The police are so predictable thought the Guardian. He watched as Johns and Christian scouted the area. He smiled. They’ll never know that I’ve been on the premises, he thought. No, the Guardian doesn’t leave clues. He accessed the safe house two hours earlier. He was now tapped into their audio and video system. He could hear and see everything the police heard and saw. He watched as Katrina examined the house. He knew this wasn’t up to her normal standards but she was being a trooper. Just hold on a little while longer he thought.
They entered the house and he could see the surprised look on Katrina’s face, the inside décor of the house wasn’t what she expected. He could tell by the look on her face. He knew all of her facial expressions. Johns showed her to her room and told her to get some rest. He watched as she lay down on the bed and promptly fell asleep.
There didn’t seem to be any sign of trouble near the safe house. Katrina’s pursuers hadn’t gotten their hands on that piece of information yet. He knew that it was only a matter of time. He decided it was time to be proactive. He needed information. He thought back to earlier today, he had just missed them at her parents’ home. He should have known they would go there next. But at the time he needed to insure that she was okay. He’d also needed to get her out of harms’ way. Katrina’s pursuers moved fast. He knew of two of them, and there was a strong possibility that a third existed. But he wondered if more were involved. They moved too quickly and got information they shouldn’t have too quickly. He didn’t think two to three of them could do what had been done so far.
He’d yet to figure out why they had targeted Katrina and Kim. He was at least assured that it didn't have anything to do with who Katrina really was. The only clue he had right now was that the crew was searching for something in her apartment. Neither girl was wild, or out of hand. They both kept low profiles. So he didn’t know what they could have that the pursuers were after. He realized he needed to figure out the catalyst fast. Katrina’s pursuers kept increasing the pace. He didn’t want to get left in the dust. He had already failed to save Kim, he’d be damned if he lost Katrina.
The police at the safe house appeared to have everything under control. It was time for him to stalk his prey. He knew where they lived, but that was their cover. He had already searched their apartment and come up empty handed. They had killed Kim someplace else. He needed to find their work house. Their work house would give him clues to what they were up to. He checked the transmitter he had placed on their car earlier today. They were on the move. He was familiar with the area in which they were driving. He had an idea where they were headed. The transmitter stopped moving where he thought it would. He knew exactly where they were and proceeded to head in that direction.
Traffic was pretty light for a Saturday evening. He made it to the coffee shop in fifteen minutes. There were several cars parked out front. The Guardian scanned the area. The cafe's lights were dimmed. He didn't notice anyone else heading towards the cafe. He walked to the door and skimmed the poster as he entered. “Spoken Word Night,” that explained the crowd. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. There were a couple of seats available. He chose one close to his prey, but also allowed his back to be against the wall. He spotted several graduate students in the audience tonight. He recognized many of them from watching Katrina. All the students Katrina had spoken with on Friday night were in the house: Saadat, Aisha, Adan, and Maxi.
The Guardian listened to the conversations around him. One was in Spanish and the other in Arabic. He couldn’t speak as many languages as Katrina, but he spoke the ones that counted tonight. He relaxed in his seat, just another poetry buff. He leaned his body forward and caught part of the conversation. He assumed they were confident no one spoke their language. They both spoke freely concerning the incident with Kim and Katrina.
“We have to find those diamonds. I can’t believe that little bitch wouldn’t tell you where they were,” said the first.
“I don’t think she even cared, she laughed throughout the torture, I think that might have been her plan all the time,” said the other.
“She’s one twisted chick. She finally gave us the location, but it came a little too late,” said the first.
“We were too close on Friday night, if you weren’t so clumsy we would be gone by now,” said the other.
“Who knew she had all that shit in her apartment. I had never been to her apartment before. I don’t know why Bastian wanted to take the body there anyway. It would have been better if it wasn’t found until we were gone,” said the first.
“He was hoping to scare the crap out of Katrina if he hadn’t found the diamonds. Seeing her friend like that would have made her talk real fast,” said the other.
“Yeah, I guess. The laptop must be with her since it wasn’t at her apartment or her parent’s house,” said the first.
"It was there the first night, but thanks to your clumsiness we missed our opportunity. Bastian said you walked around the apartment like a clumsy elephant. You woke Katrina up, you made so much noise. She managed to escape and you were nearly caught by the police. You could have gotten it when you broke in, now we are trying to play catch up," said the other, his control slipping at the thought of how close they had come.
"Calm down, I've already apologized for the slip up. It's only a matter of time before we get what we need," said the first.
“Yeah, but time isn't something we have a lot of. Edward’s source says they’ve moved her to a safe house. I don’t have a location yet, but I’m sure by tomorrow we’ll have one,” said the other.
“She’s not important, only the diamonds are, she doesn’t even know she has them. We’ll know where to find them soon enough. We just have to get access to retrieve them,” said one.
“That’s provided Bastian doesn’t want to kill her anyway. He doesn’t like loose ends.”
“Yeah, I learned that the hard way but at least with this score we can retire.”
The crowd began to clap, snap and whistle. The performance was over. His prey stood up to leave. He waited several minutes before following them. It was all starting to make sense now. Or so he thought.
The Guardian got into his car and checked his transmitter once again. Just as he’d thought, they were headed towards their apartment. He waited five minutes then followed. He needed to do a little more reconnaissance. From what he’d heard, they have a source inside the Chicago Police Department. That’s how they’d gotten her parents address so quickly. He parked his car and traveled on foot through the alley behind his prey’s apartment. He advanced on their apartment window and crouched down. He was glad for the lack of security lights in the back of the complex. The moonless night also provided extra cover. He opened his bag and pulled out his audio transmitter. He knew it was dangerous to be this close, but this transmitter only worked within twenty feet of the source. He was glad they lived on the first floor. He was not in the mood for dangling from the roof to listen to their conversation.
He sat below their kitchen window and began positioning the audio transmitter. He picked up a conversation, but the voices were wrong. He repositioned the transmitter. He picked up a second conversation, one of his prey spoke the words “Donaldson” and “four officers”. It has to be Edward’s, their source inside the force he thought. They now had Katrina’s location. He listened as they started making plans to get the diamonds.
The Guardian began to make plans of his own. They were going to strike on Sunday night during the football game. They figured the cop’s guards would be down. Their source had told them the cops were big football fans and they wanted the element of surprise.
The Guardian listened to his prey until they retired for the evening. He knew just what
they were going to do. He smiled. They’d have their hands full tomorrow. Even the best laid plans can come undone, he thought. And theirs was already unraveling at the seams. They just couldn’t see it yet.
The Guardian packed up his things and returned to his car. It was time to head back to the safe house. He had gotten all the information he needed. He knew there were at least four players in the game. He knew what their plan was and why Kim had died. He looked at his watch. He had plenty of time to set things in motion. Yeah, he was ready for them now. He loved being the good guy.