Working with the FBI

Neighborhood watch-out

*****************************Chapter 5**************************************

        After finishing a pretty long and detailed explanation about the robbery to Uncle Marcus, he told us it was an interesting case. The reason he said, was because Jace was involved. He was the only minor robbing the house while everyone else was at least 30+ years old. Why would a juvenile “work” with men over half his age? Moreover, for what incentive?

        So, with that conclusion Cole suggested to do a “neighborhood search/watch out” for Jace Hayer tomorrow after school. Uncle Marcus thought it was good idea and told us to inform him if we find more information about Jace. He could use the valuable info to his advantage to solve this mini-case. He also told us not to tell anybody in hopes of maybe, just maybe, getting a boost at his job if he tells his boss about some new unheard-of information about the robbery.

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        On Friday me, Cole, Andrea, and Aria all planned to do the “neighborhood watch out” to look for Jace. Not in a creepy way or anything but just to see what he was up to. After school, we decided to spy around the park near Cole’s house to try to find Jace. We obviously don’t know where he lives yet or whether he’ll be at the park, but when he lied, he said he was at the park, so it doesn’t hurt try. All four of us made the decision to meet up at Cole’s house at 4:30pm.

        As soon as I got home from school on Friday, I collapsed onto my comfy bed. I woke up from my peaceful nap at 4:17pm and quickly got ready. I texted Aria and Andrea ‘I’m coming’ and ran to the kitchen. Luckily, my parents weren’t home from work, so I won’t have to tell them where I’m going (Ah, the perks of being an only child). I swiftly grabbed my keys and headed out.

        Everyone was already there and apparently they all had a plan which I was notified about via text, by the time I got to Cole’s house. The plan went something like: Observe, Act, Disintegrate. Ok, that might be a tiny bit dramatic but you get the point.

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        We decided that Cole and I would be the ones to eavesdrop on all conversations while Andrea and aria would be dictating the actions done by ‘the enemy’. If, he happened to even be there.

          Our luck was proven right 15 minutes after we reached the park, also known as Eaglewood Park. Jace came walking in, looking very nervous for some reason. Cole and I were sitting on a wooden bench directly across from him. Thankfully, he couldn’t see us because there was a huge oak tree and a mini red play structure blocking the view. We however, could see his actions very clearly. The only thing Jace did though, was sit on a bench like we did.

          Andrea and Aria were watching us from their car about 30 feet away. Eaglewood Park was square-shaped and its parking was located around its square-shaped sidewalk. Half the park was only grass, while the other half was filled with bark and contained the main play structures. Wooden benches, green trees, and gray drinking fountains were placed all throughout Eaglewood Park. A few minutes later, Andrea called Cole and we both listened gingerly to what she had to say.

          “Look straight ahead past Jace”, Andrea whispered.

          “Why…?” Cole said as we simultaneously looked ahead. “There’s nothing there?”

          “No, look at that black GMC Terrain aka the menacing-looking-car”

          “And your point is…”

          “SHHHH…just watch!”

           “Okay, sheesh!”

        And there it was. Just like in every other action-packed-movie, a man with a black suit and sunglasses stepped out of the car. Except there wasn’t an explosion behind him or an intimidating army squad. It was just a short, chubby, vacuous man in his thirties. He was probably one of the men that robbed the house. His expression was ‘exhaust’ with a mix of ‘blank’ as he walked up to where Jace was sitting.

        Jace immediately looked up with wide-eyes. He mumbled something to the guy but it was inaudible to us. The guy then gave some sort of greeting to Jace, staring at him right in his nervous pupils.

        I glanced at Cole, who had ended the phone call with Andrea as soon as we saw the guy walk to Jace, and was now trying to record their convo. She motioned for me to be silent and pointed towards Jace’s direction. I nodded my head.

        All of a sudden, panic struck me! I looked around the park and realized there was barley anybody! When we came in only a few kids were paying on the structure but now there was none. Some people were jogging but nobody was on the play structure anymore, the park was pretty much empty except for us and the guy/Jace. The thirty-something-year-old guy most likely has a gun on him and if he sees two teenage girls that could possibly be recording him, things would NOT turn out pretty.

        I practically kidnapped Cole and ran behind the nearest bush. It was done subtly though, so they wouldn’t suspect a thing. Cole however, definitely didn’t suspect a thing, and looked at me like someone was being murdered in front of her, when I dragged her behind the bush. I quickly motioned for her to chill, while I explained my reasoning via text in her phone notes. When everything was calm, we decided to text Andrea and Aria about our situation.

        After Cole touched ‘send’, I turned around and peeked at the guy and Jace. They were in deep conversation and didn’t break each other’s eye-contact. I watched them for a couple of seconds until they seemed like they stopped talking. Then, I turned back and poked Cole. She turned around too and peeked through the other side of the bush. Jace and the guy both stiffly shook hands and parted away. Jace walked away as nervously as he did when he entered the park. The guy also left exactly like he came in, too.

        As the guy skulked away, something white flew out of his back pocket and landed on the cement. We watched as the guy reached his GMC Terrain, without a clue that he dropped something. When Cole and I both thought the coast was clear and the two were out of sight, we started talking.

         “Did you see the white thing that fell out?” I asked her.

        “Yeah, let’s go see what it is before it flies away or something!” Cole suggested.

        “Good idea”, I responded.

          We hopped over to where the white thing fell and discovered that it was a sheet of paper with numbers on it. There was a date and some kind of time--messily written on it. It read: $$ 13/5 548-2uilly ct. 19:15.

          What could that mean..?