An Inconvenient Spy Ch. 01

"I've got about $50,000 in cash in my bag in the truck. It is money I have been getting for my writing and selling vegetables at the market. Frankly, I squirreled it away so I wouldn't have to pay taxes on it. We might get it for less than the $10,000 and I could put it in Russell Fisher's name. By the time the paperwork and everything goes through the system this will probably be all over and I can keep it, sell it or donate it to a charity. Plus if we have to leave it behind, so what? As long as we are safe, I don't care."

She looked hard at me and then said, "Let's go see what we can find out."

We went into the real estate office and asked about the sign in the window. The smiling woman behind the counter said that they just posted those as a convenience for some of the transient people in town. She gave me the name of the man who owned it and directions to the park. She also said that he was quite eager to sell it. She would also be happy to show us a nice cabin if we wanted something more permanent. We thanked her but said that we were taking a cross country vacation and that this would be perfect for us now but that we might come back when we were through and consider a place up here. She nodded and went back to work knowing that she would probably never see us again.

We walked the three blocks to the trailer park which was quite small and well maintained and found the trailer. An older gentleman was drinking coffee in front of the trailer.

"Hi, we saw your sign in the real estate office and wanted to take a look at the trailer."

"Sure, come on in. I think that this is the best buy in the area. I have kept it clean and am the only owner it has had. I have let a couple of relatives use it but no one else. I'd take it with me but I didn't bring my truck this trip and my car won't pull it. I'm trying to get out of here this week. An uncle died and I have to go back east and clean up his estate. I won't be able to come back for quite awhile. If you are serious and have cash, I'll cut the price to $7500 for a quick sale. As the sign said, the space lease is paid until the end of the month. You can renew it or take the trailer with you before then."

Everything looked very clean and well cared for. I asked a few technical questions about towing it behind a pickup and the proper set up procedure. He assured me that his pickup with a six cylinder engine towed it at the speed limit with no problems. He only had a little trouble in a heavy wind. The set up was easy and could be ready in less than an hour.

An hour later, we shook hands after I got a smile and a nod from Natalie. He suggested that if I paid him $5000 in cash before we went to the bank, we would write the bill of sale up for $2500 and save a bundle on the state sales tax. I agreed. And we agreed to meet in the bank in an hour. He also said that he could be loaded and out before dark.

An hour and a half later Russell Fisher and his wife Nat owned a five year old travel trailer and Jessup Walker had $7500 in cash in his pocket. We each had a copy of the simple notarized bill of sale and were told that the license transfer would take about a month to go through but the bill of sale was all we needed in the meantime. As we left the bank, Jessup said that he had already loaded most of his stuff and that he would be finished and gone in about an hour. He also suggested that we might want to get new sheets and blankets although he was leaving the ones he had used. We shook hands and he went back to finish packing. I had noticed that the trailer park had cable hook up but that Jessup only an old black and white television. We went to the local mercantile store and Natalie went to the house goods section while I went to look at small televisions and perhaps a decent stereo and CD player. An hour later, we loaded these things in the back of the truck and drove to the trailer park and pulled in next to our new home.

While Nat unloaded our purchases, I went to the office to tell them that we had just purchased Jessup's trailer. All the woman wanted to see was the bill of sale and asked if we were going to stay on or move the trailer. I told her that we would probably leave before the end of the month to continue our cross country journey. She smiled and said to just let her know when we were going to leave. She had a waiting list of people who wanted a space. It cost me another $20 for the cable and WIFI service that Jessup didn't use but that was all I needed to pay until the first.

I went back to the trailer and found a bundle of sheets and blankets of the sofa and Natalie was making the bed with fresh new sheets. She told me to unload the food and bags from the truck and bring them in and to hook up the television and stereo. An hour later, we were listening to some nice music and Nat was storing food in various closets and lockers. She then sent me to bed for a nap after we decided to go out for a good dinner that night. Tomorrow, she would go to the local market and get some meat and stuff so we could cook better meals than from the packaged stuff. We could have that on the road.

She woke me up at 4:00 again and showed me where she had stored everything. She seemed very happy and satisfied with everything. I did too and for the first time in several days I had a feeling of peace and security. I felt that we would have been hard to trace so far. At no time since we left had we used either of our real names and had paid cash for everything. The only way to trace us was through the internet connections but they had been few and short on fairly safe connections. I decided to wait until the next afternoon to check in with Gwen again. I was also beginning to doubt that she would be able to provide much more information to us since things were getting tight around the work network. I felt that we might need to go on our own for awhile and not make contact with anyone.

We talked and I could tell that Nat was also feeling a sense of security. I told her that we wouldn't check in with Gwen until tomorrow and she agreed. We talked about where we would go after we left here and for some reason, her parents place in Colorado seemed like a good choice but I thought that we should think it over some more. She agreed.

At 6:00, we dressed and walked into town and looked at several restaurants and decided to eat at a small Italian place. The interior was nice and the smell was good. The bottle of wine we shared was also very nice. We felt almost normal rather than like fugitives.

