“No, Sir, just making an observation. No disrespect intended, I assure you.”
“Oh, that’s right, dammit. You’re the guy who doesn’t know how to be tactful, aren’t you? Don’t fret about it, son, I’m just a cranky old buzzard. Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you from this end.”
The line went dead again, and Noah looked at his phone to check the email and files that had just come in. There were photos attached showing three men and a woman. He forwarded it to Moose. “Just forwarded you the files on the four people Parker has watching Molly. Take a look and tell me if that guy in there is one of them.”
“Will do, stand by.” Noah waited for almost a minute and a half before Moose came back again. “Boss? This guy doesn’t match any of those pictures, but the woman in the pictures is sitting three tables over from us right now. She hasn’t paid any attention to us, but she isn’t giving any to the stalker, either. I don’t think it would be obvious to anybody watching that she’s watching the girl, but it’s possible the other guy has made her.”
“Okay, see if you can get a picture of the guy you’re talking about.”
“Get a picture? How am I supposed to do that without him knowing?”
“Oh, you are such a guy!” Sarah said. “Here, I’ll show you. Let me come around beside you...” Noah could hear the sound of chairs shuffling around, and then he heard Sarah’s voice again. “Come on, now, we’re just going to take a selfie together. Come on, put your arm around me—okay, ready? Got it!”
Noah’s phone buzzed again just a few seconds later and he looked at the picture Sarah had sent him. She had aimed the camera over her shoulder to catch the man in the image. The photo showed a tall man, probably in his late 30s. He had dark hair and eyes, and was sporting a thick mustache. Noah passed the phone to Neil in the back seat.
Neil had his computer open on his lap and quickly plugged the phone into it with a connector cord. He downloaded the photo while he was opening a program and quickly cropped out the man’s face. “It’ll take a little time,” he said to Noah, “but I’ll start running him through all the facial recognition databases I can. I’m starting off with FBI and CIA, since we’re right in their backyard, anyway.”
Noah nodded. “Smart thinking,” he said. “Moose, try to keep an eye on him without making it obvious. Keep up the small talk between the two of you, talk about this college Sarah’s going to, stuff like that. The way you act and talk can be better camouflage than hiding behind the wall.”
In the back seat, Neil suddenly called out, “Bingo! Got a match! The stalker is Pasquale Morabito, Italian-American from New York. Thirty-nine years old, got a record for some stupid things when he was younger, assaults and strong-arm robberies. He’s been employed four times by mercenary groups and he’s still listed as being on the payroll of an outfit called Semaphore Services. They’re sort of an anti-terrorist SWAT team, they get sent all over the world when small countries need help dealing with any kind of terrorism.”
“Interesting,” Noah said. “Any idea how long he’s been back in the country since his last job?”
“According to NSA, he was at home in Tennessee until a week ago today. He loaded some gear into a car and drove away, and they lost track of him. No idea where he’s been since then.”
“This guy works in international military-type circles,” Moose put in. “It’s a bit of a stretch to think it’s only a coincidence that he’s sitting here right now, watching the girl we think is a Nicolaich target.”
“I absolutely agree,” Noah said. “Keep watching, we need to know just how closely he’s watching her.”
“Hey, Boss?” Neil asked. “Guess what I found.”
Noah turned to look at the skinny kid. “What?”
“The cloud-based video stream from the security cameras inside that restaurant. Wanna watch?”
Noah opened his door and then climbed into the back seat beside Neil. His computer monitor was split into four camera views, and one of them showed Molly and her companion.
“Only four cameras?” Noah asked. “I don’t see Moose and Sarah on any of them.”
“There’s a dozen cameras,” Neil replied, “but if I split the screen any more we won’t be able to make out any details. Here, let me get picky on the cameras I display.” He tapped the keys and touch pad for a moment and two of the views changed. Moose and Sarah were centered in one of them and Pasquale Morabito in the other. “How’s that?”
Noah nodded appreciatively. “Good job. Moose, Sarah, I’m watching Molly’s body language and she seems pretty upset about something. Are you picking up anything in there?”