3rd World Products, Book 17

by Ed Howdershelt

  Picking up his cup, guy #1 stood up and walked to the coffee pot as he asked, “Then do we really want to mention it?” Before he picked up the pot, he asked, “I mean, is there really any point?”

  Purcell and Ava were silent as he poured his coffee. When he looked at them again, Purcell said, “You call it, Agent Canley.”

  Canley looked at Ava, who seemed to be waiting. He sipped his coffee and said, “We didn’t learn anything, Ava. He didn’t, either. Nobody got hurt. I’ll ask again; is there really any reason to file a report?”

  Looking first at Purcell, then at Canley, Ava said, “Yes, there is. He’ll probably pull that trick on someone else.”

  That made Purcell grin and say, “Then let them file a report about a damned ghost.”

  Canley matched his grin, then looked at Ava.

  She rather irritatedly asked, “And what if he isn’t there just to talk the next time?” Getting up, she said, “I’ll be in my room,” and grabbed her purse on the way to the door. I left a probe in the room and sent one after her.

  Producing her phone in the corridor, she tapped two numbers, then activated the call. A moment later, she said, “Redland here. Let me speak to Agent Pinter, please.” After a brief pause, she said, “No, it isn’t an emergency, and yes, I know Agent Canley is our team leader, but I need to speak to Agent Pinter.”

  Whatever was said made her stop walking and stared at her phone for a moment, then she snapped, “No, I won’t explain to you just so I can explain it all over again to him. Put-me-through-to-Pinter.”

  Again, whatever was said made her stare at her phone. The image on the screen showed the call had been ended. By the furious look on Ava’s face, someone had just made a grave mistake.

  As Ava stopped and produced her key card at the door to room 620, I sent a field into the room to look for bugs. It found two; one in the main room and one in the bathroom. My probe also showed her cell phone was tapped, but I made it chime. Not her ringtone; two deep double-tones repeated twice.

  Ava held it up and stared at it. Through my core, I made a message appear on its screen. ‘Room bugged. Phone tapped. Walk outside? If yes, just nod.’

  For several long moments, Ava just looked at her screen, then she nodded slightly and headed down the hall. I let the probe fall behind a couple of paces and watched her go. A smooth, firm stride. She’d already made a decision of some sort.

  Lori looked at me and asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Fishing.”

  “For what? A blonde?”

  “Sort of. I’m going to introduce her to Myra.”

  “Why? If she wants to join the NSA, she can find her own way.”

  Looking away from the screen, I met her gaze and said, “Prob’ly so, but…”

  Lori’s voice pitched slightly higher as she said, “Exactly! So why do you feel a need to push her in that direction?”

  “Listen to yourself. Maybe I should ask why you care what I’m doing about Ava.”

  Lori’s eyes flared slightly. She snapped, “So now she’s ‘Ava‘? Not ‘Agent Redland‘? What’s that about?”

  I checked the screen. Ava was waiting for the elevator. Time enough, perhaps.

  Turning to Lori, I asked, “Do you have a specific — and sufficient — reason for not wanting me to spend time with Ava?”

  Chapter Four

  Lori’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Almost glaring at me, she looked both pissed off and cornered. She started to speak again, then stopped and looked at the screen. I could see the screen at the edge of my vision. The only activity was Ava entering the elevator and the probe followed her. I kept my eyes on Lori as I heard the elevator doors close.

  “Six,” I said.

  Her eyes returned to me as Lori asked, “What?”

  “That’s her floor. Now she’s probably at five. Get your head on straight before she reaches the lobby. I invited her for a walk and I’m not going to ditch her, but what we’ll talk about is up to you.”

  “What you’ll talk about?”

  “Yup. Other than Myra and the NSA, that is. Either you have a good reason I shouldn’t try to get personal with her or you don’t.”

  Her gaze narrowed. “I don’t like ultimatums, Ed.”

  I shrugged. “Nobody does, but they happen occasionally. If you won’t play with me, you can’t tell me not to play with Ava.”

