by Dirk Patton
She glared for a moment, then reaching a decision, slowly bent and picked up the duffel without taking her weapon off target. Straightening with it slung over her shoulder, she took another step back.
“Don’t follow me!” she said, the warning in her tone very clear.
Zophiel puffed on the pipe, making no attempt to come any closer. Katarina backed another step, then turned and was suddenly standing in the rubble of a burning city. Gasping in shock, she whirled but saw nothing other than shattered and flaming buildings in every direction.
Staggering backward as her mind tried to comprehend what was happening, she realized the pistol, flashlight and duffel bag of cash were gone. She spun, searching for them in the debris and coming to a frightened stop when something screamed. Looking across the hellish landscape, she saw a figure running toward her.
At first, she thought it was a man, then the... the thing passed through light cast by a raging fire and she was stricken with a primal terror so strong she was unable to draw breath. Dark green scales covered a body roughly the size of a human, but that’s where any similarity ended. Wickedly long claws adorned each finger and toe and the creature used them to gain traction and propel itself even faster as it charged directly for her.
It screamed again, the sound emanating from a broad mouth lined with multiple rows of needle-sharp teeth. A long, black tongue flicked in and out and burning red eyes locked onto hers. She felt as if it were looking directly into her soul. Still unable to move, a shriek of terror built inside as the beast drew closer, but there was no breath in her lungs to push it out. She could only watch in horror as it gathered itself and made a mighty leap, grasping claws extended to rend her flesh as the mouth opened and emitted a horrible hiss.
“You’re safe, Katarina.”
Katarina blinked, drew a shuddering breath and screamed in terror as she stumbled backward and fell. Looking about wildly, she continued to scream, then Zophiel appeared beside her and touched her shoulder. She calmed instantly but was still shaking and panting from the adrenaline pumping through her body.
Looking down, she saw the pistol and flashlight were back in her hands. The duffel’s straps were over her shoulder, the bag lying on the wet ground at her side. She took several more breaths, looking up at Zophiel.
“What...”
He smiled and extended his hand. After a long moment, she scooted away from him and climbed to her feet.
“You saw what is coming, Katarina.”
She turned a slow circle, reassuring herself that there was nothing around them other than a dark forest.
“No, no, no. There’s something wrong with me. That wasn’t real!”
“I assure you, it is quite real. And I showed it to you because I need your help.”
“Stay away from me!” Katarina shouted, focusing on Zophiel and backing away. “Come near me and I’ll shoot!”
“I am not your enemy, Katarina. Nor do I intend to tell anyone about what you were doing out here in the middle of the night.” He tilted his head at the duffel swinging from her shoulder. “You have free will. You must make your choice and live with the consequences, whatever they may be.”
Katarina slowly backed away a few steps. The pistol was no longer aimed directly at Zophiel. Pausing, she held his eyes for a few seconds before turning and fleeing into the forest.
Six
Katarina walked into the FBI field office the next morning, an oversized cup of dark roast coffee spiked with two espresso shots in her hand. By the time she’d reached the Range Rover the previous night, she had once again been in a panic. She’d raced down the fire road, not calming until she’d reached the bright lights of Seattle. A quick stop at the train terminal next to Pioneer Square and the duffel was secured in a locker, then she’d gone home.
Matt had been in bed, asleep, and she’d tip-toed into the shared walk-in closet and gathered an armload of clothes. Taking them to a guest room, she’d locked the door and stripped off her wet and muddy clothes.
She’d washed away the day’s grime in a steaming shower, then turned her face up to the water to rinse her hair. Turning away from the spray, she’d opened her eyes and gasped in surprise when she found herself standing on a city sidewalk.
***
She's fully dressed but not armed. There's no traffic. She sees a man wearing pajamas, robe and slippers, walking a small dog. He's looking at a phone and doesn't seem to notice her.
Movement at an alley across the street. Katarina stares in disbelief when one of the creatures she saw in the forest emerges onto the far sidewalk. It's tall and powerful, standing at its full height. Its burning red eyes lock onto the man. It drops to all fours and, impossibly fast, races across the street.
Rooted in place, Katarina watches in terror as the creature homes in on the man. The little dog goes crazy, barking and pulling at the end of the leash. The man is oblivious.
With a mighty leap, the creature slams into the man. Only he isn't knocked down. The beast dissolves into his body. The dog is frantic, tearing at the leash.
The man looks up from his phone as if suddenly awakening and stares at the panicked dog. Without any visible emotion, he pulls the leash until the dog is dangling in the air. A moment, then he snaps its neck and drops the body on the sidewalk.
He turns and spots Katarina. Starts running towards her. The creature's burning red eyes hover within the human features.
***
Katarina recoiled in horror, slipping and falling onto her ass in the bathtub. Hot water streamed down on her from the shower head as she looked around in a panic. With one arm tightly held across her bare breasts, she ripped the curtain aside and scrambled out onto the cold tile.
