Balance (56 page)

In an effort to end her deterioration,
Michael
starts working
directly
with Rena
on the investigation
,
providing
whatever
assistance
he can to
help
locate the mark. 
Q
uestioning
that they’ve been looking for the wrong
types of locations and support, Michael suggests
an approach that
’s more aggressive and risky.
  He proposes
turning their profiles inside out, look
for the opposite modus operandi;
for the last place Whitemire would operate out of, the people she would
not normally
work with.

Locating
the man Whitemire was with the ni
ght
of her
discover
y
,
Meg
tag
s
his car w
ith a tracking chip.  Immersion
monitors
his vehicle for a week.
 

T
he tracker prov
ides a break, an unusual ritual; he
stops
regularly at an old abandoned tenement.

Over
a two-week
span,
Michael and Meg
perform
round-the-clock
surveillance
on
th
e building
.
In that time, the man stops six times.
A
l
though they never see anyo
ne
else
enter or leave,
he
stays for over an hour every time.
C
oncerned they could scare off Whitemire, potentially prolonging Rena’s
distress;
Michael
believes
confronting the associate directly is out of the question
.

Sharing
Michael’s
concerns and
underlying
rationale,
Meg
suggests a
midnight
recon
naissance
trip.  Michael, Waters and herself would comprise
a
three-person
team.  B
eing the most equipped for close quarter confrontation,
Michael
will access
the building as
she
and Waters
handle
outside surveillance
,
watching
for any activity
that could be threatening or related to Whitemire
.
Rena,
act
ing
as
Seer,
will
provid
e
immersion support from the Bunker.

Appearing
un
inhabited for
some time, t
he
tenement
remains
dark and
desolate
. 
Working
his way up the
exterior along
the
fire escape,
Michael
listen
s
for activity through the many broken
windows
.
The old dilapidated
building
, with its weed infested, crumbling foundation, rusty ironwork, faded and cracked siding is the least likely place to find someone of interest to a person as powerful as Chango.  Michael believes making it the perfect place to find a mark as elusive as Whitemire. 
Just before e
nter
ing
through
the roof
access,
he reports to control
, “Looks like the building is separated into apartments, each taking up half a floor.  It appears
to have housed up to eight families
at one time
.
 
I’m g
oing silent until I know no one is inside.
”

“Confirmed.” Rena replies.

On the fourth floor,
Michael discovers
refuse
suggesting
vagrants
had
liv
ed
there a long time ago, the dust cover
u
ndisturbed
.
Whitemire’s associate did
n
o
t appear to be the stealthy type
, so he likely never ventured this far in
side
. 
Continuing around the fourth floor, Michael finds both apartments
vacant and ransacked, definitely
unsuitable
as a base of operations. 
He
find
s
similar evidence on the next
three
floors, working
his way
down to the first
.

Moving
through the tenement
toward
the front door,
trying
not
to
disturb
anything,
Michael
find
s
evidence of traffic entering an
d
continuing
down the hall.  Following the path visible in the dust and grime,
he
reaches a closed door. 
Studying t
he door
, he concludes it
does not go into
any
of the apartments, he
would’ve
seen it when investigating
the
adjacent
residences
.

Michael formulates a theory. 
Confident
the
dwelling
is empty
, he breaks silence. 
“Rena?”
 
Reaching
out to the operation lead, knowing
communications relay to the rest of the
field
team.

“Yes Michael?”

“
I’ve found
recent signs
of traffic leading to a
n
access
at the rear
. 
I’m not sure opening
the
door is a good idea
at this time.  I expect
it
leads
down
t
o
the
basement and I’m positive
it too is
empty
,
but I have a theory.
C
an you tell me what
active
developments are in the surrounding area, extending
a
two mile
radius
in all directions from
my current position
?”

“Hold on
,
let me get the aerial views up
.”  Moments later, “L
ooks like some more tenements, a park, old collapsed school
… “

Michael interrupts her, “Did you say a park?  How big and how far from this building.”

“It l
ook
s
to be twelve acres
in area
,
eight
blocks away.”

“Rena, do you ha
ve access to the municipalities?
I need d
rainage and sewer layouts?”

“I know where you’re going
with this
Michael
, we’re pulling it up now.
” Silence, then he hears her sigh, “
You
’
r
e
hunch is correct
.
A
major line
run
s
directly under that building
,
straight to the park, with
a maintenance access
.
”

“
G
ive me GPS in route.”  Michael quickly and carefully
exits the building,
trying to leave the tenement undisturbed.  R
ejoining Meg and
Waters
outside
, they d
epart
by foot
for
the park.
Rena providing
c
oordinates
;
tracks their
progress
real time against the location of the access, alerting them as the
y
approach.

“We
’ve found it
, and i
t’s a full size
ingress
. 
Here’s my theory
,
the secondary mark
enters the building, gets into the sewer, comes to the park ... and then goes … somewhere
, meeting up with Whitemire
.”
Michael explains.  Turning a circle,
he
survey
s
the park
and the developments visible around it.
 
“Rena, are there any E
lite apartment buildings
or complexes
bor
dering the park?”

“Yes,
t
hree,
high
-rises
.”

Michael continues,
“Okay team, I’m going to make a guess that
Whitemire’s
base of operation is in one of those buildings.  We’re going to have to wait until the secondary mark returns, pick up his trail
at
the park and follow him
,
either to a meeting point or to an apartment. 
Rena, w
e’re heading back now.”

“Excellent work Michael
.”
Takada
’s
voice
relay
s
over
comm
unications
.

Michael arrives at
their
quarters, around 3AM,
expecting to see the light on in the
Ready Room
.
He’s
relieved t
o see everything dark and quiet,
glad
Rena went to bed
.

N
ot wanting to disturb her
,
he
proceeds quietly
to his bedroom. 
O
pen
ing
the door,
he watches as
a sliver of lig
ht
,
from the outer room
,
cascades onto his bed revealing
its
lone occupant
,
sound asleep. 

Closing the door quickly and quietly, he disrobes and slides into bed hoping not to wake her.  He lies
on his back, eyes open working
through the night’s developments.
 
W
ithout a word,
Rena
slides over
,
wrapping her naked body around his, her head
rested
on his chest.  He
drapes
his arm
over
her
,
placing his hand on the small of her back, caressing the soft bare skin.  He
pull
s
her close, making sure she feels safe.
Listening
to her breathing
unt
il it goes shallow and
rhythmic;
he
drift
s
off to sleep
minutes
after her.

H
ours later
Michael wakes, Rena still wrapped around hi
m exactly as
s
he fe
l
l asleep
.
  He touches her hair, gently pulling it back from her face.

She whispers, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For picking up my slack.”

“Rena, there
’
s no slack to pick up, only crumbs.  You’re doing too much, wearing your
self out.  You’re worrying me,
Meg and Waters too.”

“When this is over … it’ll get better.  When Meg is safe.”

“Until the next operation.
” He
reminds her
.