Before Ty could invite her in, Cass walked under his arm and into the front room of the suite. She looked around the room for a second or two as Ty closed the door and joined her.
"I thought you'd have a nicer room than this, Tyler," she said conversationally. "Where is Stella?"
Tyler lost another chance to answer when Stella came out of the bathroom.
"I'm right here," Stella said. Then she looked at Ty and continued. "Who's your new friend?"
Ty finally had a chance to say something.
"This is Cassandra, Waldo sent her."
Stella smiled and extended her hand.
"Pleased to meet you, Cassandra, any friend of Waldo's is a friend of mine," she quipped.
"Likewise," Ty chimed in. "We were just about to open the package he left for us. I assume you are here to explain anything that needs it."
That sounded as if it were as good a reason as any, so Cass nodded in the affirmative. They all took a seat around the small dining table and Cassandra started explaining things as Ty removed items from the envelope.
"It is easier to co-opt an old identity than create a new one, because the old has a history to it we don't have to invent. In your case, that person is Ricardo 'Richie' Salazar. Salazar was born in Mesa, Arizona the year before you, and died in a car wreck in Las Vegas in 2004. With Salazar, all we ... er ... all Waldo had to do was manipulate some data at the IRS and SSA to make it appear that Salazar is still alive and paying his taxes and social security like a good boy. Since the Social Security never received a claim for his death benefit, Salazar's social security number was never retired. Waldo also pinged Equifax for a credit report, to make sure his credit history is still intact.
"Finding you someone to become is only half the job though, because you still have to become Ricardo Salazar. The first step to that is the birth certificate you are holding. The certificate is legitimate and so is this replacement social security card.
"Waldo said to rent a place around here and then go down to the DMV and apply for a driver's license. He also recommends you go somewhere and apply for a small credit account; a jewelry store or Wal-Mart maybe. He said he made sure Salazar has an okay credit score, so you should get approved somewhere. Things like a bank account and even a library card will help too. The biggie for you though is memorizing all the info we have on Salazar, especially his date of birth and his social. Once you have established a history as Richie here, you can go wherever you want as him."
When Cass stopped talking, both Ty and Stella were staring at her with their mouths agape in awe. Ty had been thinking Waldo would provide him some really good fake documents; instead, he was now some modern-day Lazarus, risen from the grave. Stella was agog that Waldo, who she figured was Cassandra's brother, had so easily hacked into so many highly secured computer systems.
Cass stayed with them for another half hour, then headed back to her room. She had her netbook with her, and wanted to e-mail Jason and tell him how it went with Tyler.
After Cass departed, Ty asked Stella what she thought about everything that had happened.
"Her brother is probably Waldo, but I'll bet that little minx is just as involved as he is. She knew too much about the mechanics of what was done, not to be involved up to her ponytail. What they did is incredible and scary as hell if you think about it. If they can do what they did so easily, what is safe from them? I just hope they are as good a pair of kids as she seems to be."
Ty bobbed his head in agreement.
"Yeah, I'd hate to have them mad at me, that's for sure. She's a little cutie though, and a high school grad on her way to MIT at fifteen. Heck, at fifteen I was barely squeaking by algebra one."
Ty and Stella had just been seated in the very nice restaurant at the hotel when Stella spotted Cassandra standing at the hostess station with a distinguished looking older gentleman. She pointed them out to Ty, then stood up from the table.
"I'm going to ask them to join us," she said.
Cass smiled when she saw Stella heading her way.
"Hello Cassandra, is this your father?" Stella asked.
"Yes, his name is George. Dad, this is my new friend Stella."
"Hi," Stella said, addressing the father, "I'm Stella Woodson. I met your charming daughter earlier today, and we had a lovely chat."
George Neely was nearly speechless in the presence of the attractive Amazon.
"Hello," he finally managed to stutter.
Stella ignored his awkwardness and gave him a dazzling smile.
"There seems to be a wait. Why don't you join us at our table? We haven't ordered yet, and we'd love the company."
George reluctantly agreed after some prodding from Cass and Stella, and soon enough, all four of them were sitting at the table while the adults became acquainted. Stella steered the conversation, because Ty was naturally quiet, and George was painfully shy away from fellow scientists. Cass watched in amazement as Stella skillfully drew her father out, not even realizing that the open-ended questions allowed her father to talk about his two favorite subjects, his children and his work.
