Free Tropical Safeguard (Men Of The Secret Service) by Stella Kelly Page A

others believed. He made a mental note to call Intel and do a personal
check on the nanny in the morning. What Agent Kensing didn’t know wouldn’t hurt
him. Cole cringed at the thought of including the veteran on his suspicions.
There was no telling how he could inadvertently screw it up. “I’ll check the
front and also scan the surveillance tapes. I’ll report back to you when it’s
complete,” he mentioned as the agents turned to leave the study.
    “Fine. I’ll check the back of the
property this time in case you missed something,” Agent Kensing announced as he
strode off with purpose.
    ‘ Nice. One last insulting little jab, how
professional .’ Cole bid everyone in the study a goodnight and then retraced
Gloria’s steps leading away from the study back toward the foyer. He opened the
front door and peered into the mailbox. Looking up, he noticed the security
camera in the left hand corner.   He
walked down the immaculately groomed front walkway toward the circular drive,
past the fancy lampposts and neatly groomed hedges until he arrived at the
front entrance. The security gate was closed and there was no way of entering
the property without having called the main house and being buzzed in by
someone. How had the person put the letter in the mailbox? Cole’s mind
instantly veered to the staff again. Inside job for sure unless there was
another explanation for the delivery.
    Cole turned and faced the mansion. From a
distance, it resembled any of the many mansions he’d seen in the Hamptons.
Relaxed yet grand with typical Bermudan architecture. Standing stationary, he
scanned the lawns with his eyes, really taking it all in. The yard was well lit
with strategically placed spotlights pointing toward a stone wall that ran the
entire perimeter of the property. The spotlights created a pattern of lit
uniformity along the sturdy wall. Coupled with the bright moonlight, the
grounds were anything but dark. Everything was beyond immaculate, even at
night. George the groundskeeper obviously took his job very seriously and had a
green thumb.
    Cole wandered around the perimeter of the
lawns toward George’s small cottage at the far right corner of the property.
The lights were on so Cole decided to seize the opportunity by knocking
lightly. A moment later, George answered the door.
    “Good evening, Agent Nielsen. What can I
do for you?”
    “Good evening, George. I was just
wondering if you noticed anything strange this evening.”
    “Strange? What do you mean?”
    “There was a threatening letter delivered
to the mansion and it’s a mystery how it was put in the mailbox. Does the
postman have access to the gate?”
    The elderly man scratched his head in
thought. “No, Gloria buzzes the postman in every morning during the week. He
drives his mail car right up to the front door and either drops it in the
mailbox or he hands it directly to Gloria. No one came in this evening that I
saw. That gate makes a humming sound that I hear every time it opens. I can’t
miss it. I didn’t hear anything tonight.”
    Cole took a step down and looked toward
the rot-iron gate. There had to be another way that the person had accessed the
property. He turned his attention back to George. “Okay. In case you do see or
hear anything suspicious, please let us know. I’d appreciate that.”
    “No problem.”
    “Goodnight then.”
    “Night, Agent Nielsen.”
    Walking away from the cottage, Cole
skirted the flowerbeds that ran along the perimeter of the grounds. He walked
past each spotlight until he noticed something odd. Two of the spotlights
pointing toward one section of the stone wall had smashed bulbs, throwing an
entire section of the wall into darkness. Cole knew this would allow someone to
jump over without being detected. It was clearly deliberate.
    He waded through the flowerbed until he
was at the wall. Hoisting himself up and perching at the top with his elbows,
he looked over and noticed a few logs leaning against