Love Story: In The Web of Life by Ken Renshaw Page B

Then, I heard, "Mr. Willard, is there a
problem?"
    I introduced Steel to Candice and she related
her encounter.
    "Let's check it out," said Steel. As we entered
the garage, Steel asked, "where did you see him?"
    "I was right here and he was by the driver's
side of the car."
    Steel asked, "Which car is yours?"
    "That blue Volvo over there."
    I thought to myself that it was not the most
likely model for a car thief to choose in this building.
    We stood back as Steel checked under the hood,
examined the interior, and shined a flashlight underneath the body.
In a few minutes he came over and said, "Two things unusual: There
is some kind of symbol drawn in the dust on the windshield, and
somebody wiped the dirt from the door, as though they were
eliminating fingerprints. Otherwise, it looks as if everything is
normal."
    Steel pulled out his security radio and called
someone. Then, he wrote down everything Candice had said. Soon, a
guard appeared with a camera that Steel used to take several shots
of the symbol on the windshield. I carefully examined the symbol.
It looked almost like a Mayan hieroglyph, a square with a stocky
stick figure, possibly a man, with its arms hanging
down.
    "Do you have any idea what this symbol is or
pertains to?" asked Steel.
    We both shook our heads to say no.
    "Where is that Symbolist from the Da Vinci Code
when you need him?" I quipped."
    Steel offered to test-drive the car, and
Candice agreed. Steel drove the car down to the next lower garage
level. We could hear the tires squeaking and his gunning the engine
and stopping.
    After he returned he said, "It seems OK to me.
Just to be safe, have someone check it over at a garage with a
hoist. I could not see much with the car on the floor."
    Candice replied, "It is due for a lube service.
I'll have it done tomorrow."
    Candice vigorously shook both our hands and
thanked us, took the keys and left.
    "I think I need a full written report. We are
working on an unusual court case, and it might have something to do
with it."
    Steel nodded yes, and said, "Give me your keys
and I'll check your car out."
    I went back to my office. Carolyn gave me her
'later?' smile as I went in.
    In a few minutes, Steel appeared in my office.
He was carrying a little black box in a plastic sack. "I found this
on your car. It is a GPS tracking device. Is it yours, or part of
an anti theft system?"
    "Neither," I said.
    "It is a model that is used by law enforcement,
not the cheap private detective quality. Do you want me to scan
your car every day for a while?"
    "Seems like a good idea."
    I returned to my office and checked my email. I
sent a brief email to Dore about what had happened. In
thirty-seconds, I had a reply instructing me to send the report to
a firm she identified as their security consultants, EB
Services.
     
     
     
     
    ****
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    THE
WAVE
     
    I spent the rest of the week preparing my case,
reading about remote sensing, and delving into the mathematics of
eight-dimensional space.
    Friday, just before noon, I got an email from
my friend at the Aviation Weather Station at LAX, also a soaring
pilot. She said that a late-season cold–front was approaching.
Tomorrow, about noon, there would be a good chance for a mountain
wave at CrystalAire.
    I got excited. As the cold front approaches,
the wind over the mountains forms a wave that can be tens of
thousands of feet high. In the ocean, surfers on boards ride along
waves that might be twenty-five feet high on a very good day.
Sailplanes can "surf" along a mountain wave to great heights. I
have soared to thirty–thousand feet on a wave. They are really
fun.
    I thought for a minute. Tina might be on lunch
break now. I called Tina on her cell.
    "Hi stranger," she answered. "What's
up?"
    "How is school going?" I asked.
    "Great! I just finished a final exam in my
night school class. This was the tough one, statistics, and a
subject that I was really worried about, required for my Masters,
one of my big