The FBI agent looked at his map and saw that there were only two motels near the dealership. The woman at the reception desk of the first motel sighed when the agent approached her and showed her the photos of Nagib and Alia. She mumbled something about police harassment and confirmed that they had stayed a few nights at the motel. She mentioned that they had paid cash and kept to themselves, adding that those were the kind of guests that were most welcome. She said she knew nothing about their past, present and future plans, and really couldn't care less where they had come from and where they were going to. The FBI agent didn't even bother to ask to see their room and reported the news to the senior FBI agent, Penny, who was in Los Alamos.
The meeting of the task force proceeded. The fact that the couple had been seen in Pasadena a mere two days earlier was encouraging as it indicated that they were in no hurry to leave the country, because this could have been done easily before anyone had an inkling that they had gotten away with the classified information. To Penny and the more experienced members of the task force this indicated that they were dealing with amateurs that were bound to make more mistakes. Furthermore, they had a good description of the car the couple had purchased. However, in two days they could easily be a thousand miles from Pasadena, or perhaps just a couple of blocks away from the motel in which they had been staying. The police force in Pasadena and the neighboring towns was ordered to search for the car but no trace of it was found.
The DHS representative immediately made sure that all border-crossings from California to Mexico and all airports in California were put on alert to watch out for Nagib and Alia, or for all young couples who even vaguely fit their description just in case they managed to acquire fake passports. He added that these passports may be under different names, not necessarily as a married couple, so the authorities should be really alert. In June, close to the height of the tourist season this led to many unpleasant moments because innocent citizens were aggravated by the intrusive questioning. Several adulterous couples who were just trying to get away from their spouses for a fling in Baja California or a vacation in Hawaii were embarrassed by the attention they received. Many threatened to write to their congressman and a few were detained because they refused to cooperate and caused a scene. There were some unexpected side benefits for the DHS — drug smugglers were caught, wanted criminals gave themselves in, Muslim agitators were stopped and even a few patients who had escaped from their mental asylum were reprimanded.
Penny called for a wider search and the photos of the couple and details of the car's registration were sent to the crossing points on the Canadian border and to airports in a radius of 500 miles from Los Angeles.
Part 3. Getting around
Chapter 7
Nagib and Alia landed at the bustling Frankfurt airport through which some 60 million passengers passed every year. The flight from Vancouver to Reykjavik and the short layover there were tiring but uneventful. Security in Canada was not nearly as rigorous as in the US, and although a few brows were raised when they presented their airline tickets paid for in cash and purchased the previous day, their heartbreaking story about Nagib's father dying in Istanbul and Alia's tears about being robbed and losing their credit cards was accepted and they passed through airport security and passport control without a hitch.
After landing in Frankfurt, as they were only in transit on their way to Turkey they did not even have to go through German passport control. However, when they proceeded to the gate where their low-cost flight was scheduled to leave for Istanbul they saw that the flight had been cancelled and far worse, the airline had gone out of business. There were a few other stranded passengers at the desk by the gate and a young lady, dressed as a stewardess (sorry, cabin attendant) who was a representative of the now defunct airline. The young lady was in tears and told the angry passengers that their tickets were not worth the paper they printed on, if they bothered to print the electronic tickets, and she herself had not received her salary over the last three months. She said that they could sue the company but doubted whether this would solve their immediate problem. She added that statistically Istanbul was the busiest route from Frankfurt and assured them they would be able to get Istanbul and suggested that they try to get on another flight but she had no specific information regarding the alternatives. Alia and Nagib were at a loss and tried to plead with the young lady to no avail. Nagib said that they could either try to get on another flight or go look for a cheap hotel or a bed and breakfast until they could get on another flight, or perhaps reconsider their original plan.
Alia said that she felt safe so far away from the Los Alamos and the US and that she wouldn't mind spending some time in Frankfurt. Nagib was concerned that the long arm of the law, or the intelligence services, would catch up with them and in addition was worried about their dwindling finances, so was quite reluctant to take the chance. But then Alia said that she had some distant relatives, second cousins she believed, that had a small business in Frankfurt. She knew that they had accepted the teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who claimed to be the metaphorical second coming of Jesus. The Ahmadi religion embraced some of the principles from other religions and adopted the teachings of monotheistic and Eastern sages from Abraham, Moses and Jesus to Confucius, Buddha and Guru Nanak, to name a few. She added that the Ahmadiyya Muslim community was known for its tolerant approach and quest to end religious wars and was therefore accepted by most European authorities as being a potential bridge between the local governments and the more fundamental and fanatic Islamic movements. Nagib said that he preferred zealots that had their mind set on destroying Western civilization, or at least were actively fighting against Israel, but she responded by saying that these would probably be under surveillance by the the BND (Bundesnachrichtendienst) that was the Federal Intelligence Service and the foreign intelligence agency of Germany. When Nagib asked her if she knew how to contact those relatives she said she could call her father and ask him if he had their phone number or knew their address. Finally, Nagib acquiesced and said that a few extra days would give them time to formulate their plan and perhaps also enable them to make contacts with the Iranian or Islamic State people, who were bound to have representatives in Germany.
In order to leave the airport they had to go to the passport control booths and wait in line with the non-EU residents. The line was quite long but moved quickly with typical German efficiency. They noted that some people, especially those with Arab features, were questioned at some length and sometimes escorted to another office, so they were a bit tense when they reached the booth in which a tough looking blonde with a sour face was sitting. However, she took a look at their US passports, held up each passport with the photo page and compared it to their faces, and when she was satisfied with the resemblance she smiled, stamped the passport and wished them a good day and a good stay in Germany. They went to a moneychanger at the terminal and exchanged some of their US dollars for Euro notes, collected a tourist map and then boarded the train that connected the airport to the city.
As soon as they got off the train at the central train station they were surrounded by a mass of people of all colors, sizes and ages who spoke at least a dozen different languages. Arabic was quite prominent among them and Nagib relaxed a little feeling secure in this crowd. They entered one of the small electronic stores and bought a couple of SIM cards with prepaid calls that they inserted into their American cellphones. It was getting late in the evening and they easily found a very cheap hotel right near the station. No questions were asked when they asked for a room and paid cash. When the young man at the reception desk spoke to them in Arabic they pretended not to understand and said they were American tourists who were trying to save money by staying in inexpensive hotels. The desk clerk was a little offended as he recognized them as Arabs but didn't make much of it and just handed them the key to their room.