by CL Hart
"And look, there are some of the boys heading back to Fleet Street."
"Fleet Street?" Cori asked as she tried to look past Kenzie.
"San Diego is home to the United States Pacific Fleet" Flora said matter-of-factly. "You couldn't be safer than with all these Marines around."
Kenzie looked at Cori and a smile slowly spread across her face.
A large group of young men was gathering on the platform, waiting for the trolley to pull into the station. It was obvious from their short-cropped hair and clean-cut clothing of khakis and polo shirts, that they were Navy boys. They were loud and boisterous having a good time, laughing and joking.
The trolley slowed to a stop and Kenzie stood up. She quickly handed her windbreaker and pinata to Flora. Stepping into the aisle, Kenzie joined the rest of the passengers disembarking in the afternoon rush. Cori slid over to Kenzie's vacated seat and pressed her head against the window. Her heart was pounding and her stomach instantly did a flip-flop when she spotted Cobra stepping off the trolley. She watched as he waited, his eyes constantly moving over the passengers as they exited. When most of the people had departed, he turned and made his way to the front steps of their trolley. Cori swallowed hard as she slid back to her original seat.
The group of military personnel made their way into the trolley. There were only a few seats left, so most of them had to stand. No one paid much attention to the thick-necked man who entered the front of the trolley car.
The only thing between Cori and Cobra was the group of Navy boys. Okay, now or never. The moment Cobra spotted her, Cori jumped to her feet. Bumping hard into one of the young Naval recruits, she clung to his muscled arm. She turned and stared heatedly into the dark eyes of her adversary. The moment he stepped toward her, Cori cried out with fear, "Oh God, no, please don't hurt me again." She pushed herself deeper into the tightly bunched throng of sailors.
Cobra's face showed no emotion as he moved down the aisle toward Cori.
"Please don't let him hurt me again." Cori grabbed one of the sailor's biceps as she hid behind him. Two of the young sailors who were sitting rose to their feet, blocking Cobra's path. "I'm not going back with you," she cried, her tears of fear cementing her case.
The boys of honor circled around the young woman, standing up against the thick-necked man approaching her. A young seaman named David McGary, born and raised in New Orleans, was the first one to speak out. "You heard her, buddy, back off," he said as Cobra approached. Seaman McGary had a younger sister around Cori's age, and in fact, they did look a little alike - minus the bruises on Cori's face.
"This has got nothing to do with you...boy." The muscles in Cobra's neck tightened as he emphasized the last word. "I never laid a hand on her. This is just business."
"He's my ex-boyfriend. Please don't let him hurt me again, I-I don't want to go with him," Cori croaked out as she moved further away from Cobra, putting more sailors between them.
"You heard her, buddy. She isn't going anywhere with you," Seamen McGary said as he stepped closer to Cobra, followed quickly by his brothers in arms. The show of force heightened the tension in the trolley car. "I suggest you back off, and take the next trolley in another direction."
Cobra studied the man in front of him, knowing that even with the sailor's youth and strength he was no match for someone with his own experience and expertise. Then Cobra's eyes scanned the rest of the sailors. His gun was within reach, but he quickly calculated the outcome, and the damage control that would necessarily follow. He knew LeGault had outplayed him again. That realization raised another question, a more pressing question. Where the hell is she?
The bell chimed, signaling the closing of the doors, but somebody hit the door release button and the doors slammed open.
"That's your cue to leave, buddy, and it's no longer a suggestion." Seaman McGary was not looking for trouble, but he was not going to avoid it, either. He stepped forward, moving closer to the woman's ex-boyfriend. "Get off the trolley!"
Cobra was still trying to decide what his best options were when he spotted Kenzie's dark curly hair moving swiftly outside the window of the trolley. Leaning over one of the benches, he could see the emerald green windbreaker in her hand. It was all he needed to know.
"I'll deal with you later," Cobra said, barely giving Cori a glance as he rushed for the open door.
