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We had started to walk, while we were talking. Before I knew it, the girl was suddenly grabbing me by the arm, and dragging me into a small store.
"We need to lower our profile," she said as we stepped inside. She was already taking off her black gloves, making her white suit look much less incongruous in the process. "Apparently no one in the hotel saw us 'pop' in, so we lucked out there. But they'll be looking for us by now, and the cities have eyes.
"I'm going to get a change of clothes," she concluded. She looked me up and down. "You should buy a new shirt. And find a baseball cap or something." And before I could reply, she whirled and headed down the aisles, quickly grabbing a few articles of clothing from the racks and heading for the changing rooms.
I didn't know how good the city's eyes were, but I had to admit, she made sense. I browsed a men's shirt aisle until I found a touristy shirt that looked like it would blend in for Miami. A Jacksonville baseball cap topped off the new look nicely. I paid for them at the counter with most of the cash I had on me, and changed into the shirt while I was still inside.
A noise behind me alerted me to my fellow fugitive's arrival. She had slipped into a pastel-colored dress and high-heeled sandals that displayed her... charms, but no more than the average Miami girl. Still, she'd blend better with that than the white suit and black pumps, which she had already ditched somewhere. She paid for her dress and shoes with cash, and a moment later, we were back out on the street.
"So... what now?" I asked. "Are you serious about someone looking for us?"
"Oh, yes," she nodded, scanning the street carefully but unobtrusively as we crossed the street. "Especially you. If the wrong people get ahold of you, they could find out enough about the secrets of the publishing empires to penetrate their defenses and do significant damage. Some budding authors would kill for that chance."
"And how do you know so much about it? Were you part of the empire?"
"Yes, right until they brought me in to keep you quiet. Mind you, I didn't know that at the time. I thought I was being sent to wine and dine a congressman. In hindsight, I should have known I was being set up: No one wines and dines congresspeople any more. They just send them gift cards."
"Gift cards?"
"Ever seen an American Express Plutonium gift card?"
"No."
"And you never will, either."
"Okay..." Something else occurred to me. "So, what did you do? In the empire?"
Without meeting my eye, she said, "I was an editor."
"What's your name, anyway?"
Now she looked at me. "Ailuropoda Melanoleuca."
"Yow. What is that, Greek?"
"Latin. You can call me Amy."
"Thank God. So, Amy, where are we going?"
"I know Miami," she explained. "There's a safe house near here... a used bookstore."
"There are still such things?"
"Not many," she admitted. "That's why they'll help us."
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