The older woman put them inside her own purse. She stood. “I guess I’d better get started. You children be careful now. John, I’ll see you later.”
He stood and gave her a brief hug. “Sure thing, Squeeze. You be careful, too, these aren’t nice people we’re hiding from, and I think they have big ears and very long arms.”
“You just let ol’ Squeeze worry about herself, you hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Nice meeting you, Caitlin. You trust John here, and he’ll take care of you.”
“Thank you, Lori.”
“Sakes child, if you’re a friend of John you can call me Squeeze.”
“All right, Squeeze.”
John sat back down after Squeeze left by the front door.
“Interesting woman,” Caitlin said.
“Yes and nice too. Let me have your computer.”
Caitlin opened her purse and took out her notebook computer. She opened it on and slid it to John.
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m making reservations for a flight from Oakland to Colorado Springs.”
“How are you going to arrange it? I thought they’d be on to you too.”
“I’m sure they are. I may have tripped a flag when I registered our contract, or they may have gotten my plates last night.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I keep a few aliases set up in the computer files. You know how credit card companies will open accounts for bad risks or people with no credit by letting them deposit money into an account as collateral.”
“Yes.”
“It’s similar. I’ve opened a couple of accounts under different names by depositing money. The bills go to a couple of mail drops around town so that there’s no common address.”
“What do you do about the social security numbers?”
“Trash.”
“Trash? What do you mean?”
“I went through a few apartment complex’s trash a couple years ago and got enough social security numbers to last me. I just draw on one of those when I need another one. By not touching them until I have to, there’s no record of my having acquired them.”
“Fascinating. Then you do stuff like this all the time?”
“All the time? Hardly, but it has come in useful on occasion.”
“I’ll bet.”
John logged into the West Pac Airlines reservation page and then did a quick search for flights from Oakland to Colorado Springs. There were several direct flights, the last one late in the afternoon. He reserved two seats in first class, then took a small notepad from his jacket pocket and flipped through a few pages.
“Here we go. Robert and Charlotte Owens.” He typed in the credit card number, and a moment later, the confirmation number appeared.
“But how are we going to get the tickets? They check photo IDs at the ticket counters now.”
“I know Caitlin, I have it covered. That’s why I took a later flight, that and to give Squeeze a chance to have you make an appearance in the city.”
“Oh.”
“Do you have another memory stick?” he asked.
“Sure.”
She fished in her purse for a couple seconds and then her hand emerged with another thumb drive.
John plugged it in and downloaded some information onto it. Then he removed the stick, put it in his jacket pocket, logged off the Web, and closed her computer.
“Let’s go. We have a few stops to make,” he said and handed her the computer.
Caitlin returned the computer to her bag and stood.
As they left the restaurant, the lunch crowd was just beginning to appear.
Five minutes later, they were heading into west Oakland. John took out his phone and voice dialed another number from memory.
“Felipe? This is John. ... Yeah, I’m great. You? ... Fine, look, Felipe, I need a loaner and storage. ... No, probably long term, a couple of weeks anyway. ... Yeah, I’m on my way. ... Good, see you soon.”
He stowed his phone, and Caitlin looked at him.
“A loaner?”
“Yeah, wheels. I need to get this car off the road. It’s only a matter of time before it’s spotted.”
“You’re assuming they have full police cooperation?”
“That’s the safe assumption. Even if the police don’t know what or whom, they’re cooperating with. I doubt if they’ve been told much, probably just a line about national security.”
They turned south past a line of waterfront cranes that towered above the docks like something from War of the Worlds. A few blocks down, John turned off the street in front of a warehouse. He stopped at the entrance and hit the horn briefly. The garage door retracted, and they pulled inside.
A young, dark-skinned man stood next to the door. As they passed, he hit the close button and the door shut behind them.
Another man came out of an office door. He smiled at John as they got out of the car. “John, long time, mi amigo. Carl, take his car and exchange everything with the green Taurus, then park him on level three and bring the Taurus here.”
“Shore, Felipe.”
John and Felipe shook hands briefly. As Caitlin reached them, Felipe gave her a warm smile.
“Nice. You going to introduce me, John?” Felipe asked.
“I don’t think so. You’re not likely to meet her again, and it’s better that you not have to lie about meeting her.”
Felipe grinned again. “Ignore what he’s saying, Ms. Maxwell. I don’t mind lying when it involves such a beautiful woman.”
John groaned softly.
Caitlin took Felipe’s hand and shook it briefly. “You have the advantage on me, Felipe. I don’t know you, and I can’t think of how you know me.”
“I can,” John said with a note of irritability in his voice.
“It’s Felipe McDowell, Ms. Maxwell. Come into my office. I’ll explain everything.”
She glanced questioningly at John, but he merely frowned and shook his head once.
Felipe turned and led the way through the door. His office was
