Jesse opened the hood of his Jeep and then dug around in the back cargo area until he found a can of brake fluid. He unscrewed the top, dumped the last of its contents into the brake reservoir, and then slammed the hood just as another Jeep pulled around the back of the mansion. Jeffrey Emerson pulled up next to him and nodded.

  “Good morning, Sergeant Taylor,” Emerson said cheerfully.

  “Good morning Jeffery. Did you come to pick up Sydney?”

  Emerson just looked at him and cocked his head.

  “Sydney told me that Sanders was picking her up today?”

  Just then, Sydney opened her door and headed for the Jeep.

  “Good morning, Jeffrey. Sanders couldn’t make it? She asked.

  “All I can tell you is that he asked me to pick you up. He said he had something important to do this morning.”

  “Well, we better get going then… we don’t want to be late for our meeting.”

  Sydney looked at Jesse, who was searching his Jeep for another can of brake fluid and said, “I’ll see you later, Mr. Wolf. Maybe we can work on that problem of yours.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Jesse smiled, looked up from the cargo area, and said, “Two days, Miss Perotti…oh, by the way…what’s wrong with your Jeep?” It hadn’t registered with him until now that Sanders or now Jeffery was picking her up.

  “It won’t start. A mechanic is supposedly coming by to look at it sometime today.”

  “Well, good luck with that!”

  Sydney smiled at him and nodded, knowing he was probably right.

  Jeffrey started the Jeep, put it in gear, and said, “Be careful out in the bush, Sargent. I hear it’s a dangerous place out there.”

  “I will do that, Jeff.” Not that you would know anything about that, Jesse thought.

  Although he wasn’t open about it, Jeffery was gay, and he hid it quite well.

  Jesse wasn’t fond of Jeffery. Not because of his sexual preferences, he could care less, but because he reminded him of Eddie Haskell, the little ass-kissing weasel from the TV sitcom Leave It to Beaver.

  Sydney blew Jesse a kiss, and Jeffrey gave Jesse a slight wave as he pulled away.

  Looking at them leave, Jesse thought, Spooks, what an odd bunch!

  *****

  Jesse found another can of brake fluid, topped off the brake reservoir, and placed the rest of the can behind the driver seat. He got in, pumped the brakes, and found they were somewhat firm again. He then started up the Jeep, slammed it into reverse, and backed up until he was even with the same guards he had encountered last night.

  “Sah-Yoh-Nah-Rah boys, see you in a couple of days,” Jesse said as he jammed the Jeep into first gear.

  One of the guards cussed him in Vietnamese and gave him the middle finger at the same time. Jesse didn’t need a translator. He let out a slight chuckle and drove off.

  One thing Jesse had no way of knowing. It wasn’t going to be a good day for Mr. Wolf!