"The Coffee House Spy" 9

Brent had to shuffle his feet as fast as his character depiction would faithfully allow. He couldn’t break into a full run and stay undercover; it still frustrated him that Stacy had set up this handicap for him without his input, or consent.

He caught sight of Emily walking with Sir Harry about a block away and he kept his eyes on her as he doubled his shuffling steps. He also scanned the area for that heavyset man he’d seen earlier at her apartment door, so far he was a no show. That suited him just fine, because he’d have to break cover if that threat to Emily did show up.

*

Emily was getting use to these walks with Sir Harry; he was an easy companion and a well trained dog. That turned her thoughts to his trainer and owner, Brent Devinger.

The currently traveling, mysterious, coffee house acquaintance who had saddled her with his dog on the day they met, after he’d abandoned his dog with her in the coffee house. She still had lots of unanswered questions about this dog’s owner.

Emily wondered what he did for a living and why he had to travel to….she had no idea where he’d gone? She realized she hadn’t gotten much information from him and he hadn’t yet called to check on his dog.

She crossed the street and walked to the entrance of the park with Sir Harry dutifully at her side but just inside the park's entrance, he ran to the first tree they came to and began to sniff along the base of its trunk.

Emily waited, to allow the canine his personal exploration, and looked around the crowded park. Dozens of children were in the playground enjoying the swings and slides and their parent's stood nearby watching their offspring at play. Couples sat cozily on park benches and the joggers paid them no attention as they jogged on by.

Throughout the park there were ice cream, pretzel and hot dog vendors working their way through the crowd. The smell of the latter’s offerings was heavy in the air and must have wafted over to Sir Harry because the dog picked up his head, sniffed the air, and let out what Emily had come to know as his 'hungry yowl'.

“Okay, we can get a hot dog if you like,” she said to the tail wagging dog and saw his ears pick up and then he headed over to the hot dog vendor’s cart.

“Are you kidding me, you understood hot dog?” she asked with a laugh and followed the big, furry dog to the food cart.

The vendor was an elderly man with a friendly smile.

“So is this for you or your furry companion?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Actually both of us; I’ll have mine with mustard and onions and he’ll have his plain.”

The vendor made their order and continued to chat with her.

"Nice day for a walk in the park," he observed.

"Yes; it is." Emily replied easily.

"Dogs enjoy it too; just like hotdogs," he chuckled.

"Oh I'm sure of that," Emily agreed, giving a smile to Sir Harry, who was dancing with impatience for that hotdog.

“He looks like a well behaved dog; have you had him long?”

Emily couldn’t say why she hesitated to answer that question, but she did. It wasn’t an unusual question but for some reason, it felt like it was. She smiled at the vendor and nodded but gave no vocal response, and no information.

The vendor’s smile waned as he handed her the plain dog for Sir Harry and the one with mustard for her. “There you go; I hope you both enjoy your hotdogs and the day.”

Emily nodded as she paid him for the food. Then she walked away with Sir Harry, still dancing next to her, telegraphing his desire to have that aromatic hotdog immediately, if not sooner.

 

Brent entered the park; he spotted Emily sitting on a park bench enjoying a hot dog; he also noticed Sir Harry was at her feet enjoying the same. It wasn’t the best food for the dog, but he was sure Harry would disagree with him.

Brent shuffled along the path that would take him past that bench and as he got closer, he waited for Emily to look up; it didn’t take long. She noticed him but he could tell she hadn’t wanted to but he had no choice; he was going to intrude on her happy, unhealthy food moment.

“Hi neighbor,” he said with a smile as he stopped and bent down to ruffle Harry's fur.

“Hi,” Emily mumbled, hiding her mouth behind her hand as she tried to swallow quickly.

“Nice day for a walk in the park,” he added nodding to Harry, “Looks like your dog is enjoying the day and a hotdog too.”

“Mmmmhmmm,” she said still trying to get down the last bite, and feeling trapped in an uncomfortable moment.

“My being new to the neighborhood makes me unfamiliar with the best places to wander in the park. Have any suggestions?” He asked.

Emily finally got the now tasteless hotdog down and managed a tentative smile as she answered.

“Not much different than any other park, lots of trees and pathways. I’d say pick any one of them and explore.”

She offered the suggestion hoping he’d go on his way but after a few uncomfortable seconds of his staring at her, she knew she was going to have to accept his company on this walk in the park.

*

Thies got a response from the trusted agent and sighed with relief as he read the coded text.

He smiled at Stacy as he filled her in. “We’re good; Santa was called back to HQ and there’s another agent coming to take his place.”

“Why was he recalled?”

Thies shrugged.

“Not sure and won’t be told. Could have been a personal reason or his particular skills were needed on another assignment.”

“So we get left in the dark? Are you sure you trust this Frosty guy?”

“His name isn’t Frosty, and yes I trust him.”

“Then ask him to give us the 411 on why Santa was pulled.”

“There are closed doors even for trusted agents; you know that.”

“Well, I’m not good with closed doors; I prefer to break them open,” Stacy said, not hiding the challenge her words implied.

Thies gave her a sharp look and shook his head.

“Stacy, we have to tread lightly. If we appear to suspect decisions, we’ll have a spotlight on us we don’t want. Not if we’re going to break into a warehouse and try to find out what happened to Brent’s brother. We need to stay under their detection skills.”

Stacy’s smug expression changed to resignation and she nodded. “You’re right; we have to play along, act like everything is copacetic.”

Thies chuckled, “Yeah right; so let’s play back that video and determine where that guy went.”

“Brent said he couldn’t determine that.”