It only took a few minutes for Stella to learn enough to deduce that Jason and Cassandra Neely were probably Waldo. They were also almost certainly using the supercomputer at Sandia to carry out their hacking. Stella, in the manner that women seemed to have as part of their nature, just couldn't let the matter drop until she knew. Once she figured it out, her only reaction was one of concern for the teens.
They parted company after a leisurely dinner with George, almost feeling relaxed. The two civilians (what he called anyone not a physicist) were easy to talk too and seemed to have a soft spot for his daughter. During the conversation, Ty's wealth was never mentioned. Instead, Ty merely presented himself as a rancher, and Stella as his lead drover. George thought it endlessly fascinating that the attractive and intelligent young woman was a cowgirl by choice.
Stella and Ty spent the next few hours memorizing Ty's new identity. Stella learned right along with him so she could help him if he needed his memory jogged. They also spent some time discussing Ty's physical disguise, now that they had an identity to match. After some back and forth, they agreed that he did not have to make any radical changes. He'd continue to let his hair grow and darken it, grow a moustache, and wear glasses. After all, he didn't have to look like Salazar; he just had to not look like Ty McGuinn.
The couple made out a shopping and to-do list for the next day, then began the awkward (at least for Ty) process of preparing for bed. Stella slipped into the bathroom to put on her night clothes, and Ty hurriedly donned his pajama pants and Bass Pro Shop t-shirt.
Stella chuckled when she came out of the bathroom and saw him standing there beside the bed, because she was wearing an almost identical outfit.
"Great minds think alike," she quipped.
Ty watched her as she moved to her suitcase to find her blow dryer for the next morning. Yeah, he thought, they might be wearing the same outfit, but she looked about a thousand times better in hers, as her t-shirt and pajama pants were snug in all the right places. At least she was still wearing a bra, he thought, then she bent over her open Samsonite and he stifled a groan. Sharing a bed with her was starting to look as if it were a really, really bad idea. Yet Stella was handling the situation with grace and aplomb, so he would try to do the same.
Ty helped her set up the bed and felt better about things with the two rolled decorative pillows between them. Ty was set to toss and turn for a while as he normally did, but he fell asleep immediately. Better yet, he slept through the night, a rare event for him in the last three plus years. Waking up was an even bigger pleasure, because as the fog of sleep lifted, he became aware of Stella snuggled up to him. She was lying on her right side, and he was sprawled out on his back. Her head was on his upper left chest, her left arm and leg draped across him.
Instinctively, Ty moved his left hand up around her waist and pulled her a little tighter to him. She sighed and squeezed him.
"This is a nice way to wake up," she said, her voice fuzzy with sleep.
"Yeah," Ty replied, "and I slept like a baby. This is dangerous, though. What if I forgot where I was, and decided I wanted sex in the middle of the night and rolled over on you?"
She sighed louder this time and hugged him tighter.
"That would be awful," she said unconvincingly.
They were up, showered and dressed by eight-fifteen. Stella was shy about flaunting her body, and that made it somewhat easier for Ty to act normally. George and Cassandra were already seated and working on a stack of pancakes when Stella and Ty entered the restaurant. Cassandra waved at them as they found a table. They were halfway through their meal when Cass joined them at the table.
"Good morning," she chirped, "what are you guys doing today?"
"Morning," Stella replied, "Richie and I are going shopping. Want to go with us?"
Cass giggled at the 'Richie' reference and quickly agreed.
Their first stop was at the Habitat for Humanity thrift store that was a few blocks away from the Marriott. Ty found out about the place when he asked the waitress in Spanish where he could buy some good used clothes. The waitress looked at him funny, but told him the Habitat thrift store was the best place, although it was somewhat pricey. Ty bought a well-used large roll around suitcase first, then the three of them set about finding a wardrobe for Richie.
The thrift store had everything a working man needed. He picked up a pair of work pants and a rugged looking pair of work boots, three white shirts and three polos went into their cart, along with a nice pair of khaki trousers and a button-down collared light blue dress shirt. Stella and Cass were a big help in finding clothes that fit the image they were making for Ricardo Salazar.
The next stop was Super Wal-Mart, where Ty bought a couple of pairs of sturdy, inexpensive silver framed glasses right off the display at the in store optometrist. The glasses had clear plastic lenses in them already, so he told the surprised optician he'd take them just the way they were. He also bought a pair of clip-on shades for one pair. While he was in the vision center, Stella and Cass were browsing through the aisles, picking him up some black hair rinse, some store brand toiletries and some white socks. They also grabbed a few logoed t-shirts that touted different brands of Mexican beer from the five for ten dollar display. When Ty joined them he grabbed a few pairs of store brand jeans to complete his wardrobe.
