ZAK: Stakeout



I was approached by Joshua a week ago and asked me for a favor. The guy needed some information regarding someone (whose identity I shall not reveal due to the nature of the transaction) and after assessing the situation, it was decided that an old fashion stakeout would be the best way to gather it. I tried putting up a team to do it but circumstances dictated otherwise. It was either a team member was off to another project in another part of the country or was simple indisposed. Thus there was no choice but to perform the stateout on my own.



Normally, a stakeout is to be conducted on a place which is from a clear view of the subject but far away enough to not be seen, typically on a room in a building on the opposite side of the street. However, given the situation of working alone I decided to take the more direct approach - I went into the bar wherein the subject was known to frequent.



I was in casual clothes and even wore a cap in order to provide me with some sort of disguise (a cap and a slouching pose normally lessens the attention from you). I decided to enter a bit earlier to check out the layout of the place. I had to surrender my bag at the front dor, since they were not allowed to be brought inside the bar. It's a good thing that most of my devices are small enough to fit into the pockets of my jacket.



It was still early, a couple of hours before midnight but the place was already more than half full. Being alone I took a seat at a small table for two near the bar and ordered a drink. I passed the time checking my mail from my phone and talking with the waiter (who in turn seemed to hover near my place and keeping an eye on the amount of drink in my glass - it seemed ordering cocktail drinks would do that to you since they cost more than beer and thus they're hoping for a bigger tip).



One of the other rules in a stakeout is not to attract attention to yourself. However, luck wasn't with me that night. I forgot to figure the presence of celebrities and models that would frequent the bar. Whenever one of these types enters, a majority of the eyes of those inside would automatically zoom in on the newcomers and keep trail until the next one came in. In the next couple of hours, my supposed to be solo table was visited by various faces such as Dale Villar, Sarah Myers, a couple of female models (Marian I think and the other one's name also started with M - 3 vodak tonics in a span of less than an hour will do that to your memory.) and even Pricilla Almeda (the last one drawing more than the questioning glances from those around as if trying to figure out who that guy in the cap is). I did the customary "his" and "hellos" but quickly diverted their attention to someone else in order to avoid further exposure.



At a couple of hours after midnight, with a dozen girls still grinding on stage, a couple dozen more dancing with guys on the dancefloor and still no sign of the subject, and me reaching my alcohol limit, I left teh bar and went home to file in my report.