Chapter 13
Evan walked out of the furniture store with a piece of paper that would get him a drug test at a clinic a mile or two away.
The manager that he’d interviewed with hired him without much question, and if the drug test came back clean, and it would, Evan would be the newest employee of Newman’s Fine Furniture come the next Monday.
As he walked to his Camry, the big-box electronics store a few doors down from the furniture place caught his eye.
Evan did have some questions he wanted answered, and he also wanted to do a little research, all of it on topics that he didn’t want connected to any of his personal electronics.
Evan had watched enough television shows and documentaries about killers to know what to do to avoid capture.
Evan made a hard left and headed for the electronics store’s automatic doors.
“Welcome to Bob’s Electronics. What can I help you find today?” the twenty-year-old door greeter asked.
“Um, just looking around,” Evan said.
“Okay. Feel free. Some good deals today on televisions.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Evan said as he continued into the store.
Evan passed the cell phone department, which had a handful of people waiting around.
He had a few questions for an employee before selecting a prepaid phone but thought he might have a look around until the crowd thinned out.
Evan headed for the televisions, then he went toward the computers and tablets.
Evan scooped up a tablet that was attached to the table by a security cord.
A tablet would be fine for surfing the internet, yet it would have to be connected to his home Wi-Fi, and Evan wasn’t sure whether that might expose him.
He set it down and continued roaming around the store, over to the small electronics consisting of headphones, small speakers, and home security cameras.
With eyes on the cell phone department, Evan saw a man shake an employee’s hand before the man made for the exit.
With the employee appearing to be free, Evan walked over.
“Can I help you out with something today?” the man asked.
The guy appeared to be about twenty-five with a patchy-looking beard and a skin tone that said he was either a vampire or hadn’t seen the sunlight in quite some time.
“I’m looking for a prepaid phone,” Evan said. “One that has internet and all that.”
“They’ll all give you access to the internet. Well, other than the large-button one that we have that’s geared more toward seniors.”
“Okay,” Evan said. “And these are the kind that can’t be tracked by cops, right?” He let out a short laugh as if the question was a joke.
“I don’t know if I can guarantee that,” the guy said with a smile. “Here, I’ll show you what we’ve got.” He gestured for Evan to follow and headed for one of the aisle end caps.
“Any of these here should do the trick for you.” The employee waved a finger around the boxes of phones hanging on pegs.
“How do these work, exactly? Do you, like, prepay for a certain number of minutes and data or what?” Evan asked.
“Exactly that,” the guy said. “Pick whichever you like, buy it, and then set up an account for billing. You can use your credit card to pay for the amount of data that you’d like. Normally, that’s per month, and some of these will let you carry whatever data is left over to the next month.”
Evan didn’t much care for the part where he had to use a personal credit card but thought he might be able to work around that by using a gift card.
“Is there one that’s more popular than the rest? Or better?” Evan asked.
“Um, we sell a bunch of this one.” The employee pulled one from the rack. “It has good reviews and has the carryover data.”
“Should be good enough,” Evan said. “Thanks for the help.”
He took the phone and headed for the checkout area.
As he stood in line, he scanned the shelf by the register.
Hanging above the gum and candy bars were a bunch of store gift cards and a couple from the big-name credit card providers that could be used anywhere.
When it was his turn to checkout, Evan snatched a hundred-dollar gift card from the peg and handed it, along with the pre-paid phone, to the young lady working the register.
She gave him a quick smile, scanned both items before dropping them into a bag, and gave Evan his total.
He pulled a pair of hundred-dollar bills from his wallet and paused before he passed them over. “Um, you know what,” Evan said. “I actually think that I’m going to hold off on this phone and go grab something else. Sorry.”
“Okay. Yeah, no problem,” the girl said.
Evan walked deeper into the store and toward the tablets he’d looked at a moment before. He had a better idea, one that seemed safer. After a brief chat with an employee in the computer department, Evan picked up the cheapest tablet they sold and again went to pay.
“Find what you were looking for this time?” the girl at the register asked with a smile.
“Yep. I think I have it now,” he said.
“Did you still want that gift card, too, or…?”
Evan waved away the question. “Nope, just the tablet.”
The girl scanned the box the tablet was in then bagged it up. She gave Evan his new total, and he handed her the cash.
“Did you want to put your information for the purchase into the little machine there?” She pointed at the credit card reader.
“Nah, I’ll just hang on to the receipt,” Evan said.
“Okay. Just hit cancel on the screen, then.”
Evan did. Then he took his change and paper receipt and left the store.