"Oh my God." The words came out with a sigh of honest relief. Cori covered her mouth and took another deep breath. Her entire body was shaking as she watched Cobra disappear from her sight.
"Let's go, guys." Seaman McGary was on the move right behind Cobra. "Let's make sure he stays off this trolley and away from her." It was all his comrades needed to hear, and the sailors started for the doors.
One of the sailors who stood closest to Cori turned and looked her in the eye. "Are you going be okay, Miss?"
"Yes, and thank you. Thank you all so very much. You probably just saved my life."
"Not a problem. I'm glad we were here to help." The young sailor bowed and tipped an imaginary hat.
She smiled as he rushed down the aisle to catch up with his friends. Cobra was gone, and now all she and Kenzie had to do was to make it to the sailboat in San Diego. Kenzie...
The doors to the trolley closed behind the last young sailor as he ran to catch up with his buddies, who were following behind the abusive ex-boyfriend. The man was now following a woman carrying a pinata.
When he was close enough, Cobra put his hand on his gun, then reached out and grabbed hold of the arm holding the emerald green windbreaker. He spun her around and glared into the woman's surprised face.
"Not who you were expecting?" Flora said in a condescending tone.
"What the-?" he said as she smiled and pulled her arm out of his grasp.
"What are you doing there, buddy?" Seaman McGary put himself between Cobra and the woman in the windbreaker. "You going to rough her up next?"
Cobra looked back at the trolley as it pulled out of the Palomar Street station, and he sighed loudly. She had outfoxed him again. He turned back to the young men who surrounded him and threw up his hands in surrender. There was a time not too long ago that he would have loved to take them all on, but he was a little wiser now, and a little slower. It didn't take an Einstein to know when to walk away and when to run, so he did just that. Taking off like a jackrabbit in winter, Cobra sprinted down Palomar Street with twelve angry sailors right behind him. They caught up to him after only a few hundred yards.
Chapter 13
The doors of the trolley slammed shut and the passengers on the first car began to settle down for the ride into San Diego. The moment of excitement was over and they no longer paid much attention to Cori. Moving down the aisle toward the stairwell at the front of the trolley, she was happy to see Kenzie ducked out of sight, waiting for her.
"He's gone," she said as she knelt down. "Your plan worked." Kenzie smiled slowly. "You say that like you had doubts."
"It was beyond doubt; I was scared shitless." The tone of her voice reinforced the truth of her words as she studied Kenzie's face. "You don't look very good." She stood up and offered Kenzie her hand.
"I'm just tired, that's all," Kenzie said, though she knew it was more than that. Apparently she was not fooling Cori. She studied Cori's concerned features and then took the helping hand and pulled her exhausted body off the steps.
"You keep saying that, but we both know it's not the truth," Cori said as they now stood eye-to-eye.
The intense scrutiny was more than Kenzie wanted to endure. Her head was throbbing and she felt weak with fatigue. She moved past Cori and made her way back down the aisle. She was thankful their original seats were still empty as she sat down. She didn't have to look to know that Cori was right beside her. "Do you think Flora will be okay?"
Kenzie rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. "Yeah. He's not after her, he's after us. Besides...he's going to have his hands full with those Navy boys."
"I can't believe she was so willing to help us."
"I can...that's why I chose her."
Cori looked to Kenzie. Her eyes were closed and her features relaxed. "What do you mean?"
"She wasn't raised in the States. This so-called Land of Opportunity has raised a generation of people who don't want to get involved. They don't see anything because they don't want to be a witness. For the most part, they don't want to help."
"I don't think that's true. When people are in need, it's human nature to want to help."
"In a crisis situation sure... Nine-eleven, Katrina, people were there...but..." Kenzie sighed. "In their day-to-day lives, people don't want to help. They don't want to get involved."
"I don't agree with you. I think people do want to help."
"They help with a checkbook, from far away...but most don't even know their neighbors' names and they don't care. Family gatherings are becoming...obsolete. There's no respect anymore, no responsibility." Kenzie's words were growing softer and short pauses were becoming longer. "In the industrial countries...it's about money. In most other places in the world...it's about family."
