Witness Protection: Moving Target

by Jet MacLeod

  “You can’t go anywhere without me. You are going to be my shadow. If I tell you do something, do it. Don’t question me, just do it. I’ll have to go through everything that Cole sent us with the SUV. There may be tags in it that I will have to neutralize. I can’t have them tracking us. If they know where I am, they will find you.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you? Do you really? Things just got really serious. This is no longer just a road trip.”

  “When do we need to leave?” Angie asked calmly.

  “We can wait until the morning. I don’t want anyone to think that we are using preventive measures, yet. I want to wait and see what Gregor tries to pull. I want to be prepared for anything.”

  “Is Cole still going to help us?”

  “Yes, he is. He is already looking into the future for us. We have gone back into code. If someone has tapped his phones they won’t understand what we are saying. Plus, we are masters of misdirection, so if they think they know where we are going. They really won’t. I’ve already put things in place for that. Another reason I am glad that I am getting compensation for some of my expenses for this little operation,” Del told her.

  “Expenses?”

  “Gas, vehicles, lodging, clothes, and anything else I deem necessary to keep you alive.”

  “That must be nice,” Angie mused.

  “Don’t be like that. I don’t claim half of it. What’s the point because I am going to keep it. It would be like I was going to buy it anyway. Plus, I send in everything weeks after I’ve been somewhere. Another way to keep them from knowing where I am, but only where I’ve been.”

  “Do you really think that someone is after me?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you took a stand and are willing to fight.”

  “And, that has put more people in harm’s way. Great. I have an army as a martyr. Just great.”

  “No one is asking you to be a martyr. Besides, you don’t have an army. You have me, but I guess that could be just as bad as an army,” Del told her laughing.

  Chapter 20

  Angie had been sleeping peacefully as the road went by unnoticed. She still wasn’t sure that Del had slept at all. It seemed like they had barely been to bed when Del was waking her up to leave Saint Joseph. It couldn’t have even been seven AM when they left. She felt like she had every right to be tired. She chanced a glance at Del. Her stoicism was infuriatingly tiring.

  The trip up Interstate 29 was uneventful. It was a short trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was only about four hours or so. She was glad for that. She need that time to prepare for what she was about to face.

  She knew that everything was at stake now. The real world had caught up to them and now there were precautions and safeties that she would have to follow and deal with. She had been naïve enough to think that Del would just keep them all at bay. She knew that it wasn’t a realistic expectation to how things should be, but she felt safe with Del. There was just something about her simple and quiet stances that gave Angie pause.

  “What?” Del asked.

  “Hmm…” Angie stated as she realized that she really was awake.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I guess.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For what? You haven’t done anything and you certainly didn’t get me into this mess. I did that all on my own. So you can quit apologizing for something that you had no part of,” Angie told her, as she silently reached over and squeezed Del’s right hand that was resting on her thigh.

  “I wasn’t.”

  “You weren’t, what?”

  “I wasn’t apologizing for that,” Del stated, never wavering her eyes from the road ahead.

  “Then what were you apologizing for?”

  “The fact that I haven’t done what I was supposed to do.”

  “Which would be?”

  “I am supposed to be protecting you.”

  “And you aren’t?” Angie asked dumbfounded, but never let Del’s hand go.

  “I am not doing a good enough job of it.”

  “I am still alive. I would say that you are doing very well. I haven’t tried to run from you. I would say that you are doing something right. I haven’t tried to break cover since I’ve been with you. That would be another check in the doing something right column. Do you want me to keep going? Because I am sure that I can think of some more,” Angie told her.

  “No,” Del said with a slight laugh.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t want to believe that we have been compromised.”

  “Then, don’t.”

  “It isn’t that simple, Angie. It is hard enough for me to trust anyone and to believe that Cole might have been…I can’t do that. I just can’t.”

  “Then don’t. He did tell you. He was upfront about it. He warned you.”

  “He did.”

  “Then, don’t worry about it.”

  “I can’t.”

  “I know that you can’t forget about all of it, but don’t let it get to you. We’ll figure this out. It is what we do. We’ll go get the SUV. We’ll leave the sedan. We’ll keep moving. It will all work out. I promise. Everything will be okay. You’ll get to retire to wherever you are going to retire to and I’ll be back in New York trying cases. I doubt that we’ll be on the road much longer. They told me six months tops,” Angie told her.

  “That was also three years ago. You know firsthand how quickly the wheels of justice turn. We don’t even know when your court date is, Angie. I don’t know how long we are going to be out here, on our own. I have to get us off the grid. We have to find a way to survive without them being about to find us. We’ll have to change our appearances, the way we think, everything.”

  “I understand.”

  “Angie…”

  “Del, don’t stress out. You need to remain calm. One of us needs to stay calm. Let me be the one that freaks out. It isn’t your life on the line. It’s mine. I need you to remain calm so you can protect me. Can you do that? Can you be my white knight?” Angie asked her.

  “I will do my best, milady,” Del answered her and kissed her hand.

