Baxter said, “No, Bert isn’t coming.” He took a deep breath. “I hate to have to tell you this, but he’s dead.”
The two stared at him. “Dead? When? How? What happened?”
“You need to listen carefully. We don’t have much time and your lives—and mine—are in danger.”
Candale said, “In danger? Todd, what the hell’s going on? What happened to Bert?”
“Bert is dead because he never moved from his apartment in Calgary. We did, which means we’re harder to track down. But that will happen. Please just let me explain.”
“Track down? What in God’s name do you mean?”
Baxter held up his palms. “This isn’t official, but the government is creating a new paramilitary group to deal with the riots. It will be called the National Peacekeeping Force. I lucked into a job in Ottawa where I’m maintaining their computer systems. One of their programs, which is hush-hush even for them, is identifying and removing people they consider to be subversives. We’re on the list. All of us, including Bert.”
Candale said, “Subversives? What the hell. We’re not subversives. How could they think that?”
“Remember Warren Fraleigh? He’s the one who put us on the list.”
Sangster said, “Fraleigh. Wasn’t he the nasty little man who wanted us to join him in something? He was at your place one night.”
“He’s the one. Apparently, we annoyed him. Well, he’s become an informer, paid to rat on people who might pose a threat to public safety.”
Candale exploded. “Public safety. How the hell do we pose a threat to public safety?”
“We don’t. But informers are paid for the people they name, and Fraleigh didn’t like us. He probably put us on the list just because he could, and because he was paid to.”
Sangster said, “Wait a minute. Are you suggesting Bert was… was killed by this new force?”
“I can’t say for sure. All I know is that his name is on the list, and he was marked for what they call termination.”
Candale, his voice a growl, said, “Termination? Does that mean what I think it does?”
“That’s what I’ve concluded. Understand, I just found this out. I haven’t had the chance to dig deeper. I figured it was more important to let you guys know.”
“Are we marked for termination?”
“We are. Each record in the file also has a status. Bert’s is complete. Ours is pending. I have to assume that means they weren’t able to find us and are still looking.”
“Wait a minute. Are you helping these bastards?”
“Ross, I had no idea what was going on. I was hired to fix their computer systems. That’s all. It was pure chance I found our names on the file. If I hadn’t, we’d all be at risk.”
“You mean when they find us, we’re terminated? So what the hell are you going to do about it? Just let us be hauled away one night?”
Baxter sprang to his feet, his face tight with anger. “Goddamn it, Ross. I’m as torn up by Bert as you are. Why the hell do you think I asked you down here? I’m trying to protect all of us. Including you. How dare you accuse me of anything?”
Sangster said, “Okay, let’s settle down. Todd, how much at risk are we? Are we still on the list? Or can you get us off?”
“We’re still on the list, but I changed the status to complete. As far as the system is concerned, we’re dead.”
“Why did you do that? Why not just take our names off the list?”
“I think the informers get regular reports on the people they’ve identified. If Fraleigh sees we’re not on his list, the best outcome is he’ll just add us back. The worst is he’ll follow up and try to find us. But if he sees we’ve been taken care of, that ends it.”
“Unless he bumps into one of us on the street.”
“Yes. Which means we have to avoid Calgary.”
Sangster said, “And hope he doesn’t travel to Winnipeg.”
Candale added, “Or Vancouver.”
Baxter said, “Look, as long as we’re alive, we’re at risk. I don’t know who else sees these reports. Hell, I don’t even know what other reports use the database. At best, I’ve bought us some time, but we have to protect ourselves. We can’t just assume things are taken care of.”
Candale studied Baxter. “Todd, you’re pretty level-headed, which is why I haven’t just walked out. But this? Subversive lists? People being hauled away by the authorities? That kind of thing happens in third-world thugocracies, not in Canada.”
Sangster said, “Todd, I’m with Ross. I can’t believe this is happening. There must be a more benign explanation.”
“If you guys looking for absolute proof of what I’m saying, I don’t have it. All I know is that I’ve checked half a dozen people on the database who are marked for termination and who have a status of complete. All of them are dead. If you want to consider that a coincidence, I can’t argue. Six or seven cases isn’t enough to prove anything. But I wasn’t willing to wait around and find out one of you was gone. So call me an alarmist and go back to your comfortable lives. I think there’s a real risk, and I’m going to start protecting myself. If I’m wrong, I’ll be delighted. If I’m right, I’ll be alive to see it.”
Silence settled in the room. Candale said, “Okay, Todd. I guess it’s better to be safe than sorry. How do you propose to protect yourself? Move to Mexico?”
“I thought of that, but I found a case of a man who moved to Oregon. He’s on the list and he’s being extradited under terrorism charges. Foreign governments, including the Americans, cooperate with that kind of request. So moving to the States or Mexico or any place that has an extradition treaty with Canada is risky.”
“And any place that doesn’t is probably not the kind of place we’d want to spend our lives. So we have to stay. But how do we protect ourselves?”
“That’s the problem. Ideally, we’d go off the grid. Close everything down. Bank accounts, credit cards, memberships, even our library cards. Get rid of anything the authorities could use to track us down. But that’s not easy with payroll, taxes, car insurance, driver’s licences. Right now, I don’t have an answer.”
Sangster said, “There’s no way to eliminate those things. Even if we could, I’d hate to bet my life that nobody would be willing to forgo a reward for turning us in. But if you’re right, we can’t leave any kind of trail that would point to us because once they start digging—and they will—they’ll find us.”
Candale said, “I could move. I have family in—”
Baxter interrupted. “No. Not family. Not even friends. When they can’t find us, family members will be their first stop. We have to get somewhere where nobody would suspect us of going.”
Sangster said, “Where does that leave us?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had time to figure anything out. My first priority was letting you guys know what’s going on. I think I’ve bought us all some time, so we have the chance to do some planning. Let’s agree to meet back here six months from today. We can share what we’ve come up with.”
The three friends sat, faces drawn, eyes downcast. Sangster let out a sob. “Bert. He was the comic of the group. I loved him.”
“We all did.”
Candale sighed. “Todd, sorry I exploded at you. I’m grateful to you for alerting us. But you can’t stay in that job. You can’t be a part of… of murder.”
“No, I can’t. But for now, this is the only way I can stay on top of things. Six months. Okay?”
25
REFUGE SHATTERED
The sound of a motor was alien in this place. Darius and Ilona were returning to the house with a fresh catch of fish when he heard it coming from the clearing. A Peak rover. Doors slammed. Four. Even had Ilona been able to hear, he dared not call out. He shot an arrow into a tree a couple of feet in front of her. She whirled, her body taut, her own bow with an arrow ready. He signed, “Peaks. Maybe four.”