Next Exit, Three Miles

by CW Browning

  “Where are you going?” Stephanie demanded as Alina began to walk away.

  “The roof of that antique store.” Alina winked at her. “I’ve made myself curious as to the probability of my theory.”

  “Not without me you’re not!” Stephanie followed quickly. “This is my investigation! And you don’t know anything about investigating.”

  “No,” Alina agreed congenially, “but I love a good mystery.”

  Stephanie glanced at her suspiciously, but Alina’s expression was concealed by the darkness as they moved quickly away from the bright flashing lights of the accident. She followed Alina as she moved across the street and down the sidewalk, along the side of the corner antique store. Alina was moving steadily, her eyes scanning the building and the roof in a single glance. They rounded the corner of the building and started up the road until Alina found what she was looking for: the fire escape ladder lowered from the roof.

  “Are you afraid of heights?” she asked Stephanie, reaching out for the ladder.

  “No.”

  “Good.”

  Alina grabbed the ladder and went up quickly and silently. Stephanie followed and Alina winced at the sound of her clanking and huffing up the ladder. Stealth was apparently not Stephanie’s strong point. Alina cleared the roof and moved to the side to allow Stephanie access. As soon as she joined her, Alina held up her hand to signal silence. Without really knowing why, Stephanie obeyed.

  The roof was a massive expanse of inky darkness stretching before them. The lights from the road didn’t penetrate this far above, and the sounds of the commotion below were a distant memory. Up here, it was silent and slightly ominous. They had only the light from a half moon and a few straggling stars that had fought their way through the pollution-laden sky to shine faintly above. Alina scanned the darkness, still and listening.

  “Here,” Stephanie whispered.

  Alina felt something thin and heavy touch her hand. She looked down in some surprise at a Maglite.

  “Thanks.” Alina switched on the light and angled it down at their feet.

  The flat rooftop had been covered with a black tar coating fairly recently. It was smooth and not weathered yet. Alina raised the light a little and played it over the roof toward the front of the building. There was an air conditioning box midway between them and the front of the building. Over to the left was a ledge where this roof ended and the connecting roof of the building next door began. Alina noted briefly that the roof next door was much older and had gravel and debris covering it before she turned her attention to the right. A few yards to their right was another ledge where the roof ended. She stood for another moment, listening. The silence was almost oppressive.

  Stephanie began to move forward toward the front of the building, examining the rooftop as she moved. Alina followed slowly, lighting her way with the flashlight and concentrating on their surroundings. She was confident that their shooter had long since disappeared, but Alina still felt something in the silence. It was that something that made her move into a protective position at Stephanie’s back.

  “There.” Stephanie paused and pointed. Alina directed the light over her shoulder to the front corner of the antique store where Stephanie was pointing. “If you're right, that's the only clear shot from up here.”

  Alina nodded. That corner was the only spot that a shooter could take out both the crossing light and the street lights. The two women moved forward together, and then separated to skirt a wide area around where they imagined the shooter must have positioned himself. Alina played the light along the edge of the ledge, looking for the telltale scraping of a rifle barrel. She knew it had to be there. The roof was too new not to have allowed some sign of a high-powered rifle being fired repeatedly off the edge. On her second pass over the edge, the light paused and then went back. She held it steadily on the spot and heard Stephanie’s intake of breath.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” she breathed. “You were right.”

  Under the light was a half-inch wide gouge in the ledge, positioned in direct line of sight with the crossing intersection.

  Alina moved forward carefully and squatted down a few feet away to gauge the trajectory. There was a perfect shot to both the intersection and two dark street lights, one on each corner.

  “You better get your boys up here,” Alina finally spoke, standing up. From this height, the commotion at the crossing intersection looked very inconsequential and far away. “I doubt they’ll find anything, but it will help with a profile.”

  Stephanie nodded in agreement, staring out over the scene below.

  “Why take out the street lights and the flasher?” she asked suddenly. “Why not just shoot the driver?”

  “Too many unknown variables,” Alina answered. “No way to control where the car goes. If you take out the lights, you can impair visibility, create confusion, and allow someone else to direct traffic until you shoot the driver at the last minute.”

  Stephanie glanced over to Alina.

  “The second car,” she said.

  Alina nodded and turned to go back across the roof while Stephanie followed thoughtfully. As Alina passed the air conditioning unit, she caught a whiff of a familiar smell, one that she had smelled recently, and that she suddenly also remembered from her past. She paused with a frown and turned toward the unit, playing the light over it thoughtfully.

  “What is it?” Stephanie stopped beside her, following her gaze curiously.

  Alina’s lips curved into a slight smile in the darkness.

  “Nothing,” she answered quietly. “Just a sense of déjà vu. Nothing important.”

  Alina sat in the silent shadows on the deck, enveloped by the darkness. The night sky was clear and the stars were bright out here, the breeze carrying the scent of late spring. An owl hooted off to the left and the song of tree frogs filled the air. She watched the darkness, breathing deeply.

