by Bob Blanton
“Well, we should go to brush up,” Alex said. “That way we’ll look good at the Ball.”
Matthew smiled at Jason, “How about that weather?”
“Brea, sign us up for the next time you go,” Alex said.
Jason looked positively beside himself. “You stepped into your own trap,” Matthew said. “As I was saying, boy, isn’t the weather nice today?”
“You’re telling me,” Jason replied, giving Matthew a nasty look. “It feels like summer, doesn’t it?”
“This is my favorite time of the year to hang out at the coast,” Matthew said. “No turistas to fight off, so you can kick back and enjoy the ocean and the sun.”
“You’d better soak up the sun and heat, we’re going skiing for Thanksgiving; I guarantee you it is going to be cold.” Alex said.
“It might be cold,” Jason said, “but you have to admit, it’ll be fun.”
Brianna had slipped her shoes off and put her bare feet in Matthew’s lap. “Do you guys want to go for a walk on the beach?”
“Sure,” Matthew said. “We can play dodge with the waves.”
“What’s that?” Alex asked.
“It may be warm, but the water is freezing,” Matthew said. “When you walk on the beach in winter here, you try to avoid getting wet.”
“Oh you Americans are such babies,” Alex said. “This water is not cold. In England we go swimming when the water gets this warm.”
“Well, you can swim if you want to,” Matthew said. “I’m going to keep my feet dry.” Matthew started to rub Brianna’s feet.
“My hero,” Brianna said. “You’re not afraid of a little cold water are you?”
“Caution is the better part of valor.”
“My man here needs to save himself for fighting three hundred pound criminals,” Jason said, referring to the kidnapper that Matthew had to fight when he rescued Sonja. He had his arm around Matthew’s shoulder as he patted him on the arm with the other hand. “He can’t go around wasting himself on cold water.”
Matthew finished off his Coke and set Brianna’s feet down. “Let’s go, it’s getting a little deep here.”
The four got up and started walking along the sidewalk toward the stairs that led to the beach. They were in Del Mar just north of San Diego, California. The sky was crystal clear and the sun was making the 82-degree temperature seem even warmer. Brianna was walking with her arm around Matthew’s waist, while Alex and Jason were holding hands.
As they approached the stairs, Alex slowed down turning her head toward two men sitting at the corner table.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. She stopped and moved behind the palm so she could see them better without them seeing her.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Go,” Alex whispered at him. “I’ll catch up in a minute.”
“Who are they?” Jason asked, still standing next to Alex.
“I’ll tell you in a minute,” Alex said. “Now get, before they see you.”
Jason crouched down behind Alex and tried to get a look at the two men. They were both wearing sunglasses and hats, which mostly hid their faces. Both had dark complexions and one had a black beard while the other was clean-shaven. They had their heads close together and were having a heated conversation in hushed tones. Jason couldn’t hear a word they were saying.
Alex used her phone to snap a couple of quick photos. After a few more minutes, the two men stood up and shook hands. The man with the beard left while the clean- shaved man sat back down to finish his drink.
“Here, make yourself useful,” Alex said to Jason. She handed him a small pad and pencil from her purse. “Go and see where he goes,” she said. “If he gets into a car, get the license number.”
“Why?” Jason asked.
“I’ll tell you later, now go!”
Jason ran after the man with the beard while Alex stayed behind observing the other guy. Matthew and Brianna finally noticed that they were missing a couple of friends. They stopped on the beach and looked back at Alex.
“What is she doing?” Matthew asked.
“She looks like she’s hiding from someone,” Brianna said.
“Well, she’s sure providing a show for everyone else,” Matthew said, alluding to the fact that Alex had inadvertently allowed her dress to hike up. Her red panties were blazing out for anyone to see.
“Oh, be good,” Brianna said slapping Matthew on the shoulder. “She could be wearing a swim suit and you wouldn’t think anything of it.”
