Iron Orchid

TWENTY-FOUR

TEDDY WAITED A COUPLE OF DAYS, then phoned Irene. “Hello?”

“Outside,” he said.

There was a pause, and then she said, “I’m outside, and I’m glad you called. Something’s come up.”

“What?”

“They’ve figured out how you got into the FBI evidence room in New York and got the explosives.”

“I thought they might,” he replied calmly.

“But they’re changing all the log-in codes, so you won’t be able to get into our computers again.”

“That’s not good,” Teddy said. It was worse than not good. “Can you get the new codes?”

“I’ve already got them. I burned them onto a CD this afternoon, and I’ve got it at home. Where can I send it to you?”

That brought Teddy up short. He wasn’t about to give her an address in New York. “Send the disk to John Quinn, care of General Delivery, Fort Lee, New Jersey,” he said. Fort Lee was just across the George Washington Bridge. It wasn’t far enough away, but it would have to do.

“No, that won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have to log on before midnight tomorrow, or you won’t get in, and we’ll have to start over. And I can’t keep burning disks for you.”

“No, you can’t”

“Also, the disk I have is the DDO’s, and when you log in it will automatically identify you as Hugh. You’re going to have to hack into the codes on the disk and change them. Can you do that?”

“Probably, but it will be a bitch. I may have to log in as the DDO once, to get at the codes in the mainframe.”

“That would be very dangerous for me, Mike. They could put me under surveillance, maybe even polygraph me.”

“You’re right; I’ll have to think of something.” He made a decision. “I’ll come and get the disk tonight. Meet me at the motel? I’m dying to see you, anyway.”

“What time?”

“I’ve got to make some stops on the way,” he lied, “but I can be there by midnight.”

“I’ll get the room,” she said. “Call me on this phone when you’re a few minutes away.”

“Will do. See you then.”

He had told her he had stops to make in order to account for the five hours it would take for him to get there. He got his RV out of the garage. It already had good Maryland plates and a registration certificate, and he had an I.D. to match, so he felt safe. But then, as he drove, paranoia began to creep in. Suppose Irene had had second thoughts and told Hugh English about him? Suppose the new codes on the CD were just a ruse to flush him out?

Irene wouldn’t rat him out; of that he was certain. But what if they were onto her and had created this situation to entrap him? He worried about it all the way to Virginia.

He got to the motel at midnight and drove past it at moderate speed, looking for signs of a setup. Finally, he turned around and drove back, parking in the lot of the diner next door. He went in and ordered some scrambled eggs and coffee, constantly checking the arrivals and departures in the parking lot. Just before midnight, he saw Irene’s car turn in and park. She got out and hurried to the motel office.

He called her cell phone.

“Yes?”

“Are you in the clear?”

“Yes, I’m certain of it. I made sure there was no tail. There’s not much traffic around here this time of night.”

“No vans or RVs in sight?” he asked getting up from the table while continuing to talk. He put a twenty-dollar bill on the table and left.

“There’s an RV in the restaurant side of the lot,” she said.

“That one’s all right; I checked it out. What’s your room number?”

“Ten, all the way at the end.”

He kept walking. “Leave the door ajar.”

“All right.”

He stepped up to the door and opened it.

“Jesus!” she said, pocketing her phone. “You scared me; I didn’t expect you so quickly.”

“I couldn’t wait,” he said, putting his arms around her waist.

“I wanted to be naked and in bed when you walked in,” she said.

“We can fix that right now.” In a moment they were making love.

When they had finished, Teddy had relaxed a little. If they were out there, they wouldn’t have waited this long to break in. “Where’s the disk?” he asked.

“In my handbag, on the desk,” she said.

Teddy retrieved the disk. “I’ve got to get going,” he said, sitting on the side of the bed and kissing her. “I’d love to stay and do it all again, but I really have to go and get to work on this disk.”

“I understand; it’s all right.”

“It’s better if I go first.”

She kissed him again. “You go ahead. Call me when you can.”

Teddy got into his clothes, slipped the disk into his jacket pocket, kissed her and checked outside. All quiet. He stepped out the door and walked slowly toward the parking lot, checking for trouble. His was the only vehicle in the restaurant’s lot; they had closed, and it was dark around the RV. His heart pounding, he got into the RV, started it and drove off. Nobody followed. After a few minutes, he settled down and drove on toward New York.

He had to stop these all nighters; they were wearing. And he had the opera the following evening.