  Stephanie had been confused tonight. Two bodies within the space of twenty-four hours and no leads was a Federal agent's nightmare. Alina shook her head slightly and lifted a cold water bottle to her lips. She had made things worse by pointing out the shooter and the second pair of tire prints. Stephanie would have found them eventually, but Alina discovered that she didn’t have the patience to sit and watch the agency bumble around, even for a few hours. Stephanie was quiet on the drive home, and Alina knew that she had been processing her involvement at the crime scene. Stephanie would have questions now, but Alina didn’t have time to humor her. She was Alina’s main source of information at the moment, and Alina couldn’t afford to have her miss a thing. She needed Stephanie to lead her to her quarry. She wanted to get her mission over with and get out of Jersey. The old friendships and memories were reminders of her old life. She didn't want to remember that life.

  Alina didn't know that girl anymore.

  A movement in the darkness caught her attention. It was more a shifting of light and space, and she knew someone was there. Alina watched silently, her body still and her breathing slow. For several long moments, she sat silently waiting. When the man appeared out of the darkness, she slowly relaxed. Alina remained immobile as he moved silently across the yard toward her. She had no doubt that he knew she was there, even as she blended with the shadows around herself.

  “Viper.”

  The quiet word drifted in the breeze and Alina felt the hair on her neck and arms rise at the name she had not heard herself called in over two years.

  “I knew it was you,” she said as the man stepped onto the deck. “This evening, on the roof, I knew you were there too.”

  He was tall, with broad shoulders, and dressed in black SWAT pants and a black t-shirt. His black combat boots made no sound on the wooden deck. He moved with the silent stealth and grace of a jungle cat, and Alina knew that he was just as dangerous.

  “I hope I wasn't that obvious,” the man replied, his low rich voice surrounding her like a warm towel. He moved across the deck to stand before her ch
air and Alina smiled slightly, standing.

  “Not at all,” she assured him, reaching up to wrap her arms around his shoulders in a hug. “Hello, Hawk.”

  Alina brushed her lips across his cheek in greeting and stepped back to smile at him.

  “It's been a long time,” Hawk said with an answering smile.

  “It always is.” Alina picked up her water bottle and turned toward the sliding doors. “Come inside where we can talk.”

  Hawk nodded, then froze as there was a whoosh of large wings and Raven swooped down out of nowhere. Alina grinned as Hawk instinctively ducked. Raven skimmed over his shoulder and came to rest on the back of the chair she had just vacated.

  “Now, Hawk...you’re not afraid of a real hawk, are you?” she asked dryly.

  “Yours?” Hawk asked, straightening and glancing at the bird watching him with shiny black eyes.

  Alina tilted her head and considered Raven for a moment.

  “Raven seems to think so.” She opened the back door. “Come on. He won’t hurt you unless you threaten me.”

  She stepped into the dark living room and began walking toward the kitchen, not waiting to see if Hawk followed. He did, stepping into the house silently. He glanced back at the hawk sitting on the chair and closed the door.

  “You certainly haven’t lost your knack for surprising me, Alina,” he said, following her.

  “I’m glad I don’t disappoint, Damon,” she retorted with a laugh. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Water is fine.” Damon glanced around the kitchen as she flipped on the light. His eyes took in the black granite counter tops and the matching island and bar in one glance. “Nice place.”

  “I would thank you if I didn’t suspect that you had seen it already.”

  Alina opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, tossing it to him. In the light of the kitchen, she examined him. His dark hair still fell over his forehead in a soft wave and his eyes were still just as blue. Damon Miles stood six feet two inches high and had shoulders as broad as a barn. His arms were muscular and his body was solid strength, a testimony to a healthy and very active lifestyle. He raised a dark eyebrow as he caught the bottle with one hand.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He opened the bottle and took a long sip, moving to a stool at the bar that separated the kitchen and living room.

  “No?” Alina leaned against the island and watched him. “A few nights ago there was a breach in my security system when I wasn’t here. A circuit that I carelessly left exposed.”

  “Really?” Damon looked surprised. “I hope you fixed the weak spot.”

  “I have.” Alina moved over to sit next to him. “But next time, you may want to take care not to trip the sensors in the floors.”

  Damon leaned his arms on the bar top and looked sideways at her.

  “How do you know it was me?”

  “Because you still smell the same,” Alina stated. “What were you doing here?”

  “Just taking a look around.” Damon grinned. “I wanted to see if you had changed at all. Aside from one weak circuit, which took me an hour to find, you’re just as thorough as you always were.”

  “I took a sabbatical. I didn’t lose my mind.”

  “There are some that would argue that, I’m sure.” Damon winked. “Did you really go to South America?”

  “I can’t imagine you came all this way to discuss my whereabouts for the past two years,” Alina replied.

  Damon grinned.

  “No. I came to help you,” he said simply.

  Alina raised an eyebrow.

  “And why would you do that?” she asked politely.

  “Because I was sent here.” Damon drank some more water.

  “I should have known this looked too easy,” Alina sighed. “How much do you know?”

  “I know that they tracked you down to South America and invited you to complete a mission that you unaccountably failed two years ago,” Damon answered bluntly. “They think you had a breakdown. I know you better than that, so I'm open to suggestion on what really happened two years ago.”

  “Keep going.”

