The Life We Lead: Ascending (15 page)

“Yes, but what about cell phone numbers and
rooms and packing? I will obviously need to know the exact place we
are going so I can pack the right clothes.”

“We will figure all that out in a few days.
If I could answer it now for you I would. We just have to go step
by step,” James said.

“Just like the song. I like that song.” Tim
began to hum to himself.

“Thanks, Tim. I’m glad you’re coming along.
It will be an adventure!” James said.

Tim nodded his head in time with the song he
was humming. In many ways Tim was brilliant, and in others, he was
like a child.

James clapped Tim on the shoulder as he got
up to leave, and Tim reached up and touched his hand. Tim generally
did not care for physical contact, but he had learned that some
touch was what “normal” people did, and he tried hard to
participate in “normal” people activities.

***

Tom caught James in the hall. “Wait.”

James stopped.

“You are creating a new ID for this trip.
Won’t they know who to expect or have some clue?” Tom said.

“No,” James said. He turned to walk down the
hall.

“‘No’?” You’re just leaving it at that?”

“You worry too much, Tom.” James stopped.
“Petior is former KGB and went to the trouble of having a fake
uncle present the note from his own hand. His real uncle was there
as the barman. Petior was protecting me and gave me an out,
remember? He didn’t set an expectation of a name so they couldn’t
try to trace me. New name is fine. Bye, Tom.”

Tom stood there a second, then walked
away.

***

“Hi Melissa,” James said, knocking before
opening the door.

Melissa was an expert at identities. She
could create anything he needed and had the ability to get into
most systems to set up verifiable information. She encountered some
limitations on accessing the human resources files of certain
companies, but she had over 100 she could use.

She was bright, pretty, and well liked by
those she met. It was part of how she’d been able to build her own
network to establish full cover stories. She also had a mole on her
left ear that had been James’s inspiration in Aberdeen.

Melissa was also an old classmate of Tim’s
from their high school days. She was how Tim had come to be
associated with the group. She had always been a defender of his
and saw him, in a sense, as a little brother, even though Tim was
slightly older.

She peered up from her screen and smiled as
she rose to give James a hug. “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Enigma
himself!”

They hugged briefly.

“You’ve been busy. How are you?” She stepped
back and looked at him.

“Doing really well. Thank you for all the
help lately on the documents and connections and everything. You’re
always so awesome. How are you?” James said.

“Doing okay myself. Got that software I was
working on done finally, you know, for Steve. Also made a choice on
a house finally; now I just have to fill it. And most importantly,
and thank you, thank you, thank you again, Mom is recovering from
the stroke. We would have lost her if it weren’t for you. Still
don’t know how you recognized that.” Melissa looked back at her
screen as she finished.

She didn’t like eye contact when personal
things were discussed. This was one of the reasons she wasn’t in
field operations; she wore her heart on her sleeve.

“I’m just glad I happened to be there,” James
said with a smile.

Though that wasn’t the complete truth of it.
The complete truth was that he hadn’t planned to attend Melissa’s
party at all, but had decided he needed to be there as the day had
progressed. He’d dreamed of it months earlier. It was his mixed
dream style, which meant he could alter the outcome, and this
outcome showed Melissa’s mother falling into a pool dead.

During the real party, she did fall, and
James figured a second fall would take place unless he found out
the cause or got her out of there.

“I just had a feeling … You know, she isn’t
exactly young. She’d eaten twenty minutes before and was happy and
active. It wasn’t too hot, and she didn’t seem to trip, so I just
thought it would be worth running her through some easy tests. That
was the lifesaver. I didn’t do anything anyone else couldn’t have,”
James said, trying to be modest.

“Yes, you did. I wouldn’t have thought twice
about her little spill. No one else paid attention to all that
stuff. And they didn’t ask her to smile or roll her tongue or even
who the president was. You did. You saved her life by getting her
to go to the hospital. That in and of itself was a miracle. She is
so stubborn. Without you, Sammy wouldn’t know his Grammy … Anyhow,
you’re the best, and our family is eternally grateful.”

