by Bob Blink
“We aren’t certain he has really disappeared,” Carlson reminded them. “He was wounded and off on convalescent leave. There was no restriction from him taking off and going somewhere. Even though we know he has some explaining to do, that hasn’t been made official yet. Perhaps he went to visit his mother or her sister, rather than sit at home alone.”
Laney shook his head. “I don’t think so. I had the local offices have a look. No one has been spotted with the two sisters in New York, and the mother’s house in California is closed up.”
“There’s nothing that shows where he might have gone?”
“His car is still parked at the house, and none of the planes or busses show anything under his name. If he flew, he used a different identity.”
“Where else might he go? Does his official folder suggest anything?”
“Chicago,” Jake said before the others could answer. “He’s gone to talk to someone in the Mob.”
“Lucio Rizzo,” Laney said, getting Jake’s meaning.
“That would be my guess,” Jake agreed. “He’s gone to tell someone what he suspects.”
“If he has, is there any chance you can back-track and deal with it?” Laney asked.
“If I can’t then there is probably no issue. I’m of no use to them if my ability is gone. Wouldn’t that be an ironic solution to the whole problem? But, making the attempt has several risks. Not only to me. I feel that I’m fully recovered, but I might learn differently. Also, if I had to back-track more than to yesterday, it would interfere with the assaults we just concluded on the terrorists. We don’t want to risk that, and I don’t wish to go through it again.”
“What is your plan?” Carlson asked. “You can’t let him spread what he suspects. That will put you in the very situation you came back to resolve.”
“First, I’m going home. I’ve been away from Karin and Janna longer than I like. Then I’m going to experiment very carefully under controlled conditions to see if I have my ability back. That will affect a lot of things. As I said, if it’s gone, I’m at no risk from them because it’s gone. On the other hand, if I’m able to function again, then I have more options. One of the first things will be to find out who Graper has told and when.”
“How can we help?” Carlson asked.
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you know as soon as I have a plan.”
“You’re leaving in the morning then?” Laney asked.
Jake nodded. “I already have reservations.”
“And I get to keep my memories of this whole thing,” Laney said happily.
Jake smiled. “I’m glad you are finally aware of what is going on. It works out well, I can tell you. We should have brought you in a long time ago.”
Jake meant what he said, but he retained a slight discomfort with the events of the past two weeks. Both Carlson and Laney would have slightly different memories of events going forward as compared to the last time they’d done this. It wasn’t a big thing, but it was a difference. Jake had learned to be uncomfortable of differences. He couldn’t see how the changes would affect them working together going forward, but he wished it could be the same as before.
Chapter 42
It was early afternoon when Jake stepped out of the plane, following the other first class passengers through the narrow tunnel that connected the plane to the airport terminal. When he stepped into the boarding area for his gate he couldn’t help looking for Karin and Janna, but of course they weren’t waiting there. Non passengers were no longer allowed in this area for security reasons. Jake had his own thoughts about how effective this approach was, but no one asked him. He took his lead from others, and pulling his carry on luggage, he headed toward the baggage carousel where his larger bag would arrive. As he came down the escalator into the waiting area he spotted his wife and daughter. Karin was trying to get Janna to look his way, but the youngster had her attention focused on something else. It didn’t matter. Seeing the two of them raised Jake’s spirits immensely. He walked over, put his arms around them both, and won a kiss for his effort.
“Long flight?” Karin asked. He nodded slightly as he pulled away, his eyes intent on her face.
“Long couple of weeks,” Jake replied. “Unfortunately, matters are not yet completely resolved. Hopefully the bags will be quick and we can get out of here.” He looked at her and added. “No back-tracking was required. I think, however, that I can do so safely now.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” she said, knowing it wasn’t a topic for the airport. “Let’s see if your bags are here. Flying first class they should be first off the plane.”
Although they could easily afford it, Jake seldom flew first class. Business class was more than adequate in his mind, but this time he’d wanted the space. As Karin had suggested, his bag was one of the first down the ramp, which he retrieved and they headed to the garage where the BMW was parked. Janna had finally realized who he was and now wanted his attention. He realized he hadn’t picked up the presents for either Karin or his daughter, that shopping trip having been aborted prematurely and never initiated again. Well, it worked out well enough this way the last time, but he’d have to make up for the oversight.
He drove, the comforting smoothness of the large vehicle reassuring. Once they had worked their way out of the airport and were on the freeway headed south, Jake spoke.
“When did Nate get here?” he asked.
“Late last night. Do you really think someone is following you?”
“I’d bet a large sum of money on it. If I understand what happened, they now will have made a connection between Bob Trask and Stan Mathews. They need to know who I really am, and if they allow me to disappear that might take them a considerable time. The placement of the recording devices I told you about suggests they didn’t wait very long, which means they had to figure out my true identity very quickly. I considered trying to get tricky, but I’m certain that would only delay matters. This approach is more direct.”
