Monday 13 May 2019

Day 13 - flight

This story is a follow-on from An Explanation 


Julie leant back in her chair and looked about her. It was mid-afternoon in the Mission’s Old Brewery. The few people around her were consumed in their own conversations. 
A few hipsters having a debate about the merits of the latest brew on tap, a young couple leaning back in their chairs enjoying each other’s company. The barkeep, wiping down the bar top for the hundredth time since she’d turned.
Who the hell was Pig Napper? Obviously having emailed her investigirl account, it had to be someone referred onto her by DT3. 
Shutting her laptop, she casually dropped it into her backpack, slung it over her shoulder and downed her beer before nonchalantly exiting.  That was enough time in the bar; too long in any one spot was dangerous now.
Julie had been in Montreal for a week longer than she had intended.  Enough time to get herself a cheap Chromebook, configure it to make sure she had anonymity on the web, as well as moving the Bitcoin the Feds had given her into yet another Bitcoin wallet.
She was fairly certain now that through the use of a range of secure networks, proxies and otherwise the money was safely isolated and away from the Feds reach. She had put alert’s on the original wallet so she would know if anyone accessed it. 
Montreal though was way to close to the American border. In truth, the whole of Canada was way to close to America. Thankfully she did not need to stay put to be able to try and find out what had happened if anything had happened to her father.
First, though she had to get away. Flying was way too risky, in truth any sort of commercial travel was too dangerous now. She had only used the bus out of New York out of a need for anonymity and expediency. Even though she had crossed the border on a fake passport, she could not be sure that the Feds did not have a watch on that, if they did, they most definitely knew she was in Canada and would be watching for her.
It was time to move.

‘Sure little lady, I can take you across to Vancouver.  I’ve got some stops though, and I won’t be going the fast route. Not me, I won’t be crossing into the US on this trip.’
Perfect, finally after hanging out at Mikey’s at Petro-Canada gas hassling truckies for a lift she’d finally found one willing to take her to Vancouver, the first leg of her plan to leave Canada, undetected by anyone.  
Since getting the email from Pig Napper, she had checked out of her motel, ditched and refreshed her technology; new iPhone, Chromebook. The essentials for the girl on the run.  She’d connected up and secured the laptop, although had deliberately not gone near any of her public accounts that would come later.
It was hard though, she had not even red Pig Napper’s email, for fear that it was a baited trap. She would do that later, once she was away from Montreal.
‘Oh thank you, when do we leave? Is there any cost?’
‘We’ll head off just after I’ve had a shower and freshened up. Cost. Well, can you afford to feed me for a few days, counting sleep, and the driving limits I have it’s going to be about a 6-day trip, can you afford that?’
‘For Sure, I’ll wait for you here.’
‘Righty then, I’ll see you in twenty after my shower.’

‘Thanks, Ryan.’ Julie called as she lowered herself down the side of the prime mover. 
‘You look after yourself little miss, it’s been good having a travelling buddy.’
She shut the door to the cabin and stood back as she listened to Ryan get his rig going again, moving through the gears every couple of metres as he built up the speed again to re-enter the highway. Waiting until he went out of sight.
Once she was happy he was gone, and on his way, she flagged down a Taxi. There was to be no dawdling here in Vancouver, as it was a border city, and the home of the Feds Washington was even closer than New York was when she was back in Montreal. ‘Take me to the Missions to Sea please.’ 
‘You don’t look like much of an old sea dog to me.’
‘That doesn’t matter, to the missions please.’ Julie really felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb, a young girl, heading down to the harbour, to the missions. A place of respite for seafarers, she was hoping this would be the best place to try and buy herself a berth on a ship heading anywhere else but America. 
Pulling the peak of her cap lower she lent back into the seat of the taxi and looked out the window.  She really did not like this and wanted to get to somewhere where she could log-on and read the message from Pig Napper, it had been days since she received the email and only hoped it was right, and that her father was still alive.

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