“I don’t know,” Matthew said. “She sure has a nice pair of buns there.”
“You lecher,” Brianna kicked sand onto Matthew’s feet. “You’re not supposed to look at other women.”
“I can’t help but look,” Matthew said. “I thought the deal was, it’s okay to look as long as I don’t touch.”
“I guess that’s true, but you don’t have to enjoy yourself so much. Besides, she’s Jason’s girlfriend.”
“I was just commenting on her conditioning,” Matthew said. “Look, she’s leaving.”
The clean-shaved man had finished his drink and was leaving the café. Alex had stayed out of sight until his back was to her. Then she stood up and quietly started to follow him.
“Where’s she going?”
“I don’t know, but let’s catch up with her.”
Brianna bent down and put her shoes back on, and then she and Matthew ran after Alex.
“Alex, what are you doing?” Brianna asked when they caught up to her.
“Shish.”
Brianna and Matthew started walking on tiptoes with their index finger to their mouths.
“Quit fooling around,” Alex said. “I’m following that guy and we can’t let him notice us.”
“Why not?” Matthew asked.
“I’ll tell you later.”
When they got to the parking lot, the man got into a black Jaguar and drove away. Alex quickly wrote the number down on her hand with her lipstick.
“Most people use a pencil and paper,” Matthew said.
“Don’t be a smarty britches,” Alex said. “I gave my pencil to Jason. This will do fine. It’s a lot better than my memory.”
“So what’s the big mystery?” Brianna asked, “and where is Jason?”
“Right here,” Jason said as he walked up behind the trio. “So, Alex, what’s the big deal?”
“That guy, who got into the Jaguar, looks like one of the guys that ABC news showed last month, Mohammad Hasaam” Alex said. “He’s supposed to be linked to al-Qaida.”
“How could you tell?” Jason said, “With that hat and sunglasses you wouldn’t be able to recognize your own father.”
“I would too,” Alex said. “Besides it was his chin and mouth that gave him away.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m pretty sure,” Alex said. “The news showed a picture of him last night when they were doing the report on that terrorist they caught on Monday.”
“Come on, the FBI would know if he was here.”
“Not necessarily, maybe there were two sneaking across the border from Mexico; or he could have gotten here earlier or by other means,” Alex said.
“Well, what do you think he’s doing here?” Jason asked.
“That’s the question,” Alex said. “What is he doing in Del Mar? Did you get the other man’s license?”
“Yeah, here it is,” Jason said, as he handed Alex her pencil and pad.
“Good, I’ll tell Daddy, maybe he can figure out what’s going on.” Alex’s father worked for the British consulate in Los Angeles but spent most of his time liaising with the brass at Camp Pendleton. “He can ask British Intelligence about this Hasaam guy, maybe they know why he’s in San Diego.”
“Well, there’s nothing to do now,” Brianna said. “Let’s go for our walk on the beach.”
Alex shrugged her shoulders. “Why not? We shouldn’t let it spoil our day,” she said as the foursome headed for the beach.
/> ◆ ◆ ◆
On Monday at school, Matthew couldn’t wait to find Alex and ask what she’d found out about this Hasaam. He found her talking with Emily during lunch.
“Hi, Emily,” he said coming up behind the two girls. “Alex, what did you find out about our guest?”
“Oh, hi, Matt,” Alex said. “I was just telling Em that Daddy says that Hasaam is in the Sudan.”
“See you got all worked up for nothing,” Matthew said. “And what’s this Em stuff?”
“Oh, Alex has decided to give me a nickname,” Emily said. “Don’t you dare use it.” Emily shook her finger at Matthew.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Matthew said backing away from Emily’s finger.
“I still think that was him,” Alex said. She crossed her arms and gave Matthew a big league frown.
“Are you going to question British Intelligence?” Matthew asked.
“They’re not always right. Besides Daddy said that the photo was a 70% match, so they’re going to have the FBI keep an eye out for him here.”
