“It’s so bloody frustrating!”
“Don’t worry, something will turn up,” Linda said.
“Thanks!” Megan said insincerely. She turned back to her computer screen.
“On the other hand, the Cartwright’s had good reasons for their interest in the rehabilitation of offenders. Hanna had a bit of a criminal record before she broke through in modeling, just drugs, and a bit of shoplifting. And Simon Cartwright was suspected of having mob connections — although nothing was ever proven.”
Megan turned to face Stone.
“He likes to keep a very low profile, unusually low, considering how famous his wife was. I guess he could just be a naturally private person. That’s not a crime — these days it’s more of a virtue. In any event, they’ve certainly done a lot for ‘Second Chances’ — and get this, they even called their house ‘Hug a Mugger’. That must be popular with the locals!”
Stone gave a sharp snort of derision.
“Linda and I are going to search the ‘Second Chances’ office tonight. Perhaps we can find something tangible that will lead us to wherever they operate from.”
“Good.”
Megan nodded slowly as she considered the plan. She looked at Linda.
“You ok with this?”
“Yeah. It should be exciting!”
Megan smiled at Linda’s enthusiasm. She reached into the drawer and handed Stone a small leather wallet.
“I guess you’ll want to borrow Ed’s keys.”
“Thanks.”
He waved the wallet at Linda teasingly.
“Lock picks!”
“Cool!”
Megan shook her head and smiled.
Linda looked over her shoulder and then back at Megan.
“Which way is the bathroom?”
“Down the hall — first on the right.”
When the door was closed, Megan gave Stone a serious stare.
“She’s a keeper, that one.”
“No argument from me. I think I’m falling in love.”
Megan smiled.
“No doubt about it Eric, any woman can see that. You’re s-m-i-t-ten — it’s written all over your face, hers too.”
Stone leaned forward, his eyes sparkling.
“She’s beautiful and fun, and she’s amazing — I mean the way she’s getting involved in all this. She’s so enthusiastic, and it makes no sense. The closer we get to this investigation, the more excited she seems to become. I can’t figure it out.”
“I wouldn’t overanalyze things. She’s probably just feeding off of your commitment.”
“Well whatever it is, I think she’s pretty amazing.”
“Who’s amazing?”
Linda was casually leaning on the doorframe. Open mouthed, Stone stood up and turned. He was caught off guard and unsure of what to say. Unperturbed, Megan jumped in with her usual sensitivity.
“You are Linda! Eric thinks you’re a keeper.”
Linda looked at Stone, who somehow managed to look both horrified and happy at the same time. She gave a matter-of-fact shrug.
“Took you long enough to figure that out!”
She gave Eric a hug and kissed his cheek. Stone coughed in an effort to cover his embarrassment, but his wide grin exposed his true feelings. He wrapped his arms around Linda and kissed the top of her head.
“We’d better get moving soon, I want to get to Second Chances before it gets too dark to look around. Also, the daylight will help us spot if anybody’s tailing us.”
“You’re being followed?” Megan asked, suddenly all professional and serious.
“We’re not sure,” Linda cut in, “Over the last couple of days we’ve seen some cars that may have been following, and the other day we felt ‘watched’. But that was just a weird feeling we both had, there was nothing definite.”
“Whenever we were driving, we kept a careful lookout,” Stone added, “but each time we thought that someone looked suspicious, they overtook, or turned off.”
Megan’s face looked grim. The light humor of their earlier conversation dissipated like smoke.
“They may have been operating a ‘Box’.” That’s where they have several cars following you. Ed’s told me about this.”
She grabbed a sheet of paper and drew a quick sketch. Stone and Linda leaned closer.
“They keep some cars in front, some behind, and a couple of others in reserve. They rotate the cars regularly so they aren’t seen too often. If they’re doing it properly, then it is almost impossible to spot.”
“Thanks!” Stone said sourly, “That really helps our confidence.”
“So what do we do?” Linda asked.
“I think you need to drop off the grid. Given what we know about the Wrecking Crew and their capabilities, it’s the only safe way to operate.”
Stone frowned.
“How do we do that? How do we drop off the grid?”
“Actually, it’s not easy. First, you would have to shake off any tail, and then you would need to dump everything you have. You pretty much have to strip naked and start over, using only cash.”
“Dump everything, even our clothes?”
Megan nodded sternly.
“Dump everything, Eric. You have to assume that they can track anything with a chip or a radio frequency tag.”
She tapped her computer screen with a bright pink fingernail.
“If I can track it, then so can they.”
Linda was perplexed.
“Sorry — what’s a radio frequency tag?”
Megan rubbed her hands together in gleeful anticipation of delivering one of her favourite lectures.
“A radio frequency, or RF tag, is that little bit of silver foil that you sometimes see on the security tags of CD’s and the like. It’s inert until its hit with a radio wave. Then it sends back some specific information. Most high-end products carry one these days, partly to deter shoplifters. However, rumor has it that many retailers are now collecting information about customers, by scanning every RF chip that enters, or even just passes their store. There’s also good evidence that some retailers are even scanning and collecting information from competitor’s loyalty cards. They’re literally stealing information directly from your pocket.”
Linda shrugged.
“So they want to know where I shop — big deal.”
“Wait, there’s more!” Megan added with a grim smile. “There are companies out there called ‘Data Miners and Data Bankers’. They want to steal, harvest, and store your information.”
“Whatever for?”
“So they can study and manipulate it. Knowledge is power. It’s that simple.”
Linda was still unconvinced. Megan pushed on to make her point.
“Think of it this way. Imagine that Eric wanted to open another karate club in… for example, Norwich.”
“That seems like a bad idea!” Eric groaned.
“Maybe, maybe not — answer me this. How much would you pay for the names and addresses of everyone in Norwich who had a real interest in learning karate, was the correct age, and had enough money to pay a yearly membership up front?”
Eric nodded in acceptance.
“I would probably pay quite a bit for that sort of information. It would certainly be more effective than the leaflets and posters that I usually pay for.”
“Damn right. Now imagine how much some politicians would pay for some really useful dirt on an opposition candidate. Or what some business people would pay to remove the competition.”
She sat back and raised her palms.
“Knowledge is power folks — and it’s probably how the Wrecking Crew makes most of its money. If they have access to those kinds of databases, then they probably already know the RF data codes for all of your clothes, they know your car registrations, and they have all of your credit card and bank details.”
“So that’s why we have to strip naked and start over, using just cash,” Linda said.