10

 

The house was quiet as Katie, purse in hand and netbook in purse, stood looking out the living room window at the brightening sky in the east. Only a silhouette of the Cascades showed against the red horizon. The red quickly gave way to deep blues and purples above. As she looked at the sunrise, Katie twisted the fake wedding band on her ring finger, hoping it wouldn’t turn green before the day ended.

The lights of a vehicle turned onto the street and rolled slowly her way. 4:55 AM. Dependable Josh.

The day had started serenely. She prayed it would end that way.

Katie slipped outside, locking the door behind her, with Grace, Grady, Lee, and Jenn inside sleeping and safe. She prayed again while she walked toward Josh’s car, a prayer that what she and Josh accomplished today would help keep her family safe. That it would keep her country safe.

And please…keep Josh and me safe.

Josh got out and circled the car, smiling as he opened her door. He was wearing jeans.

“Josh, I told you to wear shorts. It’s going to be a warm day.”

“Good morning to you, too, Kate.” His smile disappeared.

“Have you got your passport?”

“Are you a little antsy about today, or did you just get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

She pulled hard on the reins of her sometimes sharp tongue. Josh was right. She hadn’t realized how tightly she was wound this morning. “Jeans and a nice sport shirt. That works.”

“Not a good start to our honeymoon, Kate.” Only a hint of a smile accompanied his words.

Katie took a deep breath and blew it out slowly as she planted her cheek against Josh’s chest and hugged him. “I’m sorry, Josh.” She stepped back from him and managed a smile. “Can we start again?”

“I think we just did.” He returned her smile. “Yeah. Got my passport and I assume your netbook is in your purse. So let’s move out. We’re burning twilight.”

She slid into the passenger’s seat. “That’s not what the cowboys said.”

“I’m not a cowboy and it’s not daylight yet.” Josh took the driver’s seat, closed the door, and hit the ignition.

By the time the sun popped up over the mountains, Josh’s furious pace up I-5 had taken them to the Skagit Valley.

After her apology to Josh, their words were few and far between.

They took the Lynden border crossing and were only slowed a little by the weekend traffic on Highway 1 as they passed north of Burnaby.

After rounding the turn above Horseshoe Bay, the morning sun had topped the mountains and lit the water in Howe Sound.

The view from the road, high on the side of the mountain, took her breath away. Katie swept her hand across the panorama in front of them. “Look at this view. The Northwest is one of the most beautiful places in all of creation.”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful, but creation? You sure about that, Kate?”

Though this might send their honeymoon south, she had to respond to his remark. “We all subscribe to some worldview. Which one do you follow?”

“Well, I don’t follow my parents’ philosophy.”

“Following your parents isn’t always a bad thing.”

“If they’re like mine it is. Pure materialists. Not in the philosophical sense. They’re just…consumers. Buying toys and luxuries until…”

“Yes? Until…”

“So you follow Jesus and God because your parents want you to?”

Katie looked into Josh’s eyes. “I chose to follow Jesus because that’s where I found the truth.”

“The truth? You’re too bright to fall for a bunch of legends and myths, Kate. Doesn’t it bother you? Leave you with a mountain of doubts? The truth is, at best, empirically derived from scientific evidence, and at worst, it’s—”

“First, let’s get something straight. My faith isn’t blind. It’s rooted in evidence. There’s ample evidence to provide intellectually satisfying answers to any question you can ask, even the existential questions, the cries of the human heart.” Katie paused as she realized the implication of her words. “The only surprising thing to me is that truth isn’t found in a set of logical propositions, or a philosophy, or by using science, which happens to be based upon the same thing as philosophy, metaphysical presuppositions. And truth isn’t found in any religion.”

“What? You don’t even think your religion has the truth…or at least part of it?”

“Truth, Josh, is found in a person, Jesus. He’s not a religion. I’m related to Him as His spiritual child, His follower, and His friend. He said He was the truth and every other thing He said rings true. Check Him out. Test Him. But remember, with Jesus you get a relationship with a real person, not a religion.”

“Maybe that’s just your truth. If it works for you, that’s great.”

“Truth doesn’t work that way. It’s absolute. True for all people, in all places, at all times. Try telling yourself that all truth is relative, Josh. See where that takes you.”

“All truth is relative. That’s…uh, self-contradictory.” A deep frown grew on his brow.

“See what I mean?” She nodded her head at him. “The nature of truth is fairly simple to discover if you just make the attempt.”

“I think we need to change the subject. For the sake of the honeymoon.”