They ate lunch at Chili's, then went apartment hunting. Richie needed to have a local address in order to qualify for an Arizona driver's license. It took all afternoon, but they finally found a furnished one bedroom duplex on the edge of the barrio. The apartment was old and small, but it was clean and air-conditioned. It was a month to month rental that required Richie to pay first and last months' rent and a hefty security deposit. Richie negotiated with the owner in Spanish for a few minutes, before forking over sixteen hundred dollars of his cache of used currency.
They arrived back at the hotel around five in the afternoon and made plans to once again have dinner with Cassandra and her father. The symposium George had been participating in ended on that Friday, so the Neelys were heading back to Albuquerque Saturday morning. Ty and Stella were growing fonder of Cassandra by the day. With them, she was just a normal, although mature, teenager. Cass, in turn, really liked her new friends. She especially bonded with Stella. She looked at the big cowgirl as a cross between a hip mom and a cool older sister. Ty extended the Neelys an open invitation to visit the ranch during the summer, and Cass jumped on the idea.
Cass came up to their room later that evening while Ty was folding and packing his new duds in the black suitcase. He wasn't going to start disguising himself until he was moved into his new place.
"I'm going to miss you guys," the elfin-faced teen said wistfully.
Stella gave the teen a one-armed hug.
"We'll miss you too, Cass, but hopefully you can work your magic on George and he'll let you spend some time with us this summer."
Cass voiced her agreement and Stella switched topics.
"Listen, Cass, I know you and Jason are just having fun, but you two need to stop hacking into government computers, or anyone's computers for that matter. If you keep it up, you are going to get caught. You two are good, no doubt about that, but one little bit of bad luck or some new security feature will eventually get you. Think about how that'll affect your dad since you are sneaking onto the lab's supercomputer. He'll be out the door before he knows what hit him."
Cass blanched at what Stella said, because she realized how true it was. Thankfully, the hacking thing was only occasional, happening mostly when she was bored and needed a challenge. She hadn't thought through the consequences for her father though, and that worried her, as did the impulsiveness that made her become too involved in Tyler's request.
"Yeah, I am getting out of control," she admitted. "I guess I'd better find another hobby."
Stella grinned and nodded her head approvingly.
"Good idea. I recommend boys, it worked for me."
Ty was equal parts relieved and disappointed when Stella fixed the bed the same way that night and wore the same pajamas to bed. He was relieved that his restraint wouldn't be further tested, but disappointed that she wasn't snuggled up to him.
He found out where the pillows went when he woke up as she was slipping out of bed to go to the bathroom. He was lying on his right side facing the digital clock on the night stand. It was almost one in the morning. When she crawled back into bed, she tossed the rolled pillows behind her and cuddled up behind him. Ty smiled and drifted off to dreamland.
Ty woke up at six-thirty in the exact same position as he was when he fell back asleep at one. He lay there for a second, savoring the closeness. He was attracted to the pretty and vivacious young woman, but because of the circumstances of her being his employee, he was hesitant to act on them. Yes, she was sending him all kinds of signals, but this was a hell of a time to start a relationship. Ty sighed and started to roll out of bed.
Stella tightened her grip across his chest as soon as he moved.
"Don't get up yet," she whispered right next to his ear.
He nodded and reached back, pulling her tighter against him.
Ty jumped out of bed ten minutes later and hustled to the can. As nice as it was to be cuddled up to Stella, the call of nature had to be answered.
After the weekend breakfast buffet, the couple headed out with Stella driving the rental. They cruised the broad boulevard where all the car dealerships were located, as Ty kept a look out for a used truck for Richie. He saw what he was looking for at a 'buy here, pay here' place near the end of the city limit. The truck was an older but decent looking white Ford Ranger with a white topper over the bed. It was just the kind of truck a handyman would own. Ty put on his Richie glasses and Stella dropped him off out front.
The truck was as nice as it looked. It was eight years old, but only had seventy thousand miles on it. The owner of the lot was more than willing to make Ricardo Salazar a good deal on the truck, because it was a four cylinder, stick shift and no one wanted that hassle, plus, cars in general weren't selling. When Ricardo allowed he was also paying cash, the man was even friendlier. Ty was almost sorry when the man accepted his last offer, because he was having fun negotiating in Spanish. He could have easily afforded the original asking price, but Ty wasn't foolish with his money.