“What are you planning on doing?” Karin asked.
“That depends on what Nate finds, and whether I can still back-track. You made the appointment for tomorrow?”
Karin nodded. “Are you certain you should try?”
“I have to know,” Jake said. “You have no idea what it was like trying to resolve matters without knowing if it was safe to back out of complex situations. Every sense tells me it is, but I wasn’t able to risk it. Something might still come up, and I need to know what my options are. I can’t know that you and Janna are safe from these people without it.”
There wasn’t much more to say on the matter, and they discussed the terrorist threat.
“There wasn’t anything on the news about it,” Karin said.
“There might not be. Even if they reveal something took place, it’ll almost certain to be a watered down version of the real events. The magnitude of the intended attack, and the fact the Russians had a hand in it will not be something the government wants revealed. It’d cause a panic.”
Jake explained what had taken place, and how he’d been able to rely on past memories to accomplish the same result as his back-tracking had led them to the first time. By the time he had finished his summary, they were headed down the block toward their house. He pulled the car into the garage, and closed the door behind them.
Once inside, the familiar sights and smells of his own space engulfed him, and he felt some of the tension leave him.
“Hungry?” Karin asked.
“Actually, I am,” Jake said. He hadn’t realized he was, the breakfast on the plane a distant memory. “I think I want to shower and get into something more comfortable as well.”
When Jake came downstairs, Nate was sitting at the dining room table. He was working on a sandwich and a beer of his own. When Jake slid into a chair, Karin brought him his lunch.
“You had company,” Nate said between bites.
Jake wasn’t worried about the house being bugged, just as he ha
dn’t been worried about the BMW. They hadn’t known about him when he’d left for Washington, and until they followed him home they’d had no idea of his true identity. They wouldn’t have known who to plant the listening devices on. That would have changed now. Now they would have his address and car license, and would be busy figuring out who he really was. He didn’t like it, but if he was to resolve this matter, it was necessary.
“How did they work it?” he asked.
“They weren’t taking any chances,” Nate said. “There are three of them. One was on the plane with you. A blond guy, our age. He was in first class with you.” Nate described the man, and Jake recognized him from the description. He had sat behind him across the aisle.
“The others?”
“One was waiting in the reception area like myself and Karin. He is also our age, perhaps a couple of years older.” Nate described him as well, but Jake couldn’t place him. There had been a large number of people waiting, and his eyes had been on Karin. Also, he hadn’t wanted to appear as if he was searching for anyone.
“He met the one from the plane, and they followed you to the baggage area. I didn’t know at the time they were the ones, but they did appear to be keeping an eye on you. Once you were waiting for baggage, I headed off and waited in my car. I was parked near where Karin had put the BMW, so I could easily follow. I didn’t stand out because there were so many other cars leaving.”
“You said there were three of them?” Jake asked.
Nate nodded. “The third one was with their car. I guess they wanted to be able to move quickly, and he was waiting where he could follow without delay. One of them trailed you until he could get a look at your car, then he quickly disappeared down the stairs to the lower level. He must have connected with the others below. I stayed a couple of cars behind you, and then well back on the freeway. It wasn’t hard to spot your tail.”
“They followed us all the way home?” Jake asked.
Nate nodded again. “After you went inside, they drove off to their hotel. It’s about five miles from here. That’s when I got a look at the last of them. He’s older, in his fifties. A heavyset type. Two of them went inside, and the one who was waiting for you to arrive drove back here in a second car. He’s down the street watching the place.”
“How did you get in without being seen?”
“I parked around the corner and came through the back. Your watchers aren’t expecting to be watched themselves. They are simply focused on learning about you.”
“You have the plate numbers for their cars?” Jake asked.
Nate passed over a sheet of paper with the numbers and descriptions of the three individuals. He also slid over a memory chip.
“There are a couple of photos on that. What is the plan?”
“First I’m going to send this information back to Susan in Washington. Then we are going to relax. I’d like to go out for dinner, but that would reveal your presence, and I don’t think that would be wise. After my experiment tomorrow, we’ll know better how to proceed.”
The next morning Jake and Karin drove to the medical office adjacent to the hospital to visit Jake’s doctor. On the way he’d spotted the car Nate had described. He knew that somewhere back there, his friend followed in his own car. Nate was armed, and Jake had the Sig in the glove box, but wouldn’t be taking it inside the hospital.
Jake felt a little guilty he hadn’t followed through with his plan to have periodic checkups while in Washington, but he’d felt normal the entire time, and he’d known that the doctor was available if he’d needed him. This visit was mostly a formality and to be in the most optimal place for the experiment that Jake had planned.
“I thought you were going to come see me on a weekly basis?” the doctor said unhappily when Jake was seated in his examination room.
“I had urgent business out of town,” Jake said. “I visited a specialist while I was there, and he checked me just in case.”
Jake handed the doctor a small file that showed the results. The doctor quickly scanned the papers and grunted his approval.
