Off the Grid (A Gerrit O'Rourke Novel) (23 page)

“When your dad…” She stopped, her eyes widening for a moment as if she forgot and spilled something she never intended. “I mean—”

“What about my dad, Alena? Do you know something about him? About my folks?”

She turned away. “Ask Joe about all that. He’ll tell you.”

“He can’t tell me anything about my dad prior to the bombing. I mean, they were brothers and all, but they were never that close. I never understood the trouble between Joe and Dad, but they went their separate ways after working together at MIT for years. My uncle would visit me every few years when he happened to be in town. And then that scare in Chicago… I guess they never got a chance to work things out. What can you tell me?”

“I am not the one, Gerrit. You must ask Joe.”

“I’m asking you.” Anger made his request rather curt. He tried to tone it down. “I mean, what’s the big secret? After all this time and everything that has happened, certainly all this can be out in the open. Right?”

“Not everything,” she said, quietly.

His cell phone vibrated. He withdrew it and saw a text message had been sent. He punched in the connection and scrolled down to the message. It was from his uncle. His jaw tightened as he read it. He handed the phone to Alena. “You better read this.”

She grabbed it and read aloud. “Tell Al danger. Alert. Move quick. Compromised. PU at birdcage midnight. “ She lowered the phone. “This is
tsuris
…bad trouble.”

He stared at her. “What does it mean?”

She glanced up, frowning. “A breach in our security. We’re to meet Joe and the others at the airport at midnight tonight. Bring your new identification and leave everything else behind. Old ID, clothes, everything that’s not new. I’ll lock them up in the safe here until we know we can retrieve them.”

“My old ID? What are you talking about?”

“I mean…everything…can be tracked.”

“Aren’t you a bit paranoid?”

“That’s what keeps us alive,” she snapped. “I don’t have time to explain everything right now. Use your brain, Gerrit. You know what tracking capabilities are out there. Oy vey! All your scientific background should be good for something. Right?” She turned toward him, angry. “I don’t have time to hold your hand.”

“I never asked you to hold my hand.” He drew himself up.

She ripped Gerrit’s cell phone apart, tossed the parts on the ground, and stomped on each one. “If I had not been watching your butt, they’d be fishing out parts of you from the lake. Who knows, maybe they would have whacked you before you even got home.” She shook with rage.

He had never seen this side of her. She looked like she could take his head off. “Cool down, Alena. I only meant—”

“Save your excuses. Right now, we need to move.” She wheeled around and withdrew a small gym bag from a closet. She carried it over to him and opened it. “I’m waiting, Gerrit.”

He handed her his old wallet and felt the pocket watch in his pocket. Hesitating, he slowly withdrew it, rubbing his thumb over the smooth finish. Reluctantly he placed it in the gym bag. He had carried that watch every day since his father first gave it to him. Just clutching it would give him a feeling of connection, a link to his past. Now, that link must be severed. Just like everything else in his life.

She took the bag and flung it into the safe. “Anything else? Watch, jewelry, clothing? Anything we did not give you after the explosion.”

He thought back and shook his head.

“Okay, let’s get moving.” She pushed the safe door closed and locked it. “We need to leave this place and never return until we know it is safe.”

“Safe from what?”

“From surveillance, tracking devices, you name it. Until we know no one can link us and this place together. Same with my place in the Haight.”

“Just like that. Up and leave everything behind?”

Her expression seemed to soften for a moment. “Look, I am sorry for being so uptight, but Mr. J’s message is serious. It means something is really, really wrong. And until we know what the danger is, we have to run and leave everything behind. It is hard, but you will get used to this.”

“Have you gotten used to it?”

Alena’s eyes tightened. “It seems I have been running my whole life. It is just the way things are. Now, let’s move.”

S
hop till you drop—or die
. Gerrit smiled as he watched Alena eyeing Macy’s. They climbed out of a cab in San Francisco’s Union Square and entered the large department store, searching for clothing they might need on the run—coats, jeans, shirts and blouses, even shoes. He watched her trying on a black, sporty leather jacket.

“So, this is what you do every time Joe says to run? You go shopping?”

Once they put some distance between them and the office, Alena seemed to relax, although he could see she was as vigilant as a lioness catching the scent of danger. Alena glanced around for the millionth time. “This is the upside of our kind of life. You get to do a lot of shopping.” She took off the jacket and tucked it under her arm.

“I have to wonder why you leave everything behind. Kane and the others got close enough to put trackers on us? I mean, I know I met him face-to-face overseas, but don’t you think you’re a bit dramatic?”

Her face flushed. “Dramatic? You’re kidding, right?”

“Look, I’d already be dead if they are tracking me. The fact they didn’t find me in Idaho after the bombing tells me they did not have RFID and GPS trackers in place. Otherwise, I would be sucking up dirt right now.”

“But they could have tracked us in any number of ways—satellite surveillance, location sensors, you name it.”

“I know all that, Alena. My point, they haven’t come yet. We might be going through all this for nothing.”

“I…Joe and the others can’t take that chance. And right now, Joe’s calling the shots.”

