Chapter Sixty-One
Sixty-One
Denise’s answer made Mary’s blood run cold inside her veins.
‘What do you mean I called you and asked you to come?’ The nervous edge to her tone was punctuated by fear.
‘The secret phone,’ Denise said, her eyes narrowing at Mary. ‘The one that only you know the number to? You left a message, didn’t you? Almost a month ago?’
Mary could feel her entire body tensing. ‘What message did you get, Denise?’
‘The one with no “Hi, sis”, no “Hey, I hope you’re well”, no greeting of any kind. Just you being you and going straight into business. It had to be you, Mary, because it was your voice and you used both code words – the opening and the closing one – like you always do.’
‘And what did I say on the message?’
‘Simple… quick… like always,’ Denise explained.
‘You told me that Mary Smith was now living in San Francisco.’ She nodded at Mary.
‘I’m assuming that after the Nelson job, you managed to get that government-endorsed identity change that you were talking about, right?
No phony documents here.’ Denise didn’t wait for a reply.
‘And then you said that you were dating again, which we both know means that the wheels were already in motion with a brand-new target. That was you, wasn’t it? ’
‘Yeah, that was me,’ Mary agreed. ‘But you said that I asked you to come to San Francisco.’
‘Didn’t you?’
‘No.’ Mary shook her head. ‘Didn’t you hear the whole message? The ending? You must have if you heard me say the closing code word.’
‘What ending?’
Mary threw her hands up in the air. ‘The one that I said, “give me three to four months to solidify things and I’ll get back to you”.’
‘Oh, that ending?’ Denise sounded nonchalant. ‘Yeah, I heard that.’
More hands in the air, this time with a headshake. ‘And what part of “give me three to four months to solidify things and I’ll get back to you” didn’t you understand, Denise?’
Denise shrugged carelessly. ‘Well, I haven’t heard from you in a year and a half and then, all of a sudden, “ping” – voice message…
“I’m in San Francisco… bla, bla, bla… new target…
” – and you know me… I get curious… I get restless.
I wanted to see what this was all about.
Plus, I really missed you, sis.’ She shrugged. ‘So here I am.’
Mary took a moment, her brain trying hard to slot pieces into places.
‘OK, first of all – how the hell did you find me? I mean… I did say that I was in San Francisco, but I never gave you an address. You know that I would’ve never done that.
What I would’ve done, like always, would’ve been to set a meeting location…
somewhere where no one would see us together.
’ She paused, her expression worried. ‘There are over six hundred and fifty Mary Smiths in the San Francisco area. I know that you didn’t check them all. ’
‘No, just you,’ Denise replied, a proud smile on her lips. ‘Been following you around for two weeks now.’
‘Two weeks?’ Mary’s eyes almost exploded out of their sockets.
‘You’re losing your touch, sis,’ Denise joked.
‘Fuck you!’
‘I was just kiddiiiing.’ Denise lifted her hands in surrender, giving Mary her best ‘puppy eye’ look. ‘I’ve been tracking you from a very safe distance. You wouldn’t have noticed me because you can’t notice what you can’t see. You taught me that, remember?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘And you’re still laser sharp,’ Denise continued. ‘No routine, even with your runs… no car, so I assume no driver’s license… no social media accounts… even the name registered to this apartment isn’t yours – Wendy something – how did you manage that?’
‘Not important right now,’ Mary said back. ‘What’s important is you telling me how the hell you found me. If I’m still laser sharp, how did you get to me?’
‘C’mon, think about it,’ Denise urged Mary, giving her a few seconds before helping her. ‘The code? Your new phone number?’
Mary’s eyes widened at the same time as her jaw dropped. ‘You tracked it?’
Denise nodded.
Mary and Denise had developed their own messaging code system years ago – after they ran their second wedding con.
The code was simple, but very effective.
Every time a message was left, it had to start and finish with two different code words, which changed with every month of the year.
Once the message had been delivered, the person who had left the message would destroy the SIM card and the phone that she had used, but a new phone, with a new number, would already be in place.
That new number would be coded into the message – a code that was practically unbreakable without knowing the key, which only the two of them knew – so that at any one time, they knew how to get in contact with each other.
‘How?’ Mary asked. ‘How did you track my burner phone?’
‘It’s not that hard,’ Denise explained. ‘If the phone that you want to track is live and “pinging”, all you need is the right equipment.’ She immediately lifted a hand at Mary.
‘Relax. For it to work, you need to know the target’s phone number, which no one else other than me would know because no one else can crack our code.
’ She paused for a moment. ‘You haven’t given the new number to anyone else, have you? ’
‘Of course not.’ Mary got up and started pacing the room. ‘And did you do the tracking yourself, or did you have help? Does anyone else know that you’re here, Denise? Anyone else have my burner phone number?’
‘No,’ Denise replied. ‘No one knows. I did the phone tracking myself and then destroyed the equipment. The phone was “pinging” from this building. From there, all I needed to do was watch and wait.’ She pulled a funny face at Mary.
‘And it took me three days to finally find you. You don’t come back here that often, do you? ’
Mary stopped pacing. ‘You’re sure that no one else knows, Denise?’
‘Yes, I’m sure. Jeez, relax. We’re good. I promise you – there’s no trail.’
Denise could be a lot of things, but she was never careless… Mary knew that very well.
‘So,’ Denise asked, changing the subject. ‘Is this new guy at least good in bed?’
Mary’s eyebrows arched as she nodded, while biting her bottom lip.
Denise chuckled. ‘That face… really?’
Mary just carried on nodding.
‘Well, I guess I’m going to find out soon enough, aren’t I?’ The pause was deliberate, accompanied by a cheesy smile. ‘So, when do you want me to start fucking your future husband?’