by Bob Blink
They didn’t go far. The car was headed toward the Bay, and after a dozen blocks it was fairly obvious where they were going. The guess proven correct when the car ahead turned into an open parking spot that they lucked into.
“Ghirardelli,” Jake said softly. The place had very bad connotations for Jake. This was where Karin had been shot.
Since there wasn’t a spot to be seen, Nate pulled over and let Jake out so he could follow. Then he drove away to find someplace for the car. Jake hung back and waited until the happy foursome climbed out of their vehicle and started down the street. He followed them through the throng to the restaurant inside Ghirardelli Square. They must have had a reservation since they were immediately escorted into the restaurant to a large booth all the way across the dining room away from the noise of the entrance. Their table had a view outside toward the Bay. Jake on the other hand was without such planned arrangements, and only by bribing the headwaiter guarding the door was he able to get a table at all. He was seated in a small booth, all the way across the room and close to the kitchen, but he had enough of a view of the room he could watch the four friends as they settled in. He called Nate on his cell phone and told him where he was.
The two men watched the foursome as they settled in for their meal. It was impossible to hear what was being said, not that it was important. Whatever the topic, it seemed to be pursued with eagerness by all four participants. There was quite a bit of laughter.
Later, when the waitress came to clear away the plates from the meal, the two women excused themselves and headed for the powder room. Jake and Nate watched as the women stepped out of view in the small hallway that led to the restrooms. The angle was such they could see the door to the men’s room, but not the lady’s. More than five minutes passed before the women returned to the table.
The group ordered dessert, and almost immediately afterward, Henry Ray stood, said something to his dinner companions, and made his own way toward the restrooms. Since they had a clear view from their table, Jake and Nate simply waited and watched to see what would happen. A couple of minutes later, Ray exited the restroom and returned to the table, just as the dessert was being served.
When Ray called for the check by signaling a waitress, Nate stood and hurried out the door so he could have the car ready and waiting. Jake dropped enough money on the table to cover their meal with a large tip, and waited so he could follow the group out. He wanted to be behind them, not in front looking back where Ray might see his face. The foursome spent a few minutes in the square, then returned to their car. Nate was double-parked across the street, and Jake hurriedly climbed in beside his friend.
The Toyota was white which made it easier to follow. They turned up Lombard headed toward the Golden Gate Bridge, and soon were crossing over the water, the fog starting to roll in over the line of cars. A short distance on the northern side, the Toyota turned off and headed into Sausalito. Nate held back, keeping a couple of cars between himself and the group they were following. It probably wasn’t necessary. Nothing they had done indicated they had given any thought to being followed.
The nightclub was on the bay side of the road, and the parking lot was crammed full of vehicles. Nate pulled over and got out, while Jake slid into the driver’s seat.
“I’ll wait by the door and then follow them inside,” Nate said.
They had discussed this as they made the drive from the city. It was best that Nate be the one following them until they settled somewhere, since they had never seen him before which would allow him to stay closer. The kind of crowd to be expected inside would make it too easy to lose sight of the group for a moment, and that might be enough.
For almost four hours the group danced and drank. Jake stayed back in the shadows watching, while Nate moved through the crowd, dancing from time to time so he could get a little closer. Between the two of them, they were certain they’d kept the participants in sight the entire evening. Even so, it was a relief when they were obviously picking up and preparing to leave.
The Toyota made the drive back into the city with Jake and Nate following. Near the bar where the group had joined up, the Toyota stopped, and Ray climbed out. Waving at the girls in the car, he watched as it drove away, and walked across the street to where a familiar old car was parked.
“I guess he’s not getting lucky tonight,” Nate said. “Maybe he’ll go home and straight to bed. I was afraid he’d be up the rest of the night and we’d have to worry he’d take the girl home later.”
“Tired?” Jake asked.
“You bet,” Nate replied. “And I still have a couple of hours before you relieve me,” he grinned.
As expected, Ray drove straight home, parking the car in the driveway, and headed inside. In less than twenty minutes, the lights went out.
“I’m going home to shower and change,” Jake said. “I’ll be back in the morning to relieve you.”
He called for a taxi, and soon was on his way back across the Bay. He had the taxi take him to his car still parked in downtown San Francisco, then drove home to San Jose. He snuck into the house, checked on Janna, and took a long hot shower. Then he crawled into bed next to a sleeping Karin. She snuggled, while he laid there and tried to think. He didn’t want to risk sleeping or he’d be late to relieve Nate.
* * * *
“Completely quiet,” a tired Nate told him when Jake showed up fifteen minutes late with a large mug of hot coffee. It had been a long day and night for Nate, and he looked done in.
“Go back to the house, or better yet,” check into a hotel here in town and save yourself the drive,” Jake suggested. “I’m not sure what to expect from Ray, but as late as he was out, he’ll probably sleep until noon.”
Nate nodded, and started his car. Jake stepped back a couple of steps and watched as Nate drove slowly away. Then he returned to his own vehicle and climbed inside.