She turned her head the moment she finished
speaking.

James pretended not to notice, but the crack
in her voice gave her away. “How is your nephew?” he asked,
changing the topic. “That kid is a bundle of energy just waiting to
explode. Made me tired just watching him run around that day.”

“Sammy never stops! He’s even like that when
he sleeps. It’s like watching a dog having a dream, the way he
moves and kicks. He stayed with us last weekend and crawled in bed
with Isaac and me at some point. I didn’t know he was there, and
neither did Isaac, until he kicked us both awake at the same
time!”

She and James laughed.

“Isaac and I woke up and both said ‘Ow’ and
‘What was that for?’ and ‘Are you okay?’ at the same time. Sam just
kept on sleeping. Isaac grumbled something, scooped him up, and
flung him over his shoulder to take him back to the guest room. Two
seconds later, I heard him go ‘Ugh.’ Apparently Sam left a big old
drool on him. Crazy kid.”

Melissa had been facing him during this funny
recall and now looked James over more critically. “You sure you’re
okay? You look, I don’t know, different somehow.”

“I couldn’t have gotten that ugly since you
saw me last,” James quipped.

“No, smart guy. I don’t know what it is.”

“Tired looking?” James offered.

“No … More alive, or happy, or a mix. I don’t
know.” She shook her head briefly. “So how can I help you?”

“And how do you know I didn’t just stop by to
say hello?” James smiled with raised eyebrows.

Melissa turned back to her screen. “Because
you knocked as you came in and asked me how everything was going.
If it was just social, it would have been you just coming in and
asking how I was. You aren’t the only observant person in the world
who recognizes patterns to human nature.”

James laughed and said, “Someone has taught
you well.”

“Blah blah blah, don’t break your arm patting
yourself on the back. So what’s up?” Melissa said, making it
evident it was time to get to business.

“I need two identities made up,” James
stated.

“My God, you have more IDs than everyone else
combined. How on earth can you need two at once?” Melissa asked
with a combination of sarcasm and disbelief.

“I need one as Grant Adam Mathers, and Tim
will need one as James Walter Ferguson. Use our actual birthdates
and …”

“Tim? Tim who? You can’t mean Tim Smithfield,
whom I actually saw come in today.” She looked aghast at James.

“The very same,” James said calmly.

“No, you can’t be serious.” Melissa looked at
James with incredulity. “Come on, you know Tim can’t go into the
field. I can’t go into the field, let alone Tim. He’ll fall apart.
How the hell is Tom allowing this? And what are you going to tell
the people at his residence?”

Melissa glared at James. “Now I see why you
got me in a good mood before introducing this. You can’t do this,
James, you simply can’t.” She stood up, her tone changing.

James’s expression didn’t falter. He wasn’t
happy or sad or mad.

Melissa, on the other hand, went through a
variety of emotions, ending with anger.

Slap!

Melissa struck James across the face and he
had to admit Melissa had a great left hook. Her finger caught his
ear canal just right, increasing the pain for James.

After a moment, she took two deep breaths and
puffed both out. Then she sat down and began to access records.
“What are the names again?” Her voice was grim with
disapproval.

James gave them to her, along with the
background he’d given Tim. He was so detailed that she knew he’d
somehow gotten Tom to go along with it, but that didn’t stop her
from making it clear she disapproved as they sat going over
potential background builds with educations and the like.

They were almost finished when James
explained that it would be essential to hide all the languages Tim
could speak and to only list Spanish in his education
transcripts.

“Are you sure? I mean really sure? Have you
really considered the 51 percent values? I know you have great
consideration for people and place extreme value there, but we are
talking about Tim. He’s limited. I have seen him struggle so much.
I know he wants to do this, and he’s really good with you, but
James, please.” Melissa’s fingers hovered above the final keystroke
that would send the documents to the needed databases to generate
fake documents overnight.