“Maybe he is too careful. Look, Alena, we have to look at this practically. There are endless possibilities for them to track us, but we must look at the percentages. Right now, I’d say the odds are slim they have locked in on us. I think they’re just fishing. The net they cast is so broad, going back all those years.”

“You may be right, but I trust Joe’s instincts.” She ran her fingers over an alpaca off-the-shoulder sweater displayed on a faceless mannequin in the aisle. “So, smart guy, dazzle me with your science.”

“Dazzle you, huh?” He smiled. “Okay, say I was your husband—”

“My husband? Fat chance.”

“Just pretend for a moment. I’d want to keep an eye on your spending spree. I might start with slipping a chip on you. A Radio Frequency ID tag. You have an ATM card, right?”

“Had an ATM card. Left it with the rest of our stuff.”

He nodded. “Good, because that’s one way of getting to us.”

“I thought they had limited tracking capabilities.”

“Technology’s changed. Now, almost every bank, every financial institution, has the capability of tracking you with that card. Small RFID tags have been inserted in those ATM cards, particularly VIP customers so when you enter a bank, a sensor hidden in the doorways alerts when this card is carried into the bank. A signal is transmitted to bank representatives—such as the manager or tellers—that would allow them to greet important customers by first name and allow them to scan a summary of current transactional history and other information generally only known to the customer.”

“I thought Wal-Mart and others just used them for product identification and tracking.”

He nodded. “RFID use has been expanded. Theoretically, those tags can be tracked anywhere. Using RFID technology, a manufacturer can trace razor blades you purchased right down to your bathroom shelf. In the past, they’ve been limited by the signals emitting from the tags and scanners powerful enough to track and locate their product.”

She moved farther down the aisle. “So if they know I bought this jacket I’m holding, they could track me anywhere I take it—theoretically?”

“Exactly. That’s why Joe wants us to dump our old things and buy new. And this is just the start. RFID and other tracking capabilities have flooded the market. It’s in everything. Cell phones, clothing, even woven into our money.”

“They track money?” She shook her head. “You are an expert in this technology? I must have missed that in your file.”

“It was never my area of interest—I focused in nanosystem integration as it pertained to warfare and nanoelectronics. I knew this technology was out there, but I never paid much attention.”

“Well, now would be a good time to start learning. Our lives may depend upon how much you grasp.” Her words carried a hard edge. “So, tell me about tracking money.”

“I’ll let Joe go over all that later when we catch up to them. But I want to look at this with a practical and objective eye. Study the data and determine appropriate responses. To simply toss our belongings every time we smell danger…that’s just stupid.”

“You calling Joe stupid?” Again, anger flared in her eyes.

“No, but I want us to think in terms of logical and
reasonable
consequences. I know the dangers we face. Any mistake we make, any lapse in judgment, will have catastrophic repercussions. I’m talking arrest, imprisonment…even death. There is a lot at stake. And these guys play for keeps. Winners take all. Losers die. I know all this, but we still must be practical.”

She looked away for a moment. “Do not preach to me about the dangers and consequences, Gerrit. Joe and I have been living with them for years. And you…what, less than a week?” There was a look in her eyes as if each word she chose carried with it a history, an event, something painful that underscored her meaning. He could only guess what she was thinking, but whatever it was, those memories must have cost dearly.

He lowered his voice. “I just wanted to make sure we’re on the same page. Even though I’ve been
running
for a few days, I do know the dangers—as a cop, a Force Recon Marine, and a scientist. In Recon operations, I’ve used satellite tracking stations to home in on the enemy. Once locked upon a target, I was able to backtrack their movements for intelligence purposes, or hover over their current location until that particular satellite was out of range. I know you’ve used some of this technology in Israel, too. Tell me, how did you handle our meeting at the airport?”

Alena waited until they’d purchased their items and walked outside, heading toward Union Square before picking up the conversation again. “Prior to contact with you, we needed to reloop surveillance cameras off-site to allow us to spot and track the tail on you—the threesome we tagged.”

“Okay, but would they also be able to spot you on camera?”

“Once we locked into the targets and had you sighted, we jammed the signals and made it appear they had a major malfunction. Then we were able to move in and incapacitate the two guys and plant a thumbnail sample of explosives on the woman. That allowed us a brief window of time to have our private sit-down at the airport.”

“How did you track those three following me?”

She looked around them, studying each vehicle, each pedestrian. “Joe and Willy will have to explain. They handle the technology; I
handle
the contacts—or enemy. Now, I have to worry about someone planting RFID chips on me.”

Gerrit smiled.

“What are you grinning at?”

“I was just wondering where your RFID chips might be hidden. Want me to help search?”

She laughed. “I can take care of myself, thank you. Besides, that is where Joe and Willy—and maybe you, one of these days—come in. Tonight, they will search us and our new belongings to make sure we are clean of bugs before we go anywhere.”

“What are they going to do? Strip search us?”

Alena looked at him with mischief in her eyes. “They are going to search you in places where you could never search yourself…and they are going to let me watch.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Why are they going to let you watch?”

She smiled without answering.

Gerrit smirked. “Well, since I need on-the-job training, I’ll speak to Joe and see if I can work on you. What do you say?”

“Forget it, Gerrit. Only in your dreams.”