  Del went back into whatever trance she normally did while they were travelling. Angie watched as signs for the Sioux Falls Regional Airport rushed passed them on the highway. It couldn’t be a large airport, but it was big enough for their needs. She watched as Del maneuvered her way through the long term parking areas.

  Angie wasn’t sure what they were looking for besides it was a similar SUV to the one they had fled New York in weeks ago. Surely, Cole would have painted it and changed the plates. How would they know which one was the one they were supposed to get?

  Del pulled into a space next to a white Suburban. Angie studied it while Del started to get out. Del stopped with one foot on the payment and one still in the sedan.

  “Move over into the driver’s seat after I get out. If something seems off, just go. I’ll find you. I’ll get back to you. But, your safety is more important than mine,” Del told her as she pulled down a GPS device.

  Angie watched her as she plugged some information into it. She then reached behind her and grabbed the daypack. She pulled out some papers and handed them to Angie.

  “These are for you, Emily. Keep them on you. There is money and cards in there. They won’t know who to be looking for if you use them, so you’ll be safe. They don’t know your new name. Cole erased everything that he did for us before we left. You don’t exist anymore except on paper. Do you understand me?” Del asked her.

  “Yes.”

  “If something happens, leave.”

  “I am not going to…”

  “Leave! That isn’t a choice. It is an order, Emily. You have to leave. If I tell you to go, go.”

  Angie stared at her wide-eyed. She took the papers, cards, and the new identity. She watched as Del handed her a new burner cell phone. As the rest were, it had her numbers
and Cole’s programmed in it, along with the FBI and the rest if she needed help. She remembered the order she was supposed to call if something happened. She looked into Del’s eyes, frightened, because who was she supposed to call since Del was already with her.

  Del got out of the sedan fully. She kept her daypack on her. She pulled out two of the cell phones and began hooking up some wires and other things up to it. She gave Angie a look and Angie finally moved to the driver’s seat. Once she was happy that Angie was where she was supposed to be and the device she made was how she wanted, she went to the tailgate of the Suburban. She ran the device over the lock and it popped.

  Once she was inside the hatch, she found the keys and a new day pack. Inside the new pack there were five new cells, a new GPS, a GPS tracker, and a GPS tag detector. She was glad that Cole had warned her. He had even prepared her for the devices that he was giving her. He really was looking out for her. She knew that. She wondered what other goodies he left for her in the hides that the Alphabets wouldn’t have known to look for because they didn’t know them as well as their files told them that they did.

  She took the GPS tracker and the detector and began to comb through the bags in the vehicle. She found several tags in obvious places. She laughed. They couldn’t even think of anywhere original to hide them. She quickly pulled them all out and was about to stomp them, destroy them, but then she realized that they would have figured out that she knew. She needed to dispose of them in a way that would give her enough time to get away without them being able to figure out where they were.

  She grabbed the new burners, the GPS device and the tags. She walked back to the sedan. She reached inside the driver’s side and snatched the GPS device. She placed the new one in the sedan. She dropped the tags and the new burners into her old day pack. Then, she popped the trunk of the Sedan. She threw the old daypack into the trunk as she got out their bags and the cooler. She then transported their bags and the cooler to the Suburban. When she was done with that, she went back to the driver’s side of the sedan and looked down at Angie.

  “What?”

  “They thought that they were smarter than me.”

  “You found them all?”

  “Not yet, but enough. Idiots. Who do they think they sent out on this case? A rookie?”

  “Don’t take it personally.”

  “Oh, I am. I can’t believe that they are insulting my intelligence this bad. This stinks of the CIA and NSA. The FBI isn’t this bright. Did I ever tell you how much I hate the Alphabets?”

  “Occasionally,” Angie replied as she giggled.

  “Let me sweep the truck and then you can get in. I want to get away from here. They don’t know when we were coming.”

  “What about the tags?” Angie asked.

  Del reached into the daypack. She tore open the back of the largest pocket and pulled out a false lining. She pulled out a fresh plate from the state of Arizona. Angie just smiled.

  “He really did think of everything, didn’t he?”

  “That is why I kept him on my team for so many years. He would think of things that I wouldn’t and somehow we also ended up needing them, too. I think that this is for you,” Del said handing her a small bag from within the day pack.

  “What is it?” Angie asked taking it

  “I don’t know.”

  Angie gave her a quizzical look until her own curiosity got the best of her and she opened it. She pulled out some dark auburn hair dye and sat it down on the seat next to her. She grabbed a comb and scissors, too. She gave Del a questioning look before she pulled out the last thing inside the bag. It was a new passport for Emily Sullivan. She looked at Del.

  “He is a smart man,” Del stated.

  “Why would I need this?”

  “I might have said something to him about taking you to Canada.”

  “Wouldn’t that be considered treason?”

  “Only if I didn’t bring you back, Angie. I am not going to keep you there. That is my last ditch effort. Like a consolation prize, you know? I don’t want to use it. What else you got in there? I am sure that he gave you lots of goodies to play with. What else is there? I am sure that if you dig deeper in there you’ll find a Canadian set too, along with other papers. He wanted to make sure that you were okay. He doesn’t leave anything to chance. He has never had the luxury of it. Why start now?”

