Max’s father hadn’t looked surprised that Max was here at Oshkosh. Had Wilkes asked his father to come here? Why would Wilkes do that without telling Max?
They walked through the crowd and saw a giant drive-in-style outdoor movie theater towering over a grass field, a grove of trees in the background. Kids and families sprawled out on the lawn, waiting for the sunset movie to play.
“When do you want to head down to Fond du Lac and scout out the hotel area?” Renee asked.
“I was just thinking about that. I think we should go tonight.”
Chapter 21
Trent was waiting at Max’s Cirrus. He was sitting in a lawn chair, whittling a piece of wood into the shape of an eagle.
“That’s pretty good.”
“Thanks.”
Renee said, “I thought we were setting up the tents. Where are they?”
Trent rose and folded up the chair. “Probably not smart for us to camp out here. I got us a camping spot next to the rental car. It’s listed under an alias, and there’s no GPS installed. I checked. If we stayed by Max’s plane, it would be easier for someone to locate us.”
“Good thinking.”
“Come on, follow me. I’ll take us there.”
They walked at least a mile over rolling grass fields, past thousands of cars, recreational vehicles, and tents. Campfires and little gas grills. Diesel generators motoring next to trailers. Kids playing football and playing tag. All the while, airplanes soared overhead, one giant parade in the big blue Wisconsin sky.
“Have you heard from your family at all, Trent?” Renee asked.
“No. They know me. With the type of contract work I get, sometimes I sort of go off the grid for a few weeks at a time. They know not to worry.”
Max said, “You’re doing private security work?”
“Stuff like that. Sometimes personal security. Bodyguard detail for celebrities, things like that. Not exactly the role you had me play.” He smirked. “But I’ll head back to PA once we’re done here. I promised little Josh I’d take him fishing down at Harvey’s Lake.”
They arrived at a section of lawn with two new pup tents and a three-foot-high mound of firewood. Several grocery bags of supplies and a stocked cooler rested in between the tents.
“There’s showers and bathrooms about one hundred yards that way.” He pointed towards a few wooden buildings near a grove of trees. “I figured you guys wouldn’t mind sharing a tent.”
Max sighed. “Aw, man, she snores.”
Renee pinched the skin of his tricep. Hard. Max tried to keep it together.
Trent unfolded three lawn chairs and then started a campfire. They ate cold sandwiches from the cooler and drank bottled waters.
The sun had set, and they spoke in hushed voices over the crackling fire. Max laid out his plan for how they should handle Jennifer Upton the next day. Trent and Renee chimed in with their thoughts. After an hour of working out the details, they took the rental car south and scouted out the area near Upton’s hotel.
Renee dialed the front desk from the parking lot.
“Holiday Inn Fond du Lac, how may I assist you?”
Renee said, “Yes, hello, I have a reservation at your hotel tomorrow, but I need to cancel.”
“Of course. May I have your name, please?”
“Yes, it’s… ” She read the alias Upton had used from her notepad.
The sound of fingers kitting a keyboard. “Just a moment… okay, there you go. Unfortunately, ma’am, you are within the twenty-four-hour cancellation window… but I tell you what. I’m sure that we’ll be able to get someone to fill the slot. I’ll see if I can get my manager to waive that fee.”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
“Okay, take care.”
Renee hung up the phone. Max waited ten seconds before dialing the same number.
“Holiday Inn Fond du Lac, how may I assist you?”
“Yes, I was hoping to get a room for tomorrow. Do you have anything available?”
“Why, we actually just had a room open up. You’re lucky. Everything is booked solid for the air show.”
“Oh, what a surprise,” said Max. “I’ll take it.”
The stakeout was tense, as they didn’t know if they were the only ones who were waiting for Upton to appear. There were two possible street entrances to the hotel. Max covered one side from the car. Trent and Renee observed the other entrance from the window seat of a coffee shop across the street.
Renee, still monitoring Jennifer Upton’s personal email, had promptly deleted the automatically generated message from the hotel, confirming that she had canceled her room reservation. Now Renee was using software on her computer to look for signs that Upton’s electronic devices might be pinging local cell towers.
Renee wore white earbuds, and her voice was being transmitted to flesh-colored earpieces that both Max and Trent were wearing.
“There it is. Her phone is local.” Renee checked her watch: 3:30 p.m.
“She could be anywhere within a five-mile range. Expect her to head into the hotel any minute now.”
Trent tapped the table and rose. He would start walking around the hotel, looking for any unwanted surveillance.
Max said, “I just got off the phone with Wilkes. I asked him to get us a safe house in the area.”
“What did he say when you told him you were in Oshkosh?”
“He didn’t sound happy about being kept in the dark. But he also didn’t sound surprised. I told him that we had an op in progress and had to go. He’ll get us the safe house.”
Ten minutes later, a middle-aged woman wearing stiletto pumps and a fashionable pantsuit strode into the hotel entrance. She was pulling a small rolling suitcase, its wheels bumping along on the pockmarked lot. The automatic double doors of the hotel slid open and she disappeared inside. Trent followed her in.
Five minutes after that, she was outside again, red-faced and cursing as she pulled her car keys out of her pocketbook and walked into the parking lot.
“Okay, she’s headed back to her car,” said Max. “I’m moving. Renee, connect me please.”
“Okay, it’s going through. Remember, just speak normally. The software will do the rest.”
Renee was running Max’s voice through a new program being tested by a Silicon Valley — based artificial intelligence company. Renee knew one of the lead technologists, who had granted her partial access to the program. They claimed to be able to take five minutes of recorded voice data on any person and clone the voice signature.
Now, as Max spoke, his voice would be transformed into someone else’s. Someone who Jennifer Upton knew very well.
Upton, feeling her phone ring, dug it out of her purse and answered the unknown caller. “Hello?”
“It’s me.”
“Herb?”
“Where are you? Are you at your hotel?”
“What? Yes… why are you calling me? Herb, you weren’t supposed to—”
“I’m sending a car. My colleagues should be there now. I’ve got to go.”
Max didn’t want to mess around. The longer they attempted to impersonate Senator Becker, the more that could go wrong. It was a risk. He wasn’t completely certain that Upton and Becker were still in touch, but they were both headed to Oshkosh, and his gut told him they were still connected. Not to mention, it was all he had to go on. He would only need a few moments’ hesitation on her part.