Chapter 20 #2
“Away from them,” she said. She drove to the river road, then made her way out of town toward the Grand Island Bridge, and took the three miles in about three minutes, looking in the rearview mirrors every few seconds.
She kept going south to the expressway and on into Buffalo, and then east on the New York State Thruway.
She had seen one car at the factory, but if there was another, she hadn’t seen it, so she watched for any vehicle going the same direction she was.
She said, “If you want to sleep, go ahead.”
“Do you mind if we talk? I’m kind of geared up.”
“Feel free. I’m listening.”
He told her the story of his years working for Bart Stillivant, his sudden understanding of what his boss’s businesses and his partners were like, his resignation from the job and his move to Phoenix, and then their attempt to murder him. Finally, Brian said, “Can you help me?”
“I am helping you,” she said. “Right now, I’m driving you to a place where I’m going to try to get you the best new identification that’s available.
I don’t know for sure whether my supplier can help you right now, because he’s been busy helping someone else.
But I know if he can he will. In the meantime, you’ve got some work to do for yourself. ”
“What is it?”
“First, think back over what you’ve told me. Make sure I know everything that you know. Is there any chance that anyone who’s hunting for you can track you here, or trace you backward?”
“Not that I know of. Bart’s killers lost me in the desert. They never had a chance to follow.”
“Then think about the future. First you have to decide what you want. If what you want is revenge, you’re welcome to go get it, but I won’t help you.
I don’t do revenge. If you want justice, I can’t help you with that either.
I’ve never been sure I even know what it is, and I can’t go near the people who are in the business of handing it out.
Their idea of justice would be to lock me up.
But if what you want is to run away and disappear, you didn’t come to the wrong place, you just came at a very bad time. But I’ll give you a chance to do it.”
“Thank you,” he said. “That’s exactly what I want—a chance to keep on living, to be left alone.”
“Have you told me everything that I need to know?”
He had to assume that she had seen the sheets hanging from the window and realized what must have been going on in that bedroom. Either way, she didn’t need to know that. “I think so.”
“There’s one more thing you can get started on,” she said.
“Thinking your situation through. I can help you get very difficult to find, but I can’t make you immune to the problems all people have in their lives.
You have to live somewhere, do something for a living, take care of your health, and so on.
But you have choices about what all that should be.
It’s an opportunity to make improvements. ”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“Most people don’t. Especially people like you, who didn’t have a reason to think they were doing anything bad or wrong or even risky.
That doesn’t change the fact that you have to be different from now on.
More advice. Don’t pick a place to live that has a meaning for you, or that you’ve visited before.
Not only does that make you easy to find with a simple background check, but you can’t go to a place you’ve visited and have people not notice that this time you have a different name.
And here is the big, terrible one. You will have to find a way to live with the fact that you’ll have to cut off your relationships with any relatives, friends, even acquaintances.
Anybody who knows you. Do you think you can do that? ”
“I guess so. Yes.”
“You have to try for a clean break—not one thing in common between the person you’ve been and the person you want to be. And the person has to be somebody you like being, so you’ll be able to be him for a long time.”
Jane had driven east on the Thruway, never slowing for an hour until she pulled off onto the service area at Clifton Springs to refill the gas tank, buy snacks and water, and use the restrooms. From there she went south on smaller highways.
It took nearly three hours to reach the quiet street in Cantrell Falls that went around the park outside Stewart’s house.
Jane parked her car on the far side of the park, but with an unimpeded view of the front door.
Brian said, “Will anybody be awake in there?”
“These are their business hours,” Jane said. “They have blinds and blackout curtains in their studios.” The front door of the house opened and then swung shut again without showing a light. “They must have recognized my car. Come on.”
They walked to the front steps and up onto the porch. The door swung open and they entered, and it swung shut. While Molly was locking the door she said, “Your timing is perfect, Jane. Your order is ready to go.” Her eyes settled on Brian Finlay for a second, but she said nothing.
“My timing is an accident,” Jane said. “This is another runner who turned up unexpectedly. He needs the kind of help that you and Stewart can give him. He was sent by people I trust. If this is something you can’t take on, I’ll understand, and I can take the other order and go.”
Molly said, “For you, we’ll give it our best shot. Come on up and we’ll talk it over with Stewart.”
They followed Molly up the stairs to Stewart’s studio, where he was in the process of packing a set of papers, cards, and a passport into a stiff envelope liner to go into a padded envelope. He looked up. “Janie,” he said. “You’re saving me some postage. This is for you.”
She accepted it. “Thank you, Stewart. You’re the best.”
“And this is?”
“This is a man who was sent to me by a friend of mine. I know you don’t want to hear names.
His situation is bad. There are two sets of people looking.
One group works for a billionaire who has already sent people to kill him.
Obviously, they failed, but that will probably make the next crew bigger and more motivated.
The second group is accidental. I’m being hunted by people who want to know what I know.
Some were waiting in my house when he got there. I pulled him out tonight.”
Stewart nodded, looked at Brian, and then at Jane. “You should take a vacation.”
Molly said, “After this, of course.”
“Right,” Stewart said. “Right after this. Molly, can you get started on the photography, please?”
“Sure. Come with me, friend.”
She and Brian Finlay left the room.
Jane said, “I’m sorry about this. I had to try the first-choice option. You’re the first-choice option.”
“Don’t apologize. At this point I guess Molly and I should do as much business as we can. The way technology is changing, it could be a matter of hours before what we do either becomes impossible or becomes so easy everybody can do it.”
“Thanks, Stewart.”
“This process is going to have to be the full workup, like the last one?”
“If you can do it, I’d be grateful.”
“It’s going to take some time. I don’t mean hours. Getting this stuff through the government is very tricky for an adult because you can’t submit photographs that the face readers will recognize under his old name. If you’ve got something else to do, you might as well go do it.”
“Since this runner isn’t dangerous or dishonest, I’ll leave him with you. Let me give you the cash to get you started,” she said. She set her oversize bag on the floor and began taking stacks of hundred dollar bills out and setting them on his desk.
“You don’t have to do that,” Stewart said. “You just paid me a lot of money and I trust you for this.”
“I know, but a person would have to be crazy to leave this much cash in a parked car.” She continued to take out the stacks until the bag was much thinner and lighter.
Stewart knew that what she meant was that she might never be back. He said, “Let’s go talk to your runner.” They both walked down the hall to Molly’s photography studio.
Molly and Brian turned when they appeared. Brian was wearing a tweed coat and a tie in a subdued blue pattern. Stewart said to him, “We’re going to give you the best identification we can manage.”
Jane said, “It will take some time, at least weeks. I can’t stay and wait.
I’ll send you some more cash by mail to give you a safe start when your ID is ready, but here’s some in case I don’t get back soon enough.
” She set another banded stack of money on Molly’s worktable.
She hugged Molly, then hugged Stewart, turned, patted Brian’s shoulder, and took a step.
Brian said, “Thank you so much. I’ll never forget what you’ve done.”
“It’ll be better for both of us if you do,” she said. “Listen to Molly and Stewart. They’re the experts at this part. I’ll try to get back for the next phase. In the meantime, good luck.”
Jane and Stewart went down the stairway to the front door. He stood in the closet beside the door and looked out the disguised peephole lens for a few seconds. “It’s clear,” he said. “You be safe too.” He opened the door.
As Jane moved out past him, she whispered, “Let’s all do that.” Then she was down the steps and moving across the city park around the antique bandstand and toward her car.