  On the screen, people boarded the elevator on three, then the descent continued. Someone got off on two, then the doors opened at the lobby and Ava walked out. Stopping by a kiosk festooned with tourist brochures, she used her phone.

  “Agent Canley,” she said, “I’m going to dinner. Don’t call unless you actually need me.” After a pause, she said tightly, “Yes, I’m sure I do. That’s very likely because I am pissed. See you later.”

  Lori suddenly got to her feet and marched into the house. Outfitting Ed2 with a copy of my dark blue suit, I stationed him outside the hotel. Ava looked up from putting her phone away, walked outside, saw Ed2, and stopped cold. Someone eased around her and she stepped to one side of the doorway.

  “Hi, there,” I said, “You’ve been thinking, ma’am. I can tell.”

  “Are you real this time?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “Nope. Still a fake. The real me is sitting in my back yard with a beer.”

  “How are you doing this?”

  “I picked up a few tricks from my computer friends. Where do you want to go for dinner?”

  She gave me a fisheye. “Dinner?”

  “Where else would you go alone on foot at five in a strange town?” I shrugged. “But if I’m wrong, suggest something else.”

  Ava looked down the street and pointed. “The surf ‘n turf.”

  As we got underway, I said, “By the way, I can’t buy your dinner in this outfit. No pockets.”

  She glanced over my sim and said, “I see pockets.”

  “Try to reach into one.”

  Stopping, she eyed me briefly, then tried to insert two fingers into the suit’s breast pocket. She couldn’t. She tried to lift a side pocket flap and couldn’t.

  Continuing our walk, Ava said, “I see,” then immediately said, “Well, no, I really don’t. Why did you want to talk to me?”

  “Are you curious about the bugs in your room?”

  “No. I’ll sweep for them later.”

  “There are two. What about your phone?”

  “What about it?”

  “A remote command can make it a listening device.”

  Glancing at me, she asked, “Are we going to talk about anything I wouldn’t want to report?”

  I shrugged. “We might. Y’never know.”

  Stopping by the window of a travel store, Ava took her phone out and popped the battery out of it, then put it back in her pocket.

  She said, “No dinner. It would be too awkward. You have five minutes, then I put the battery back in and try to call it an accident.”

  Nodding, I said, “Okay. Call Myra Berens of the NSA. That’s ‘B-e-r-e-n-s‘.” I gave her Myra’s office number and added, “If you want, I’ll call her and tell her to expect your call.”

  Ava shook her head. “First I want to know why you’re so hot to give me her number.”

  “I told you why upstairs. Homeland’s a boy’s club. Go where you can be appreciated.”

  “But why do you care? What’ll you get if I go to the NSA?”

  “Nothing. They don’t pay bounties, y’know. I just…” Pausing, I had the sim pretend to listen for something, then said, “Aw, hell. Gotta go, ma’am. Have a good dinner.”

  With that, I let the sim silently disappear. On the probe screen, Ava stood staring at the spot for a moment, then she took a breath and continued toward the restaurant.

  Producing her phone again, she replaced the battery and tapped it on, then growled, “At least it still works. Maybe some tape would hold this damned thing shut.”

  Good ‘nuff. A little act to cover the offline ti
me. I let the probe vanish and got up. After a stretch, I walked over to the cinder block fragments and fielded the small stuff to the back porch trash. There was a crack in one side of the remaining cell and a flange stuck out from what had been the middle panel. Couldn’t use it. Didn’t need it. I drove my hand through the cell, then fielded the pieces to the trash.

  Dinner suddenly seemed like a good idea. I went into the house to wash up and sent Lori a ping. When she answered, I asked, “What do you want to eat tonight?”

  “What’s the matter? Did your new girlfriend blow you off?”

  Rather than answer that, I just washed up, made a coffee in my travel mug, and went to the garage. Rolling my bike out, I shut the garage door and slung my mug between the handlebar straps. Firing up the bike, I sent a ping to Lori. When she answered, I said, “Come along if you want. If not, try to starve with grace and dignity.”

  I was halfway to Brooksville when I felt a field presence above me. When I pulled into the Golden Corral parking lot, I felt Lori land nearby and she appeared between two SUVs. She still wore the t-shirt, but she’d put on jeans and sneakers.