You mean for the sake of Joshua West.

After her diatribe on truth, Josh went silent for nearly an hour. The snowcapped mountain on the right was Whistler peak. The village was only three or four miles ahead.

They had to function as a team and play the role of honeymooners. Josh needed to start talking to her or they should call off the honeymoon and drive home.

“Josh?” She spoke softly.

“I’m sorry, Kate. I…I wasn’t avoiding you. Just…thinking.”

“In Whistler you’ll probably have to hold my hand. Maybe even put your arms around me. You won’t be very convincing if you’re mad at me.”

Josh’s huge right hand closed around her left hand. “I’m not mad at you. See?”

“So…you’re ready to do this?”

He nodded.

“What time is it?”

“Don’t you have a watch, Kate?”

“Yes. But someone captured my watch hand and won’t give it back to me.”

“Yeah. Someone did. Maybe someone wants to keep it. I’ll look at your watch for you.” He lifted her hand. “It’s 8:20.”

“8:20! That’s thirty-five minutes faster than the computer said it would take. You’ve got a lead foot, Joshua West.”

“And you’ve got a nice hand, Kate Brandt.”

“We’re supposed to be pretending.”

“Thought I was doing a pretty good job of that.”

“But you’re not pretending.”

“I was doing such a good job I even fooled you.”

“Yeah, sure.” Their intense discussion was behind them. But the subject would come up again. She would see that it did. “There’s the entrance to the village. Time to get serious. The person here is dangerous. We can’t afford mistakes.” She opened her map of Whistler.

“You can count on me, Kate. Where should we park?” He turned in to the village.

“Take the first left and in about four blocks turn right. We can park in the big lot by the grocery store. We’ll hide your car in plain sight. The hotel should be two blocks south of the lot.”

“Parking is tight here. They won’t tow my car again, will they? We don’t have Agent Peterson here to get it back for me.”

“Your car should be fine in the grocery store lot. We won’t be here that long, anyway.”

“Hope you’re right about that.” Josh pulled into a spot in the center of the parking lot.

Katie grabbed her purse, slung it over her shoulder, slid out, and met Josh on his side of the car. Her heart had already kicked into high gear. She offered her hand and Josh took it, wrapping his big, strong hand around it. The secure feeling he gave her calmed her rapid heartbeat. It would be wonderful if every time she had fears a hand would hold hers and drive the fears away. She had the biggest hand of all, God’s hand. But Joshua West would be next on her list. She forced a smile onto her face, and looked up at Josh. “Let’s go, sweetheart.”

After they crossed the parking lot and walked another block, the International Pinnacle Hotel building stood in front of them.

“First, let’s find a quiet spot to sit so I can get on their Wi-Fi.”

“But what if it’s secured, Kate?”

“Don’t worry. I can get past the router three or four different ways.”

Josh pushed open the large entryway door and escorted Katie in on his arm.

“The lounge area here will work fine.” She took his hand, pulled him toward a couch, and sat down.

Josh plopped down a couple of feet away.

Katie slid close to his side, leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered, “It’s our honeymoon, Josh. Remember?”

He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

She drew a sharp breath and her heart kicked into double time again. “I need to concentrate now.”

“Don’t let me distract you,” he whispered back.

Not willing to admit that he was a big a distraction, Katie opened her netbook and checked the Wi-Fi connections. She pinged the hotel’s router, and used the information to launch the appropriate exploit. Within sixty seconds she was on the router and checking its Wi-Fi connections. She didn’t see the IP address of the target laptop. Maybe the router had reassigned that IP address. Or, perhaps the person wasn’t online at the moment.

Please. Don’t let him leave. I need him to be here.

She looked up at Josh, and then leaned her head on his neck. “He’s not online at the moment,” she whispered, trying to keep a smile on her face.

“So what are we going to do?”

A flicker on the screen caught her attention. Some device was connecting. The IP address matched, but did the machine? She checked the machine’s operating system. It was him…or her. Probably him.

“He’s on, Josh. I’m going to monitor his signal strength to locate him. We need to walk the halls on each floor until we find him.”

“Lead the way, honey pie.” He grinned.

She slapped his knee in mock annoyance. It was a corny term of endearment. Something one might hear from a country bumpkin. But hearing it from Josh, it seemed rather—she needed to get focused or things could go very badly for them and their mission.

They started down the hallway that opened into the lobby. She cradled the open netbook against her stomach hoping that it did not draw attention. “I think he’s above us somewhere. The signal is a little weak down here.”