“What about the other guy?”
“Daddy wouldn’t tell me anything,” Emily said. “He says the guy has a right to his privacy.”
“Matt, couldn’t you help Alex out?” Emily asked. “Look him up on the web or something.”
“I don’t know,” Matthew said. “My mom has me on a pretty short leash, and I don’t think she would like the idea of me using the Internet to search for the owner of some car.”
“Come on, Matt,” Alex said, batting her eyes at him. “Please, Please, Please!”
“You can use the computer at my house,” Emily said.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Matthew said, giving in.
“Jolly good. I’ll give you a ride over,” Alex said. “You can put your bike in the boot.”
“I didn’t know you were driving,” Matthew said.
“I’ve been keeping it a secret until I got the car,” Alex said. “Daddy promised me a Jaguar if I did well on the PSAT test. Scores came out last week, and Daddy gave me the car this morning.”
“That’s fast delivery,” Matthew said.
“He was keeping it at the neighbors,” Alex said. “When I asked if he would give me a ride to school this morning, he said I should just drive myself.”
“Geez, it must be nice,” Matthew said. “I’ll be lucky to even get a car, much less a new Jaguar.”
“Don’t worry, Matt,” Emily said. “You can borrow my car anytime you want to.”
“Thanks, Emily, but I won’t be able to drive for another year. Maybe by then, I’ll figure out how to buy one, even if it’s a clunker.”
“I’ll pick you up out front, after school,” Alex said. “By the way, Jason and I are going to lunch in my new car. Do you guys want to come along?”
“I don’t think so, I’ll have to check with Brea; but since Jason is going to be busy, I think we’ll just eat here.”
“I could give you and Brea a ride,” Emily said.
“I’ll text Brea and see what she thinks,” Matthew said as he typed a message on his cell phone. “I should have an answer by history class.”
“Good. We’ve got to head to French now,” Emily said. “I assume you’re coming Alex?”
“Yes, I’ll be there, I just want to wait here for another minute to see if Jason shows up. That man is always running late.”
“Yes he is, it’s a wonder the two of you ever get anywhere on time,” Emily teased. “Come on, Matt.”
“If Jason’s late, he’ll have to drop Brea off on the other side of campus so she can make her class,” Matthew hollered back to Alex.
“Speaking of the PSAT, did you get your scores?” Emily asked as she and Matthew headed off to their class.
“Yeah, mine came on Saturday.”
“Well, what did you get?”
“I did fine,” Matthew said.
“Come on you can tell me, I got 75 on the math and verbal parts and 80 on the written part.”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on, I won’t tell anyone else; we’re friends, I told you mine.”
“Okay, I got 80s straight across.”
“That’s what I figured. I wish I could do as well as you. I’m trying to get into Harvard, and it’s going to be tough without near-perfect scores.”
“I didn’t know you wanted to go to Harvard.”
“Yeah, Harvard’s my first choice then Stanford or Yale.” I want to go to medical school there; I’m hoping that doing my pre-med there will make it easier to get in.”
“Well, they say that every time you take the test, your scores improve. The PSAT is like taking the SAT the first time; you’re pretty close so you just need to study hard.”
“I’m going to; will you study with me? I know you don’t really need to study.”
“Sure I do, I studied hard for the PSAT test. I really need to get a scholarship.”
“It just always seems so easy for you; so will you study with me, you made the stuff on the French trip seem so easy?”
“Sure, I’ve got to study anyway,” Matthew said.
“Are you two going to join us?” Mr. Jackson said as the period bell rang.
“Sorry.” Matthew and Emily scrambled to their desks.
◆ ◆ ◆
Later that afternoon at Emily’s house, Matthew and Alex rang the bell.
Emily answered the door, “Hi, guys, how was the ride in the Jag?”
“It was rad. Of course, I did have to ride with Alex,” Matthew said.
“No remarks about my driving from the peanut gallery. I’m getting better.”
