by CL Hart
He took a step forward but Cori blocked his way, keeping the door only partially open and her hand firmly gripping the gun. "No, thank you. My friend isn't well. She's sleeping right now and I don't want to disturb her."
"Not a problem, I can show you at any time. Next to the light switch, on the wall by the bathroom door, there's a blue button. Just press that and one of us will be here in a jiffy to help you out. There's also a red button in case of an emergency. If you're hungry and you want a midnight snack, you can always run down to the cafe car. Anything else?"
"No, I don't think so." Cori hesitated for a moment as she slid the tickets back into her pocket. "The food on the train...our meals...can they be delivered?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, we don't have a...um, room service, as such." He smiled apologetically.
"It's just...my friend is going to need to eat, but I don't think she'll be up to eating in the dining car." Cori glanced back at Kenzie sleeping soundly on the bed, and then down at the money and guns on the floor. "She's just gone through minor surgery and I –"
"There are sandwiches available in the cafe car," Steven said.
"Can you just hang on one sec?" Cori held up her finger. Steven smiled and nodded as she carefully closed the door. Pushing all of the contents of Kenzie's bag out of sight with her foot, Cori reached down and pulled out several crisp bills from one of the stacks. Opening the door once more, she held them up for Steven to see. "About that room service?"
Steven's smile never wavered as his eyes calculated the money in her hand.
"And I'll give you two more at the end of our trip, if you forget you ever saw us."
His eyes finally left the money as he turned his attention to the woman holding the bills, "I only travel as far as Sacramento, and then there's a crew change." When the bills started to move away from him, he quickly added, "But I have a friend I can swap with. He can double back my shift...he owes me."
Cori considered this for a moment. "Do we have a deal then?"
He nodded as he pulled the bills from her hand. "At your service," he said with a smile.
"Thank you. We're good for right now, but I'll let you know if we need something. You've been very helpful, Steven."
"It's my pleasure. Anything you need to make this a pleasant trip, just push that blue button and I'll be here." He bobbed his head and turned away to carry on down the passageway.
Cori closed the door and leaned back against it, sighing loudly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Dining car, observation car. She snorted. "I have no intentions of leaving this compartment."
Gathering up what she needed, Cori went into the bathroom for a thorough washing and brushing. Half an hour later, a refreshed woman emerged. Feeling a hundred percent better, she gathered up the contents from the duffel bag that were still on the floor and separated what could stay in the bag and what they would need, and then she slid the bag under the bed.
The next order of business was to check Kenzie's wound and get her to take her pills. The wound part turned out to be quick and easy, but waking her up enough to swallow the pills was a challenge.
"Kenzie...come on, wake up." Cori knelt on the bed and gently shook her shoulder. Kenzie mumbled and groaned a bit, but did not waken. Repositioning herself at Kenzie's head, she pulled and lifted until she was kneeling behind her, with Kenzie's head on her thighs.
"Drink this," Cori commanded as she brought a glass of water to Kenzie's lips. It took several attempts, but finally Kenzie swallowed some water without coughing. A few moments later, she swallowed the pills Cori provided. By the time the ordeal was over, Cori was mentally and physically exhausted. Finally feeling safe and secure, she curled up next to Kenzie and fell asleep.
On the plane, Viper and Calvin were both furiously tapping away on laptops. Just down from them sat Manuck. He was staring at the small capsule in his hand as he contemplated his very limited options. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and made the call he had been avoiding for the last half hour. "We lost her," he said into the phone.
"What? Where?"
"In San Diego."
"How did you lose her? What about her tracking-"
"It's in my hand." Manuck looked down at the minute microchip.
"Shit! Hang on. I need to close my door." Terry Bucannon crossed the room and shut the door. He didn't speak into the phone until he was back at his desk and in front of his computer. "What was her last known location?"
"Honestly...her boat, I think."
"You think? Jesus Christ on a cracker, Danny."
"Easy."
"You said you could get this done and you haven't." Manuck looked down at the capsule he was jiggling in his hand. He held it for a moment longer and then placed it on the small table next to his seat. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy. The problem now is, I'm not sure when she found her little electronic babysitter. She had us on a wild goose chase all night, maybe longer."
"Great, and now she's just disappeared."
"That's what she's trained to do - eliminate and evaporate -and now you think we're going to find her? Ha! She'll find us long before we find her. Cover your ass, Terry, and keep your sidearm handy. That woman could unload a shitload of terror on us, and you know it."
Colonel Daniel Manuck knew just how bad the situation was. It had been his suggestion that they bring Kenzie into their little operation. He was the one who had done some of her early training, and he knew what she was capable of. After all, it was what she did. That was what she said to him not that long ago.
"Palmer suggested earlier that maybe the three of us should have a face-to-face," Bucannon said, breaking the silence.
"Palmer is an idiot, an asshole with money. He has no idea what's about to come down on him. If he was smart, he'd grab all of his money and disappear, forget he ever heard of Maquinar. Unfortunately, I don't think he's that smart. And I can tell you this, I'm not going to put all of us into one room together and give LeGault an easy target. If he wants to meet, it will be over her dead body. Are you having second thoughts, Terry?"
