Chapter 16: A First Salvo Has Lancelot Acquire New Armor

After goodbyes and thanks, Amy and I headed home from Bachman's apartment, arriving at 3 that morning. Police awaited us. My apartment had been ransacked and violated, everything smashed and the bed peed on. A message on the bed read, "She's fine. Don't fuck with us." It took five minutes for their devastation. Motorcycles roared to a stop. Big leather clad fellows wearing stockings over their heads broke down the outside and apartment doors. The license plates didn't exist. Hell's Angels alibied each other. The only thing missing was my address book.

Consulting my detective friend, it turned out a plant in the Amsterdam bikers had been killed a few days before. Interpol worried about its own mole. The investigation retreated.

"They know I'm headed to Amsterdam," I said to the detective.

"Maybe you should change your plans," said the detective. I nodded.

I called my ex to find out about Devi and Benjamin. "They got home yesterday," she said. I called Devi's house.

"Bess worried about you," said Devi. "She gave me a number for you to call."

"Can my friend and I crash at your house?" I asked.

Cancelling the airline tickets cost us half their price. After shopping to acquire a small wardrobe since we had only the clothes on our back, we washed at the YMCA where we worked out, changed and caught a subway to Grand Central and headed south.

While waiting for the train I called the number. As instructed I left the payphone number on the guy's pager. He called an endless five minutes later.

"Who's this?" asked a grumpy male voice.

"A friend of Bethesda," I said.

"Where are you staying?" he asked. I started to give Devi's address when he stopped me. "I know it."

"I have a friend," I said.

"It's taken care of," said the grump. "When will you be at the location?"

"By six," I said. He hung up.

Devi met us at the station in Baltimore giving me a long hug. I introduced Amy. They looked each other over and approved. Devi opened her arms and gave her a hug, whispering into Amy's ear. Amy chuckled and whispered back.

Home by five, Benjamin and Melissa greeted us. They looked like adults. Benjamin looked hale and handsome having lost most of his pudginess. Melissa looked gorgeous and had become unmistakably a woman. She had us sit at the dining room table and fed us eggplant mousaka--a bit over spiced but delicious.

At six the doorbell chimed. A tall thin African stood in a cheap suit and tie selling the word of god--a Jehovah's Witness. The timing made me skeptical and he proved me right. "I'm not interested," I said.

"Believe me," said the African suddenly sounding like a student from nearby Johns Hopkins, "this will save your soul." Stepping inside a moment, he opened a drab brief case and extracted another brand new and expensive case that had filled it and gave it to me.

"The lord is with you," he said as he left smiling blissfully.

The case contained new passports and drivers' licenses for Amy and me with aliases and a European driver's license for me. It also contained a ticket for me to Barcelona leaving from Philadelphia and Amy to Berlin leaving from Washington under our new names, hair dye to make me a blond and Amy brunette, brown contacts for both of us and credit cards and ten thousand dollars in cash. Both Amy and I stared at our new looks on our various IDs and cringed. Amy's beautiful locks required drastic cutting to a couple inches in length and I needed to shave my pate like complete baldness might happen in another five years.

A letter inside read: