After an hour on Route 30 East, just past the town of Jeannette, Frank had finally settled down enough to tell Alice what had happened outside the bank. “The KGB was waiting for us. The woman attendant you said was nervous was working with them. She signaled a man, who was trying to look busy, that you had asked for the right numbered box. He put on his hat and hurried outside. Before I went in the bank, I saw a car with the engine idling. That made me suspicious and when the man in the bank hurried outside after getting the attendant’s signal, I went out after him, grabbed his arm, put my gun in his ribs, and spoke to him in Russian. He understood perfectly. I walked him up to the car with the idling engine and when he opened the door, pushed him inside. I had to shoot him and the three other armed men in the car.”

“My God, Frank! And I thought I did all the work! Are you okay? What does that mean? Are we in more trouble?”

“The KGB will now be hunting to kill us. I think we were already on the kill list, but now for sure. The men in the backseat were armed with a submachine gun and what looked like a sniper’s rifle. At the slightest resistance they would have been shooting to kill. The KGB will keep some effort going to find us for several years. We must not give them any clues.

“We left some things for them to find, assuming the KGB finds the car with the dead men inside. They will cover their tracks, get rid of the bodies, car, and maybe the safety deposit vault attendant. The only thing the KGB will have are the brass casings of the .22 I used. I couldn’t take the time to find them all. A first-class police forensic lab may be able to pull partial prints from the casings. I loaded the magazine without using gloves. I always try to avoid handling anything but the bullet part of the cartridge but never can be sure. By the time the KGB even gets around to looking at the brass, if ever, they won’t find anything. Hollow points don’t give the ballistic people much to work with.

“A police or FBI lab is very different. If they tie the dead men to the bank or the bank attendant, they will do a first-class forensic job. If they get the attendant, before the KGB they will get a description of you and Christina from her and the bank cameras. They’ll dust the vault for fingerprints but won’t find any because you were wearing gloves. The cameras will also pick me up and will link me to the KGB watcher inside the bank, because I was watching him and left immediately after him. I think that is the worst case, and it is not too bad. So, all in all, I don’t believe we are in any more danger. But we’ll have to watch the evening news for a few days.”

Driving east on Route 30 through western Pennsylvania, Frank and Alice talked over their plan for the next month. “Frank, have you ever killed anyone before?”

“No. I didn’t have time to think. These men were hunting us and intended to kill us, at the bank or somewhere later. There was no ethical problem for me. It was them or us. An easy choice. There was no thrill or remorse. Those men were hardened killers. Without the snowstorm, we would all be dead. I couldn’t take four trained men without the cover of the falling snow and iced-over windows. They had little choice. They couldn’t wait out on the street or in the bank. We would have seen them and so would’ve the bank guard. I’m sure they hated waiting in the car where they were not able to see outside. They didn’t count on such an aggressive move on my part. They didn’t know about my father and grandfather who killed men many times. Maybe it’s in my blood.”

“What do we do now?”

“We need to change cars and identities. We also need to buy more clothing so we can fit into a more affluent society. We won’t have credit cards for a while so we pay cash for everything. We must look like we are used to wealth and just don’t need credit cards.”

“Shopping sounds good. My clothes certainly don’t fit into a richer environment. My wealthy attitude is natural. I grew up in a privileged class in Poland. Just get me the clothes. I can play the role. Besides, you owe me a handful of diamonds.”

“A small handful. Wealth is also a problem for us. We must have 30 to 40 pounds of currency, gold, and diamonds with us now. We can’t keep carrying it around and I’m a bit reluctant to put it all in a number of safety deposit boxes around the country. The use of alias identification gets very complex. My idea is to buy a place and hide most of the money on our own property. The ideal thing would be a remote mountain cabin in good condition. We can hide out there for a while and think about our options. Our trail will get colder over time and the KGB will eventually pull back some of the teams now hunting us.”

“Now that we’re wealthy can we get something to eat, and a place to rest and get cleaned up?”

“Take a look at the map. I believe there is a small town called Greensburg a few miles ahead just before we enter the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains.”

“Yes. It’s about four miles straight ahead.”

“Good. Now look for a motel. I like being able to park the car right outside the door of our unit. I’m going to pull over when I can find a place to stop for ten minutes so we can change identities again. This will be our last name change for a while I hope.”

“I was just getting used to Alice Kincaid.”

“Say good-bye to Alice because you will soon be Sally Ann Webb. Your maiden name was Smythe, pronounced Smith. Your family is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. You were married July 24, 1971. You have no brothers or sisters and both parents were killed in a car accident ten years ago. You were educated abroad and speak French. You majored in the history of Eastern Europe and Russia. You met your husband, Jacob Allen Webb, at a wedding of one of your friends. You moved to Chicago where our children were born.

“Your husband made enough money in investments and wanted to try a new lifestyle and raise a family away from big urban areas. You didn’t like Chicago and were glad to move east. Your credentials are in the brown envelope in my overloaded briefcase. Better wait until we stop and I’ll dig them out for you. Call me Jake. You can be Sally or Sally Ann.”

“I’ll be Sally Ann. I like the flare. Now give me my diamonds and buy me some proper clothes.”

“In due time, Sally Ann.”