Making the Rent the Hard Way - 23

 

With my workday over, I went home to wait for Luca. I spent the time after eating supper doing more research on Farnham's residence. The photos in several society column articles showed a large house, which I knew from my map search. The living room was two stories tall with windows front and rear and a balcony along two walls that, presumably, led to the second-floor bedrooms. There appeared to be a solarium off the rear of the living room, which overlooked a large, tree-filled back yard.  There was one shot of party-goers in what I thought was a furnished basement with a pool table at one end.

Luca appeared just after eleven. Seconds later we were back at his place. Or, at least, the place where he was hiding out for the time being.

"Tonight?" Luca asked once we'd settled in the living room.

I nodded. "But only to do recon. You can bet your bottom dollar the house is well secured."

"You can get past it?"

"I'm a detective, not a burglar, but then, I don't have to be. You'll teleport us in when the time comes and pray there aren't motion sensors."

"There might be," Luca replied. "He's a shifter, so he knows another shifter can drop in without using a door or window."

"Good point. We'll deal with that, if necessary, when the time comes." I handed him the pictures I'd printed out. One showed the back yard through Farnham's living room windows. I tapped it. "Enough of a visual to get us into the yard?"

"Yep."

"Good. Let's hope he's at the restaurant tonight. If he was there Friday night, I didn't see him."

"He's very hands-on, so he usually puts in some time there every night. Plus, like I said, that's where he meets with his partners in crime—in one of the back dining rooms."

"One way to find out." I called the restaurant, asking to speak to Farnham. Whoever answered asked me to hold on while they went to get him. I hung up. "He's there. Let's pay a visit to his house."

Luca put his arm around my waist. Then we were in the trees behind the house. Security spotlights lit the exterior of the house, but they didn't keep us from seeing that there were lights on in one of the downstairs' rooms, as well as in two on the second floor. "Security precaution?" Luca asked in a whisper, pointing to the second floor.

"Let's hope it's that and not guests or the help."

Sticking to the trees, we checked out both sides of the house. All the windows were dark. The front yard was one long, well-manicured lawn, with a row of trees in front of the bushes on either side. We skirted the edge, looking back at the house. The only light, other than exterior spotlights, was in the entryway.

"Now what?" Luca asked when we returned to the back yard.

"We wait and watch." I pointed to the lighted windows. "If we see someone, anyone, we hold off."

Apparently, Luca didn't like that idea. One minute he was beside me, the next he was gone. I sighed, waiting for someone to raise the alarm when they saw him—because I knew he was inside the house.