Jake’s guess was wrong. It was only a couple of hours later, just after 9 AM when a taxi pulled up in front of the house and honked lightly once. Moments later the door to the house opened and Ray stepped out carrying a small bag, climbed into the taxi waiting out front and rode away.
The taxi led Jake back across the Bay Bridge into the City, but instead of heading back where Ray had partied the night before, they continued south down the edge of the Bay. If it hadn’t been for the cab, Jake might have thought Ray was heading into the city to visit the woman from the night before. Soon enough their destination became apparent. The cab turned off at the San Francisco Airport exit, and headed toward the departure terminals. Jake watched as Ray climbed out of the cab at the American terminal and then headed into the airport. This was it. Ray was making his move.
There was really no choice. Jake would simply have to back-track out of the situation later. Jake pulled the Sig out of his belt and slipped it under the seat, then pulled the Highlander up to the curb and parked. The PA system outside was warning this was for loading and unloading only, but he climbed out, used his key bob to lock the car, and hurried into the terminal after the departing Ray.
Jake found Ray in one of the ticket lines, and watched as Ray checked in at the counter, received a boarding pass, and then headed deeper into the terminal. Jake followed at a discrete distance. This had to be where Ray disappeared, but where was he going? Jake was brought up short when Ray entered a security area. Without a ticket, or the handy FBI identification he’d had at one time, there was no way Jake would be able to follow. He watched helplessly as Ray walked farther down the corridor and then turned from view.
He reached out and ‘felt’ for himself. Oakland was all the way across the Bay, but the straight-line distance was not so great that Jake couldn’t make the connection. He back-tracked to a time shortly after he’d relieved Nate, and after a moment to consider the situation, he started the Highlander and drove away. He headed to the airport, parked the Highlander properly in the lot, purchased an American Airlines flight to New York – it didn’t matter where he bo
ught the ticket to so long as it allowed him past security, and waited for Ray to arrive.
Right on schedule Ray appeared at the entrance and walked confidently to the ticket counter. For the second time Jake watched as Ray obtained his boarding pass. Jake went on ahead and cleared security while Ray was finishing up. He was in place where he wouldn’t be seen when Ray came through. Several minutes later Ray came down the hallway, turning into one of the gates a short distance ahead. Jake waited, then walked down the hall, noting with his peripheral vision that Ray was now seated close to the boarding gate. Jake looked at the flight listed at the small counter next to the gate. The flight was headed to Chicago. He didn’t have a ticket on the same flight.
For a time, Jake stood across the corridor and watched as Ray waited. He considered what to do next, and had almost decided to back-track and make his own reservation to Chicago and be ready to board with Ray when he changed his mind. He was tired of following Ray around, and the odds were good that Ray would spot him on the plane. He decided it was time for direct action as Laney had suggested. Decision made, Jake pushed away from the wall where he’d been leaning and marched across to where Ray was sitting.
“Mr. Ray,” Jake said. “What a surprise to see you here.”
Jake was standing directly in front of Ray when he looked up, surprise apparent in his face. Jake immediately mirrored the look of surprise with one of his own. The man in front of him was not Henry Ray. He was a close match. Hair and basic lanky body were the same. He was the right height and wore the right clothes. Ray had pulled another switch. Even this close Jake felt he should be seeing Ray. But it wasn’t him. The face was different, and there was no scar. This man was younger, and the nose was different.
“I’m sorry,” the man was saying. “You must have me confused with someone else, but Jake could see the concern in the man’s face despite attempts to mask it.
“Damn it!” Jake cursed softly, realizing he’d been tricked. A switch had been made, despite the fact he and Nate had been watching carefully. Admittedly, they had been more focused on the possibility that Ray would simply slip away, but they should have seen any switch as well. There was no time to sort it out at the moment.
Jake reached out and grabbed the boarding pass from the man’s pocket. It had him on the flight to Chicago scheduled to leave in forty-five minutes. Despite the protests, Jake grabbed the man’s coat, pulled him up, and relieved him of his wallet. The name on the license was Charles Watson. It meant nothing to Jake.
The man yelled for help. An airport policeman was scooting down the hallway on a Segway a short distance away.
“Where’s Henry Ray?” Jake asked.
“You’re crazy,” Watson said in response, and hollered again that he was being robbed.
Jake would have liked to ask Watson a number of questions, but there was no time at the moment. The policeman was talking into his portable radio and headed toward them. Jake thought quickly. This Watson might have some answers, and he might not. Thus far anyone who had been used by Ray had known little of use. It was more important to find Ray.
Jake back-tracked once again to earlier this morning when he’d relieved Nate, a few minutes before his last back-track to this time.
His hand shook slightly as he handed Nate the coffee. “I was going to send you home, but we need to break into the house now instead,” Jake told his friend.
“Has something happened?” Nate asked after he took a quick sip and placed the hot cup in the car’s holder.
Quickly Jake explained what he’d just learned.
“You think that Ray is inside and used this Watson to divert you?”
“That’s a possibility. Or he might have pulled a switch somewhere last night.”
“That can’t be,” Nate objected. “We were watching him all the time.”
