discomfort. This wasn’t the time for something different, even something that seemed better. Well, time would tell. The doctor would examine him and see if anything appeared amiss.
“I visited a specialist while I was there, and he checked me just in case,” Jake said, following the dialogue from earlier.
The examination went as smoothly as the first time, and when they left an hour later, Jake had been given a clear bill of health by the doctor.
“You are certain you are okay?” Karin asked as they went down the elevator together.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “There wasn’t the smallest bit of discomfort. Even so, I don’t plan any multiple jumps for a long time, which is how I got into trouble the last time. I know once this matter with the Mob is cleared up there will be no need to make any jumps at all for several months. Anything that came up, I already know how to handle from the last time, so back-tracking won’t be required.”
“It would be more reassuring if you could avoid making any jumps at all for a while,” Karin said.
“I’ll need to make a few,” Jake warned her. “The fact we are being followed says that Graper has already told someone about me. I’ll need to go back and deal with that before it can spread.”
“What’s our plan?” Nate asked later in the day when they were back in the house and he learned that Jake had been successful in his attempt to back-track. He’d already told them they had been followed, coming and going to the doctor’s office.
“I think we will have to have a chat with our watchers,” Jake replied. “Let’s see what Carlson and Laney have learned.”
Laney was out when they got Carlson on the video conference. She looked relieved to see him, assuming that he had made his attempt and it had gone well.
“You look pleased,” she said, as much question as observation.
“It went well,” Jake replied. “It wasn’t a long jump, but it presented no problems. The doctor checked me before and after, and both times said whatever had caused the problem was apparently no longer a factor.”
“So now you want to go after these men who have been watching you?” she asked.
“I have to act quickly or I’ll be back in a situation where I’d have to do multiple back-tracks to get back far enough. I want to restrict anything I do to single jumps, and if possible to only a few days.”
“That’s probably wise,” Carlson agreed. Then she turned to the information that Jake was waiting to hear. “The two cars that your friend Nate recorded the licenses of were no problem. One is a privately owned vehicle, the other a rental. The personal car is owned by a Carlos LaSala. He’s the blond gentleman in the photos you forwarded. This was fortunate, because we didn’t have anything in the photo database that identified him. Once we had his vehicle, we were able to obtain his license photo and find a match.”
“Do we know anything about this LaSala?” Jake asked.
“He’s a troublemaker. And, he belongs to the same group you’ve had trouble with. There is no doubt this is all related. The other two men are even more interesting. The older man is Santino Brusca. He’s a dangerous character. He’s done time for assault, and the only reason he isn’t behind bars for murder is because all witnesses to his alleged crimes have disappeared. He serves as a strong-arm for your friend Lucio Rizzo.”
“And the other one?” Jake asked.
Carlson smiled. “Lenny Rizzo. He’s the eldest son of Lucio Rizzo. He must be getting some hands on experience. He and Brusca flew into San Francisco the night before you returned home. Whatever Graper told Rizzo must have been interesting enough for him to want to investigate it. He moved quickly.”
“I hope he moved extremely quickly,” Jake said. “If he didn’t that might mean I need to go back to deal with Graper in the middle of our other activities. I was hoping to avoid that. It’s bad enough I’ll have to fly back to Washington to be able to back-track to the appropriate time.”
“When will you know your plans?” Carlson asked.
“Hopefully later tonight. Every hour we wait to act means a longer jump for me to make. Nate and I are planning to go and have a chat with our tails, starting with the one sitting outside.”