“Maybe I’m better than Brent at determining motive and action,” Thies bragged, adding a disarming smile.

“Huh; I’m sure you think you are, but okay, let’s replay it,” she said with a skeptical smirk. She wasn’t a fan of his ego but he did give off a capable vibe, and some other vibes too, but those she'd fight to ignore.

*

Brent knew he was hindering Emily's private walk and felt her desire to speed ahead of him but it was proving to be a fruitful outing.

He’d just seen a familiar looking person duck behind a large trunk of an old oak tree; he was sure it was the man from outside Emily's door. Emily had been targeted and someone knew she had the dog, but the only way that information could have been leaked was by an agent. An agent who’d been privy to it; a trusted agent on their team.

Brent steered Emily and Harry towards that tree; they were closing in on it and Brent was primed to tackle the threat when they got there.

When they passed the tree Brent turned with intent but stopped when he saw no one was hiding there. He looked around faking an interest in the red birds darting in and out of the tree top, using it as an excuse to thoroughly scan the area. But he was stumped; how could that rather large man move so quickly, and undetected? He hadnt seen him flee? When the answer came to him, it made for an ironic twist. 

Brent realized the fat man was in disguise and most likely, a lithe, in prime form, trained agent, not unlike himself.

“Damn,” he mumbled darkly at the revelation.

“What? What’s wrong?’ Emily turned around, concerned by his harsh tone and worried he might be having some kind of health scare.

Brent realized his slip and put on a casual smile as he pointed to the tree top.

“The cardinals; they’ve all gone away.”

Emily stared at him and asked slowly, “The birds…flying away…upset you?”

Brent felt like a cumbersome idiot but he had to keep the fool in place.

“Yeah,” he gave her a goofy grin above his patchwork, hairy chin as he added lamely, “I love watching birds; next time I’ll bring my binoculars; you’ll love seeing them up close too.”

Emily’s face froze in the warm afternoon sun; it froze in abject terror and she couldn’t make her raised brows lower or her gaping mouth close.

Brent pretended not to see her reaction and walked on ahead of her, to give her time to recuperate from just learning of his intent to accompany her on her daily walks to the park.

*

The video was just as Brent had said, limited in its range. Once the man walked out of the frame nothing more could be seen of him.

“Well, I can’t tell which way he went can you, oh great detector?”  Stacy asked with a sarcastic snicker.

“Maybe,” Thies said and hit the play back for the tenth time.

“You’re kidding me; you’re just being stubborn. There's no way to tell where he went and I’m not watching it again; it’s become a form of torture. I’m going to make some coffee.”

He hadn’t responded; he was glued to the screen. She shook her head. “Not so adorable now,” she mumbled under her breath as she stepped into the kitchen. But She was happy to discover this annoying chink in his otherwise too gorgeous armor. It helped to focus on his flaws and not his perfections.

“Damn,” she mumbled; she’d just focused on the latter.

*

Thies frowned in concentration as he watched the video again in slow motion.

There was a slight hesitation before the man stepped away from Emily’s door. He leaned to his left for a second before he looked at the camera and stopped, then took a step backwards away from the camera's lens, and out of range. Could the lean to left have been his intended direction and when he realized the camera would show the way of his escape he changed it?

Thies sat back to consider it. If the intruder had gone left to the stairs leading up to the roof it could mean he’d fled over to another rooftop, and gotten away. But with his girth it should have slowed him down climbing the stairs. And less than five seconds after the man moved out of range, Thies and Stacy show up on the video stepping onto the fifth floor landing. They should have seen the heavy set man climbing those stairs, but they hadn’t.

“So, any luck with viewing ten, or are you on eleven?” Stacy chuckled and placed a mug of hot coffee on the desk next to the video player for him.

“Thanks,” he nodded to the coffee, “No, I haven't a conclusion yet but I think he intended to go left to the stairs leading to the roof. Only thing is, we arrived in seconds and didn't see him climbing them.”

“Right, fat man can’t run huh?”

“I don’t know maybe he can; he’d have to…or…”

“Or what…?”

“Or he wasn’t a threat. He had the wrong apartment, realized it, and walked over to the right one and stepped inside.”

“It’s a plausible theory,” Stacy agreed and took a sip of her coffee.

“It is, but I still don’t think its right.”

“Your intuition is calling you out?” She chuckled.

“Yeah, it’s telling me I’m missing something,” he grumbled and hit the play button again.

“Oh no, I’m out of here; I’d rather watch paint peel,” Stacy griped and took her cup of coffee back into the kitchen to gleeful stare out the window.

*

Brent hobbled up the stairs chatting knowledgeably about all the bird species he’s recorded and glazing Emily’s eyes over into ice chips; she hadn’t even blinked in the last five minutes.

“So, I know we can spot a few of these rare species here; I have a guide book from the Audubon that says they migrate here at this time of year.”

“Goody.”

Emily’s monotone response wasn’t lost on him; he nearly chuckled but managed to keep a straight face as they stepping up onto her landing.

He walked her to her door.

“You didn’t have to see me home,” she said as she dug out her apartment key from the back pocket of her jeans.

Sir Harry sat down next to Brent waiting for the door to open. Brent rubbed his ears eliciting a happy whimper.

“It’s not out of my way; I’m only a floor down,” Brent said amiably, “So, if you ever want to compare notes on any birds you see, please knock. Until then, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said cheerfully before he turned and shuffled slowly back to the stairwell.

“Great, can’t wait,” Emily mumbled, feeling awful for feeling so annoyed. He was a lonely man with a boring hobby. She shouldn’t be so judgmental. After all, she did read boring how to books for S.H.T, and right now her employers name kind of said it all.

*