For eleven-hundred dollars, he drove the truck off the lot with a paper thirty day tag on it. He called Stella on her cell and drove back to the Marriott to meet up with her. Their next project was getting Richie moved into his new apartment. Ty thought he was just going to take the suitcase of Richie's clothes to the apartment and return to the hotel. Stella had a different plan, though, so he cooled his heels in the small sitting room-kitchen combo while she changed clothes.
Ty was watching Fox News when Stella cleared her throat by the door. He glanced up and his eyes bugged out cartoonishly. Stella was almost wearing a tight shiny blue top that showed off her flat stomach and impressive cleavage, along with a short black skirt and two inch tall strappy black sandals. Her short blond hair was now long and a deep red color, and she wore more make up than he'd seen her wear. She looked sexy as hell. Ty guessed he shouldn't be surprised at how comfortable Stella looked in the outfit. After all, she was a young single woman and it was an ensemble that was considered nice casual wear in those circles.
"Wow, that is some outfit, but why the disguise?" he asked.
"Richie's apartment is only a mile from my patrol area when I was on the force here. Too many people on both sides of the law know me around that part of the city. So I thought old Richie needed a girlfriend named Brittany that looked like this," she replied.
Ty licked his suddenly dry lips and looked her up and down. No one would ever accuse Stella of being petite or skinny, but she was still smoking hot.
"Ricardo Salazar is a lucky man," Ty said, his voice dripping with envy.
Ty and Stella took Richie's truck to the Wal-Mart on Cerrillos Road, and bought bed linens, a small drip coffee maker, toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Then they went a couple of blocks up Cerrillos and bought a few groceries at Albertsons.
At four in the afternoon, Richie Salazar and his girlfriend Brittany moved into the apartment under the watchful eyes of their curious neighbors. Richie hardly drew a second glance with his baseball cap and shades, but Brittany was a hot topic of discussion that night amongst the neighborhood men and teenaged boys. They all agreed with Ty's earlier assessment, she was 'muy caliente'.
It only took them an hour to whip the place into livable shape. The two of them worked well together, neither of them afraid of a little dirt or work. After they put away the groceries and set up the coffee maker, he did the honors of disinfecting the bathroom while she put the two inch memory foam pad on top of the mattress and made the bed.
After the apartment was in order, Richie took Brittany out to supper at a small Italian eatery a few blocks from the house. The food wasn't the best in the world, but there was plenty of it and the price was right. Brittany was thrilled that the place made pizza and had delivery service, because she was a pizza fanatic. That was okay with Richie, though, because she like pies covered in meat and jalapeños.
They watched television for a while on the small twenty-two inch analog TV that came with the apartment. The apartment even had basic cable, and they were able to find a few sitcoms to laugh through.
When it was bedtime, Ty once again offered to sleep on the couch, but Stella waved his suggestion away.
"Richie and Brittney are lovers, why would he sleep on the couch?" she asked in that practical voice she used when he balked at something.
Ty thought there might be some faulty logic in Stella's argument, but he shrugged and went with the flow. After all, they had already survived two nights and things had been peachy.
Stella went to the bathroom and changed into her nightwear while Ty changed in to his PJs in the bedroom. When she walked in, he raised his eyebrows. He guessed that Brittany dressed different than Stella at night also, because she was wearing one of those long t-shirt things in which women sometimes sleep. On a woman of normal size, the shirt would have draped to her knees, however, on tall and well endowed Brittany, it was above mid thigh. And Brittany also didn't wear a bra to bed like Stella had for the last two nights.
Ty looked appreciatively at her chest as she came gliding into the room. Her unfettered breasts were doing exciting things to the cotton tee.
"I didn't know you were that big on top, Britt," he said in the accent he affected as Ricardo Salazar.
She stopped in front of him, one hand on her hip, and favored him with a smile.
"I wear minimizer bras so they don't stand out so far. It's also much easier to ride a horse with them cinched down," she explained.
Ty nodded and when she slipped into bed, he turned off the overhead light and moved to join her. Ty had an idea that all this was leading somewhere, and he was content to let Stella set her own pace. Hell, if nothing else happened, at least he was sleeping better than he had in years.
She stopped him right before he slipped between the cool and smooth new sheets.
"Why not take off your shirt, Richie? You know you don't like sleeping in one."
No, Richie did not, so he tugged it over his head and dropped it to the floor. Brittany didn't wait until the middle of the night to curl up against him; instead she sighed and immediately pressed herself against his back. For Richie, as it was for Ty, that was good enough to guarantee he fell into a dreamless sleep.
