Ida was confused and frightened. Judith couldn’t blame her. A pair of strangers had come to her home and in less than twenty minutes insisted that she flee with them out the back door. At first, she insisted on getting dressed, but Luke insisted that any delay could be disastrous. Two minutes later, Ida had shown them the back door which they used.
Carrying a wad of Ida’s clothing under one arm and a pair of size six shoes in her hand, Judith led the other two out the back door, through the rear yard, and to a gate that led to Ida’s neighbors — people she said would be gone this time of day.
“I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but why is there a gate to your neighbor’s yard?” Luke brought up the rear.
“We’re friends,” Ida said just above a whisper. “We used to barbecue together. They both work. No one is home.”
The conversation ended there. Judith opened the gate and stepped through, hoping the Joneses or whatever their names were didn’t have a dog. They didn’t. What they did have was a garden shed — more importantly, an unlocked shed. Luke pointed to it and the three slipped inside.
The shed smelled of fertilizer, the gas and oil of a lawn-mower and the stale air of a poorly ventilated space no larger than a walk-in closet in a midsized home.
“Okay, Ida, change as quickly as you can. Running around in a gown and robe might attract attention.”
“Um, Luke …” Judith said.
“Come on, come on. I think we’re in trouble here.”
Ida didn’t move.
“For being such a bright man, Luke, you can certainly be as dumb as a brick.”
Luke looked puzzled. “What?”
“I think Ida might like a little privacy.”
Judith watched Luke rub his face. “Okay, okay. But hurry. You stay with her.” Luke slipped outside.
“I don’t want to leave.” Ida’s voice reminded Judith of a frightened child. The poor woman had been through a meat grinder, no, was still in the meat grinder and now stood in a shed lit only by the light creeping in through the crack in the door.
“I know you don’t, Ida, but something is terribly wrong. I trust Luke.” Judith began to sort through the clothing they had snatched before exiting the house. She hoped they had grabbed everything. In her hands were a pullover sweater, a pair of elastic band casual pants, white socks, and a pair of New Balance shoes.
Ida changed and Judith poked her head out the shed door. “Luke?”
“Yeah.” He appeared from the side yard. “You ready?”
“I guess so. Ida is reluctant to leave.”
“It doesn’t matter. We have to go. It’s unsafe for her to stay there. I’m an idiot. I should have thought of it earlier.”
Judith stepped out, Ida followed reluctantly. “Thought of what?”
“Not now. I’ll explain later. Let’s just get out of here.”
“But the car is in front of Ida’s house. How are we going to get it?”
“We’re not. That’s what they’re expecting.” Luke started back for the side yard.
“So help me, Luke, if all this is the result of your uncontrolled paranoia, I’m going to sic the FBI, CIA, and NAS on you.”
“NSA not NAS, and they already know about me.”
The side yard led to the front of the house. Luke went through first, then motioned for the others to follow. The sidewalk was too narrow to allow them to walk three abreast. Judith chose to stay by Ida’s side letting Luke follow a few paces behind, something he said allowed him to keep a better lookout.
Without turning around, Judith asked, “So what’s the plan now?”
Luke’s reply came quickly. “I think we should get back to the airport. We’ll be much safer there. We can regroup and plan a better strategy. We passed a strip mall on the way in. It’s only a few blocks. We can walk there and phone a cab, but we need to hurry.”
“Are you sure you’re not just overreacting?”
“Let’s see: A man sits in a car a few doors down — a rental car I might add — has a kit of electronic or photo equipment on the front seat and carries a gun in a shoulder holster, and he happens to be there the hour we arrive in Fresno. I’d call that suspicious.”
“How do you know all that?”
“I went over and talked to him. People who do surveillance never do that.”
Judith looked over her shoulder and caught him smiling with self-satisfaction. It irritated her.
“You walked up and spoke to him? Just crossed the street and said, ‘Howdy’?”
“It was the only way I could confirm my suspicion.”
“Did you see the photo equipment or the electronic gadgets?”
“No, they were in an aluminum case.” Luke’s words had a sandpaper feel to them.
“How about the gun? Did you actually see the gun?”
“No. He had it hidden under his coat.”
Judith felt uncomfortable and angry. All of this could be Luke’s overactive paranoia. She stopped and faced him.
“Keep moving,” he said.
“No. I think you just scared ten years off my life and for no good reason. Everything you’ve described can be explained in other ways. A man sits in a rental car. Well, you didn’t see him until you went to our rental car to retrieve those printouts. He has an aluminum case on the front seat. So what? For all you know he has loan documents in there.”
“It wasn’t that kind of case.” The smile had vanished.
“The point is you didn’t confirm anything.”
Judith saw anger flare in Luke’s eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but the words never came.
She felt it before the sound of it registered. The ground lurched and vibrated. A millisecond later the roar of an explosion assaulted her ears. She jumped then covered her head.
It ended as fast as it had come.
Silence inundated the area, broken only by the sound of birds leaving the branches of the trees as fast as they could.
“What was that?” Judith’s ears were ringing. She turned in the direction of the sound. Black smoke and dust rose in the air.
“My house!”
Judith had expected a scream, but instead it came as a whimper.
Ida started back toward her home but Luke intercepted her, placed his arm on her shoulder, and said in soft but firm words, “You can’t go back. It’s not safe. We must keep moving.”
“My pictures, my papers, my …” Her voice thinned to nothing.
Judith started toward her, to comfort her, to take her in her arms and give the poor woman a chance to weep.
“Not here,” Luke said. “We’re being watched.” He nodded across the street. A mother holding an infant stepped from the house and gazed to the column of smoke rising a short distance away. Another mother holding the hand of a screaming toddler stepped to her porch.
“Let’s just continue walking. Calmly. Normally.”
“Her house just blew up, Luke, there’s nothing normal about that.” Judith’s heart rattled in her chest.
“I didn’t say it was but the less attention we draw to ourselves the better.”
With his arm around Ida, Luke led the way. Judith followed a few paces behind and wondered how much worse things could get.