Jake answered all of the doctor’s questions, and submitted to a series of simple tests. In the end the doctor decided that further scans were not necessary. In less than an hour, Jake and Karin were on their way back to the lobby. Jake pulled her aside and they sat in a couple of empty chairs off to one side.
“Jake, I’m scared,” Karin said. “Is this really necessary?”
“I have to know,” he said. “This is the best possible condition. If there is a problem, it’ll be while I’m in the doctor’s office. We are adjacent to the hospital. He’ll run his checks. We know I passed with flying colors this time, so if he sees anything at all, that will have to be because of the back-tracking.”
“What if you collapse again?”
“Won’t happen,” Jake said confidently. “I can sense it will be okay.”
There was nothing more to say. Jake gave Karin a hug and a small kiss, remembering their reunion the night before. Feeling a little more nervous than he wanted to let on, he reached back to find himself just as they’d settled into the doctor’s office a little while earlier. Then, holding his breath, Jake back-tracked.
“I thought you were going to come see me on a weekly basis?” the doctor said unhappily when Jake was seated in his examination room.
“I had urgent business out of town,” Jake said, giving Karin a little wink. He could see her relax. She knew he’d back-tracked to this time and it had gone well. Actually, it had gone better than Jake had dared hope. The jump had been short, but he’d felt virtually nothing when he’d made the transition. Usually there was something. A slight twinge. This time it had been effortless. He wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have rather had that momentary discomfort. This wasn’t the time for something different, even something that seemed better. Well, time would tell. The doctor would examine him and see if anything appeared amiss.
“I visited a specialist while I was there, and he checked me just in case,” Jake said, following the dialogue from earlier.
The examination went as smoothly as the first time, and when they left an hour later, Jake had been given a clear bill of health by the doctor.
“You are certain you are okay?” Karin asked as they went down the elevator together.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “There wasn’t the smallest bit of discomfort. Even so, I don’t plan any multiple jumps for a long time, which is how I got into trouble the last time. I know once this matter with the Mob is cleared up there will be no need to make any jumps at all for several months. Anything that came up, I already know how to handle from the last time, so back-tracking won’t be required.”
“It would be more reassuring if you could avoid making any jumps at all for a while,” Karin said.
“I’ll need to make a few,” Jake warned her. “The fact we are being followed says that Graper has already told someone about me. I’ll need to go back and deal with that before it can spread.”
“What’s our plan?” Nate asked later in the day when they were back in the house and he learned that Jake had been successful in his attempt to back-track. He’d already told them they had been followed, coming and going to the doctor’s office.
“I think we will have to have a chat with our watchers,” Jake replied. “Let’s see what Carlson and Laney have learned.”
Laney was out when they got Carlson on the video conference. She looked relieved to see him, assuming that he had made his attempt and it had gone well.
“You look pleased,” she said, as much question as observation.
“It went well,” Jake replied. “It wasn’t a long jump, but it presented no problems. The doctor checked me before and after, and both times said whatever had caused the problem was apparently no longer a factor.”
“So now you want to go after these men who have been watching you?” she asked.
“I have to act quickly or I’ll be back in a situation where I’d have to do
multiple back-tracks to get back far enough. I want to restrict anything I do to single jumps, and if possible to only a few days.”
“That’s probably wise,” Carlson agreed. Then she turned to the information that Jake was waiting to hear. “The two cars that your friend Nate recorded the licenses of were no problem. One is a privately owned vehicle, the other a rental. The personal car is owned by a Carlos LaSala. He’s the blond gentleman in the photos you forwarded. This was fortunate, because we didn’t have anything in the photo database that identified him. Once we had his vehicle, we were able to obtain his license photo and find a match.”
“Do we know anything about this LaSala?” Jake asked.
“He’s a troublemaker. And, he belongs to the same group you’ve had trouble with. There is no doubt this is all related. The other two men are even more interesting. The older man is Santino Brusca. He’s a dangerous character. He’s done time for assault, and the only reason he isn’t behind bars for murder is because all witnesses to his alleged crimes have disappeared. He serves as a strong-arm for your friend Lucio Rizzo.”
“And the other one?” Jake asked.
Carlson smiled. “Lenny Rizzo. He’s the eldest son of Lucio Rizzo. He must be getting some hands on experience. He and Brusca flew into San Francisco the night before you returned home. Whatever Graper told Rizzo must have been interesting enough for him to want to investigate it. He moved quickly.”
“I hope he moved extremely quickly,” Jake said. “If he didn’t that might mean I need to go back to deal with Graper in the middle of our other activities. I was hoping to avoid that. It’s bad enough I’ll have to fly back to Washington to be able to back-track to the appropriate time.”
“When will you know your plans?” Carlson asked.
“Hopefully later tonight. Every hour we wait to act means a longer jump for me to make. Nate and I are planning to go and have a chat with our tails, starting with the one sitting outside.”