Monday morning, Ricardo Salazar was waiting in line when the DVM driver's license office opened. As a former licensed driver in Arizona, he was issues a renewal license without a written or driving test. He took the visual acuity test wearing his fake glasses, so his license read 'corrective lenses' under restrictions. He was happy his new moustache appeared clearly in his photograph.
He went to the Wells Fargo bank branch closest to his apartment and started a checking account with five hundred dollars cash. He did not take any counter checks; instead, he paid for expedited delivery for his real checks, and picked nine hundred to be the first numbered check. While he was at the bank, he applied for a Wells Fargo Visa card and an ATM card. He left the bank with a promise that he'd have his checks and ATM card by the end of the week.
On Tuesday, Ty called his sister-in-law Tiffany McGuinn. After exchanging their usual greetings, Ty casually mentioned that he was vacationing with Stella.
"Tiff, Stella is a wonderful woman and we are having fun. I wouldn't mind if people knew that so they'd stop worrying about me. Do you thing you can get the word out? I'm not going to give you our exact location, but we might be somewhere balmy and breezy right on the ocean. We'll probably stay here a few weeks, then come back to the ranch."
After sharing a few more pleasantries, Ty ended the call. He smiled when he thought about Tiff's reaction. She had been thrilled for him and promised she'd spread the word. Ty also knew that Tiff and the gossip columnist for the El Paso Times had been college roommates, so the news was a lock on making the paper.
Ty had called Tiffany because Stella had prevailed on him to make a slight change in his cover story about them traveling. Stella said it was unreasonable for her to be off so far away when he might need her close at hand. She was adamant about it to the point Ty finally relented. The new plan would put Stella in a motel room a few miles from the barrio in El Paso.
Tuesday afternoon, Richie and Brittany walked into the Sprint cell phone store, signed up for service and picked out phones. Brittany opted for a standard free phone, but Richie took an up graded model that had the optional real time GPS tracking. They also purchased an air card that would connect a laptop computer to the internet as long as cell phone service was available. The GPS locater cell phone was Stella's idea. As long as he had the phone turned on and with him, she would have his real time location displayed on her laptop anytime she wanted it.
Tuesday night, Brittany dragged Ricardo to a bar in the neighborhood, because she said he needed to be seen in public to help cement his identity. By then, Ty was comfortable being the Richie they had created. Ricardo Salazar was more outgoing than Ty McGuinn and was something of a ladies man. His new pencil-thin mustache and shiny black slicked-back hair fit that personality to a T.
As they were sitting in a booth drinking a Coors Light, Brittany suddenly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately on the lips. It startled Richie, but he returned the kiss after only a second's hesitation. When she broke the kiss, Brittany put her lips to his ear and whispered into it.
"You've got to be more affectionate in public, Richie, so people will remember you. I don't mind if you get a little personal with me to help you with that."
Richie nodded and then grinned impishly as he dropped his hand onto her smooth thigh, just below the hem of her hiked up miniskirt.
"Really?" he asked teasingly.
Stella turned so her breast was resting on his forearm as she leaned against him.
"Really," she said with a grin of her own.
Friday, the metal license plates for the Ranger arrived, as did Richie's new ATM card. The Wells Fargo Visa card with a one thousand dollar limit had arrived Thursday. Richie was all set.
Stella reluctantly drove the rented SUV back to El Paso Saturday morning. All of Ty's belongings identifying him as Tyler McGuinn were packed into the SUV. She couldn't argue with Ty when he said he was ready to return to El Paso, because he was right. He was now as much Ricardo Salazar as he'd ever be. Ty had slipped into the character so easily, because he was more comfortable with being a working man than being rich anyway.
Ty departed for El Paso a few hours later and arrived there in the early afternoon. He took I-25 to I-10 eastbound, and exited on Colorado Avenue. Colorado Avenue ran west to east along the southern edge of the large and growing US Army base, Fort Bliss. The further east he drove on Colorado, the seedier the area became. Ricardo stopped at a small motor court that offered efficiency rooms by the week, and paid for two weeks. The motel was only a few blocks from the concentration of bars, restaurants, hot sheet motels and pawn shops that spring up anywhere there is a military base.
This area of unincorporated El Paso County was also the home turf of the Nasty Boyz street gang, and de-facto headquarters of Barrio Azteca. Tonight he would visit a bar; tomorrow he would attend Mass at the local Catholic Church, and Monday he would look for work. The search to find those responsible for Abuela's death and personally punish them had begun in earnest.