Chapter 11

"How Can You Run When You Know?"

I won't bore you with too many details of the island hopping that Mary and I did, except to say that we lived the full tourist life to the hilt.

I visited the Maui D.M.V. and found that there was indeed a "replacement" license waiting for me (after a written test and an eye exam). I wasn't sure about driving, since it had been a very long time since I had actually driven a car, but it was nice to have the license (Debbie's and Aimee's little shack in Makena was listed as my address).

We stayed overnight at a resort hotel, courtesy of Debbie's credit card. Mary and I made love that night as well. It actually felt a little strange; it was the first time since I came out of my coma that I had made love with a woman without being inside her head. Mary and I quickly adjusted, though, and our love was just about as passionate as ever.

The next morning, Mary and I took a sunrise excursion to Mt. Haleakala, the famous "House of the Sun." We spent the rest of the day just lounging around at our hotel.

The day after, we took an inter-island flight to Oahu, where Mary and I visited Old Honolulu, and looked at the Arizona Memorial and Battleship Missouri at Pearl Harbor. Even though neither of us served in the Navy, the memorial tugged our heart strings as we thought about the attack that brought our country into World War II.

Mary and I also spent a day on Waikiki Beach, but as I wasn't an avid swimmer, we went back to tour the shops in Honolulu.

I was able to use our time alone to talk some things over with Mary. I asked her about the ethics involved in my "scanning" for the girls. Mary was a bit surprised at my hesitation, since she had just assumed that since I could do it, that I probably did it all the time. Mary was a fellow officer, and quickly came to see my point of view. I found her ideas comforting. She decided that it was a good thing that I ask for permission before "invading the privacy of the others." She also was unhesitant in giving me permission to scan for her any time and for any reason.

"I have few secrets from you, Jim," she said, all seriousness in her eyes.

At night time, Mary and I would talk to Debbie and Aimee by phone at prearranged times scheduled thoughtfully by Aimee, who seemed to know the kinds of sights we were interested in, even making some good suggestions for nice places to visit.

All in all, it was a very relaxing week. Mary and I also continued to make love every evening, and sometimes even in the morning.

Aimee was right about one thing... my bad dreams had stopped.

After about a week, I found that I was looking forward to talking with Debbie and Aimee on the phone. Despite being in paradise, I found those calls the highlights of my days. I discussed this with Mary, who also felt the same way.

Mary and I had decided to head back to Maui to the shack, and when we told Aimee, she hesitated.

"What's up, Aimee?" I asked, knowing that the voice I was hearing on the other end of the phone wasn't the down-to-business person that we knew Aimee to be.

"I think it might be best if we meet you at the airport in Oahu. I've already called back Mely and June, and they will be able to depart the islands tonight," Aimee said.

This was an abrupt change in plans.

"Tonight? We were going to take an excursion tomorrow..." I said.

Aimee interrupted me, again, completely out of character. "Please trust me, Captain."

I knew that when Aimee addressed me by rank, she was trying to tell me something. I didn't know what it was, and Aimee's not answering me directly indicated that either I wasn't supposed to know something, or that she wasn't able to say something for some reason. I decided to trust her.

"Alright, Aimee. Is there anything you need from us?" I asked.

I could hear Aimee pause on the other end, and then she said, "I'll take care of everything, Jim. June will call you to arrange when and where we will meet."

Mary knew by my tone that something was up. She looked concerned. I put my finger to my lips to keep her quiet while I was on the phone and she nodded.

"OK, Aimee. See you later," I said.

I hung up the phone.

"What's happening, Jim?" Mary asked.

"Our trip to Hawaii is being cut short. Aimee didn't say why, but just for us to trust her," I answered.

"Of course we trust her," Mary said, looking me in the eye.

"She also referred to me as 'Captain.' Something is up, and I think she was trying to give me a clue."

"The military?" asked Mary.

I shrugged. "Perhaps. We'll be meeting Mely and June at Honolulu International tonight."

"I figured that much," Mary said.

The two of us were a bit nervous.

June called an hour later, and told me when and where she would meet Mary and I at the airport. Mary and I showed up at the exact time and location specified and found June waiting for us. She escorted us to Debbie's jet.

Aimee and Debbie were already on board, and Mary and I hugged the two of them when we arrived. Aimee still didn't seem to want to answer the questions that she knew were bothering Mary and I, and I let her take her time.

We were up in the air around midnight.

After we were aloft, Debbie approached where Mary and I were sitting together. "I'm sorry to cut your vacation short, Master, but..." She paused.

Finally, Mary couldn't take it. "But... ?" she prodded.

"Somehow, somebody is doing some checking up on you," Debbie finally said.

"How do you know?" I asked.

Aimee went on to describe how some of her sources have recently been asked questions regarding Debbie and her, and some of those questions involved whether or not they knew a certain Jim Montgomery.

This was very interesting, because until now, I didn't know that any agency that would be interested in tracking me would have connected me to Debbie or Aimee.

If I thought I was paranoid, Debbie and Aimee actually managed to outdo me, mostly because the "state of the art" (as Aimee worded it) in intelligence gathering had improved quite a bit in the time that I had been out of the picture.

