I was told not to go out till they had things sorted. I had no problem with that request. Things got weird as the decoy started to talk more boldly. My guys concurred that he is in contact with the culprit himself so we had to find a way to acquire his comms. He is possibly getting instructions directions from what's his name directly. We knew that he was going to come out and roam around openly soon enough. He was the bait and I am the shark he is hunting. A week later he popped up out of nowhere. I made it clear that any and all records they acquire will be edited. Think about it. For months everyone has combed the length and breadth of information. They came up empty now and suddenly his record is officially public property. Something is seriously fishy. The think tank had no choice but to agree. We decided not to tail him home since they most likely bugged the place. These are rearranging the chessboard. This time they are hoping for a win so they can continue in peace. I was pretending to be a southerner. I had previously practiced a Louisiana accent for good measure. My contact lenses were blue. My wig was dyed purple and was in ringlets. I was wearing dentures with a few gold teeth. I was staying in the apartment as per the request of one of the nerds. Apparently the wife owes a favor to one of them. Still she had a curious disposition. I made it clear that I am here to clear my head after I caught my husband cheating on me with the nanny. The woman was sympathetic. She expressed her concerns when she saw the scars. She politely asked me if he did this. I was instructed to say yes so I did. She was insulted that I was married to such a person for that long. I wore a prosthetic on my face to change my features. Even DD wouldn't recognize me. There were protests as I said not to digitally change my face as they might be prepared for it. So after careful consideration it was decided that prosthetics will have to do so. I even wore a sling for an added bonus.
I asked her if I could go to the park and enjoy some peace and quiet. She happily agreed. But first she asked if we could make one pit stop. I happily concurred. I waited for her to change her clothes. I looked around to see a few pictures of her wearing military garb. One picture had her posing with the primary target so I called it in. The ear piece exploded so I pulled it out to protect myself from permanent hearing loss. After a few minutes the shooting pain in my ear disappeared and I asked if they could activate her phone's camera and microphone to eavesdrop on her conversation. A debate was held and one guy promised that it would take a few minutes. I said it is possible that she is trying to log me into the list of suspects. After all we are now on their turf. This had a few swearing badly but the geek squad promised to find a solution. So the nerd in question came in person. As he was on his way I promised to keep her busy as he bugs her phone. The door bell rang and a young man walked cheerfully. He was eighteen years old, freckled, tall and slender. He had curly brown hair, he wore a Metallica T-shirt and a pair of shorts. He casually told his aunt that I was supposed to help him with an English literature assignment. He had placed an ad on Craigslist and I had responded. The woman gave him a look and waved us off as she drove us both to his house. I sat in his room and looked at the book in question. She gave me once over and I gave her nephew a brief understanding of the book. She was impressed. I told her that I have a master's degree in English literature. I have a minor in hotel management. She pressed her lips as I explained to her nephew from a gamer's point of view. A brief introduction of each character and how some were described as NPCs. Some parts were described as a type of side quest. She listened with interest and finally he understood the book. He gave me a thumbs up and the woman asked me if I wanted to be a part time teacher. I told her that I have no interest in teaching I only did it as a favor. I get to stay in an apartment in exchange for helping him understand his assignment. I would be a part time house sitter. I would help out with the groceries but other than that I want to be by myself.
She believed it was a fair trade. She drove to an old building and asked me to wait as she had some business to handle. There were a few people who were watching me. My guess is that these people have sharp memories. It is possible that they are trying to establish a mental data base. One of the nerds asked me if I did that. I reminded him that I am a serial killer and I have made mental notes of certain people in case they would be an obstacle. Some of them are likely to be amongst those protecting him or be on standby. The moment I have been made. These guys are going to jump me from every direction. Think safari show where a bunch of cheetahs jump on an antelope. One of them came and tapped the glass but I ignored him as a rule. The woman came and asked me to nicely lower my mask or I might have to spend the night in jail. So I lowered it for his viewing pleasure. He took a long look and walked away. She asked me if I was from L.A. I started laughing as the ear piece instructed me to say that I am from a sleepy little town near Louisiana. So I did. She gave me a look but decided to say nothing. I asked, "Sweetie, is it possible for me to relieve myself. I will be back in the car lickety split." She blinked a few times before she said yes. I walked out and used the bathroom. I told everyone to brace for the blow back. I was walking back I saw the primary target. The people on the other end went wild. I got in the car and pretended to listen to music.
The man asked for an introduction and the woman said that I was her nephew's tutor. She was simply giving me a ride. He asked me about my sling. She said that I was hiding from an abusive ex-husband. He advised her not to fall for tall tales. She retorted that she has seen the scars on my body which is consistent with physical abuse. This shut him up. He asked if I was going for any sort of grief counseling. He has a bad feeling about me. Thankfully my fake identity was rock solid. He could use a fine tooth comb and get zilch. I smiled, "Kind Sir could you please recommend a place for a foreigner like myself. I was hoping for a good piece of steak. I miss the home town barbecue. You know my aunt always said" Immediately he said, "On second thought maybe I judged too quickly. I am getting rusty at figuring people out." Tanya laughed, "No old man. You hit the hammer right on the head. She is all kinds of trouble with a capital T on it. She is skilled enough to make you think she is a girl scout" the other hackers laughed too. I did have a device that can copy anything on a person's phone or laptop. I had flipped the device to start copying the moment I saw him. It can even replicate other forms of communication. So if he was using a device like mine then I am going to be eavesdropping from now.
When we reached the park she got a phone call to go somewhere. I told her I will get an Uber to take me home. She wished me luck and drove away. I waited till I was by myself to inform the others what I had done. I received a round of applause and a request to send the stuff over so they can examine it inside a faraday cage. I was given the address and I first grabbed a hotdog before walking to hail a cab. I told them till I reach my destination I will be silent because until further notice everyone except them and the think tank is aiding or abetting. I sat in the cab and the guy refused to shut up. His questions felt like it was fired from a machine gun. Rapid fire round kept going till we reached our destination but I refused to say a word. Instead of answering I flipped the switch and duplicated his device too then I did crossword puzzles. I got out of the cab and he wished me a nice day. I paid him his due and gave him a wink. I got inside and gave the hackers the device. I got it back in ten minutes. Then I walked out to the window to see a man in a suit staring in my general direction fearlessly as though he was here to spy on me. I got out and walked off to find a cab. My tail followed me till I reached a crowded area. I managed to lose him. I made sure to take off my jacket and stuff it under my t-shirt. I made it look like I was pregnant.
I walked a few more paces and hopped on a cab and drove to a book store. The others were perplexed till I said that it was a cover story. If these guys suspect me then they will inform her that I suddenly vanished from sight. She will want to know where I was and this will be evidence to shut her up. The others wanted to know about my rebellious youth. I said that I had a few friends who liked to sneak out and use harmless objects as a cover story. I made a few pit stops. One of them was a sandwich shop. I walked around in circles and I stopped at an Internet cafe. I saw a kid watching a TV series. In it there was a guy who sprayed a chemical so that the police could tag a person of interest and track them by drone. So I asked if there was a real world application. They said that they will find out. I made it clear if we make a move without finding a way to neutralize it then it is game over for all of us. We can't go in blind. Because if we fail then more innocent people are going to die. The inventors went into overdrive and the trick was to find out where to acquire it. One of the thinkers said to send a person as an intern in the forensics department and use a small refillable portable perfume bottle and load up the liquid. Then bring it over and have the engineers mass produce it for testing. Once the solution was discovered the next phase can begin. One of the engineers said that they will volunteer to get it.
When I came home the land lady was interested in my exploration. She saw the bags and snuck a peek. She saw a few books, a strawberry soda, a large sandwich and a large serving of fries. Also some tea and a jar of honey. She gave me a once over and calmly walked off to yell at someone. I received a round of applause and congratulations for my quick wit. I was told that the cabbie was involved with the bad guys. Not to mention for the first time they got to hear the voice of the sanctuary killer. The person on the other end was arrogant and seemed to think that we had fallen into a trap. He is working his best in L.A. to find the perpetrator who had anonymously testified against them in court. This testimony had led to the arrests of some unsavory people. People who would have helped them to do horrible things abroad. Some of them were selling under the table while others were torturing or kidnapping or people blind left right and center. This anonymous witness in fell swoop cut short their cash cow. They also had to return money that they had stolen so they are trying to torture witnesses till they get their hands on the right person in question. We informed Jake and he took care of business. I volunteered to be bait but apparently they have discovered someone who wants to die but unfortunately he hasn't found a purposeful way to death. So the trick was to make them think that this was done by a man but unfortunately the plan won't work since they have seen a woman disappear after killing their associates.
So I decided to play bait and he could come and die in the attempt to rescue me. The idea was dashed immediately. I went in any way. The old man was sitting in a park bench playing chess. I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk. A few people gave us the eye. He took my hand. As we walked around I was certain that both invisible and visible eyes were on us. He asked me nicely if I was trying something. I said, "Mister. I am in an unfamiliar place. You are the only recognizable face I see. I am hoping for some peace of mind." The man gave me a look and smiled. We walked around and sat down to eat and I wished him a good day. I asked quietly if they get his dimensions correctly because we have one chance and we can't spoil it. The others were frightened but did as instructions. As I walked back I gave a few of them a wink. They stared at me blankly before minding their own business. I went to the bookstore and came back with a device to detect bugs. Thankfully I found none. I searched the room top to bottom but found none. For safety reasons I used sign language to speak. A plan was made and we would create a diversion to kidnap him. We decided to begin with a blackout, then a flash mob as a distraction. Afterwards he gets kidnapped. He gets shot and we leave him for dead while we have people kidnap the other guy in L.A. We would have to scan them for GPS trackers because the moment they suspect something fishy was going on they will use every form of tracking imaginable. So I asked for a change of clothes, a knife and a pair of gloves. My tail stopped following me the moment he saw me tutoring a bunch of teenagers. I changed my clothes and followed him by motorcycle. I hopped off as a tour bus expelled its passengers. The guy who was keeping an eye on him temporarily lost sight. I calmly walked over and stabbed him repeatedly and slit his throat for good measure before walking away calmly. I had hopped on the bike and was a few feet away when I heard the gasp and screams of tourists. Simultaneously the guy L.A. was stabbed too. The enemy had lost a visual of their precious cargo for a moment and he was killed too.
Before the monsters managed to get a perimeter set up I got back to the bookstore and changed my outfit. I quietly made it back to my tuition class and was explaining the subtlety of Shakespeare when the door burst open and my land lady walked in. She saw that her nephew was actually finishing his homework she gave me a look and walked away without an apology. I asked her if everything was alright and she said that her friend was murdered. I gave her a hug and she was taken back. I conveyed my condolences. She asked her nephew if the lesson was over. He said, "She was helping me with reading since I am dyslexic. I have been telling everyone that I understand better if someone bothers to read the material to me but no one cared. What most people don't know is that I remember better when someone reads to me." She felt sorry and asked when the study session would be over. He answered in an annoying tone that I am staying till his mom comes back from work. That means the very next morning. The woman pursed her lips as she looked around. She saw a security camera and asked for the password. He showed it to her and she scanned the images for a few minutes. Then lowered her head and exhaled forcefully. She called her buddy and informed him that it was a bad tip. She said that the security footage clearly dictates that I was here all night long and she wished me a good night before walking out. The pizza guy came with our food and she paid for it.