Jack Be Quick Ch. 02

"Seems to me like a good plan. Am I in any danger?"

"Not that I know of, but as this project goes on, it's bound to attract more attention, and you and your co-workers might be. Have you had any strange things happen? Anybody following you, anything like that?"

"No. Well, maybe. A couple of times I've wondered if I was being followed. I dismissed the idea, because I didn't think anybody would want to follow me, and there wasn't much I could do about it anyway."

"Well look, Jack, it could happen. There are a couple of things I can do to make you a little safer. Oh, here's our food."

We ate, exchanging small talk in tiny bursts of words between bites. I found out that Jerry was from Nebraska, and that he had just lived through his second winter in Boston. "How does the New England weather compare to the Midwest?"

"Actually a little milder. When the winter wind whips across the prairie there's not much to slow it down, and it can get bitter cold in a big hurry. When it's twenty or thirty below there's no place to hide from it. Boston can get pretty nippy, but there's always something to break the wind or a lobby to duck into to warm up. But we change assignments every three or four years, and I don't know one of the guys who wouldn't like to be sent to Miami or San Diego next."

Jim chuckled. "How do you hide a pistol in a pair of swim trunks?"

"I don't know, but I'm willing to learn."

After the dishes were taken away and we were enjoying a cup of coffee, Jerry looked around and then slid a business card across the table to me. "Tomorrow, take your car to this address and tell Red that I sent you. He'll have another car for you to drive until yours is ready. When you go to pick it up, he'll tell you everything you need to know. Okay?"

"Sure. As long as I have some wheels, that's fine with me. But will this delay our trip back to Cambridge?"

"Yes, possibly by four or five days. Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it for both of you." While he was saying that, Jerry slid another card across to me. When I picked it up, there were actually two cards, both alike, one on top of the other. "Give one of these to Trudy and you keep the other one. If anything strange or unusual happens, or if you're in doubt about anything, call me at that number. Another thing, call to let me know if you're going anywhere, say, more than ten miles away from where you are. I'm not saying don't go, but just let me know so I can anticipate your travels. If somebody else answers, just leave a message."

"What's all that for?"

"We'll want to know where you're going so we can detect any unplanned movements. Suppose somebody wants to take you somewhere and you don't want to go. We want to know about it so we can go and bring you back."

"Yeah, I understand. You really do think I'm in danger, don't you? And you think they might try to take Trudy as a hostage. This is getting kind of creepy."

"Don't let it get to you. This is just a precaution, that's all. Do you keep an umbrella in your car?"

"Sure. Never know when it might rain."

"Okay. What about a shovel or a bag of kitty litter in the wintertime?"

"Yeah, I've got both of those."

"So you take normal precautions against extremes of weather, but you don't feel paranoid about it, do you? These simple precautions I'm giving you are the same way. They're not signs that something awful's going to happen, just ways to keep you safe if it does. So don't let any of this freak you out."

Jerry looked at his watch. "Sorry, gotta go. I'll pay for your lunch on my way out. Wait five minutes, then leave." And with a little wave, he was gone. His abrupt departure reminded me of Saint Nicholas in Clement Clark Moore's poem, ". . . and giving a nod, up the chimney he rose."