“Thank God for that, or we’d all have to avoid the roads.”
Alex punched Matthew hard on his shoulder.
“Ouch, that hurt.”
“Well, your comments about my driving hurt, too.”
“Okay, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to learn how to shift. Why didn’t you get an automatic?”
“Because they’re not cool,” Alex said, “I just need more practice.”
Matthew pulled his laptop computer out of his backpack.
“You don’t need that, Matt. I said you could use ours,” Emily said. She looked offended that Matthew didn’t want to use her computer. “It’s the latest model from HP.”
“I have some programs on this one that will help us do the search,” Matthew said. “Besides we may want to have two screens for reading.” Matthew pulled a blue wire from his backpack.
“What are you doing?” Alex asked.
“I’m going to hook into Emily’s gateway,” Matthew said.
Matthew plugged his computer into Emily’s gateway, and just like that he was on the Internet with his computer. First he used Emily’s computer to go to one of the many sites for private investigators, which offered searches of the DMV databases.
“Okay, now if you’re willing to spring for eighty dollars we can try to get the record legitimately,” Matthew said.
“No problem,” Alex said. “Here’s my credit card.”
Matthew entered the numbers. When the computer prompted him for whether he wanted to save the number for future use Matthew turned to Emily, “Do you want to save Alex’s card number for the next time you go online shopping?”
“No way,” Alex howled, “she’s got her own credit card and hers is platinum.”
“You should have used your computer,” Emily said, “then you could go online and buy Brianna gifts. Alex would never be able to tell your purchases from hers.”
“I’m sure,” Matthew said. “I saw how much she brought back from France. How do you keep it all straight?”
“Be quiet and get back to work,” Alex said, as she smacked Matthew on the head.
“Yes, mistress, just don’t beat me,” Matthew said. He’d hunched his shoulder and spoken in a whiney voice for effect.
“Only if you behave,” Alex retorted.
“Okay we’re ready now; I’ve got a DMV databa
se here. Alex, give me the license number.”
Alex read off the license number. “It was a black Mercedes 600 Sedan,” Alex said. “Jason said someone picked the guy up right when he got to the street.”
“Here we go,” Matthew said as he pushed the search button.
They all watched the hourglass on Emily’s computer screen, expectantly. After a few seconds a window opened. “Here it is. The owner of the car is Pashtu Enterprises.”
“Oh pooh,” Alex said, sticking her bottom lip out. “What good is that?”
“This is where the real work starts,” Matthew said. “Now we start using both computers to search out stuff on this company.”
It took about an hour to finally find a name. They discovered that Pashtu Enterprises was a company that was owned by a company that had a Sayid Al Jabar listed on its board of directors. The companies were registered in the Bahamas.
“Well, that’s a bust,” Emily said.
“Don’t give up yet,” Matthew said. “Now that we have a name, we can do some more searching. Google him, Alex.”
“Righto,” Alex replied.
After a reading through the results for a while, Alex started to get excited, “It says here that he’s suspected of being an international arms merchant.”
“Where?” Matthew asked.
“In this article from the London Times. It’s about some big party; our man Sayid Al Jabar was a big-shot guest.”
“What else does it say?” Matthew asked.
“Here it says that he’s one of the one hundred richest people in the world,” Emily said.
“Yeah,” Matthew said clicking on another window. “Here he is on the Fortune 500 list. They don’t say anything about his activities.”
“Leave it to the society page to have the real scoop,” Alex said. “What else can we find out about him?”
“I’ve got an address,” Matthew said. “One of his companies owns an estate in Rancho Santa Fe. I think it’s that big estate with the huge pagoda in the middle of the lake.”
“Yeah, that’s just three miles from my house,” Emily said. “It’s kind of gaudy.”
“What else do they own?” Alex asked.
“Well, I guess we’ll have to see what we can find on one of the hacker sites I know.”
“What good will that do?” Emily asked.