Snatching her weapon from the pile of discarded clothes, she whipped a towel around her body and moved cautiously to the door. Cracking it open, she peered into the bedroom, seeing nothing amiss. Dashing to the bed, she climbed beneath the covers without turning off any lights. In the bathroom, the shower still hissed but she ignored it. She laid there, dripping hair soaking into the pillow and the pistol tightly gripped in her hand and pointed at the closed door.
Despite being physically and emotionally wrung out, she was frightened and sleep eluded her. Lying in the darkness, her mind replayed the images of the burning city and the attacking creature. She’d watched the beast invade the man’s body and him kill the dog, over and over.
Around four thirty in the morning, she’d convinced herself that Mister Zophiel had somehow drugged her with some form of hallucinogenic in his pipe tobacco. She clearly remembered smelling cherry-vanilla just before her vision. After half an hour’s thought, she’d dismissed the idea. She hadn’t lost any time and there was no drug or chemical compound that could cause such a vivid experience for only a few seconds, then simply vanish and leave her completely unaffected.
At five, she’d given up any hope of sleep and had slipped out from beneath the covers. Dressing quietly in a business suit, she’d left the house. A quick stop at the train station to verify the duffel was still in the locker, then she’d picked up a coffee on her way to work.
“You look like hell,” Brody said when she dropped into her chair.
Partners, they shared an oversized cubicle. Ignoring his comment, she took a noisy sip of the coffee.
“What are you doing here so early?”
“I could ask you the same thing, sunshine,” he countered.
“Not this morning, Brody. I’m not in the fucking mood, alright?”
He watched her for a moment then nodded to himself.
“Eloise pulled an all-nighter. Some of the blood she collected was still good and she’s going to have a DNA report for us within the hour. And the DEA’s coming by this morning, remember? Getting our notes into the case file so the pricks don’t have anything to complain about.”
“You’re the one that wanted to call them,” Katarina snapped.
She turned away from him and pressed the power button on her compu
ter. He sat staring at the back of her head for a moment, then turned and focused on the report he was writing.
“Got the results.”
They both turned in surprise when Eloise spoke, neither having heard her approach. She stood at the entrance to their cubicle with a slim file in her hand.
“Took you long enough,” Brody said.
“How does Janice put up with you?” she asked, feigning seriousness. “Woman must be a saint.”
“I’m just irresistible,” Brody said with a grin.
“The results?” Katarina asked, holding her hand out for the file.
Her tone was harsh, earning an irritated look from Eloise and a questioning one from Brody.
Eloise glared at her a moment before glancing at Brody who just shrugged his shoulders. With a sigh, she handed the file to Katarina.
“The DNA from the plane crash is a match with the unidentified Reaper victim. That’s my preliminary report. I’ll email the certified one to you when it’s ready. My tech guy was sick yesterday, so he’ll look at the cell phone today.”
“So, he was definitely the pilot,” Brody said.
“Beats the hell out of me. But he was definitely the one doing the bleeding in the cockpit.”
“What about the cash?” Katarina asked before she could walk away.
“Every bundle was spot on as far as the count. Numbers I gave you yesterday are unchanged. We’re in the process of scanning all the bills to send the serial numbers over to Treasury, see if they get a hit on any of them. It’s a long shot, but who knows? Maybe we can trace down where at least some of the money came from and that’ll help us get an ID. But don’t get your hopes up.”
Katarina had gone completely still when Eloise mentioned the Treasury Department. She hadn’t considered the possibility that a flagged serial number could be in the duffel she’d taken.
“Let us know as soon as you hear anything back?” she asked.
“Of course.”
Eloise held her eyes for a beat, then glanced at Brody and walked away.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked Katarina after several seconds of uncomfortable silence.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Brody. I’m just tired.”
After a long pause, he got to his feet and slipped his jacket on.
“Let’s go,” he said, looking down at her.
“Where?”
“I need a smoke.”
“You need me to hold your hand?”
He just stood staring at her until she sighed dramatically and got to her feet. He led the way to the stairs and they climbed several flights before stepping out on the roof.
Katarina glanced out at the city and inhaled sharply when she saw the Space Needle lying in a heap of burning rubble. In an instant, the vision was gone and the iconic structure was just like it should be.
“What was that?” Brody asked, frowning at her in concern.
“What?”
“That. Just then. What startled you?”
“Damn it, Brody, I already told you. I’m just tired.”
He continued to look closely at her, not breaking eye contact as he lit a cigarette.
“There something you need to tell me, Kat?”
“Of course not! What are you talking about?”
“Something’s up with you. Maybe your financial problems or you and Matt have been fighting, but...”
“What?” she challenged, staring back with her hands on her hips.
“Ever since you went down to the crash site yesterday, you’re just not yourself.”
Katarina held his gaze a beat then looked away at the city, shaking her head.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. You just nailed what’s wrong, so why keep bugging me about it?”
“Where’d you go at midnight last night?”
Katarina’s eyes snapped back to his and she felt the first stirrings of panic. She needed to buy some time to think of an excuse.
“You keeping tabs on me, Brody?”