We walked back to the trailer hand in hand like two lovers or husband and wife. It was cool but there was no wind adding to the chill. We also found that the heater in the trailer worked very nicely. Even though it was early, we turned on the stereo and put on some nice quiet music. I slowly undressed Natalie as she undressed me and we crawled in to bed together for the first time in three days. She felt wonderful in my arms and we tenderly kissed and caressed each other. The other nights had been passion filled and with an urgency. Tonight it was slow and tender and expressed love rather than need. When I realized that thought, it seemed to feel slightly odd but very right somehow.

We made love twice that night and fell asleep in each other's arms under a warm blanket in our own place.

I woke up early and slipped out of bed to go to the bathroom and then went to the kitchen to start coffee in our new coffee maker. Nat had bought us new dishes and eating utensils so that everything we used was now our own not someone else's used stuff. We had decided to keep Jessup's blankets and give all of the other stuff to a local charity store. When coffee was ready I turned on the television to find the Fox channel and find out what time the show would be on. It turned out that it would be showing in about an hour. As I was looking for something else to watch, Nat came out in a robe she had also bought and I poured her a cup of coffee and we sat together on the sofa and watched another early news program. Halfway through the program, they made a mention of the growing mystery of the Texas explosion. They reported that the two missing people were retired government analysts but that no one knew what connection that might have had to the case. Natalie's sister had reported that neither she nor their parents had heard from Natalie since she had left a message about being broken down in Kansas. They also reported that Natalie's husband was still in critical condition in a Washington hospital and was under 24 hour guard. There appeared to be no link between his accident and our disappearance. The only really new information was that the FBI had arrested three men who were found snooping around my house and that they were from an Alabama-based gang with reputation for being linked to several other big gangs. They appeared to be techies for hire in the underworld. In short, we hadn't learned much of anything new.

Then I turned on the Fox news program. The first half of the program went over the history of the Energy Bill pending in Congress and how important it was to the future of the country. It was a fairly accurate assessment depending on your political persuasion but then they introduced the Senator who then spend five minutes extolling the merits of the bill and stressed that things had changed in the middle east and now was the best time in years to wean ourselves from undemocratic sources of oil and make a long term agreement with a reliable ally for a continuous supply of oil from a newly discovered source. Twenty minutes later, I looked at Natalie and we both had stunned looks on our faces.

She spoke first. "I cannot believe what I just heard. That is almost totally bullshit compared to the research I did."

"I agree totally. There had never been any report of oil in that piece of shit country that I heard of."

"As of a year ago, I hadn't either and if there had been, it would take ten years and billions of dollars to develop it. And that is if that little psychopath doesn't skim twenty per cent off the top. It is like both of our reports were totally fabricated based on his assessment."

"I noticed that too and that has got me thinking. What would be the worst thing to happen right now if he is really pushing this Energy Bill and a long term pact with that pipsqueak?"

Natalie thought for a moment. "I guess the worst thing that could happen is if our reports were released before they got a vote on the bill and if someone read them."

"With the amount of money being bandied about plus the power and all that shit, if two minor analysts leaked their old reports into the right hands, all hell would break loose, wouldn't it?"

She turned to me with a worried look in her eyes. "Would they kill people for that?"

"A lot of people have been killed for a lot less of a reason."

"Jeff, now I am really scared."

"I am too. The only thing we have going for us is that we know where we are and they don't, we hope. I have been trying to think about where we can hide until this blows over but maybe we need to think about what we can do and stay alive until something happens one way or another."

"What do you have in mind?"

"I don't have it all together but do you have a copy of your report?"

"No, I have my notes on a flash drive at my parent's house, but not the report."

"Can you recreate the important parts with maybe the web sites and data reports you accessed?"

"Some of them. It would be easier if I had my notes."

"Then we need to figure out how to get your notes without raising suspicion."

"What about your report? Do you have a copy?"

"No but it was already leaked and is available from several places. I do remember some of the most important data sources though and I can recreate those. What I am thinking is that if we can get the data into the right hands, maybe we can make some big waves. If so, maybe we can scare some people into leaving us alone."

"Do you trust anyone enough to help?"

"Just a couple of people but they could be very important help. Right now I want to focus on getting your notes in your hands and find us a safe place to do some work. We will also need access to the internet for some time; maybe a few days. We don't need to get the data; we just need to confirm that the data is there and reference the sources."

"Ok, I think I see what you are getting at. As for my parents, my other sister might be our best contact. She is quiet and hasn't shown up on any of the reports we have seen so far. She could go to mom and get the flash drives fairly easily, I think."

"Where does she live?"

"She is a student in Portland Oregon. I could probably contact her and get her to meet us somewhere."

"I think that it would be better if we went to her and talked to her directly rather than trust any phone or computer contact. I don't trust the electronic stuff anymore. They are too easy to crack and trace. Let's see about driving up near there and see if we can find her on campus somehow."

"That shouldn't be too hard. She is usually in the library studying."

"Then let's figure out a way to get to Portland safely."

"I'll say it again; I am with you all the way."

"Do you want to cook breakfast or shall we eat out?"