  Alina drank her water and turned on her stool to face him. His rugged profile was cast in shadows from the light behind them and she took note of the short scar running from behind his ear to the beginning of his jaw-line. It hadn't been there the last time she saw him.

  “London, two years ago,” Damon said, without turning his head.

  “Pardon?”

  “The scar. It happened in London two years ago.”

  He looked at her, his blue eyes dancing, and Alina's lips curved into a reluctant grin.

  “Still a mind reader, I see,” she murmured.

  Damon raised an eyebrow.

  “It doesn't take much mind reading when you were staring at it,” he retorted.

  “I wasn't staring.”

  “You were staring,” Damon reiterated, sipping his water.

  “So you know they pulled me back in from South America...” Alina prompted him back to the original conversation irritably.

  Damon laughed and turned to face her.

  “Two years ago, you were supposed to take out a known terrorist named Johann Topamari, who has ties to the terrorist cell called Mossavid. For some reason known only to yourself, you failed. It was the first time you ever failed and, quite frankly, I would love to know what happened. But I accept the fact that I probably never will, so moving on...” He recounted her own past to her matter-of-factly. “Following that, you dropped off the grid. Disappeared. Turns out you were on sabbatical, destination unknown, until one month ago when they found you. They pulled you back in because after two long years, Johann has finally resurfaced, minus his security, and in the United States. You tracked him once. They’re giving you a chance to do it again and redeem yourself. Did I miss anything?”

  “Yes.” Alina set down her water bottle. “Where do you fit into my continuing story?”

  “Operating on US soil is more complicated than operating in Europe or the Middle East. The powers that be are concerned about containment.”

  “You are containment?” Alina’s lips twitched. “How refreshing!”

  Damon grinned.

  “I knew you would appreciate the irony.”

  “I work alone,” Alina said.

  “So do I,” Damon retorted. “So it’s a good thing that you have your assignment and I have mine.”

  “Since when did baby-sitting become part of your job description?” Alina demanded. Damon smiled. Alina stared at him, trying to intimidate him, and Damon simply stared back. “If there is something else going on here, I need to know,” she finally said.

  Damon shook his head.

  “Nothing that will interfere with you,” he answered. Alina studied him, trying to determine if she believed him, and Damon sighed. “We’ve known each other a long time. Are you going to tell me that, after all this time, you don’t trust me?”

  “It's not that I don’t trust you.” Alina picked her words carefully. “I just question why, if operating on US soil is so sensitive, they now have two of us doing it.”

  Damon was silent for a moment and the sparkle that had been in his eyes ever since he stepped foot into the house faded.

  “As I said before, you have your operation and I have mine,” he finally said. “Our goals are temporarily joined.” The sparkle leapt back into his dark eyes. “I have every confidence that we'll find a way to rub along together.”

  A reluctant laugh escaped from Alina.

  “Oh absolutely!” she agreed. “As long as you stay out of my way.”

  “My dear, I would never dream of getting in your way.” Damon stood up and smiled down at her. “I have seen you work before and it truly is a thing of beauty.”

  Alina nodded in acknowledgement and looked up at him.

  “Where are you staying?” she asked.

  “Not far.” He grinned. “I’
m sure you will find it.”

  Alina smiled.

  “Absolutely,” she murmured, watching him move back toward the sliding door. A few seconds later he was gone and Alina picked up his empty water bottle, moving to put it in the sink. She switched out the lights and went up to bed thoughtfully.

  Chapter Three

  Alina slowly opened her eyes at the sound of her phone chirping. It was a little after seven on Monday morning and she was seated in lotus pose on the deck. The cell phone was a few feet away on the arm of one of the Adirondack chairs. Raven was perched on the back of the other one, hunched down and watchful. Alina stretched and reached out to grab the phone, smiling at Raven. He still only went away to hunt and then came straight home. He wasn't sure how he felt about this strange place yet, with all its hustle and bustle.

  "Yes?" Alina answered the phone and slowly began to untangle her legs.

  "Do you have a coffee maker?" Stephanie asked.

  Alina blinked.

  "Yes."

  "Good. I have bagels," Stephanie answered. "I'm out front."

  "Come around back. You can park back here."

  Alina hung up and did one final stretch as Stephanie's gray maxima rolled around the side of the house. Raven lifted his head and watched as Stephanie shut off the engine and got out of the car, carrying a white bakery bag and her purse. Alina watched Stephanie as well, amused that even at seven in the morning, she still looked frazzled.

  "Morning!" Stephanie called, slamming her door shut and starting across the lawn toward the deck. She stopped dead when she saw Raven watching her. "Oh My God! What is THAT?!?!"

  "A hawk," Alina answered, laughing.

  Stephanie stared at him with wide eyes.

  "He looks dangerous," she finally said.

  Alina nodded.

  "He's a bird of prey," she said. "He can be very dangerous, but not unless you try to harm me. He's my pet."

  Stephanie licked her lips and continued to stand there, frozen, staring at the black hawk. Raven stared back, unimpressed. Alina sighed and moved forward to meet Stephanie. She reached out and took the bakery bag, then turned and led the way back up onto the deck. Stephanie followed reluctantly, keeping an eye on Raven the whole time.