  Walking toward me, she said, “I almost went somewhere else.”

  Yeah, whatever. Big decision. All that. I straightened the little throw rug that covers my bike’s seat, then headed for the restaurant’s front door. Holding it for Lori, I followed her inside. A few minutes later we both had full plates at a table and a waitress checked our receipt, then went to get our drinks.

  Lori spread a napkin in her lap, then asked, “So you aren’t going to talk to me?”

  “Sure we can talk. About what?”

  “What happened with Agent Redland?”

  “I gave her Myra’s number.”

  “That’s all?”

  I sighed, “Well, ma’am, she didn’t pounce on me right there in the street, so I just gave up and came home.”

  Giving me a droll expression, Lori started eating. After a moment, she snickered, then chuckled, “I just had a mental picture of her pouncing on you in downtown Tampa.”

  “Ah. Did anyone rush to my aid?”

  She chuckled, “No.”

  “Typical big city people, huh? No compassion.”

  Lori chuckled again and continued eating. After a time, she said, “Sorry I acted that way.”

  “What way was that?”

  “Oh, don’t… you know what I mean.”

  “Don’t be too sure. Men can be slow about some things.”

  With another droll look, she replied, “You aren’t, and you do know what I mean.”

  Setting my fork down, I picked up my drink for a sip, then said, “Yeah, I know what you mean. Or should I say, what you meant then. I don’t know what you mean now.”

  Lori stopped eating and looked at me.

  I asked, “Have you stepped out of the way for Ava? And before you say anything, let me say I’d much prefer that you wouldn’t.”

  That was absolutely true, if only because I’d always desired Lori and we had so much in common. Lori met my gaze for a time in an odd manner, then used reaching for her glass to break away. After a sip of her drink, she met my gaze again and spoke.

  “There’s still Aunt Lisa to consider.”

  “Aunt Lisa can adapt like she has with everything else.”

  “What about Grams?”

  “Same answer, and she might surprise the hell out of you.”

  “How?”

  “By not really giving a damn about us or what Aunt Lisa thinks. She’d probably consider it all pretty trivial.”

  With a fisheye, Lori asked, “What makes you think that?”

  “We talked one night. Before your grandfather came along, there was a farm boy who became an Army officer in World War II.”

  Wide-eyed, Lori hissingly blurted, “She told you about..! Oh, my God..!” Glancing around, she softly asked, “Why the hell would she tell you about him?!”

  “Good question. Ask her sometime. We talked about making a trip to Belgium so she could visit his grave at least once in her life.”

  “OhmyGod! When?!”

  “When what? When did we talk or when does she want to go?”

  “Yes! To both!”

  “We talked about a month ago. She’s still making up her mind about when to go. And possibly even whether to go, I think. She gave a few reasons not to, but I think they’re all bullshit. If she didn’t really want to go, she wouldn’t have talked to me about him.” Sipping my drink, I added, “I suggested we get a move on and go in May or September.”

  “Why then?”

  “Convenience. Comfort. Mid-summer is hot everywhere. Winter in Europe is too much like winter in Canada.”

  Lori sat back as if stunned and seemed to consider matters for a time, then asked, “What did Aunt Lisa say about it?”

  “Damned if I know. Haven’t asked.” Shrugging, I added, “Haven’t seen her lately, either.”

  Looking almost suspicious suddenly, Lori asked, “Uh, Ed, how did you happen to be talking with my Gram last month? And why wasn’t I there?”

  Continuing my dinner, I said, “I went to see Linda. She’s only a couple of hundred miles from your place, so I stopped by to see if anybody wanted to step out for a few drinks and shoot some pool.”

  As Lori’s gaze narrowed, I amended, “Or maybe it was just lunch. Hard to remember that far back, y’know.”

  “Oh, I’m sure.”

  “Well, anyway, we got to talking about why I never ‘settled down’ and I asked what that meant to her. She started to say something, stopped, and then said it used to mean something very different. She didn’t say another word about it until we were heading back to the house. That’s when she asked if I’d like to see what ‘settling down’ used to mean. She showed me some old photo albums and talked about growing up on a farm in Ohio.”

