50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

More Life: Chapter Thirty-6ix

    The last stop on the tour of the property was a detached structure resembling a two-story garage. As soon as Darius pushed the door open, a flood of chatter assailed them. Within the confines of this building was unbridled chaos. An FBI agent jogged down stairs set against the right wall and she wasn't the only agent in the place. They filled the open area on the ground floor, some seated watching surveillance monitors, others on their laptops, and a few on their phones.

    Destiny froze while Carlos closed the door behind them. 

    Unaware that she'd stopped walking, Aubrey followed Darius further inside.

    "This was originally a garage," Darius told them. "When the Bureau purchased the property, we cleared out the garage and repurposed the space to better fit our needs."

    "I was going to ask what possessed you to take on this assignment by yourself," Aubrey confessed. "You were the only one who greeted us when we first arrived."

    "Make no mistake," Darius warned him. "Just because you don't see them, doesn't mean they aren't there. These guys are your shadows for the remainder of your time in hiding. They have access to the main house and will monitor via these screens and during routine checks. Palmer's squad shouldn't have been able to get close to you and Destiny."

    Aubrey turned to glance at her.

    She forced herself to move forward until she joined his side. "You don't think this many agents is a bit overkill?" she wondered.

    "We want to make sure there are no repeats of what happened in Turks," Darius said. "We're sparing no expense. Our thinking was that you were in hiding and disguised, so two agents would be enough. We hate to admit when we're wrong, but we were wrong about that. This is a high profile case. You and Aubrey are high profile witnesses. Two agents was never enough."

    "And now we have upwards of..."

    "Twelve, including the agents who are currently out performing a perimeter check of the property," Darius replied.

    Carlos scratched his head. "So in the interest of staying discreet and invisible...what will it look like when we're ordering ten pizzas and the entire menu of the restaurants in town, to feed the 20-or so people we have in these two houses? You don't think restaurant employees are going to get hip to the fact that we have a ton of people here? You don't think neighbors will get suspicious of the fact that we have people circling the yard at all hours of the day and night?"

    "These agents are well-trained," Darius answered. "The perimeter checks will appear casual in nature."

    "But it's still people walking around the same space over and over again, and still a ton of food for one house."

    "Only eight of the agents will be staying on the property. The rest will stay at a hotel in town, to keep their ear to the ground and keep an eye out for new people passing through town. They'll also be scouring for intel, both in town and in cyberspace. Here, there will always be two agents stationed at the main house. Two running a perimeter check. Two watching the surveillance monitors. Two sleeping or resting. Depending on the duration of your stay on the island, these agents will cycle out to trade places with the agents staying in the hotel. In regards to your concern about food ordering, food will be ordered from restaurants only sparingly. The source for most meals will be from grocery shopping. We have this under control."

    "Hmph," Carlos mumbled, walking away from them so he could be nosy. 

    Aubrey broke out into a grin while watching him. "You've got to admit, he asked valid questions."