off Baresco, and another box for Rachael’s .32-caliber pistol.
They looked as if they were preparing for war.
Although no permit or waiting period was required when purchasing a
shotgun-as was the case with a handgun-Ben had to fill out a form,
divulging his name, address, and Social Security number, then provide
the clerk with proof of identity, preferably a California driver’s
license with a laminated photograph. While Ben stood at the yellow
Formica counter with Rachael, completing the form, the clerk-“Call me
Sam,” he’d said, when he had shown them the shop’s gun selectionexcused
himself and went to the north end of the room to assist a group of
fishermen who had questions about several fly rods.
The second tierk was with another customer at the south end of the.
long room, carefully explaining the differences among types of sleeping
bags.
Behind the counter, on a wall shelf, beside a large display of
cellophane-wrapped packages of beef jerky, stood a radio tuned to a Los
Angeles AM station.
While Ben and Rachael had selected a shotgun and ammunition, only pop
music and commercials had issued from the radio. But now the
twelve-thirty news report was under way, and suddenly Ben heard his own
name, and Rachael’s, coming over the airwaves.
….. Shadway and Rachael Leben on a federal warrant. Mrs. Leben is the
wife of the wealthy entrepreneur Eric Leben, who was killed in a traffic
accident yesterday.
According to a Justice Department spokesman, Shadway and Mrs. Leben are
wanted in connection with the theft of highly sensitive, top-secret
research files from several Geneplan Corporation projects funded by the
Department of Defense, as well as for suspicion of murder in the case of
two Palm Springs police officers killed last night in a brutal
machine-gun attack.”
Rachael heard it too. “That’s crazy!”
Putting one hand on her arm to quiet her, Ben glanced nervously at the
two clerks, who were still busy elsewhere in the store, talking to other
customers. The last thing Ben wanted was to draw their attention to the
news report. The clerk named Sam had already seen Ben’s driver’s
license, before pulling a firearms information form from the file.
He knew Ben’s name, and if he heard it on the radio, he was almost
certain to react to it.
Protestations of innocence would be of no use. Sam would call the cops.
He might even have a gun behind the counter, under the cash register,
and might try to use it to keep Ben and Rachael there until the police
arrived, and Ben did not want to have to take a gun away from him and
maybe hurt him in the process.
“Jarrod Mc CIa in, director of the Defense Security Agency, who is
coordinating the hivesflgation and the manhunt for Shadway and Mrs.
Leben, issued a statement to the press in Washington within the past
hour, calling the case a matter of grave concern that can reasonably be
described as a national securit,’ crisis.”
Sam, over in the fishing-gear department, laughed at something a
customer saidand started back toward the cash register. One of the
fishermen was coming with him.
They were talking animatedly, so if the news report was registering with
them, it was getting through, at best, on only a subconscious level. But
if they stopped talking before the report concluded…
“Though asserting that Shadway and Mrs. Leben have seriously damaged
their country’s security, neither Mc Cla in nor the Justice Department
spokesman would specijy the nature o,Jthe research being done by
Geneplan for the Pentagon.
The two approaching men were twenty feet away, still discussing the
merits of various brands of fly rods and spinning reels.
Rachael was staring at them apprehensively, and Ben bumped lightly
against her to distract her, lest her expression alert them to the
significance of the news on the radio.
… recombinant DNA as Geneplan’s sole business.
Sam rounded the end of the sales counter. The customer’ 5 course
paralleled that of the clerk, and they continued talking across the
yellow Formica as they approached Rachael and Ben.
“Photographs and descriptions of Benjamin Shadway and Rachael Leben have
gone out to all police agencies in California and most of the Southwest,