Chapter 57

 

 

Pen carefully noted Amber’s information—the dock number and sailing time for the cargo vessel Corinthian. It would sail day after tomorrow from the port of San Diego to Jakarta, Indonesia.

“I’m also seeing a whole bunch of online shopping on their credit card,” Amber told her. “Furniture places. Doesn’t that seem funny, since it looks like they’re leaving the country?”

“Perhaps they aren’t leaving but are shipping the money to an offshore bank. Maybe they plan on staying in California,” Pen said.

But the moment she suggested it, the idea didn’t seem right. Trusting that much cash to the hands of a cargo crew? Still, the duo had surprised them more than once, and it didn’t always seem logic was their guide. She and Mary had spent a restful night in Albuquerque awaiting further news of their targets, and now it was time to make plans. They would simply have to follow along and see what happened.

She turned to Mary when the call ended. “It appears we must get ourselves to California.”

“I’m on it,” Mary said, showing Pen her phone screen. “Southwest Airlines can do a combination of air, hotel, and a rental car …”

“Sounds perfect. There’s no time to go home first. We should just fly from here. How quickly can we get a flight?”

Mary scrolled through the choices. “Next direct flight is in two hours.”

“If the Fordyces left directly from here yesterday, they would have had to drive straight through the night and could be arriving by now. We’d best get moving.”

They were at the departure gate when Amber’s next call came. “I don’t know how this affects your plans … Another charge just came through on their card. It looks like they gassed up the bus in Amarillo yesterday afternoon.”

“What? Texas!” Pen looked at the line of passengers moving toward the jetway for the San Diego flight.

“I’m sorry. It just came through. It’s from a Pilot Truck Stop and it’s enough money to be a full tank of gas for the bus.”

Pen filled Mary in on the new development. “Are we flying off in the wrong direction? If they’re in Texas and we head to the west coast …”

The gate agent called their boarding group.

Mary took a deep breath. “I think the container is the key. The Fordyces have clearly made plans to leave the country. Wherever they are driving now, I still believe they’re on the way to that ship.”

Most of the people were in line, moving to board the plane.

“All right,” Pen said. “I trust your instinct on this.”

“We’ll be in San Diego in less than two hours, rested and refreshed,” Mary said as they stepped to the back of the boarding line. “Foster and Melissa will have driven through the night—they’ll be tired. We can arrive before they do and we’ll watch the dock area. That bus of theirs isn’t exactly a blend-in type of vehicle.”

“I spoke with Benton early this morning, and he gave me names of a couple of contacts in southern California. As soon as I have use of my phone, I’ll reach out and see what can be done. We need the authorities in on it when we catch these con artists with the evidence.” If they have the cash with them, Pen reminded herself.

The flight was a full one, and the two women weren’t able to get seats together. But that was fine. As the flight attendants went through the standard pre-flight spiel, Pen began sending texts: Benton Case suggests I reach out to you regarding a couple planning to flee the country with a container of illicit cash. Would like to touch base when my flight lands at SAN.

Before she received any responses, the order was given to shut off cell phones.