  “Canadian papers?” Angie questions as she dug in the bag and found them.

  “Yup.”

  “What about you?”

  Del reached into the bag and pulled out the Russian, Ukrainian, Canadian, US and British passports. She just smiled at Angie. Once she put the passports back, she showed Angie the various denominations that she had in foreign currency. She closed the bag and threw it in the back of the Suburban. Then she went back for Angie.

  “We’re good. Let’s go. I don’t want to stay here anymore.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “West.”

  “I got that.”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out on the way. I am just going to head down I 90 for a while. I was thinking that we could head towards Wyoming. It is starting to get cooler. Summer is almost over and I don’t want to be anywhere near snow when it hits.”

  “Don’t do cold well, Lieutenant?” Angie teased.

  “It isn’t that I don’t do cold well. It is more of others don’t do it well. I don’t have time to be worried about them when I have to worry about you.”

  “So you are worried about me?”

  “Always…”

  Chapter 21

  Del didn’t really set a destination as she continued west going down I 90. She was being conservative driving this time and was only doing the post speed limit of seventy-five. She knew that the speed limits were newish for the people of South Dakota, but she didn’t want to stick out. She figured that there would be more speed traps now that there were posted speed limits.

  It was closing in on four o’clock in the afternoon. She wasn’t that hungry but she decided to pull off at exit 150. There was a Subway just off the exit so she pulled in there. They were near Buffalo Gap. It was a good place to stop for a while, but it would also give Del time to think and plan ahead for where they would stop for the night. She hadn’t been lying to Angie when she told her that she didn’t want to drive long every day. Twelve to thirteen hours max would be her idea, but today she would push it. She wanted to be as far away from Sioux Falls as she could be before they came looking for her.

  She found a gas station with a car wash. Angie did ask why they were stopping. She knew better. She just wanted somewhere they could stay for the night. She knew that Del wanted to plan more. It wasn’t just a luxury anymore. It had become necessity. Angie knew that now. She had seen the bugs and tags. She had seen the extent that the Alphabets were willing to go to make sure that they knew where she was. She couldn’t understand why all the sudden they were worried about what Del was doing with her. It just didn’t make sense. She was one of them.

  “Don’t over think it,” Del told her.

  “Over think, what?” Angie asked her.

  “Today. Don’t over think it. Just let it go. I told you that I would protect you. I am doing that. I am going to make sure that you aren’t found until your court date. I am not going to let them find you. I am better than that,” Del explained.

  “I know that.”

  “Then stop over thinking it. I am going to get gas and a car wash. Then, we’ll go to the Subway there for something to eat. We are about to cross another time zone. We are about to gain an hour. We’ll eat here, something small, and then once I figure out where we’ll end up tonight, we’ll eat near there, too,” Del told her.

  “Sounds good.”

  Del got out of the vehicle and pumped the tank full. She used one of her fake cards to make the purchase and made sure to save the extra fifteen cents by purchasing the car wash, too. Once she was done, she got back in, started the Suburban and hea
ded to the car wash. She rolled down the window and punched in the code. She rolled the window up as she drove in until the lights of the carwash told her to stop. When the Suburban rocked into place, Del put it in park and waited for the wash to be over.

  She grabbed the GPS and started looking for an area to stop. Angie just watched her. She knew that Del wasn’t going to lose a single second while they were waiting.

  “Del?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do I need to dye my hair?”

  “That is up to you.”

  “Do you think that I need to?” Angie asked, but Del didn’t stop moving around maps on the GPS.

  “It couldn’t hurt. I am going to get you to cut my hair once we stop tonight. A little change won’t hurt us. It will make it harder for someone to find you. Scared of becoming a brunette?”

  “No, I am scared of that.”

  “Then, what’s wrong?”

  “Why is the paint coming off the car?” Angie asked noticing that the white paint was sheeting down and breaking up off the Suburban.

  “Cole.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He made sure that we would be able to change the color if needed. He knew that I would need to as soon as he found out that the Alphabets got a hold of the vehicle. They don’t know about Sanchez’s paint process. The paint was only meant to survive until washed. The combination of the soap and water would change its structure enough to slide off and dissolve without being detected. It is quiet ingenious,” Del explained as she put the GPS back in the cradle.

  “You are repainting the car by washing it?”

  “Yes,” Del answered simply.

  “But rain…”

  “Wouldn’t affect it, hence the need of a carwash.”

  “So, what color is it now?” Angie asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait until the wash is over to see. I can tell you that it isn’t white anymore though. Knowing Cole though, it is probably black or red. He would keep it in the normal color schemes that the Suburban is actually found in as well,” Del told her.

  “Well, that makes sense.”

  Del watched her. Angie was scared. She finally understood what the repercussions of her actions, now. Del wished that she could help her deal with the pain of losing her life, but Del didn’t even know where to begin. She sighed as the green light reappeared letting her know that carwash was done. She slowly pulled out of the carwash and glanced at the GPS.