"No," Bucannon responded, though he knew it was not entirely true. He had nothing but second thoughts.
"Good, 'cause we have too much at stake here for you to start getting cold feet."
When Manuck went quiet again, Bucannon found the silence unsettling. "Where are Calvin and Viper?"
"Here with me. We're just leaving San Diego."
"Any idea where she'll be heading?"
"I can venture a guess." He didn't say goodbye, but the conversation was over and the line went dead.
Manuck sat and contemplated what their next move should be. If he was the one who had become a target, he'd have just disappeared, but LeGault was not him. He picked up his phone and dialed another number.
"Palmer, it's Manuck. We lost her." He sat silent for a moment, listening to the string of profanity coming from his phone. "Are you done?"
"How goddamn incompetent are you people?"
"Excuse me, Senator, but I'm not one of your flunkies. I'm a colonel in the United States Army, and I don't work for you."
"Well, Colonel, one of your little non-existent pieces of military property is running amok and she's putting all of us in jeopardy."
"You think I don't know that? If this thing becomes public, my entire career will be a footnote in the military manual under corruption and treason. We need to find her, and fast, before she starts to put it all together."
"And just what's your plan if she shows up on some Army base looking for you, Colonel?"
Manuck grew quiet. This possibility was not new to him and it made him uneasy. "And when she connects this to the rest of you, are you going to sleep easy at night, Senator? Despite all your money and power, how do you plan to stop a trained killer? Because believe me, it isn't a matter of 'if, it's a matter of 'when'."
"I wasn't aware that dealing with personnel was going to be part of my job. That was supposed to be up to you government guys. My job was to
bankroll this little operation. We've all made a lot of money, but obviously we need to shut down Maquinar until this has been dealt with. I think the three of us should have a face-to-face meeting and come up with a plan."
"I think that might be a little risky right now, don't you?" Manuck said.
"I think, under the circumstances, we don't have any other options."
"I will pool my resources, at least as much as I can without drawing attention to the situation. I can't speak for Bucannon."
"Well, I would suggest that you and your CIA buddy find your wayward operative before she finds us." Palmer changed tacks. "What about the judge? Have you spoken to him yet?"
"Briefly, but he doesn't know anything."
"Are you sure?"
"No."
Palmer hung up, leaving Manuck to ponder the question. The colonel looked down at the capsule on the table and smashed it with his fist.
Cori took a seat next to the window and watched the outside world passing by. Periodically, she checked on Kenzie. Thankfully, she seemed to be resting peacefully. Cori leaned back in the tall seat and closed her eyes. How did I wind up here? She swayed with the movement of the train. And what are we going to do now?
Time passed slowly, but as the train moved further from Anaheim and San Diego, the questions in Cori's mind became more insistent. Despite their nagging, she felt herself beginning to relax. They were safe for now - or were they? Cori thought they'd been safe before, and each time, someone had found them. However, now there was not a microchip to tell their trackers where they were. And who exactly are these people and who are they after? Me...or...
Casting an eye at the bed, she wondered who Kenzie really was. And why do I find myself attracted to her? She recalled the kiss they had shared in Tijuana, and her body yearned in memory. She was attracted to her...everything about her: her confidence, her abilities, the way she moved, the way she spoke. "And apparently, how she breathes," she said quietly as she turned back to the window.
"Katherine Mackenzie LeGault, do you have any idea what you do to me?" She sighed in disbelief as she tried to focus on the scenery outside the window. It wasn't long before she was studying her own reflection in the window, and that of the woman on the bed.
Katherine Mackenzie LeGault... What is it about your name that rings a bell? She knew they had never met prior to Guadalajara because she would not have forgotten meeting someone like Kenzie. It was not her looks, though she was very attractive, it was more in the way she handled herself.
Cori left the chair, and went in search of a pen and some paper. Locating them in a drawer under the small counter, she returned to the chair and began making notes - where she had been, where she had worked, who knew about her and how they had met. Anything she could think of that might have connected her to Kenzie was listed.
Hours later, exhausted, Cori fell asleep with pages and pages of notes across her lap. She had found no connection, but the little bell in the back of her mind continued to jingle.
It was hunger that eventually woke Cori. She yawned and stretched her stiff body as she looked over at Kenzie's still form. It was easy to see from the steady rise and fall of her chest, that she was resting comfortably.
"I need food," Cori said as her stomach rumbled its unhappiness. She found the blue button Steven had mentioned and pressed it. Moments later, there was a soft rap on the door. It was Steven and he happily took her order. A short while later, she accepted a tray of soup and sandwiches with her right hand, holding the gun firmly in her left but hidden behind the door.
"I can bring it in for you, ma'am," Steven said with his ever present smile.
For the first time she was thankful for the small size of their accommodations. Everything was within reach. "No, thank you. I've got it." Cori placed the tray on the counter.