With her final words barely audible, Cori was certain Kenzie had fallen asleep, leaving her to mull over what she had said. She had not seen her family in years. Other than her mother, she had not seen any relatives since she was a child. There were no grandparents in her life, nor any uncles or aunts. She thought about her time in Seattle, and was chagrined to realize that Kenzie was right. Her neighbors were strangers. She knew most of her co-workers, at least their first names. It was when she had moved to Guadalajara that she spent time with the "strangers" in her building. She played with the kids in the courtyard, talked to people in the hallways and on the street. It had been a community. They had looked out for her and, without realizing, she had been looking out for them. Most of the people in her computer classes were closer friends then anyone else in her life.
The trolley jostled along the tracks, stopping at its designated stations without any further incidents or excitement. A mother with a small child on her lap sat across from them for a while. Cori smiled at them, but neither made eye contact with her. When the mother and child got off, no one took their place, leaving Cori alone with her thoughts. She was tired, and wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and go to sleep, but she couldn't. Her heart was still pounding and her legs and hands were still shaking. To her surprise, Kenzie was finally sleeping. Obviously, she was used to such circumstances while Cori was not.
The city of San Diego was now just outside their window. The trolley cut through the streets, passing people who were living their everyday lives. An orange glow was beginning to spread over the sky, reflecting off the ocean. Sunset was not far off. They stopped at the downtown station where a majority of the passengers disembarked.
Cori looked up at the map and realized they were almost at their destination. The next stop was Old Town and that was where Kenzie said they would be getting off. The sailboat that would be their safe haven was not far away now. She was looking forward to a bed, a chance to regroup, and some answers to the questions plaguing them. Then maybe she could relax just a little.
Cori leaned over and whispered into Kenzie's ear, "We're almost there." The exhausted woman showed no sign of waking or of having heard her. "Kenzie." Concerned, she placed a hand on Kenzie's forearm and gave it a gentle shake. "Kenzie, wake up. We're almost there."
A frown wrinkled into Kenzie's forehead and she squeezed her eyes more tightly shut. She stretched her neck and rolled her shoulders, and a small groan escaped her lips. Kenzie rubbed at her tired eyes and then turned to look out the window.
"Old Town is the next stop," Cori said. "That's where you said we would get off, right?"
Kenzie cleared her throat, but only nodded as she licked at her lips. Her throat felt dry and swollen, and it was hard for her to swallow.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah," she finally answered as she turned to smile at Cori. "How are you doing?"
"I'm okay...I think."
The trolley began to slow and Kenzie reached into the bag on her lap and quietly checked to make sure there was a round in the chamber of her gun. "It's just a short taxi ride to the inner harbor where my boat is moored. I was hoping we would get there in the daylight, but the sun is about to set, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see Helen's Gate in her glory." She pulled the gun from the bag and slid it into her waistband.
Cori looked at Kenzie. It was easy to tell she was well beyond exhausted. "Do you think you'll need that?" she asked as Kenzie pulled her shirt over the butt of the gun.
"Who knows? At this point, nothing would surprise me, and I d rather err on the side of caution. Let's go."
The trolley was rolling to a stop and Cori rose with the rest of the passengers. Kenzie attempted to stand but her legs wobbled beneath her, causing her to reach out before she toppled. "Whoa, easy," Cori said as grabbed Kenzie's arm. Kenzie squeezed her eyes shut and gave her head a little shake "Sorry. Guess I got up a little too fast."
"I think it's more than that. You still have a fever. Big Polly's antibiotic was outdated and I don't think it's working." Cori took a firm hold of her arm and directed them both down the aisle of the trolley. "Once we get to your boat, I'm putting you to bed."
As they waited for the other passengers to step off the trolley, Kenzie leaned over and whispered into Cori's ear, "Is that an invitation?"
