The Descent

Chapter 41 - The Panther

"Are you out of your mind?" the Captain said. "Food delivery? What would be the point of that? To keep him holed up even longer?"

"To get eyes on him, to see what he's doing. I knock on the door, pretend that I'm the delivery person and get a quick lay of the land."

"Not happening, Staxx," the Captain said, his voice louder. "If anything, we want to starve the man, so he comes out, not give him another reason to stay put."

Denton sighed and looked for support to Leah, who just slightly shook her head. She agreed with the Captain?

"I told you he wouldn't like it," Tanner whispered, even though Denton was the only one that could hear him.

"Why not?" Denton pressed and locked eyes with the Captain. "At least we'd be doing something. Why wait for him to make a move?"

The Captain squinted his eyes and sighed. "Because they don't deliver to that hab, Staxx. That's why. Showing up as a delivery person would be out of character and suspicious. Now, can we move on to a different topic?"

Denton ran the fingers of his hand through his hair and sighed. He hadn't thought of the possibility that delivery services could be limited. The Captain was right. His idea would have the opposite effect. But wait. Why had Carter picked a lower end apartment to stay in?

"Isn't that odd though, Captain? Carter Forsythe, the heir to one of the richest men in the known universe, settles down in an apartment that's not upscale enough to qualify for food delivery? That makes no sense."

"What difference does it make? Maybe he just doesn't want any deliveries?"

"I don't buy it. He's got the resources. Why hide?"

Tanner's voice returned, this time with urgency. "Denton, it may not matter. There's someone at his door right now."

"What? Who?" Denton said as he took a few steps away from Leah and the Captain, a finger in the air, pointing to his ear with his other hand.

"I can't tell. It looks like some sort of delivery."

Denton's eyes darted to the Captain. "There's a delivery at Carter's door?" he said loudly enough for the Captain to hear. "It's not food, is it?"

"It doesn't look like it. Wait, the door is opening. Hang on."

Denton stepped back over to the Captain to explain what was happening. The Captain immediately patched into Tanner's feed.

"What do you see, Tanner?" the Captain asked.

"He just went inside. The delivery driver is inside."

Denton glared at the Captain but kept his mouth shut.

"Should we send our teams in?" Denton asked.

The Captain thought quietly for a few moments and then shook his head. "No, let's follow the delivery guy when he comes back out. I'd like to know where he came from. Then, we pick him up and find out what he was doing."

"Tanner, did you hear that?" Denton said. "Get one of the teams into position to follow the delivery driver back. Position team members throughout the expected return route, ready to take over from the previous person. Avoid detection at all cost."

"Denton, I do know how to run a surveillance operation. I've got it handled."

Denton shook his head and grinned. Tanner was definitely his usual self. "Keep the other team on standby, just in case Carter decides to take a walk."

"Roger that."

"I'm heading down there, Captain. Something is wrong, I can smell it."

"Good idea. Take Leah with you."