He smiled. 'I'm ninety-nine percent sure she'll remember me. And I think I can make it a fond memory.' Weezy gave him a puzzled look. 'I'll explain tomorrow.'
FRIDAY
1
'What is the state of your investigations?' Ernst said from the rear of his Bentley as it cruised the city.
He'd given his driver the day off and replaced him with Szeto. His usual driver knew nothing about Jihad4/20, and would live longer by remaining ignorant.
Szeto half turned his battered face to speak through the opening in the glass partition between them.
'Connell has not gone to police. Instead he made large withdrawals from bank accounts yesterday as soon as he escaped.'
That wasn't good. It showed a cool head at work. Probably not Connell's. He was an actuary, a number cruncher, who had sat only inches from the cold-blooded murder of two men. His likely response was panic.
'I see the hand of the Connell guardian angel. I think we can assume our brother will not be going to the police. If he's carrying a large amount of cash, it's obvious he's going into hiding. We may have to resort to putting out a BOLO on him.'
Szeto shook his head. 'That will not help if he goes to Wyoming like sister.'
'No, but if he's hiding, he's silent, and that will be a good thing.'
If they didn't find him, it was not the end of the world.
Ernst shook his head at the phrase. End of the world… the end of the world, at least as anyone knew it, was just around the corner.
But he couldn't allow the imminence of the Change to lull him into complacency. So easy to slip into the attitude that the Change will make all these concerns irrelevant, so why bother?
'What about that other investigation?'
'The boy Jack from New Jersey?'
'That would be it.'
Szeto said, 'I find record of him in the town of Johnson, as you said, but little beyond that.'
Ernst frowned. 'Where is he now?'
A shrug. 'He went to local high school, to state college but did not graduate. After that, nothing.'
'Nothing? There's no such thing as nothing unless you're dead.'
'Much bad luck in family. Parents and sister dead, brother missing, wanted by Philadelphia police and may be dead too. Perhaps your Jack from New Jersey is also dead.'
'No. Connell told me he's some sort of repairman. His Social Security number will-'
'I could not find Social Security number.'
'Ridiculous. Every American has one.'
'Was not necessary when he was child. Maybe he never get.'
How interesting. No SSN and working as a repairman. Thinking back on his encounters with the teen, he remembered how strong a Taint he had. And he'd sensed a deep independent streak coursing through him. Repairs were often paid for in cash. Yes, he could well imagine a grown-up Jack dodging taxes and Ernst stiffened in his seat.
And killing to protect his friends?
No.
He forced himself to relax.
Rich though he was with the Taint, Jack had exhibited no violent tendencies. But could something in his life have brought the Taint to the surface, changing him?
Possible…
But highly unlikely.
Szeto had described this guardian angel as highly skilled-a 'ninja,' he'd called him. That bespoke training. In real life the grown-up Jack was most likely just as he appeared on paper: a college dropout living off the books as a repairman.
Still… too many blank spaces in that picture. Ernst did not like blanks. And did not want another crossed path from that little town in New Jersey circling back on him.
'Keep after both of them,' he told Szeto. 'In the meantime…' He reached for the radio button. 'Let's see what's going on in the world.'
He scanned the channels until…
'… and so far, beyond filling in-boxes with avalanches of blank emails, the virus appears to be more of a nuisance than a threat to the computers it has infected. And it has infected many. Experts estimate that more than half of the world's personal computers and networks have already been infected with this as yet unnamed virus, and the number is rapidly growing.
'If in the last forty-eight hours you've opened an email with no subject line and no content, you are probably infected. If you haven't, then it's very easy to avoid infection: Do not open any email with a blank subject line, no matter who it's from. Even if it's from your mother or your best friend-especially if it's from your mother or your best friend-DO NOT OPEN IT.
'Antivirus software companies are scrambling for a cure to release to their subscribers. Stay tuned here for the latest. We'll keep you posted on what you can do to clear this nuisance from your computer.
'So far, no one has stepped forward to take credit-maybe we should say 'blame'-for the virus.'
Ernst smiled as he turned off the radio. The world was aware of the virus. This was what he'd been waiting to hear.
'We'll remedy that right now. Has the video been uploaded?'
Szeto had been on his cell phone. He ended the call and said, 'The video is up.'
'Excellent.'
He had obtained the number of Ellen Rifkin, one of the reporters for the ABC television network. He turned on a voice distorter and punched in the number. A woman answered.
'Rifkin.'
'Ms. Rifkin,' he said in a matter-of-fact tone. 'I have news about the email virus.'
'I'm listening,' she said in a bored tone.
Ernst wondered how many of these calls the network was receiving.
'The virus is called Jihad four/twenty. To see a video with more details, search 'Jihad four/twenty' on YouTube.'
He ended the call, then made similar calls to specific reporters at the New York Times and Fox News Network. That pretty much covered the political spectrum.
He opened the back of his prepaid phone and removed the battery. Then he pulled out the chip. He was carrying caution to an extreme, he knew, but it gave him comfort.
A Lebanese brother high in the Order had recorded the deliberately out-of-focus video just yesterday. He had recited the message in Arabic first, then repeated it in English.
Ernst turned the radio back on.
'It won't be long now.'
2
Jack arrived at Weezy's a little early. Dawn had accepted her invitation for coffee and Jack wanted to be there when she arrived.
He didn't get a chance to knock. As he raised his hand, the door swung open and Weezy grabbed his
