Chapter 314

When I heard the knock at the rear door, I checked the security camera. Standing at my door were both Sylvia and Peter. I could also see his car parked in front of mine in the wide alley. He had obviously driven Sylvia into work. Since they had left work separately yesterday, there had to be a story in that.

The time stamp on the computer set their arrival time ad 7:52. At least they were on time. I also noted that Sylvia had a plain brown bag, the kind mothers used to pack their kid's lunch for school. It was also the kind that Helen used in her Sit Down.

Since she had only one bag and Helen's Sit Down packed each breakfast in it's own bag, it was obvious they had already eaten. It seemed to be only a slight stretch to assume they ate together. I found that interesting as well. As usual I was amazed at how easy it was to gain information. It just wasn't relevant information.

"Good morning Maxine," Sylvia said.

"Yes, good morning boss," Peter said.

"Good morning children did you sleep well," I forced myself not to smile.

"I did," Sylvia said putting an end to the Q &A about where she slept.

"Peter, I hope you did as well, since I plan to make you earn your place in our little band of Gypsies." I said to him.

"I did Maxine, so what is my chore?" he asked.

"That depends, have you finished your simulation?" I asked.

"It is up to date, but I am sure you will think of other things to add," he said smiling at me.

"Possibly, but for now you can sit in the passenger seat and we will discuss the simulation. If you need to adjust it, you can do so as we drive. If we finish before we arrive in DC you can drive." I would be happy to turn the driving over to him. "Sylvia you can drive some as well."

"Maxine I do not have a driver's license." she said.

Suddenly the small scooter made even more sense. "Okay, well then you can be the navigator."

"I have the trip already laid out in detail," Peter said.

"Of course you do honey," I said it taking the brown bag for him. Peter took the dress bag I had used to transport my red dress to the Emmy awards banquet. I also had a small duffel bag with my running togs and underwear slung over my shoulder.

"If either of you want coffee now is the time," I suggested as I filled my largest delta cup with half day old coffee. When it was done, we were out the back door in a flash. The large ugly red Chevy was more comfortable than any of the cars I had ever owned. I was pretty sure that it would also be a better ride than Peter's sporty looking econobox.

I left the alley at just a little after 8:30 AM. Our ETA was 2PM more or less. The reality network had booked me a mini suite at the Diplomat Lodge just outside Washington. I had no idea what the hell it would be like, nor did I much care.

We were on the expressway headed north when I managed to get the bagel bag open. I just wanted them to see me eat, I didn't need the food at all. I chewed on the bagel and the simple taste receptors allowed me to identify it as a bread with a sweet cheese addition. If anyone asked, I would know that it was a sweet cheese on some kind of chewy bread. In my mechanical mind the bagel with cream cheese analysis was easy to locate and classify. In other words I knew what I was eating from the taste not just the name.

When I finished it and half my coffee, I turned my attention to Peter and the game. "So what is the most likely scenario?" I asked.

"I was very careful not to weight the probabilities, since we had discussed a possible outcome," he began.

"Peter, if I didn't trust you, you would not be here. So just tell me the outcome, I most likely wouldn't understand the steps." I knew that I would understand, I just didn't care. It bored me."

"The probability of it happening like we said is 66%, which is very high for this kind of thing," he informed me. "Anything over fifty is almost a guarantee."

"So now how is he going to know the senator is close?" I asked.

"He has to have a second person closer to the start being his spotter. It is interesting information, but significantly irrelevant to your requirements."

"How so?" I asked.

"You aren't trying to catch the people responsible, just stop this attempt." he said.

"Very good, you have your eye on the prize," I said. "So what do you have for me?"

"The game identified half a dozen likely sites. The three most likely sites for the hit are a half mile section that runs through a city park. It would give the shooter easy access to the race and an easy escape route. That one has the highest probability," he said.

"Yeah I like it, what else?" I asked.

"A stretch in front of a couple of hotels. Lots of people coming and going there. Easy to hide in plain sight," he informed me.

"Yeah not too many people are going to stop a man with a gun but they would get a good look at him. I can see why this site is not number one." I said.

"The third has several blocks of commercial buildings lining the street. If he could get on and off the street there would be lots of places to disappear," Peter said.

"So it looks like lots of places are possible. I guess I need to make friends with the senator and run along with him or just behind him." I sipped on my cold coffee and gave it some more thought. I had a pretty good idea of what to look for and some indication where it might happen. Time to start at least narrowing it down some.

I made the decision to speak out loud. Peter could plug my thinking into his game wherever possible. "Okay I'm the shooter's team leader. After I have figured out the how next comes the where. I scout the route and find what you have told me just now. So which one am I going to choose?" I asked myself.