Cori scowled at her. Reaching for Kenzie's arm, she held it in a tight grip as they made their way off the trolley. The evening air was cool as the sun begun to slide into the ocean, leaving behind a sky of gold and pink.
"There." Kenzie motioned to the lineup of taxis on the far side of the station. No longer feeling the need for Cori's assistance, she pulled her arm out of her grasp. She regretted it immediately. She swayed unsteadily and almost missed the yellow painted curb marking the trolley tracks.
Cori steadied Kenzie with a firm grip on her elbow. "Let's get you into a cab."
Kenzie nodded reluctantly. She was not at the top of her game but she was still a professional, and as Cori directed them toward the first available taxi, Kenzie scanned their surroundings for whomever or whatever might be out there. It was so much a part of who she was - always looking, watching, and analyzing.
They climbed into the cab and Kenzie gave the driver the address of the marina. He attempted to strike up a conversation, but Cori only replied with one-word answers or not at all. The driver soon understood and turned his attention to his driving. Taking one of the many freeways criss-crossing San Diego, it didn't take them long to get to the building that was home to the University of San Diego's sailing team. The small building also served as the mooring office for Santa Clara Point and Sail Bay. Kenzie paid the cabbie and he disappeared into the night.
Cori looked around the shoreline of the bay, amazed at how tightly compacted the houses were. "They don't give you much space to breathe, do they?"
"For the price people pay down here for a little bungalow," Kenzie pointed out a small seaside shack that was no more than a few hundred square feet, "you could buy a ranch in Montana."
Cori shook her head in disbelief and then turned and looked at the assorted sailboats anchored off shore. "Which one is yours?"
"That one there," Kenzie said with quiet pride, pointing out a sleek, blue and white sailboat. "She's a twenty-eight foot Catalina Mark Two. Nineteen ninety-six Boat of the Year."
"How do we get to it?"
"We head over here to the mooring office and they'll run us out to her in a dinghy."
In the fading light of the evening, they walked slowly to the office. Kenzie didn't comment when Cori slid a hand into the crook of her arm. She did not want to know whether it was for Cori's benefit or her own.
"It's a nice boat, Kenzie."
"Thanks," she murmured as she opened the door to the office.
The office was bright, too bright for Kenzie'
s eyes as she followed Cori inside. A long counter separated the office from the waiting room, if one could call it that. There were two chairs, a small table covered with sailing magazines, and all the walls except one were cluttered with pictures of sailboats, old and new. The far wall was lined with trophies - big ones and small ones, some so new that their brass was still bright and shiny, and some so old that the engravings, long tarnished with time, were barely legible.
"Miss Etcher." A young man wearing an old tattered sailor's cap was seated behind the long counter. He jumped to his feet and his face offered a bright smile. "I knew you were coming in."
Kenzie's exhausted body sagged in disbelief at the news. "How did you know we were coming?"
"Because this arrived this afternoon." He held up a small, locked duffle bag. "I knew when this came in, you wouldn't be far behind it."
Big Polly. Kenzie sighed in relief as she ran her fingers through her curly locks. With the events of the afternoon, she had almost forgotten that he was sending her a care package. She was almost too tired to think and her body ached with fever. All she wanted was to get on her boat.
"Thanks, Dennis." She reached for the heavy canvas bag. "This is my friend, Laura." Cori nodded and Dennis offered a smile "Can we get a lift out to the Helen?"
"Most certainly, Miss Etcher. Let me get my keys."
He walked to the back wall as Cori leaned over and whispered into Kenzie's ear, "Miss Etcher?"
"Shhh," she warned. "Did you think I would moor my boat under rny real name? What would be the point of that?"
"I'm just wondering if Katherine Mackenzie is your real name."
"It is...for the most part."
Cori turned in question. "Meaning?"
Kenzie sighed. She was just too tired and sore to care. "Mackenzie is my middle name, my last name is LeGault."
LeGault. The name rippled something in Cori's memory LeGault.
"Okay, ready to go," Dennis said. The young man's sudden reappearance prevented Cori from questioning Kenzie further about her name.