“Good. Because I don’t see how we can move forward without their help,” said Devin.
“I have a good feeling about them. This is their kind of cause. So fingers crossed,” said Berg before turning away from the wall. “To expedite the process if they say yes, we’ll need a place for them to set up shop. An Airbnb that can accommodate eight should work. No closer than ten minutes away. Preferably a decent area. Something we can occupy for at least a month. We should get that arranged no later than this afternoon.”
“What if they say no?”
“Then we’ll have a place with furniture, real beds, and showers to study the files and come up with another plan,” said Berg. “Plus, we can’t expect Henrietta and her family to keep clear of the building forever. I don’t know how long this is going to take, or how long we’ll need Helen’s map and library, but at some point, we’re going to have to cut the cord to this place, for their sake. It might not be a bad idea to find a place that will rent to us for six months.”
“You’re going to stay with this for six months?” said Devin.
“I’m here for as long as it takes to hit a home run or strike out. Whichever comes first,” said Berg. “If it takes us six months to compile what we need to take this network down, looks like I’m eating crab cake sandwiches instead of Gulf shrimp—and rooting for the Orioles. That’s true dedication.”
“This all comes too easy for you,” said Devin. “You don’t look worried at all.”
“This is all a practiced act I’ve mastered over three decades of uninterrupted fear and anxiety. Most of those spent looking over my shoulder. I don’t see this ending well—for either of us, frankly—but I’ve thought the same thing before, more times than I can count. And I’m still here. They say I have nine lives.”
“I want to feel reassured by that, but I’m afraid to ask how many lives you might have left,” said Devin.
“It really doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on loaning you any. No offense,” said Berg, patting him on the shoulder. “How are you planning on booking and paying for the Airbnb? We have to assume the sleeper network has access to the same kind of data tracing the FBI would use to track a suspect. We can’t use credit cards, enter names into hotel systems—or anywhere, for that matter. We need to remain off the grid for as long as possible.”
“I could create a fake account and use the five-hundred-dollar gift cards,” said Devin. “But Airbnb could ask me to verify my identity, which would require me to take a picture of my ID and possibly a picture of myself to match to the ID. They’re hit or miss with that, and I don’t have a fake ID, anyway, so it’s a moot point. I was thinking of maybe asking someone from my last job. I don’t really know anyone at MINERVA well enough.”
“I strongly suggest we leave the FBI out of this,” said Berg. “Same with family and any friends you’re in regular contact with. We don’t know how long the Russians have been keeping an eye on you. We’re looking for a friend that you haven’t seen in a while that would do you a favor, or the kind of friend you see every five years and it’s like nothing’s changed. You’re best friends again.”
A name came to mind, but he shook his head just as quickly. Why would she do this for him? The better question was, Why would Devin expose her—even tangentially—in this potentially messy or even deadly conspiracy? Then again, she fit the profile Berg had described perfectly. They’d been best friends in high school, maybe a little more, though he’d never made a real move on her, and always regretted it. Whenever their paths had crossed after high school, which became rarer each year due to her Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps commitments, they’d picked up right where they’d ended last time, as though they’d just hung out the day before.
He hadn’t seen Marnie Young for close to four years before she walked into his mother’s wake, and despite the strained circumstances of the setting, the connection between them had felt the same. He’d furtively scanned her fingers for a ring, not that he hadn’t done that before. She’d always had that effect on him, though it somehow felt different this time. Probably because she’d told him she planned on trying to find a job in the DC area. The prospect of being able to see her more than once or twice while she was on leave or in between duty assignments appealed to him.