the apartment,” he said with a hint of exasperation; it was a good thing he was well trained; a lesser agent may not have hesitated.

“And I thought, you’d need back up,” she taunted as she stepped into place behind him, nodded to the entry door and raised her gun to cover him.

Thies smirked but didn’t respond. He turned back to the door and pushed it open, fully exposing that part of the roof. There was no one in their line of vision so they stepped out cautiously and walked the perimeter.

“He must have gone over to the connecting rooftops and escaped through another building,” Thies concluded and lowered his gun.

“Or… that man was at the wrong apartment door and when he found the right one; he went inside. Maybe, it was an innocent mistake.” Stacy suggested.

Thies shrugged, but in his gut, it didn’t feel like the right scenario.

“Anyway, on the positive side,” Stacy chirped happily, “Emily and the dog are unharmed and we all have our covers in place now.”

“Yeah,” he said turning to her, “about that P.P. thing?”

Stacy laughed, finally seeing a shade of annoyance in his expression.

“What? You don’t think it fits, P.P.?”

“Funny,” he said with a grimace but in truth the moniker didn’t matter, not in their line of work; it was a distraction needed to cover what they actually did, and the more distracting the moniker, the better the cover. 

“And on the subject of covers,” Stacy continued, “What about that curved one you threw me? Claiming I was your wife instead of your sister.”

Thies chuckled. “Sorry if I made your cover too difficult for you to carry.”

“I didn’t say that-” she blustered, ready to defend her acting skills, but he cut her off.

“I thought a wife accompanying me to my brother’s would be more acceptable than a passel of siblings converging every other day on poor old Peter. Why would he have needed all of his siblings around to help him? A married couple felt more plausible.”

Stacy frowned but couldn’t deny what he’d said made sense. 

She shrugged. “I guess you’re right.”

“Hey, don’t over flatter me; it might go to my head,” he teased and that twinkle of humor was back in his eyes, but this time he’d added a killer grin.

Stacy refused to let it have any effect on her.

“Don’t be such a wise ass,” she grumbled and walked back to the entry door.

Thies chuckled as he followed her.

 

The chimney, three attached houses down, hid his girth well enough. The man smiled at the sight of the retreating couple who’d had no clue he was there, or that they were being watched. He’d be sure to use that to his advantage.

*

Stacy and Thies walked back down to Brent’s apartment; when they stepped inside they found Brent donning the fat suit.

“What’s going on? Where are you going?” Stacy asked.

 “I watched that man on the monitor and before he walked off, I noticed he’d looked right at the camera. I’m sure that’s why he walked off; I think he was there for the dog.

“Did you see where he went?” Thies asked.

“I know he walked in the direction of the stairs but the camera doesn’t pan the entire hallway. So not knowing where he is; I’m going to follow Emily on her walk with Sir Harry, to keep her safe,” he told them as he shifted the costume’s rubbery girth into place.

“I think Emily’s safe enough walking the dog,” Thies told him, “and besides Santa’s out there; he’ll keep an eye on her.”

 “You might want to rethink that strategy because your partner left.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“I think I know what an empty parking space looks like,” Brent scoffed.

Thies walked to the window and saw Brent was right; the car wasn’t there.

“Could he have followed that man…somewhere,” Stacy offered with little confidence.

Thies shook his head. “The man didn’t pass us on the stairs. We don't know if he went outside.”

“But what if he’d crossed over to another building and went down to the street that way?” Stacy suggested.

“Even if he had, Santa would’ve had to know he was a person of interest. And if he knew that, why didn’t he warn us?” Thies added to her theory but not in a good way.

“Exactly,” Brent agreed with him.

Thies turned to the window and again scanned the street below.

“I don’t like this,” Stacy whispered, “If he’s rogue; we need to do something.”

“Agree,” Thies nodded and turned to her with a hard stare, “If it isn’t secure here, we’ll need to move. But I'll need to find out where Santa’s gone to, before we make that decision.”

“Maybe he was kidnapped?” Stacy whispered, picking up the high powered binoculars and stepping next to him at the window to scan the distant streets.

“Or, he’s an accomplice,” Brent stated with clipped accusation.

Thies locked eyes with Brent but he couldn’t offer a defense. “I couldnt say; I only met him at the start of this assignment but, before we conclude he’s a broken asset, let me give him a call. Maybe, he just went for a coffee.”

“Sure, do whatever you need to get a conclusion.” Brent said with a smirk, knowing no one on watch ever went for coffee. “and I’m going to shadow Emily and make sure she isn’t in danger,” he told them and walked out of the apartment.

Thies sent an innocuous code to Santa’s burn phone. The code wouldn’t alert him that they were suspicious of his activity, so he should have responded back, quickly. It went unanswered.

Thies wasn’t sure if the agent went rogue but something had happened to Santa, still, he hesitated to send the distress code to the rest of the team, not because he doubted it needed to be sent, because he was unsure of whom he could trust on the team.

“No response?” Stacy asked turning from the window.

Thies shook his head.

“Do we leave now?” She asked. “Or can you reach out to anyone else to help locate this Santa?”

“Rudolph,” Thies told her.

“Are you being facetious?” Stacy asked with a tight fist ready to land it on him.

“No, that’s the code name for the top contact on this mission.”

“Oh really, a Christmas themed mission is it? So is your name really Thiesel or is it Thistle; like in, ‘away they all flew like the down on a thistle’?" She quoted the well know poem with a teasing laugh.

Thies didn’t clarify his name, or anything else to her. Heturned to stare at the empty parking space below.

“Okay, so, are you going to call the red-nosed reindeer?” She asked with a little less levity.

“No,” Thies told her as he punched a code into his burn phone, “but I have one agent I can trust with my life.”

"Who is it, Frosty?" She asked and she coudlnt help it; it was so worth the annoyed looked he'd sent her way.