“We were seeing what we expected to see,” Jake disagreed. “This Watson was far enough away we wouldn’t have noticed given the distance and the lighting. Let’s go.”
Nate climbed out of the car, and seeing that Jake had taken the Sig out from under his jacket, Nate did the same with the government model he was carrying.
“Guns?” he whispered softly.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Jake said. “Best to be ready.”
They moved as a coordinated pair up the short sidewalk to the door of the house. Nate stood off to one side to cover the interior as Jake prepared to kick in the door. He’d done this once before with Laney and knew the door wasn’t that sturdy.
The door slammed open with a loud bang, and they followed it inside, each covering one side of the room. They moved quickly, Jake in the lead. He knew where the bedroom was. Charles Watson was sitting up in the bed, a look of fear on his face.
Nate covered Watson while Jake made a quick check of the house. No one else was there.
“Don’t shoot me. I’m not Ray,” Watson said when Jake rejoined his friend.
“We know that,” Jake said. “What are you doing here and what happened to Ray?” Jake asked.
“He’s gone,” Watson said.
“Gone where?”
“I have no idea,” Watson said. “Only he knows that.”
“Who are you?” Nate asked.
“An actor,” Watson said. “He hired me to help him disappear. He said some people were after him, I guess that’s you, and he needed a chance to get away.”
“How did he find you?” Jake asked. An actor he thought. Another one. It was consistent with the way Ray liked to operate.
“I don’t know. He called me and offered a large payment if I’d help him. Actors don’t make very much, at least most of us don’t. I was without anything else at the moment, so I agreed.”
“The others you were with last night were actors as well?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Watson said. “They were local though. I live in Chicago.”
That was consistent with the way they had met.
“When did you replace Ray?” Jake asked.
Watson hesitated just briefly and Jake knew he was going to lie.
“Last night. I took his car and drove into the city. Sometime after I left, he was supposed to slip away. He wasn’t here when I came back, so it seems to have worked.”
Jake raised the Sig and pointed it at the man’s face. “Last night my friend and I followed Ray into the city. We saw him close up. It was Ray. We even have pictures. So it didn’t happen that way. You have exactly one chance to tell me where he made the switch.”
Jake could tell that Watson wanted to bluff, which suggested he was something other than he seemed. One look at Jake’s eyes and Watson realized that he was in trouble.
“At the restaurant,” he said finally. “We switched in the bathroom.”
“It couldn’t be,” Nate objected. “We watched. Ray went in, and Ray came out. He went back to the table and joined the others. They didn’t react to someone different.”
“I’m the one who came back to the table,” Watson said. “They knew it was going to happen. They were being paid to act as if nothing had happened.”
Jake felt stupid. He had acted exactly as Ray had predicted. He had assumed nothing had happened because of the reaction of the other members of Ray’s dinner party. They had even stopped watching the restrooms. Ray could have slipped away anytime after that, although he most probably had waited until the group slipped away to the nightclub, dragging along any watchers. That was the only time that ‘Ray’ had been out of their sight. It fit. Unfortunately for Ray, he’d miscalculated what Jake was able to do with his ability.
Jake raised the Sig again. “Last chance to change your story. If I find out you are lying, I’ll come after you and deal with you. I know where to find you.”
Watson shook his head. “I swear that’s what happened,” he said.
Jake stepped back and considered for a moment. Then he back-tracked to the previous evening to the restaurant in Ghirardelli Square.
“Nate,
they are going to pull a switch,” Jake said softly as they sat in their corner and watched the foursome across the room.
Nate looked over at Jake and realized his friend had made one of the loops. He’d lived through this time and knew what was going to happen.
“When?” he asked simply.
“The girls are going to make a powder room run. Shortly afterward Ray will go as well. Once inside, he’ll switch with an actor he hired to pretend to be him. The rest of the group over there are probably actors as well.”
Nate looked over at the table where Ray was engaged in conversation with the others. “Cute,” he said.
“Go over and wait by the restrooms,” Jake said. “Keep an eye on who goes in and out. I’ll watch Ray, and come over when he goes in. We’ll let the replacement come out and head to the table, and then we’ll go in and have a talk with Ray.”
Without a word, Nate stood and walked slowly over to the spot where he could watch the door to the restrooms and not be obvious. He was close enough that no one would be able to block his view of either door. The sequence happened just as Jake had promised. A moment after Ray stepped into the restroom, Jake appeared at Nate’s side.
“Who’s inside?” Jake asked.
“Ray, and Watson dressed like Ray. I saw him go in five minutes ago. There are also two other guys in there.”
As Nate was speaking, Watson pushed his way out and headed across the room to the dinner table.
“Maybe we should wait until the two other men leave,” Nate suggested.
“We’ll give them a minute,” Jake agreed. He recalled that they had monitored the bathroom from the table last time and Ray hadn’t come out during the time he’d been watching. He realized he hadn’t paid attention to others coming and going as he’d been focused on Ray. Sloppy.
Several minutes passed, and then two burly men came out together, laughing and talking about some private event. Jake and Nate waited until they were clear, and then pushed their way into the restroom.
“There’s no one here,” Nate said after a quick glance around.
