Chapter 15: Complications

I was sitting at the desk, Allison standing behind me when Bob and Rebecca walked in. I had already cleaned us up and wiped all outward signs of what had just happened between Allison and me. As usual, they had met in the lobby and come in together. I didn't wait for them to say anything, "So how bad is it?"

They stopped in the entryway for just a moment before moving to sit down.

"Bad enough," Rebecca said. "An envelope was delivered to my office yesterday. It contained a letter from our friend and several photographs. He had some interesting things to say, but most of them had nothing to do with you or this case. One of the photographs was of me and Bob having dinner. I've known for some time that he's been watching me. I'm not sure why, but it's some game he's playing. He said he's already picked his next playmate, and that this time she will come to him voluntarily and I won't even try to stop her when she does. The other two photos were solo shots, one male, one female; each one had a name on it, your names." She handed Bob the envelope and he passed to me.

I opened it and pulled out the photos and Allison gasped. It wasn't exactly what I expected but it didn't really change much.

"It was Bob's phone, wasn't it?"

Rebecca just stared at me for a moment before answering, "You're amazing. We think so. We're not certain if it was the cell phone or the one in the house, but most likely the cell. I think he figured out he wasn't going to get much from me directly so he decided to go fishing. Paul tested Bob's phone and it's not altered in any way he can identify, but some signal testing suggests that it may have been cloned. Which means he's been listening to our conversations. That's where he got the names. Caller ID wouldn't work on your cell, but it would pick up your home phone number, and then it's a pretty simple matter to find out who lives there, but apparently he hasn't taken that step yet. He took a couple snapshots and waited to see what I would do with the news. If he's waiting then we have a little time before he figures out that he's got the wrong two. You're a little harder to ID, but not impossible. We're hoping that if we cut off all visible communication he may leave it alone. At the least we're hoping we may be able to convince him that you're just one of Bob's brighter students, a runner on his cross country team, and nothing more."

"You really think he'll let it go?"

"I don't know. It depends on how much time he has on his hands. It's a mystery, not who you are but why I'm involved with you. If he has time to start looking at it, he's going to get frustrated really fast because on the surface I don't think there is any way in hell he can come up with a connection. Unfortunately that probably just means he'll try harder. We found two cameras in Bob's house, with audio. Even though we took them out, Paul is not convinced that the place is clean. If he gets more curious he may decide to try something similar at your place, if he hasn't already."

"I thought of that already. Allison and I discussed some of this earlier. Not this exactly, but why the sudden changes. I had already come to the conclusion that we, I, may be compromised. It was the only thing that made sense. As you said, there is nothing to connect me to the case. I agree with your idea of limiting contact as well. Unless it's something really critical, we can't have any further contact outside of dreams. No matter what we do he is going to be nervous once he finds out that I'm 'Jimmy' and not my dad. The fact that I see Bob every day and he can be passing information to me from you will make him wonder. The biggest advantage we have is that he can't imagine what the hell you could possibly be using a sixteen year old kid for."

"There is another way." Allison said. Suddenly all eyes were on her.

"What's that?" Bob asked.

"We can all become best friends. You two can start socializing with our family, come over for barbecues on weekends, that sort of thing. We keep all conversation completely within FBI guidelines, meaning that we discuss nothing more important than how much traffic you had to face getting out here after work. If he bugs the house, we leave it alone, let him hear and see that everything is perfectly normal and we're all just the family next door."

I could see them thinking about it, and then Bob asked Rebecca, "What do you think?"

She thought for a few seconds more, "It could work. If nothing else we should be able to bore the crap out of him in short order. What about your parents? What are you going to tell them?"

"The truth," I said. "At least enough of it to justify what we're doing. I think we'll skip the part about bugs and cameras. Can you show us how to find them?"

"Sure, there are several obvious places you can look but they're getting easier to hide these days. I doubt if he would go to that trouble or expense in your case, not without knowing more first. To start with check the smoke detectors, ventilation ducts, any other stationary fixtures that you wouldn't normally think about. Wall mounted speakers, that sort of thing; concentrate on things that normally collect a lot of dust. That indicates no one pays a lot of attention to them so they won't notice if something changed as long as it's not too obvious. I'll see about getting you some equipment just in case he did decide you were worth the expense. If you find one, what are you going to tell your parents?"

"We don't need to tell them anything," Allison answered. "He already told you he's watching us. If we find anything, then at the earliest opportunity you'll find it and get rid of it. If we told them anything now mom would just be pissed off that anyone got this close. That's not going to help so for now, I say we leave it alone."

"Well, it does settle one question." I said.

"What's that?" Rebecca asked.

"Looks like I'm definitely going to be running cross county again this year. It will give us one more reason to socialize."

"But I wasn't planning on coaching again..." Bob said, but then he shook his head, "never mind. You think Tim will be running again? I heard a rumor that he quit."

"He did. As for whether or not he'll be back, I'm not sure. We had a chat, and I think there is a chance he may come back again. We'll have to wait and see. One thing's for sure, if he does come back, you're going to have to keep an eye on him."

"Why's that?"

"I told him the best thing he could do for Angela was to live a life she would be proud of. She was always on him to run better. He may push himself too hard."

"Thanks for the heads up. If he comes out I'll have a talk with him, let him know that I'll be watching him and that if he looks like he's pushing too hard I'll shut him down."

"Anything else we need to know about?" Allison asked.

I watched Rebecca's face as she thought about the question, it may have been my imagination but I think I saw a fleeting glimpse of hesitation before she said, "No, I think that covers it for now. What about you?"

"Mikkelson is worse."

"I already got," she stopped and hung some air quotes, "or rather, I 'didn't get', that information from his doctor."

