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“I took an immersion class for six months before I came here. It’s amazing what you can fit in your day when you don’t have a job.”
Shaw lifted his glass of wine and clinked it against hers. “I’m really looking forward to finding that out.”
Their food came and they continued to talk through dinner. They split the check using cash. Afterwards they walked through the street. Most of the shops were closed at this hour, but the warm breeze was nice, there were many people strolling about just as they were, and music could be heard coming from a bar past the town center.
She looked up at him. “How tall are you?”
“About six-six.”
“You must’ve been the tallest lobbyist in D.C.”
“Nope, they have some ex-NBA players trolling for dollars there. One of them is seven feet. Poor guy has to duck through doorways when he’s pressing the flesh and begging for his supper.”
“Well, I’m down this way,” she said.
Shaw hooked a finger over his shoulder. “I’m that way.”
“Maybe we’ll run into each other again.”
“Small town, the odds are good.”
She smiled. “I’ll be far more reticent next time.”
He returned the smile. “And I’ll be far less critical.”
Reggie Campion immediately returned to her villa, where she made a call. She explained her meeting with Bill to Professor Mallory and gave him a detailed description of the man. “Find out what you can. There’s something about him.”
“All right, Regina. But it may be nothing.”
“And it may be everything. I trust my instincts. Word on Waller?”
“On schedule.”
“Then I have my work cut out for me if this new development turns into a mess. You’re certain everything is a go on my cover?”
“It has been for quite some time. One of our benefactors owns a technology company with elite-level programs and access to numerous core databases. He allowed us in through a back door to do all we needed to do. All the information you’ve memorized is backed up in all the places anyone might look. Vital records in the U.S., an American Social Security number, bank accounts, educational backgrounds, degrees conferred, parents’ history. Oh, did you like your Facebook page?”
“Brilliant. Nice chums I have. And I must say, Professor, you certainly know more about computers than you let on.”
“I’m just an old duffer. Merely regurgitating what I’m told.”
“If you say so.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
“It’s the only way I stay alive.”
Barely a half mile away Shaw was sitting on his bed lifting a nice set of prints off the special coating on the photo of the fake kids he’d handed “Janie.” Using a handheld computing device he scanned them in, emailed them to Frank, and then called him.
“Sounds like a hottie,” said Frank after Shaw finished filling him in.
“I don’t like ‘hotties’ showing up when I have a job to do, especially if they’re staying at the villa next door to my target. And she made inquiries about Waller’s place earlier too.”
“But from what you said, she’s a bit of a ditz.”
“We don’t know that for sure. Could be an act.”
“I told you our prelim gave off no warning bells. You going paranoid on me?”
