The other apartment was much different than the smaller one they left behind. It was modern, clean and spacious. There was plenty of room for guests in the living area, and the kitchen table served as a convenient conference room. Well decorated and stocked with nice furniture, it was the kind of place that naturally put people to ease.
Finishing a simple dinner of soup and vegetables, the two men continued to discuss the events at the park.
Webb said, “that was slick using the recorder to capture the pass-code the informant gave you. You two barely spoke to each other,” as he chased a dribble of soup across his chin.
“I memorized the number just in case, but using the recorder cuts down on time and it's one less thing he has to hand off. And if I'm stopped for some reason all I have on me is a key. That is much harder to trace than a key and a pass-code written on paper.”
“And a key is easily explained while a paper with odd numbers might raise suspicion,” suggested Webb.
The man nodded and explained, “I don't like public hand-offs like that. Too visible. Too many things can go wrong, especially with an untrained participant. But in this case we had no choice. The key to a successful meet is to make it quick, easy for both parties and natural. You give the subject too many things to remember he'll get nervous and appear stiff and unnatural. Good chance of him screwing up too.”
Webb, taking in the information replied, “makes sense. Simple and low profile trumps complex.”
Nodding in agreement, the man continued, “Two guys commenting on the duck pond doesn't draw much attention. If he had mucked about for twenty minutes it would start to look odd.”
Webb replied, “So now what?”
The man finished chewing and swallowed a bite of his asparagus as he responded. “Now's the hard part. Now we have to plant the bug.”
Then men continued to discuss their plans in low tones. They were reasonably sure they had not been compromised to the security services so they had not resorted to using code or turning up radios to defeat listening devices.
After nearly an hour, the man said, “I'm hitting the rack. Get some rest, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“Roger that Miller,” replied Webb as he fiddled with one of his many gadgets.
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