Pressing his lips into a thin line, Detective Inspector Gavin Troy tried to resist the urge to scowl. One would think that, after spending his entire life in England, he would be used to the rain by now, but that was hardly the case. Every time he had to go work out in it, he found himself mentally counting the minutes until he could get back inside, and dry off.
Somehow, getting soaked at night just made everything seem even worse.
So far, River City had not exactly impressed him either. When he volunteered for these international assignments, they were usually in larger cities, and the cases had real weight to them. He could not quite believe Agent Walkers from the American DEA, when the man insisted that a surprisingly amount of drug traffic went through this town. Sure, it was possible, and years in Midsomer had taught him first-hand that little unassuming villages usually held some of the crazies secrets imaginable… but he still could not fully accept that this city was some kind of crossroads in the international drug market.
Without proof, that one was simply too far out there, even for him.
So far, this stake-out had provided nothing useful. No one had gone in or out of the old warehouse, leaving himself and several other officers from various agencies all standing out in the cold. Leaning his shoulder against the crumbling brick wall he was standing behind, Troy briefly wondered if the other men were also silently counting down to when this would be called off, and they could all go get a pint.
Of course, American beer was nothing like they had back home… but that was a minor point right now. Besides, he would rather just have tea or coffee—something to warm him up. In America, they always insisted on chilling their beer (likely to convince themselves it had a flavor), and a cold drink was the last thing he wanted right now.
Allowing his thoughts to wander for a moment, and masked by the rain, Troy missed hearing the sound of a window opening in the warehouse even though he stood almost on top of it. He did not, however, miss a lithe shadow separate from the overall darkness and slip into that window.
He had a radio with him, but he was reluctant to call in the movement until he was sure it was something more important than a homeless person sneaking in to crash, or a particularly large cat taking advantage of an unsecured opening to get out of the rain.
Troy took a few steps forward, eyes fixed on the window he had seen open. This time, he also listened carefully to catch any sounds that might give an indication toward what he had seen, and what the figure’s business was in the supposedly abandoned warehouse.