The Mirror Man, стр. 88
“Jeremy, I think,” he said. “Yes, I like that. My name is Jeremy Adam Parker.”
For the next hour, Jeremiah answered an endless procession of questions, which touched on everything from what he had studied in school to whether he’d ever had measles, while the agent took fastidious notes on every answer and barely looked up from his laptop.
“Now we’ll cross-reference this with your existing records,” the agent said, still typing at lightning speed, “and input photos here, and here.” He handed Jeremiah the laptop and a stylus. “And if you could sign here and again over here,” he said, “with your new name, of course.”
Jeremiah had to stop and think before signing his name. After the agent had him sign no fewer than twenty-six more times, however, it almost became easy and the scrawl took on the characteristics of an actual signature.
“Very good, Mr. Parker,” he said as he stood to leave. “All of your documents will be waiting in your vehicle for you within the hour—one packet for you, another for your son.”
“What documentation will be included exactly?”
“Birth certificates, social security cards, passports, a driver’s license for you, school transcripts, the title to your vehicle, immunization records, medical and dental histories, eight years of tax returns, bank account verification and two library cards, one of them expired. We’ll even have a few old utility bills thrown in for good measure. You will also receive two cell phones, complete with a two-year carrier contract under your new name, as well as a detailed biographical history. You will need to read that and become familiar with it. It’s everything you’ll need.”
“I’d say so.” Jeremiah whistled. “You’re certainly thorough. Don’t we need to change our appearance—dye our hair or something?”
The agent came very close to smiling.
“Don’t believe everything you see in the movies, Mr. Parker,” he said. “That is very rarely necessary. You must remember, however, that neither you, nor your son, will be allowed to come within a one-hundred-mile radius of Boston again—ever. One of the documents you’ve just signed agreed to that. I’ll get a full copy into your folder. And the federal government now has an excessive amount of information on you.” He glanced pointedly to the laptop in his hand. “If you try to come back here, we will find you. Aside from that one restriction, you are free to go where you will. Do what you want. But stay out of trouble. And stay under the radar. Don’t get famous or anything.”
“I understand,” Jeremiah told him, and he shook his hand.
“It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Parker.”
Chapter 42
Parker and Charles Scott were back in the apartment soon after the agent left.
“You okay?” he asked his son. “How was it?”
“It was weird,” he said. “Really weird. Dad, you wouldn’t believe it—the thing looks just like me. I mean exact! Like looking in a mirror. Man, I wish I could be there when he shows up for school! He is gonna fool everyone!”
“Believe me, I know how you feel. And the Meld? How did that go?”
“I guess it went fine,” Parker said. “I didn’t really feel anything. It was sort of like being hypnotized or something, I guess. I don’t feel any different. I don’t really remember it. I guess it isn’t as bad as everybody keeps saying.”
“The jury is still out on that,” he said.
Jeremiah asked Charles Scott if he should start packing and realized only then that he had neglected to take any of Parker’s clothes with him.
“It isn’t necessary, Mr. Adams...or Mr. Parker, is it now?” Scott told him. “You’ll find everything you need is already in your car—enough clothes to get you started, some cash, all the basics. You can get anything else on the road. We took the liberty of securing a Mercedes for you. Well-equipped, top of the line. I drive one myself. I’m sure it will be to your liking. If you’ll just follow me. We can take care of our final transaction outside.”
“One second.” Jeremiah darted into the kitchen and grabbed the package from the back of the freezer and took it out of the ice cream container. He put a hand on Parker’s shoulder and ushered him out behind Charles Scott.
“And Louie?” he asked. “Did you get the dog?”
“The dog is waiting for you.”
Almost the instant they were out the front door, before they were even halfway across the circular drive where the chocolate-brown Mercedes was waiting, Louie had bolted away from the man who held his leash and nearly knocked Jeremiah over with a wild greeting. With two paws up on his chest, he whined and whimpered as though he were literally trying to speak. Jeremiah laughed and tried to turn his face away from the dog’s exuberant kisses and attempted to calm him down. Louie was literally shaking with joy at the sight of him. Jeremiah felt almost as happy. He’d almost forgotten how much he’d missed this dog. He was glad Louie was coming with them. He knelt down and allowed himself to be kissed, and talked in soft, low tones until the dog stopped whining.
“It’s okay, boy,” he said. “I know. I know. I missed you, too. It’s okay.”
Parker got into the front seat of the car and Louie stayed at Jeremiah’s side as he looked to Charles Scott for what he sincerely hoped would be the last time. Scott was staring down at the dog with some confusion.
“It would appear that someone has forgotten to give that dog its medication. He seems overly exuberant considering, in his mind, he saw you leave for work just a few hours ago.”
Jeremiah smiled slowly. Part of him wanted to tell Scott that Louie had known all along, that the clone hadn’t fooled him for one minute. He wanted to see Scott’s face when he realized that maybe his precious experiment wasn’t airtight, after all, that there were some things even science couldn’t account for. It