Ham unhooked his house key from a ring and handed it to John.
''We'll burn it after you wear it," John said. "I'll spring for a new one, though."
"I've only got one, and I was thinking of burning it, anyway," Ham said.
Everybody laughed.
54
Holly was visiting Harry's place after dinner on Friday evening, when Eddie, who was listening to his smoke detector bug with a headset, whistled and flipped a switch. John's voice came into the room, but there was some sort of static, too, and there were gaps in the transmission.
"May I have reservations, please," he said. "Hello? My name…Owen…I'd like to confirm a reservation I made recently… nights, arriving tomorrow, departing Tuesday morning. No-smoking, that's correct, and I'm on the beach side of the hotel?… floor will be fine. Yes, I understand there won't be an ocean view, but I'll be working too hard to enjoy it, anyway… see you tomorrow.'' He hung up, then he could be heard moving around the room, but he didn't speak and no one entered the room.
"Damn, Eddie, can't you do anything about that reception?"
"No, Harry, it's somewhere between here and a satellite a few hundred miles up."
Harry wrote down the name Owen. "I wonder if that's his real name," he said.
"I doubt it," Doug replied. "The guy's probably got a dozen or more aliases. I think Alton Charlesworth is as close as we're going to get without prints. Even if we ran them, we'd find a CIA hold on the record."
"You're probably right," Harry said.
Then there were two voices in the room. "Hey," Peck's voice said. "We all set on paperwork?"
"Dave's working on it now. We took the photographs, and they look great. He'll have everything ready before he goes to bed tonight. Has Ham turned in?"
"Yeah, he left a few minutes ago."
"Does he still have the jeep?"
"No, I've got it."
"Let me have the keys. I want to take a drive out to the strip and make sure the machine is ready."
"I took care of the list you gave me," Peck said.
John's voice took on a new tone. "Peck, are you carrying your cell phone?"
"Yeah, sure. I always do."
"Make any calls today?"
"No."
"Let me have it, will you?"
"Sure, here. I'd like it back tomorrow."
"I know you would, but I may need it more than you."
"Whatever you say, John." Peck sounded abashed.
"Good night."
"Good night, John."
The door could be heard to close, then a television came on.