Alex nodded. “Good. There’s another link.” She thought for a moment. “I suppose Treville picked these items up while traveling in Europe, right?”
“Somehow, I doubt that. Customs might have had a problem with him bringing them into the country, and they’re too big for him to have smuggled them in easily. I’d say he had them sent, by Fed Ex, from Europe.”
“And I suppose you have the papers to prove that?”
Teren grinned again. “Sure do. Electronic copies of shipping invoices and Customs paperwork. He regularly receives packages from both Switzerland and Germany.”
“Where are these coming from, a business, or an individual?”
“Depends. The packages from Germany are from an individual, who happens to be a dealer in rare coins. Llast package from this guy was a couple of months ago, though. The ones from Switzerland come from a company called Altbusser Galerie, based in Zurich. They export fine art goods. Funny, though, I haven’t found any record of a payment from Treville to the company.”
“Have you checked out the company itself?”
“Yes. It’s fairly respectable, having done business with such places at the Louvre in Paris, and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. They specialize in reproductions of famous artworks.”
“So, these items sent to Treville are listed in the shipping papers as reproductions, when they’re actually the real thing.”
“Exactly.”
Alex sighed. “But we can’t prove it, can we.”
“Not yet. That’s why we’re going to Switzerland.”
Alex shook her head. “Teren, are you sure about this? I mean, how are we going to use those tickets? My passport is in Washington, and Davies has probably put out some kind of check on the airlines, to watch for you. The haircut is good, but not that good.”
“Have you checked the names on those tickets?”
“The names?” Alex picked up the ticket envelopes from the corner of the bed. One ticket was for Theresa Wilcox, and the other was for Andrea Reed. Alex looked back up at her friend. “And just how are we going to pull this off, oh greatest of spies?”
“You and I are going to visit a friend of mine. He does the best forgeries I’ve ever seen.”
“I take it he’s CIA?”
“Nope. He’s better.”
“His work is better than that of the CIA?”
“About the same quality, actually. But he’s better because he’s strictly an underground guy.” Teren finished her coffee, and stood to pour another cup.
“What does that mean? He only works for spies and the like?”
“No. He only works for groups or individuals that he thinks are trying to overthrow the United States government.”
Alex let her chin drop. “And the CIA doesn’t close him down?”
“Close him down? Never. He has this thing about the revolutionaries he supports. They must be non-violent. If someone comes to him and says, ‘I need a fake ID because we’re renting a truck to blow up a building,’ he’ll make the ID, but he’ll make it a bad one. And as soon as the money has changed hands, he’ll call a contact at the CIA and the appropriate agency will be notified to pick the bombers up.” Teren sat back down, crossing one leg under her. “So, in exchange for his tips, which have been very accurate, he’s allowed to make his money, and continue his support of peaceful subversive revolutionaries.”
“But don’t the groups that get busted catch on that the guy turned them in?”
“I’ve found that most revolutionaries are extremely intelligent people. Terrorists, however, are not. If someone’s about to blow up a building and kill a lot of innocent people, they’re a terrorist. And from my experience, probably pretty dumb.”
Alex nodded. “And we’re going to go see him.”
“Right.”
“Does that mean we’re subversive, now?”
“Well, think about it. By going AWOL from the Bureau, they’ll probably mark you as a rogue agent, and if you’re found you could be arrested. You realize that, right, Alex?”
The blond agent nodded “Yes, Teren, I know. And before you ask, no, I’m not changing my mind.”
“Good. Now, since I’m trying to avoid questioning in the murder of two police officers, that makes me a fugitive. So, we’re both running from two government agencies that want to blame us for things we didn’t do. At the same time, we’re trying to find evidence to put the leaders of two of the biggest religious right groups in the country behind bars for a very long time.” She raised her cup in a mock salute. “Sounds pretty damn subversive to me.”
Alex thought about that, and raised her Coke can. “Then here’s to being a subversive.”
*******************************************************
“Are you connected?”
“Yeah. Hotmail, coming up. Do you know what name you want to use?”
Teren came over to stand behind Alex, staring at the screen. “How about I choose the alias for the official stuff, and you choose the on-line name, hm?”
“Sounds good. Are you going to use Theresa, like on your ticket?”
“No, I don’t think so. If anyone catches on that it’s us emailing him, I don’t want them to be able to trace the tickets with that name. So,” she crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling, “use the name Cassandra Leitner.”
“Got it.” Alex typed in the name. “State?”
“Use Colorado. That’s where the ID is from. Make the zip 80014.”
“Birthdate?”
“Um, January 12, 1969. What else do you need?”
“Occupation. Computers?”
“No, customer service.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Cassandra was listed as an employee at a bookstore.”
“Oh. Okay. And the sign in name will be?”
“Your choice.”
Alex thought about that for a moment, then typed a word in. She looked over her head at Teren. “Is that okay?”
“Electricblu? I don’t get it.”
“It’s the color of your eyes. I think I told him that one time when he asked about you.”
“You think my eyes are electric blue?”
Alex nodded.
“Okay. Can I choose the password?”
“Sure. What do you want it to be?”
Teren leaned over and typed slowly with one hand: ontherun.
Alex grinned. “You have a wicked sense of humor.”
“Most people don’t think I have a sense of humor.”
“That’s because they can’t see past the wickedness.”
“Are you saying I’m evil?”
“Absolutely not, Teren. I said wicked. There’s a difference.”
They grinned at each other. Alex looked back at the screen. “They want us to give them a question that only we’d know the answer to, so if we forget our password they can ask us the question, and they’ll know it’s us if we answer it correctly.”
Teren snorted. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”
“I know, but we should still give them a question.”
“Fine, choose one.”
“How about this: Who is C.J.?”
“Good. Only we don’t know the answer to that question.”
“But they don’t know that. And it will remind us to think about it.”
“What would we use for an answer?”
Alex stared at the screen, then looked up again. “How about ‘unknown suspect?’”
Teren nodded. “Good one. So, we are Electricblu at hotmail-dot-com.”
“Right.”
“Okay, send Ken a quick note just saying hello, and then let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” Alex was typing as she spoke.
“We’re off to see my friend Leo.”
“Oh. That’s the undergound guy, right?”
“Yes.And when we get there, remember your name.”
“My name?”
“Yeah, you’re Andrea, not Alex.”
“Right. And you’re Theresa?” Alex sent off the message to Ken, and ended the connection.
“No. He knows me by another name.”
“Which is?”
“Terry.”
Alex shut down the computer. “Short for Teren?”
“He doesn’t know Teren, so don’t call me that in front of him, okay?”
“Got it.” She closed the laptop, and stood. “Can I be like your underground friend, and call you Terry?”