“I’m as sure about this as I can be. I will
take every measure to protect Tim—you know that. As long as I do
this set up properly, we’ll be fine. This is an information
retrieval, nothing more. I just need his language expertise.
There’s no one else who can do it or I would take them in his place
in a heartbeat.”

She hit the key.

“Thank you for the help, Melissa.” James
turned to leave.

“Hey,” Melissa called. “I still think it’s a
bad idea and not sorry I slapped you.”

“That’s why I thanked you.” James gave her a
smile as he backed out the door, closing it with his left hand, and
Melissa gave a deep sigh.

The alarm went
off at 1:21 a.m. James clicked it off and switched on the light.
Two minutes later, he was calling the number on the instructions
he’d gotten from Calum.

“Hiioo,” is what James heard from the
answering voice.

“I was calling about A S pirit,” James said,
slowly and clearly.

“Oh, you wish to talk about the A S pirit.
This is a very hard to find vehicle. Lucky we are only deal to have
this, sir. We have to make arrangements for you to come get the
vehicle. When you come for the vehicle, sir?”

James caught on immediately. The time of day
and the phrase meant the right person had gotten the call, and if
by chance someone else did, it would look like he was calling about
a Spirit brand car.

“What is the earliest I could come with my
partner to collect it?” James asked.

“When do you wish, sir? We will need to make
sure we have all documents and things for you to collect ahead of
time. You will of course have the $300,000 U.S. dollars for the
vehicle. It is a rare one and hard to get, yes?” The accent seemed
to be changing, or perhaps it was the connection.

“Yes, and as soon as possible. Is two weeks
from tomorrow too soon?” James asked.

“If you get us documents tomorrow, sir, we
can do two weeks. Payment needs to be in appropriate bonds,
yes?”

“Yes, that sounds great. What documents will
you need? How can I send them best and to whom?” James asked.

“We will need evidence of the bond as well as
a clear fax of passport and travel itinerary, sir. I will get them,
but you may call me Noi. I suggest a planned visit of two full days
at least, as I am sure you want to leave some free time. Do you
need a recommendation for lodging, or perhaps I arrange for
you?”

“I appreciate you offering to make the
arrangements. My friend who recommended your services to get this
vehicle clearly knew what he was talking about. Thank you for all
the help.”

“You are most welcome, sir. Are you ready for
faxing numbers?” said Noi.

When they ended the call, James went back to
bed, but had a hard time going to sleep. He was worried about Tim.
He would have to think of rules for him and remember that he’d take
them extremely literally.

The next day, after getting the documents
from Melissa and the secured bond, which Tom grumbled about, but
Andy didn’t bat an eye at remarkably, James visited Tim.

Tim lived in an assisted living facility with
other functional individuals who needed a bit of looking after. It
was not an institution by any means. In fact, it was a really nice
little community. It had originally been built for the elderly, but
had lost funding about halfway through development. The state had
picked it up, finished the units, and was using it to better the
lives of people who saw the world differently than most.

James went to the front gate and asked for
Scott, the coordinator for the house Tim lived in with two other
roommates. Scott was, in a manner of speaking, Tim’s caretaker.

Scott was in his late thirties and easygoing,
with a love for art and music. James felt this was why he was able
to relate to the individuals in the facility so well; he looked at
the world differently, too. James suspected Scott used pot on
occasion, though not when on duty.

Scott waved as James approached, causing Tim
and his housemates, Dan and Byron, to look up and wave, too. Their
home, yellow with red shutters, sat on a corner lot, and you could
see the street from the back area.

They were working in the garden with a
rototiller. Scott was supervising, and the guys were enjoying
expanding the garden they had started.

“Hey, dude, how you doing?” Scott said in his
slightly slow, mellow voice, much like a surfer’s. “Long time no
see.”

“Doing really good, man. You guys got quite a
project going here.” James shook hands with Scott, Dan, Byron, and
then Tim, who had been taking his turn with the tiller.