Back in the days that I remember, computers were these big, impersonal things that people used to blame when you got some outrageous error in your phone or electrical bill. Nowadays, "personal computers" could be had by just about anybody for as little as a couple thousand dollars... which in itself was totally mind-blowing (my words!).

Aimee also explained that with the current almost ubiquity of these little machines, businesses were buying them left and right, totally redefining the way the world does business.

For instance, take credit cards.

I had one back in the 1970s, before Uncle Sugar had started to take care of my day to day needs. When I had one, you'd show it at a cash register, and the clerk would make a carbon impression of your card, and at the end of the day (or week), the store would mail copies of the transaction to the banks, which would eventually show up as a bill on my monthly statement.

In the past week, I noticed that when Mary would show her credit card for a hotel room or meal at a restaurant, the card would most likely be "swiped" into the cash register itself (now called a "point of sale" device, since it had more intelligence than those simple calculating machines of the past), which would send the contents of the transaction over a telephone line to a bank immediately.

In other words, information, especially information that can be found or stored on a computer, travels fast nowadays. Every room that Mary and I stayed at in Hawaii; every restaurant that we paid for by credit card; every dress that Mary purchased; these could all be tracked by the bank that underwrote the credit card. There are "credit bureaus" that consolidated information between banks that issued different credit cards... making it possible for quite a dossier to be put together on a person quite easily.

That was just credit cards. Hotel chains had computers, too. As did restaurants and other places. There was no end of places that could have a record of you somewhere.

I nodded as the girls explained this to me. Mary was extremely knowledgeable about this, which I attributed to be because she had some experience with the military, as well has having worked at a department store and a bank.

Although such "intelligence" about people is easy to obtain, it is rare that people are isolated, unless there is a reason for a person to be investigated. Aimee knew that Debbie's finances were on the up and up, and that any such investigation over her expenditures would be quickly seen as uninteresting. However, what alerted Aimee about this was the mention of my name.

Aimee explained it like this. "If you had anything like a credit card that could track you down, it probably expired a decade ago. You have a bank account, but since you've been living with Mary and us, I don't recall you using any credit cards or doing any bank transactions," Aimee explained.

Aimee's explanation first struck me as if she were accusing me of sponging off of Mary or Debbie... and then it hit me. It was true--either Mary, or more likely Debbie, had been paying for just about everything... how would anybody looking at Mary's or Debbie's credit cards be able to cross reference either of them with me? My jaw dropped.

Apparently, Mary got what Aimee was saying at the same time. "That's right, Aimee!" Mary said. "Unless people were following any of us, how could they associate the four of us?"

Aimee just nodded. "I'm glad you understand the reason that I was concerned. I have to surmise that somebody has been investigating one or more of us. And..."

I knew where she was headed. "Since I have this mind power or whatever, you think it might be the reason for somebody to take an interest in me, right?"

Aimee nodded, as did Debbie, with whom Aimee already had apparently discussed these things.

Mary agreed. "You're right. We have to suppose it is you that they are after. If it is me... or Aimee or Debbie, then we'd really have nothing to worry about. However, if somebody is following you, then we should be very worried."

"Right," Aimee said. "We should be prepared for the worst."

My mind was in a whirl. I had never really discussed that mysterious call from the VA that I received a while back. I figured that now was the time.

"Um, girls... I think we have more to fear," I said.

The three girls listened to me as I described that weird call from the VA. Mary and Debbie had worried looks as this dovetailed with Aimee's revelation about us being under investigation.

Aimee, on the other hand, simply nodded. "I think that it was good that I immediately assumed that you were the target, Jim. If the VA had information linking you with Mary, and Mary was recently using a Malen Associates credit card, then that could identify how the link between the four of us was made. It also makes it almost likely that somebody in the military is involved."

"So, what do we do?" I asked.

Aimee smiled. As I said, she smiled rarely. Her look told me that she knew what she was doing, and immediately my nerves were soothed. "Well, we're headed out to Utah, as it was the safest place to go. We know that somebody is out there, and that somebody is interested in you."

I considered this, and Aimee continued. "It's not like we're without resources, Jim."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We've got computers, too!" Aimee said.

Computers? We did? "We do?"

Aimee looked at me, still smiling. "Sure we do! At the ranch!"

I considered this, and then remembered that Debbie had one of her properties in Utah, and that she had visited there recently. Aimee and Debbie both referred to that place as "the ranch."

I nodded at Aimee. "It sounds like you have everything figured out," I told Aimee.

"Not figured out, but at least we have some idea of what we need to do next," Aimee said.

Aimee's choice of Utah was a good one. Debbie had some property about an hour outside of Salt Lake City, and it was quite secluded. It was near a wildlife preserve called Fish Springs.

After we landed, Mely refueled and then flew off with June on to Texas, the site of another one of Debbie's properties. Debbie, Mary, and I took a "courtesy limo" offered by an expensive hotel and arranged for a suite. Aimee took a cab to Salt Lake City where she rented her own hotel room and would eventually meet the three of us when she obtained transportation.

It only took Debbie, Mary, and I about ten minutes to get from the airport to the Sheraton, thanks to the "shuttle," which was a miniature van that was used exclusively for ferrying people between the airport and the hotel. I had another one of my "Rip Van Winkle" moments in the spacious vehicle; Mary seemed to pick up on my feelings and just held me close.