The Guardian

have to work it out. He’d go to Mervyn’s or maybe Malstroms. The Fashion Show Mall was a good place. Nobody ever questioned you there. The stores there were above the norm, Neiman Marcus, Saks, Adrienne Vittadini, and the likes.
    He pulled the Jag out of the garage. He closed the doors securely. After he locked them, he headed for the strip. The Fashion Show Mall it was.
    With any luck, he’d be able to spot his next guest. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, not with the Jag. He would come back with the van. He would follow them home and watch them for a day or two. After establishing their habits a little, he’d work it all out. He wasn’t going to rush this time, no more mistakes.
    A big smile on his face, he headed out to do his shopping and search for one more little friend. Chapter 68
    It was just past midnight and the black, gleaming projectile sped down the road. It headed to its first of several destinations of the night.
    Killing the lights, he used his night vision glasses to see where he was going. Installing a special switch on the bike, it allowed him to turn off his lights. Many of the newer bikes, with the exception of the Harleys, the lights automatically came on and stayed on after started. Because of the way he sometimes had to maneuver and operate, traveling with any lights on was a major hindrance.
    He parked the bike far enough off the road so it wasn’t seen from any traffic that may happen by. It was far enough from the house so they wouldn’t see it.
    The first house sat back up on a ridge. It didn’t have any fences or gates. There were a few trees scattered around the property. Other wise there was no barriers or boundaries to be of concern.
    Built of rich, redwood timber, the house was quite impressive from the outside. The huge, floor to ceiling windows at the front gave a view of the expansive living and dining area. It was so large it consumed the entire front portion of the house.
    There was a large fireplace against the right hand wall. The stones on the face were large, polished, precisely cut sandstones. They were set in precisely to give the image of a large eagle with its wings wide, legs outstretched. Its talons were open as if ready to grab its prey. It was very impressive indeed.
    To the left was a large spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. It appeared to be the master bedroom. The railing ran the edge of the stairs and along the walkway at the top. It was made of a rich, highly polished mahogany that showed your reflection when looking into it. He couldn’t even imagine what it would take to keep a place like this clean. Living in the desert was a nightmare of dusting and cleaning.
    The Guardian wasn’t interested on the inside of the house, as impressive as it appeared. His focus was on the outside. He was looking for the van.
    He made his way around to the left side of the house, noticing the large, four car detached garage. It was also rich redwood material. The roof was made of wooden shingles to give a more rustic appearance.
    He made his way along the side of the house. There parked in the large, semicircular drive way sat two cars. One was a BMW 7 series sedan. The other was a Lexus Ls. Both were worth at least 70K. They had money.
    He moved cautiously, stealth like, up the fine gravel driveway to the garage. He was listening for any noise that would indicate that something was awry. There were two medium sized widows. It was total darkness inside, but with his night vision, he could make out what appeared to be an early model dune buggy. It was complete with bright, orange whip antenna with a small, purple flag attached at the top.
    Beside the buggy was a new model, white, Plymouth Town & Country. There was a single entry door on the side at the far end, opposite of where he was. He made his way around to the other side. He noticed that there was no lock on the door, just a hasp with a cheap Master padlock. He pulled his pick set from inside his jacket. He had the lock open within seconds.
    Once inside he was able to get a better look into the van. He got along side the van and peered in. It wasn’t the one he wanted. In the back seats, directly behind the driver’s and front passenger’s seats were two, large, very secure child car seats. Behind those were the third row seats. This was a bust.
    It couldn’t be the one they were after. It would take too much time and effort to unfasten, remove, and replace those child