the lights. He said, "Will you sit down, please?" He settled himself on a straight-backed chair beside the eight-foot table he used as a desk, and made a few tiny marks on a piece of paper in front of him, bending so his face was within six inches of it.
Jane chose the straight-backed chair across from the table. It felt warm to her, and when she looked straight ahead she had a clear view of an array of video monitors from closed-circuit cameras mounted on the front, back, and sides of the house. She had taken the chair that belonged to Shattuck's guard. The images on the screens were now motionless, no living creature moving out there.
After a full minute in which he seemed to have forgotten Jane was there, Shattuck said, "It's been several years. I had assumed that you had been killed."
"Not yet."
He raised his eyes to look at her. "You're wise to think of it that way. I always thought that wisdom was the direction where you were heading, even when you were very young. Now that you've reached middle age, you've arrived."
"If I agree I'm wise, do I have to accept that I'm middle-aged? Or is accepting it more wisdom?"
Shattuck smiled so his glasses sent a flash of reflected light, then lowered his head to his paper again. "Of course you would see the way out of the trap. I've missed your visits."
"I only come when I've got trouble, so I don't share the feeling."
"There is that, isn't there? But most of the customers for a forger aren't pretty or wise." He sat up straight, took a look at the document he had been working on, and put it aside reluctantly, keeping his eyes on it all the way to the pile at the corner of his table. "All right. Let's hear what you need this time." He lifted a pad and changed pens.
"It's a young girl, nineteen or twenty. First she needs ID to travel. It has to be good enough to pass, but only the essentialsâdriver's license, Social Security card, maybe a few simple things to fill a wallet, a library card, and so on."
"What next?"
"The hard stuffâa second good, solid set of papers that will last her forever, if necessary."
He squinted and stared past Jane's shoulder, then wrote as he spoke. "Driver's license, Social Security, birth certificate. MasterCard, Visa, American Express. Passport, too?"
"If you can get all that safely."
"Of course. But passports are taking at least six weeks these days."
"I'll give you a mail-drop address to forward it to."
Shattuck said, "Is it all right if we give her an address in Syracuse to start? That way I don't have to go far to pick it up."
"Sure. She can fill out change-of-address forms when she's settled somewhere. Until then, just forward everything to the mail drop." She pointed at his pad. "May I?"
He handed her the pad and pen, and she wrote out an address and handed them back.
"Telephone?"
"Make one up."
He held out his hand. "Let's see her photograph."
"I have her with me."
"Even better. We'll take different shots for each form of ID. Anything else for you tonight?"
"Yes," she said. "When you have the first set of documents, I'd like you to put together a set of papers for a baby with the same surname. A birth certificate and a Social Security card. That ought to do it if she has to run."
"How old is the baby?"
"Make it two to five months from now."
Shattuck's head turned only a half-inch. "She's pregnant?"
"Yes." She watched him closely. "I guess the real birth date will be September or October." She could see he had stopped writing.
Shattuck said, "It's been a while since you've been here. I should warn you that the prices of all of these items have gone up. Increased security and new electronics."
"I had assumed something like that would have happened."
"Everything has to survive electronic scanners. It's got to be real."
"I'm not surprised."
"In order to get a driver's license, I have to send somebody with a birth certificate to some other city, and have her apply for the license and take the tests. The credit has
Jane chose the straight-backed chair across from the table. It felt warm to her, and when she looked straight ahead she had a clear view of an array of video monitors from closed-circuit cameras mounted on the front, back, and sides of the house. She had taken the chair that belonged to Shattuck's guard. The images on the screens were now motionless, no living creature moving out there.
After a full minute in which he seemed to have forgotten Jane was there, Shattuck said, "It's been several years. I had assumed that you had been killed."
"Not yet."
He raised his eyes to look at her. "You're wise to think of it that way. I always thought that wisdom was the direction where you were heading, even when you were very young. Now that you've reached middle age, you've arrived."
"If I agree I'm wise, do I have to accept that I'm middle-aged? Or is accepting it more wisdom?"
Shattuck smiled so his glasses sent a flash of reflected light, then lowered his head to his paper again. "Of course you would see the way out of the trap. I've missed your visits."
"I only come when I've got trouble, so I don't share the feeling."
"There is that, isn't there? But most of the customers for a forger aren't pretty or wise." He sat up straight, took a look at the document he had been working on, and put it aside reluctantly, keeping his eyes on it all the way to the pile at the corner of his table. "All right. Let's hear what you need this time." He lifted a pad and changed pens.
"It's a young girl, nineteen or twenty. First she needs ID to travel. It has to be good enough to pass, but only the essentialsâdriver's license, Social Security card, maybe a few simple things to fill a wallet, a library card, and so on."
"What next?"
"The hard stuffâa second good, solid set of papers that will last her forever, if necessary."
He squinted and stared past Jane's shoulder, then wrote as he spoke. "Driver's license, Social Security, birth certificate. MasterCard, Visa, American Express. Passport, too?"
"If you can get all that safely."
"Of course. But passports are taking at least six weeks these days."
"I'll give you a mail-drop address to forward it to."
Shattuck said, "Is it all right if we give her an address in Syracuse to start? That way I don't have to go far to pick it up."
"Sure. She can fill out change-of-address forms when she's settled somewhere. Until then, just forward everything to the mail drop." She pointed at his pad. "May I?"
He handed her the pad and pen, and she wrote out an address and handed them back.
"Telephone?"
"Make one up."
He held out his hand. "Let's see her photograph."
"I have her with me."
"Even better. We'll take different shots for each form of ID. Anything else for you tonight?"
"Yes," she said. "When you have the first set of documents, I'd like you to put together a set of papers for a baby with the same surname. A birth certificate and a Social Security card. That ought to do it if she has to run."
"How old is the baby?"
"Make it two to five months from now."
Shattuck's head turned only a half-inch. "She's pregnant?"
"Yes." She watched him closely. "I guess the real birth date will be September or October." She could see he had stopped writing.
Shattuck said, "It's been a while since you've been here. I should warn you that the prices of all of these items have gone up. Increased security and new electronics."
"I had assumed something like that would have happened."
"Everything has to survive electronic scanners. It's got to be real."
"I'm not surprised."
"In order to get a driver's license, I have to send somebody with a birth certificate to some other city, and have her apply for the license and take the tests. The credit has
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