Josh took her free hand and led her to the elevator. “We’ll try the second floor.”

The elevator door popped open when he pushed the button. They boarded and the small elevator jerked and groaned for a few seconds, and then shuddered to a stop, bonging its arrival at the second floor.

They stepped out and Katie pulled Josh to a stop. “Wait here for a second.” She turned her back to him, then walked to Josh’s other side and repeated her maneuver. “Let’s go. She stepped off to their left. “He’s down this way.”

Josh moved alongside Katie and hooked his arm around her waist.

It would’ve been a warm, cozy feeling if the hair on the back of her neck wasn’t screaming danger.

They passed three rooms, and she slowed, swiveling to her left, then her right, trying to find the signal source. “Room 207, Josh. It looks like a large suite. And our man is in there right now.” She glanced up at him.

His face was drawn and his brown eyes grew more intense than she had ever seen them.

“We’ll stop and sit on the seat by the window at the end of the hall. I’ll work from there while you watch the door to the room.”

When they sat down, something changed on her screen. The signal from the laptop had disappeared. “He either closed the laptop or turned it off. Let’s see if he’s leaving.”

A man and a woman exited the room.

“That’s a surprise,” she whispered to Josh.

Both people had dark hair and dark complexions. They walked away from Josh and her, toward the stairwell.

“What now, Kate?”

“Let’s hope they’re gone for a while. You watch for them, I’m going inside.”

“No. You can’t.” His whisper was fierce, like an animal growling.

“Lighten up. We’re on our honeymoon.”

“This isn’t a joking matter. You’re not going to break into the room, Kate. If we’re arrested, it would blow our cover. Besides, they would put two and two together soon enough. If the police here turned us loose, those two would kill us.”

“You’re right. Besides breaking in would be a crime. But maybe…”

Katie sat down in the seat at the end of the hallway again. She pulled out her netbook while Josh watched for the couple in case they returned.

She sent several pings to the computer and then tried some additional signals. “We’re in luck. It wasn’t hibernating. I can wake it up. Keep watch while I break through his firewall.”

“I’m watching.”

She looked up at Josh’s tense face, his gaze locked on the stairwell.

“That won’t do. You look like a man going to the gallows. Not a honeymooner. Put your arm around me and close your eyes half way.”

His strong arm pulled her shoulder to his side.

“That’s better.”

Josh held her snugly while she hacked furiously for ten minutes.

“I’m in.” She pressed her lips together.

“Hurry, Kate.”

Katie perused the hard drive where she found several files of interest. She transferred them to her machine, and then located the email client. She downloaded his repository of email messages. “I think I’ve got all we need. Now we need to get out of here before that nice, Middle-Eastern-looking couple returns.” She stood, dropping her netbook into her purse.

Josh stood beside her with his arm around her shoulders. “Too late, Kate. They just entered the hallway. What now?” he whispered.

Katie tried to appear calm as she stood facing Josh. She put her arms around his neck.

“Kate, what are—”

“Kiss me, Josh, and you’d better hurry. They’re looking our way,” she whispered into his ear.

His head didn’t move.

“Do it now, Josh.”

Slowly, Josh closed the distance between their faces, pressed his lips against hers and then pulled his head back.

“Not very convincing. We’re supposed to be newlyweds. Do you call that a kiss?” She pulled his lips to hers.

Part way through the kiss she had initiated, Josh got into his part, really into it.

For a few seconds Katie ceased acting as feelings entirely new to her took her breath away. She pulled her lips from Josh’s and was breathing hard when she glanced at the man and the woman unlocking the door to the room.

The man muttered something about shameless Americans.

But the woman smiled at her, then followed the dark-haired man into the room.

Katie looked up into Josh’s wide eyes.

He was doing some heavy breathing, too.

“We need to get out of here, Josh.”

“Kate, I really…I mean—”

“Save it for later. Let’s hurry to the car and—”

The door to the room flew open. The man’s head stuck out, scanning the hallway. She and Josh were the only people in the hall.

When the man’s gaze reached her and Josh, it locked onto them.

He spoke loudly in a foreign language to the woman, and then glared at them.

The man must’ve realized someone woke up his computer.

“Run. We’ve got to take the fire escape.” She yanked Josh’s arm and the two sprinted to the nearby fire exit sign. Katie pushed Josh through the door, and then glanced down the hallway behind them.

The woman ran the other way to the stairwell.

The man broke into a run, sprinting toward them. His hand held what looked like a gun.