“Matt called me at one AM. Said you’d been gone over an hour and weren’t answering. Wanted to know if you were with me.”
Katarina lowered her gaze. For a moment, she nearly confessed everything. She knew Brody wouldn’t turn her in. But that was the very reason she couldn’t tell him. She didn’t want to make him an accessory after the fact.
“We had a fight,” she said in a small voice, making it up as she went. “I had to get out of there. To clear my head. So, I drove around for a while. I’m sorry he bothered you.”
Brody had turned to face out over the cityscape as she spoke. Now, he slowly smoked with his eyes fixed on a distant point.
“I’ve been married a long time, Kat. And I’ve got a twelve-year-old daughter. I know when a woman is lying to me. If you’ve gotten your ass in a crack, you can tell me. I can help you. I will help you.”
Katarina looked at him, tears springing up in her eyes.
“Why? Why would you risk everything for me?”
Brody didn’t look at her as he finished his cigarette and lit a fresh one off the butt.
“Because I’m done, Kat. Burned out. Tired of the job, tired of being afraid to let my daughter out of my sight. Ready for a fresh start.”
He paused and took a deep drag on the cigarette, then turned to face her.
“So, if you’ve done what I think you’ve done, there’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. For both of us. And, whether you know it or not, you’re going to need help so you don’t go to prison.”
They stared at each other, Brody waiting for a response as Katarina struggled to draw a breath.
“There were twelve bags in the plane when you got down there, wasn’t there?” he asked softly.
Time stretched out as they continued to look at each other. Finally, Katarina’s eyes drifted down and she nodded. Brody watched her for a beat before going back to looking at the view of the city.
“Where’d you stash it?” he asked quietly.
“In a safe place. Let’s just leave it at that for the moment.”
“Fair enough. But rule number one. Don’t touch it. Don’t even go near it again until there’s a plan in place. Agreed?”
Katarina didn’t answer right away and after a long stretch of silence, Brody turned to look at her.
“You haven’t taken any of it out, have you?”
“I’m not stupid, Brody!”
“Then there’s something else you aren’t telling me. Why the hesitation?”
“This is fucking surreal,” Katarina said. “Do you realize what we’re talking about?”
“We’re talking about a way for both of us to have a better life.”
“And to be looking over our shoulders for the rest of those lives.”
Dropping the cigarette butt, he ground it out with his shoe and turned to face her.
“Having second thoughts?”
“Of course I am! Aren’t you? It’s not like I’ve been planning to do this. It just... just kind of happened. There was a chance and I took it. I’m not even sure I’d do it again.”
They both jumped, startled when Brody’s phone suddenly beeped. He checked the screen and put it back in his pocket.
“DEA’s here.”
Katarina turned for the door, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Be sure, Kat. Be sure you can live with it. It’s not too late. We can go dump the bag somewhere in the forest and forget about it. Everything will be just like it was. But once we start cleaning the money, there’s no going back.”
Seven
A pair of agents from the DEA were waiting in a small conference room next to their cubicle. Before they could greet their guests, Pettigrew waved them into his office. A thrill of fear passed through Katarina at being called into the boss’s office, but she did her best to hide it.
“What’s up, sir?” Brody asked after the door was closed.
Pettigrew didn’t invite them to sit and remained standing in front of
his desk.
“Tell me what we know,” he said, getting straight to business.
“Got DNA back from Eloise about half an hour ago. Blood in the cockpit is a match for our unidentified Reaper victim. She’s still working a cell phone that was at the scene and the cash is being scanned over to Treasury for serial number checks. That’s it so far.”
Pettigrew nodded in thought as he absorbed the information.
“What about an ID?”
“No closer than we were,” Brody said, shaking his head. “Maybe our friends from the DEA can shed some light. Betting they’ve got a good idea who all the smugglers are.”
“Information exchange, only,” Pettigrew warned sternly. “Case file stays in house. I don’t need any joint-interagency cooperation bullshit. This is an FBI investigation. Got me?”
“Loud and clear, sir.”
“Good,” he said, moving behind his desk and sitting down. His attention was already on his computer screen. “Keep me updated.”
Brody and Katarina got out of there and headed to the conference room. Two men wearing jeans and T-shirts were seated at the table, holstered pistols very visible on their belts. One was Brody’s age and looked as hard as nails. His hair was in a brush cut and his exposed arms rippled with muscle.
The younger man was taller and leaner, but obviously spent a lot of time in the gym. With a beard and hair to his shoulders, he looked every inch the perfect image of Hollywood’s idea of a DEA agent. Gold badges were suspended from chains around their necks.
As they entered the room, Brody stepped forward with an extended hand to greet the older man. When the younger looked at her and smiled, Katarina involuntarily faltered. He was gorgeous with eyes that made her weak in the knees. Recovering quickly, she returned his smile.
“... and this is Kat Daniels,” she heard Brody say when she became aware of anything other than the man standing in front of her.
“Jim Phillips and that’s Liam Macleod,” the older agent said.
Everyone got settled and Katarina had to make a concerted effort to not steal a glance at Liam.