"Well, I'm working on it, but I've got to start getting really serious about the Vegas problem as well. I'll still be doing everything I can on this as well, but unless there is something that needs my immediate attention I'm going to be focusing on that problem for a while. Rebecca, I know that you can't be directly involved in this."

"Directly, indirectly, Jimmy, as far as the Bureau is concerned, Vegas doesn't exist."

"If I need information can I come to you?"

"As long as it's nothing that compromises my position I'll get you whatever I can. Did something happen?"

"No, and we're trying to make sure nothing does."

Bob had been quiet most of the time; I guess it's always a good idea to have someone outside the conversation to listen from as close to a neutral perspective as possible. "Maybe what we need is a little bit of both."

"What do you mean?" Allison asked.

"Sorry, still thinking about the first problem. Maybe what we need to do is go back to the way it was before. Jimmy can go and work on ... other problems as he needs to, Rebecca can continue working on the known issues. The pattern before was pretty random, with Jimmy getting what information he could and then meeting with Rebecca once a week or so. If something comes up that requires contact sooner, they both still have secure phones so as long as he can find a safe location, he can call her." He stopped and looked at Rebecca, "You'll have to give him your new number."

New number? Why would Rebecca need a new number?

Bob was continuing, "If for any reason she needs to see you, I'll let you know. We should probably have a few code phrases we can use, something we can say on an open line to let the other know that there is something more serious we need to discuss. Otherwise the two of you work as independently as possible."

"Speaking of independence," Allison said. "I've been giving a lot of thought to something lately and this whole thing really drives the point home. Jimmy may need his on short notice."

"What do you mean?" Bob asked.

"If this blows up, if someone should somehow become aware of who he is and what he can do, he's going to need to disappear. Nothing buys freedom and mobility like cold hard cash."

"You want money?" Rebecca asked.

"No, of course I don't want money, but I would need money. Allison had an idea how I may be able to start acquiring it in case the need should arise."

"Reward money," Allison said. "He's going to start trying to use his gift to maybe look into some unsolved cases, and if he can put the right information together, he'll pass it along through the tip line. However, just like before, he's going to need someone to handle the money."

Suddenly Bob was laughing loud and hard. We all just stared at him until he got control again. Rebecca was looking slightly irritated. "What's so funny?"

"Don't you see?" Bob asked, wiping tears from his eyes. "He wants the FBI to launder money for him." It took a second for it to sink in, and then we were all laughing at the absurdity of the idea.

"You're right," Rebecca finally said, "That is funny. Speaking of rewards, I need to check in again on the rest of the money from the other dead girls, I think you're going to get at least part of it right away." Suddenly, she got very serious, "You're right about the need. If this gets out of hand, and it could very easily, you're going to need a place to go. I'll make some inquiries with Witness Protection, nothing official since we can't tie you to anything without telling them why, but I'll see if I can't get a hole ready for you to bolt to if the need arises. You understand what that would mean?" I saw her eyes slip to Allison for the briefest of glances.

"Yes, but I can see anyone I want any time I want so it wouldn't be like I had to cut all ties and never be seen again. Besides, if anyone figures this out, you're going to need to hide her too. She would be seen as a pretty serious leverage piece. I won't leave and expose her to that kind of risk. See what you can do about getting us some new identities, and make us both at least eighteen." I held up my hand to stop the comment I could see coming. "I know what you're thinking and yes, it can be done. There are twenty year old porn stars running around all over southern California that look younger than her; color her hair, maybe cut it, a little makeup and the right clothes; legal ID, not fake, but real, and they'll believe it. They'll believe it because they want to believe it. If you don't want to do it through channels then point me at someone who can do it and look the other way."

She stared at me for a moment and I held her eye without flinching, "Okay, I'll talk to Rod, one way or the other we'll get it done." She turned to Bob, "I'm going to miss getting to spend so much time with you."

I caught Allison's eye and waited, I could see the wheels turning for a second, and then she nodded.

"Give me your phones," I said.

"Our phones?" Bob asked. "Why would you need our ... never mind." He pulled it out and handed it to me, Rebecca was right behind him with hers. I opened them up and made a show of pushing some buttons on each one, then turned them off and handed them back."

"Power them back up and then type in 011012 and hit send." They looked at me like had antennae growing out of my forehead but they did it. Nothing happened of course.

Rebecca asked the obvious question, "And that did what?"

"Regardless of where you are, all you have to do is call each other and a door will open taking you to the other's dream. If you call Bob, you can go to his dream; if he calls you, he goes to yours. It's not automatic, by making the call, you're basically asking permission to go, it will also get you back to your own dream if something goes wrong. For instance if you're in Rebecca's dream and she gets a phone call in the middle of the night you will go back to your dream when she wakes up."

"Wouldn't that happen anyway?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, but if it didn't happen automatically, where would you go?"

She got a little white, "Oh. So you're just making sure. How long have you been able to do this?"

Bob took the question, "Sweetheart, I don't think right now is a good time for you to be getting more details on what he can and can't do, if you know what I mean."

She nodded, "Point taken. So you're not going to have a problem with us dropping by and getting to know the family better?"

"However you decide to play it is fine," I said. "Just tell us what you want us to do. Believe it or not, we actually enjoy spending time with you guys. If nothing else we could help you work on your dancing."

"Very funny," Bob said. "I guess this is it for now, if nothing comes up, I'll see you Tuesday morning. Try to enjoy the rest of your weekend. Allison, I hope we'll be seeing you again soon."

"Hey come on you guys," Allison said, "We can still get together here whenever we want, and we don't have to be working you know. Come out and play with the dolphins, hit the waterslide, you know, have a little fun. Just remember to change the sheets in the cabana."

The laughter echoed on for a few seconds as I sent them off to the beach for the night. We had work to do and I got right to the point. "So tell me about what's happening with Samantha."