Jon put on a phony look of surprise.
“Oh, wait! I thought I was talking about you and Cole, but it sounds exactly like you and me.”
“Jon.”
Jon looked over. Scowling.
Pike touched his lips. Be quiet.
Jon raised his hands, and drove on in silence.
Jon Stone was a deadly superb operator, but he could be annoying. Especially about money.
Pike said, “Slow five. Coming out of the next curve, it’ll be on our left.”
Jon eased off the gas, and they lowered their sun visors. Pike had chosen the route so the address would pass on Jon’s side of the vehicle. Jon would have to enter and exit the bungalow. Pike would be in his Jeep.
Prior to departing Jon’s house, they had studied satellite imagery to locate Schumacher’s bungalow, the surrounding structures, and possible routes to enter and exit the property. They discussed the locations where Cole had seen watchers, additional locations where a surveillance team might hide, and Leon Karsey, who lived directly across from Schumacher.
Jon had smirked.
“Old dude doesn’t sleep. I should bring him a fifth. Feed him booze until he passes out.”
They reached the far side of the curve, and the bungalow village was ahead on the left. Neither of them looked at it. Two people were crossing the street directly ahead.
Jon said, “Holy shit.”
Pike said, “Slow five.”
“Is that—？”
“Yes.”
The scarecrow and the meatball shielded their eyes from the oncoming lights as anyone would, but otherwise seemed unconcerned. They continued across the street, mounted the concrete steps, and disappeared between the bungalows.
When Pike glanced at Jon, Jon Stone was grinning.
“The scarecrow and the meatball. I just like saying it.”
They continued past without looking at the bungalows. Pike considered the woman and the man to be high-value targets. If there was a bug, they had planted it, so he didn’t want to risk losing them. Their presence required a change of plans, so Pike dug out his keys and passed them to Jon.
“No time to drive down for the Jeep. I need the Rover.”
“I know, I know. I’m still a go for the bungalow?”
“Yes.”
“Groovy. Let’s do it.”
Jon maintained their steady pace until they rounded the next curve, and hit the brakes. They threw open the doors, bailed, and Pike slid in behind the wheel. Jon went to the rear, popped the Rover’s hatch, and slung a go-bag over his shoulder. Pike watched him come forward in the driver’s-side window. Jon had an ear-to-ear grin. The grin made him look like a cruising shark.
“Know what I like saying even more? The cow and her cuck. Isn’t it mah-velous?”
“You don’t do this for money, Jon. You enjoy it.”
“The cow and her cuck. How’d you like to be that fuckin’ guy?”
Jon tapped the Rover and started away.
“Good hunting, brother. Stay groovy.”
Pike punched the gas. The scarecrow and her friend had crossed from right to left, which suggested they had parked on the right side of the street or come from a house on the same side. Pike had an image of a light-colored sedan, but it was possible they’d stepped around the sedan if they emerged from a house. Either way, he needed to be in position before they returned. He had two options: set up below the bungalows, hoping the targets went south, or above, hoping they went north. Driving south was the fastest and most direct route to Sunset Boulevard, but the street branched several times, and many of those branches led to Sunset. Driving north led to a meandering array of streets branching through the surrounding area, some looping south again to Sunset, and others leading as far north as the I-5 freeway. If Pike guessed wrong, he would lose them. He needed an eyes-on view to eliminate the guesswork, and this meant he had to set up on foot.
Pike turned east at the first turn, hammered the Rover north until he was above the bungalows, then hooked south again in a broken loop and approached the bungalows from above exactly as he had with Jon. Pike parked as close as possible while remaining hidden, and moved closer on foot. When the bungalows were in view, he found a place to wait behind the shadowed stalks of a yucca tree. Pike fit a headset connected with his phone into his ear, and positioned a military-grade Flexmike as thin as a toothpick to his lips. He surveyed the scene.
Ahead on the right were a small pickup, a couple of compacts, and the light sedan. The sedan faced away from him, and was parked almost directly across from the bungalows. Pike found this odd, and wondered what it meant.