"Let's eat out. I'm hungry but now I'm not in the mood to cook."

"Ok, we'll dress and find a place to eat and maybe we can look around town some more. Maybe an idea or two will come to mind."

We dressed and went walking back into town. We found a small café and had breakfast and then walked along the main street for awhile. I noticed a convenience store with a sign out front that caught my eye.

"Nat, let's go in here. I'm going to do something. Just play along with me."

She looked at me and grinned. "I'm still with you. Let's go."

We walked in and found a young guy probably still in high school behind the counter. "Excuse me, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"I did something really stupid. I left my cell phone on the trunk of the car and drove off and it is gone. I called from the hotel and cancelled the service. It was a company phone and they will replace it when we get back home to St Louis, but my wife wants to call and check on the kids every day we are gone. Will one of those prepaid phones you sell call like a regular phone?"

"Yes sir. The service is a little expensive because the company just buys roaming time from the big guys. But you can use it anywhere you have a signal regardless of whose signal you have anywhere in the country."

Natalie piped up, "He always leaves his phone somewhere and this time he lost it. I just want to call and check with my sister that the kids are alright. You would think he would take care of a $600 cell phone, wouldn't you?"

"Actually ma'am, we sell quite a few to travelers who lose their phone. Some people can go to a local office and get them replaced quickly. But some people just buy one of these to use until they get home and throw it away. They call them throwaway phones. All they do is make phone calls out. You can't text or do the internet or do any of that stuff. You will have to dial the number you want because there is no memory or anything like that. Shoot they can't even trace calls to it. It is really a basic phone but you can make calls. That is why they are so cheap."

"Honey, get one. I don't want to wait until we get to a pay phone to call the kids."

"Alright." I looked at the kid and said, "Let's get one so I can keep momma happy. How many minutes do we get?"

"You can buy any amount from 20 minutes up to two hours. The price varies according to the minutes."

"How about an hour? That will give you twenty minutes each day until we get home. Is that enough for you, honey?"

"Yes, I think so. At least it will be unless my sister wants to blab."

The clerk added, "If you run out, go into any convenience store that sells prepaid phones and they can add minutes and you don't have to buy another phone."

I said, "That's great. Wrap one up with an hour of time."

Fifteen minutes later, we walked out with a prepaid phone that would be virtually impossible to trace.

As we walked down the street, Natalie asked, "I see why you want one of these phones but tell me, just how many kids do we have husband?" She grinned.

"How many do you want to have?"

"With you, maybe two or three. Can we start trying to make one today?"

"Sure; as soon as we get back to the trailer."

"What are we waiting for?"

"So we can finish our walk."

"Ok, but let's walk fast."

"Are you horny again?"

"Of course; I'm with you stud. I can't wait for you to knock me up."

I saw a small computer store across the street and led Natalie over to it. The store said computer sales and service on the window. Maybe he could recommend something to help slow down tracing of the computer. After talking with him for thirty minutes, I was satisfied that I was relatively safe with a moving computer and using busy routers to connect for short periods of time. The key was if a looker had identified my Russell Fisher account as belonging to me. That meant that so far, they would have to be watching Gwen's computer. I decided that if need be, I would buy a cheap used computer to use once and get rid of it when I finished. For now, we would only use my computer in emergencies.

We stopped at the small market and Natalie bought some chicken to prepare for dinner along with some eggs and sausage with some other necessary items that we didn't. We decided that we would look for a small charcoal grill to be able to cook things outdoors along our journey.

When we got home, we put things away and Natalie dragged me to the bedroom and pulled me down on top of her. "Come on stud; fuck me. Make me your woman." I spent the next hour using every technique I knew to do just that. When we finished, she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me deeply and announced that she was mine.

We made a salad for lunch and then sat on the sofa and started to watch a bad movie but gave it up thirty minutes later. I then asked her a question that I had been putting off and she had only been hinting at.

"Nat, talk to me a minute about John. You have said several things that make me wonder about your relationship with him and just now you declared yourself my woman. What are you thinking and what about John?"

"I wondered when you were going to ask about that. I was going to wait until things all settled down before I told you but it looks like it might be awhile before that happens. So here goes. Everything I told you so far has been true. I just left out several things. When John and I started dating, we were both involved in fairly heavy relationships. I was involved with a woman named Judy. John was involved with a guy named Bruce. I hope that doesn't surprise you. Like I said, we got a long really well at work. Both Judy and Bruce were married too and worked in other parts of the agency. John and I decided to get together so that we could socialize with both couples not just as singles. Things worked fairly well for about six months and then things began coming apart. Judy and her husband decided to get a divorce and she moved home to her parents. That left me without a lover. At about the same time, Bruce and his wife decided that they both wanted John to be their lover. That left me basically alone. As it turned out, Bruce's wife is something of a dominant woman and likes to have control over her men and slowly began to bring John more and more under her sway. John and I talked about it and he admitted that he was really drawn to that lifestyle probably because of the stress he felt at work. They are really hammering on the seniors these days. This is when he told me about finding you if a problem came up. I don't know if he felt something then or if he felt that he might be coming apart."