They’d now established a direct communications channel to CONTROL through the satellite-converted cell phone, which could get tricky. The specifically designed application replicated the dark web chat box but required them to enter a memorized “start word” every time they typed into the text field. The application randomly prompted them with a number between one and one hundred by displaying it at the top of the screen—each number corresponding to a unique password. They both knew these words by heart. Only one mistake was tolerated. Two incorrect attempts shut down everything, including their laptop’s access. He had no idea what happened after that and didn’t want to find out.

At 8:34 p.m., Harvey Rudd dropped his wife at the corner of Fait Avenue and South Glover Street in what looked like an upscale part of Baltimore, even though it was hard to tell with the flat redbrick facades. The map said they were in Canton, which was within walking distance of the northwest harbor, just to the east of Fells Point—a high-rent district. They’d have to be somewhat cautious here. People paying a premium for a one-bedroom loft with a view tended to keep an eye on the neighborhood. He wanted to keep his drive-bys to a minimum, if not eliminate them altogether. Young had parked her Jeep about halfway between Fait and Foster Avenues on South Glover Street.

They’d turned off Foster Avenue onto South Glover just in time to see her disappear into a town house on the east side of the street with another woman. Young carried a backpack that looked large enough to be an overnight bag. The other woman was dressed in a business suit. The Rudds drew no conclusions from the little they witnessed, which was why he dropped Jolene off to keep an eye on things while he looked for a parking space with a view of the town house.

The problem was that South Glover, like almost all the north-south streets in this neighborhood, was a one-way street. In this case directed south. It took him several passes to finally score a parking space, which was ill suited for any of their possible follow-on missions. Located south of the town house, on the other side of Fait Avenue, he’d have to throw the SUV into reverse and blindly cross Fait Avenue, a marginally busy two-way street, to reach the town house—if CONTROL gave them the order to hit the house.