Chapter 9

“Nice to meet you,” said Leon as Stevens walked in the door. The club owner invited the prospective employee to have a seat and started asking the usual hiring questions.

As they talked, Matt scanned the room unobtrusively. The office was on the north side of the building with one wall on the outside. Good. Access could be possible through a side wall, as well as through the roof. His walk through the club had revealed guards at the front and back entrances. With the points of entry guarded 24/7, a clandestine break-in would have to be the way. Perhaps a weekday entry in the early morning hours. As he answered questions, his mind calculated the possibilities. After pleasant goodbyes, Stevens walked to his car and drove away, still turning the problem over and over in his mind. He would have to get the security guard’s schedules and movements down cold to find a window for his break in. Time was becoming critical as the old bastard Arthur was pressing him for an ETA on the goods.

Several days later, the police continued their mind-numbing surveillance. Watching club goers party and throw up outside became nauseating after a while. The officers soldiered on in the confines of their van, knowing all they needed was one break to get a case going.

Their big break came the next day. Officers reviewing the tapes at headquarters had a question. Who was the prospective employee who interviewed with Mark and Leon the previous Tuesday? And why did this same person appear on additional tapes on different days walking in the vicinity of the club and sitting in a parked rental car?

Stevens cursed himself for using the same car, but he couldn’t very well rent a new car every day to watch the club. Unaware of the police surveillance, he did not realize his own movements were being tracked until it was too late. Plain clothes officers pulled him out of the rental car and took him downtown.