Page 56 of Tiger on the Prowl

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Jay had chosen the Le Diplomate restaurant on 14th Street in the Cardozo neighborhood of Washington D.C. because it was a busy area during lunch and dinner time, with several restaurants with outdoor seating at each block of the six-block commercial stretch. There were only two Metro stations within a comfortable walking distance, Dupont Circle and U-Shaw Howard. However, it was possible that Smith would show up by car, if he felt reasonably comfortable that he could get street parking.

Jay was prepared for everything. Wearing a fat suit to make himself look like a heavy-set man in his sixties, with grey hair, bushy grey eyebrows, and a stubble beard, and dressed in baggy pants and a casual long-sleeved shirt, he sat in a red sedan with an Uber sticker in the window.

Yankee was disguised as well, and not even Jay would have recognized him. He had long dark-brown hair, John Lennon glasses, and looked like an absent-minded professor. He sat on one of the outside tables, a full plate of food in front of him, while reading a book. His moped was parked on the same block.

Ace and Phoebe were also disguised, though Phoebe’s pregnant belly showed prominently. They were making good use of this feature, and carried a few bags from local boutiques, and continued to browse in the stores along the street.

Fox looked like the quintessential tourist, a selfie-stick in his hand, a guidebook sticking out of his jacket pocket, sunglasses and a baseball cap on his head. He wore shorts, a Washington D.C. T-shirt and sneakers.

Even Lilly was in on the surveillance. She wore a business suit and looked like a successful woman working in an office, her ear glued to the phone. She too wore a wig and dark glasses, so Smith wouldn’t be able to recognize her.

Michelle was back at the villa, coordinating the cameras and communication devices everybody was wearing hidden on their clothing. The earpieces they wore were either cleverly hidden by long hair like in Yankee’s, Lilly’s, and Phoebe’s case, or covered by modeling dough matching their respective skin color.

They’d all arrived an hour before the lunch date Olivia had arranged with Jay, knowing that Smith would try to arrive before Olivia to stake out the place and figure out the best position from where to watch for Jay’s arrival. Jay assumed that Smith too would arrive in some sort of disguise, though he couldn’t imagine that his disguise would be as elaborate as Jay’s and his friends’.

Olivia arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before noon, and got a table on the terrace facing the street, close to where Yankee was sitting. Yankee was asking the waitress for the check, because he needed to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice, and didn’t want to run off without paying.

Jay communicated with the others via his earpiece. Olivia was the only one who didn’t wear one. The risk that Smith might detect surveillance equipment on her was too great.

“Any sightings yet?” Jay asked, speaking quietly into his microphone.

“Negative,” Ace replied.

He received the same reply from all of the others, except for Fox.

“I have a possible. The guy in the suit and the sunglasses looking at the newspaper rack just outside the convenience store.”

Jay adjusted his rearview mirror so it captured the sidewalk just outside the convenience store which lay behind him. There was indeed a man perusing the newspapers and magazines. He took one, went into the store, presumably to pay, and then emerged a moment later. Instead of walking away, he hung around there, pretending to read, while his gaze drifted across the street to the restaurant where Olivia sat in plain view.

Despite the sunglasses, Jay recognized him. “It’s him. You all know what to do. Michelle, the clock is running.”

“Understood,” Michelle said through the earpiece.

For the next fifteen minutes, Ace and Phoebe went from boutique to boutique, while Fox perused the menus of various different restaurants as if looking for the best deal, while Lilly ordered an espresso from a coffeeshop and sat down on a chair outside it, and scribbled in her datebook as if making important business notes. Jay continued sitting in the car pretending to wait for his next fare, and Yankee paid his check at the restaurant, but he hadn’t finished his drink yet, so he kept sitting there.

While the clock ticked away, Olivia looked at her watch several times, and when the waitress asked her if she wanted to order something, she ordered a soda and told her she was waiting for a friend, and would order when her friend arrived. Meanwhile, Smith moved around too. He walked to Etto’s, the restaurant closest to Olivia’s and looked at the menu posted outside, while glancing toward Olivia. When a hostess asked him if he wanted a table, he declined, saying he wasn’t ready to eat.

After twenty minutes, Michelle announced through the communications system, “Ready for playback?”

“It’s a go,” Jay said.

A moment later, he heard the ringing of a phone in his ear, and saw that Olivia picked up her cell phone and answered the call with a sigh.

“Where are you?” Olivia asked impatiently.

Then the recording he’d prepared earlier started playing, and he heard his own voice through the earpiece.

“I’m sorry, baby, something came up.”

“What do you mean something came up? I’ve been waiting here for almost half an hour.”

“I just can’t make it today. There’s too much going on. Sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

“This is the third time now that you stood me up. You know what, Jay? Don’t bother! You’re just not worth the hassle. Don’t call me anymore.”

“But Olivia—”