Page 24 of Tiger on the Prowl

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Jay walked into the computer room, freshly showered and dressed, a bagel in his hand. It was two in the afternoon. He’d gone to bed at five in the morning, at which time Yankee had taken over watching the surveillance cameras in Olivia’s cottage. During the night nothing had happened. Olivia had gone to bed early, and nobody had entered or left the cottage.

Yankee was sitting in front of the computer, staring into the monitor, his feet up on the desk. He turned his head when Jay entered.

“Hey,” Yankee said. “Got some sleep in?”

“Yeah.” Jay pointed to the monitor. “Anything happen?”

“Not much. Olivia got up around eight and got ready pretty quickly. Didn’t even have breakfast. She packed a bag and left the house.”

Surprised, Jay stepped closer. “She packed a bag? Can you replay the tape?”

“Sure thing.” Yankee took his feet off the desk and rolled his chair closer, so he could type on the keyboard. “Here you go.”

Jay watched as Olivia, dressed in jeans and a casual T-shirt, went in and out of her bedroom, though he couldn’t see what she was doing in the bedroom, since he hadn’t placed a camera there. After a few minutes, she emerged with a small black travel bag and placed it next to the sofa in the living room. Then she walked back into the hallway and appeared on the camera in the office. She opened the closet, and took out a long dress. It was wrapped in a plastic sleeve like the ones similar to what dry cleaners used. The dress was a soft pastel of greens and blues. She closed the closet door, then walked back into the living room, looked around as if trying to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything, before she grabbed the travel bag and dress and left the cottage.

“What day is today?” Jay asked.

“Saturday, why?”

“That’s it. She’s going to her sister’s wedding.” A wedding she’d invited him to attend as her date. Before she’d thrown him out of her house.

Behind Jay, the door opened. He looked over his shoulder and saw Lilly enter with a tray of food.

“Hey, Jack, I brought you some food,” she said with a smile.

Yankee rose and walked up to her, kissed her on the lips, and took the tray from her. “Thanks, Baby, I’m starving.”

“I can take over here,” Jay said. “Take a break.”

“You sure?”

Jay nodded. “Where’s everybody else?”

“Scott is outside with Phoebe. She’s not feeling well, so they’re walking a little in the backyard. Maybe the fresh air will help her.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Jay said. “Will she be all right?”

Lilly nodded confidently. “Don’t worry about her. The pregnancy isn’t easy on her. I think it’s all the stress that’s getting to her. I did an ultrasound on her this morning, and the baby looks fine.”

“You took her to the doctor?”

“No, I managed to get a portable ultrasound machine delivered.” She winked. “Michelle is really good at procuring anything we need. At least that way I can be useful.”

Yankee chuckled. “You’re always useful.”

Lilly blushed, and Jay had to look away. It was hard to be in the presence of happy couples like Yankee and Lilly and the others, when he knew that he’d blown it with Olivia.

“Where are Fox and Michelle?” Jay asked to change the subject.

“They’re setting up surveillance outside of Langley,” Lilly replied.

“What? Are they crazy? They shouldn’t go anywhere near the CIA.”

“Can’t be avoided,” Yankee said. “They need to capture the license plates of every car entering and exiting the CIA’s parking lot to help us determine whether Smith works for the CIA.”

Jay shook his head. “That’s risky.”