  Forking up some green beans, I said, “I told her about my grandparents’ farm in Pennsylvania. We talked a while, then she dug out some photos in an old wallet and told me about David Kirkston. I told her about my trip to Bastogne and said I could probably find the place again if she wanted to go.”

  Lori just looked at me for a time, then asked, “But she hasn’t set a date to go?”

  “Nope. I think she’s worried about how Lisa would take it, but I don’t understand the problem. I got the impression Lisa wasn’t very fond of her father.”

  Shaking her head, Lori said, “No, that’s not… Ed, he was strict, that’s all. Very strict. Aunt Lisa didn’t go on her first date until she was seventeen and it was a heavily supervised party. When one of her dates had a flat a couple of years later, she was twenty minutes late getting home. Her dad wouldn’t hear any excuses. He ordered the kid off the property and told him never to call again.”

  Sipping, I said, “Well, now I know where she got her mean and stubborn streaks, huh?”

  Grinning, Lori said, “Yeah, maybe so.”

  Spearing a bit of meat, I said, “Talk with your Gram, ma’am. Belgium is waiting. On the matter of ‘us’, I say we should do whatever we want. It isn’t anybody else’s business.”

  “Somehow I’m not at all surprised to hear you say that.”

  “Good. Shows you’ve been paying attention all these years.” Spearing another bit of meat, I added, “And try to make up your mind before I have reason to contact Ava again.”

  Lori froze and eyed me for a time, then asked rather archly, “What ‘reason’ would that be?”

  “You think they’re gonna stop watching us? I don’t, and I’d still like to know why someone wants us watched.”

  “So why not contact one of the others?”

  “I’ll pretend you didn’t really ask that question.”

  Rolling her eyes, Lori sighed, “I can’t believe this. You’re thinking about trying to talk her into bed, aren’t you?”

  I considered how to answer that and settled for, “Never mind. Next topic.”

  Lori snapped, “There is no ‘next topic’. We aren’
t through with this topic.”

  “I am. We aren’t getting anywhere with it. Besides, we might be better off as friends than lovers. You’re never this indecisive when we work together. Only when we get into personal stuff.”

  My orbital core announced that my home phone was ringing. I had it trace the call and found Tanya Conner at the other end. Holding up a hand to stop whatever Lori had been about to say, I linked to the phone to answer with, “You got me, Tanya.”

  Tanya said, “Uh… Hi, Ed. I’m calling because my mother would like to talk to you.”

  “Well, I have company and I’m in a restaurant, ma’am. May I call you back in a little while?”

  Lori sat a little straighter, but kept silent.

  Tanya said, “Uh… okay. We’ll be here. Bye.”

  “Okay. Call you shortly. Bye.”

  Poking some lima beans onto her fork, Lori asked, “Who can’t you talk to in public?”

  “A number of people for a variety of reasons, but I postponed her because I don’t hold phone conversations in restaurants. That was Tanya. It seems her mom wants a word with me.”

  Looking up somewhat starkly, Lori murmured, “Oh… Oh, my.”

  Nodding, I solemnly agreed, “Indeed so, ma’am.”

  “Did she say why?”

  “Nope.” I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. If it’s anything unpleasant, I can write her off for another few decades.”

  “Maybe she had a change of heart.”

  “No point in guessing. I’ll just call her later.”

  We finished our dinners and left the restaurant. As I threw a leg over my bike, Lori asked, “Do you want some alone time to talk to Tanya’s mom? I could do some shopping.”

  Hm. Did I? Actually, no. I shook my head. “No, stick around. I might want a good excuse to end the call.”

  Lori gave me a flat expression and asked, “It’s only Ocala. You aren’t going to go up there?”

  “Nope. Not without an invitation.”

  “I think I’ll give you that alone time anyway. Later, Ed.”

  Lori lifted away on her board as I started the bike. A few miles north on Citrus Way, I picked a tree-shaded spot and stopped. Taking a sip of coffee, I put up a screen and called Tanya.