Dead Even - Mariah Stewart [101]
“Do you think he’ll have help from some of the reverend’s security staff?” Mara wondered.
“He’s traveling alone. We already know that much,” Aidan told them. “He was tracked to the airport, but he managed to slip past our guy out there. Looks like Prescott loaned him one of his private planes for the trip. What’s that tell you?”
“That Prescott wants the girl back pronto, before she gets to talk too much about what’s going on out there.” Will nodded.
“That’s my feeling, too. Now, we know he’ll be headed this way, but there are so many airports within a few hours’ drive of here, it’s tough to know where he’ll be landing. We’re trying to determine where the plane will have clearance to land. We just don’t have as many agents available for this job as we could use, so we’re going to have to be ready for just about anything at any time.”
Will started toward the car to move it into the driveway next door, pausing near the back of the sedan as a black pickup passed by. He watched it speed up, then proceeded to pull the car into the drive. He was on the phone when he returned to where Aidan and Miranda were still in conversation. He snapped the phone closed and dropped it into his pocket.
“So what’s the plan here, Aidan?” he asked as he joined them.
“During the day, two outside. Once Julianne goes to bed at night, there will be two agents inside, two outside. During the day, we’ll be taking turns grabbing what sleep we can on the sofa next door at Mrs. West’s. She also has one of those air mattress things that she made up in her den for someone to catch a few winks on.”
“Nice of her,” Miranda said, recalling the small, white-haired woman she’d met on previous visits to Mara’s house.
“Very,” Aidan agreed. “Sleeping in the car gets real old real fast.”
“I hope we can wrap this up before Halloween.” Miranda watched several children run up the front walk of the house across the street. “I’d hate to see this play out with the sidewalks filled with little trick-or-treaters.”
“Not to mention big trick-or-treaters,” Aidan said thoughtfully. “You never know who’s behind those masks. You could have someone like Jules slip right in with a crowd of teenage boys, and who’d know the difference if everyone was wearing a mask.”
“Great. Something else to worry about.” Will grimaced.
“Just hope Jules moves tonight or tomorrow night, then we won’t have to deal with the Halloween crowd. That could be really dicey.” Aidan didn’t really want to think about just how dicey things could get if Mara opened the door to a masked Jules.
“So, I take it Julianne doesn’t know any of this is going on?” Miranda nodded in the direction of the house.
“Annie thought it would be a good idea if she didn’t. Her bedroom is on the other side of the house, so she won’t see us if she looks out the window,” Aidan explained.
“Doesn’t that leave the other side of the house unguarded?” Will walked toward the back gate to look over the yard.
“Only during the day, but there are no doors on that side of the house, and few windows, all of which are locked and alarmed,” Aidan pointed out. “Plus, keep in mind that because of the fence across there, anyone wanting to approach the house from the back has to go through Mrs. West’s backyard. There’s no way to sneak across the yard without being seen during the day. At night, we’ll be keeping an eye on the house from inside and out. I don’t think Jules will be able to get too close.”
“Let’s hope you’re right.” Miranda glanced at her watch. “Who will Julianne think we are if she sees us during the day? And hasn’t she seen you out here? Who does she think you are?”
“She’ll be told that you and Will are new neighbors, if she asks,” Aidan said. “She already knows that I’m a friend of her mother’s.”
“Does she know how good a friend?” Miranda asked.
“Not yet. We thought we needed to go real slow on that. Let her get used to the idea that her mother is still alive,