When Steven left and the door was closed, Cori sighed with relief. Moving over to the bed, she knelt down next to it and ran her hand over Kenzie's forehead. It was warm, but not feverish.
"I smell food," Kenzie whispered, her eyes still shut.
"Geez, you scared the crap out of me. I thought you were asleep."
A small smile lifted the corner of Kenzie's mouth. "Sorry."
"No you're not."
Kenzie opened her eyes. "You're right, I'm not." Her voice was hoarse, but her tone was light. "Where are we?"
"On a train heading north, far away from San Diego."
Kenzie surveyed the room and its cramped accommodations. "Works for me," she said with an approving nod. "What's that?"
"I got us some dinner," Cori said, looking over at the tray on the counter.
"Dinner? What time is it?"
"A little after six."
"Wow, really?" She pressed her head into the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. "Guess I slept through breakfast and lunch."
"We were on the road to Anaheim during breakfast, and we both slept through lunch." Cori motioned toward the seat next to the window. "You need to eat."
"I think we both do." Kenzie attempted to sit up, but all she could do was groan. "Christ, I hurt."
"Here, let me help you." Cori wrapped an arm around her shoulder and assisted Kenzie into a sitting position. Placing all of the provided pillows behind her, Cori helped Kenzie lean back against them. "I got soup and sandwiches. I wasn't sure what you liked or what your stomach could handle."
"I think right now it could handle anything. I'm not sure if I even remember the last time we ate."
"Neither do I."
They ate their meal in relative silence but their eyes connected several times, each watching the other for very different reasons. After their meal, Kenzie's eyelids grew heavy and she fell asleep. Cori cleaned up and, soon after, found herself dozing in the seat next to the window.
A little while later, in the dim sunset light, Cori woke to find Kenzie watching her from the bed. "Hi," she said softly. Kenzie smiled back, but Cori could see there was concern in her golden eyes. "What is it?" Cori moved slowly from the chair to join Kenzie on the bed. "What is it, Kenzie? What's wrong?"
"You tell me. I've been watching you for a while."
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was asleep," Cori said, but she could tell by the look on Kenzie's face that she didn't believe her. Taking a deep breath, Cori softly admitted, "I'm scared."
"I know. I can see it in your face, and in your body language."
"We need you healthy."
Kenzie lay back. "I know that, too."
"We're still in a pile of trouble, and I know I can't get us out of it." She studied Kenzie.
"You seem to have gotten us out of San Diego without any help from me."
The reality of it all seemed so overwhelming. "Most of that was luck and you know it." Cori laid her head on Kenzie's shoulder.
"Actually, I don't know it." She began to play with Cori's hair. "A lot of it I don't remember at all, and the rest is just a haze. How did we get to the hospital?"
"We walked, or rather I dragged you, after you shot that Cobra guy."
Kenzie's hand stopped. She had forgotten that. "I shot Cobra?"
"On the lawn of the library. Once in the chest and once between the eyes."
Kenzie didn't say anything for a long while, but she returned to stroking Cori's hair.
"You don't remember...any of it?"
"A little bit, but most of it is foggy. I guess I just reacted out of instinct," Kenzie said quietly.
"Well, your instincts saved my life."
"I would venture a guess that it saved both of our lives. I do remember the hospital, though, and the microchip...and a nurse. What was her name?"
"Heather."
"Yeah, that's it."
Cori smiled. "But she wasn't a nurse, she was a vet tech."
"Oh." Kenzie's eyebrows rose in question. "A what? You took me to a vet?"
"It's not like I could have dragged you into a real hospital," Cori said defensively.
"You took me to a vet ho
spital?"
Cori gave her a gentle poke. "Heather saved your life."
Kenzie pondered this information, trying to remember anything else. "How did you convince Heather to help?"
"It was quite easy once I stopped waving a gun in her face."
"What have I created?" Kenzie said with feigned horror.
Cori ignored her teasing. "We owe her, big time. Besides, it was her idea about riding the train. When we were leaving the vet hospital, I spotted a city bus. At first, we were going to put the microchip on the bus, but the more we thought about it, the more we were worried that someone else might get hurt as a result. So, we followed the bus around for a bit and came up with the idea of leaving the microchip in the women's washroom at the Greyhound station. Afterward, we withdrew all of my money from my bank account at a check-cashing place and bought a couple of bus tickets with my ID. Once we had those tickets in hand, we hightailed it out of town on the I-5 in Heather's truck. Next stop was the Anaheim train station and voila, here we are."
Kenzie watched Cori in amazement. "Pretty damn impressive for a student living in Guadalajara."
"It's actually pretty amazing what one can do when their life is danger," Cori said solemnly. "Besides, I still think most of it was luck."
Kenzie raised herself just enough to kiss the top of Cori's head. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything...for looking after me, for saving my life...and yours, for everything." She shifted uncomfortably. "I've never had anyone look out for me like that."
"And?" Cori looked into her eyes and waited.
"I kinda like it," she finally answered.
The skies outside the large window were dark with night and the lighting in the train compartment was dim. Kenzie's moaning woke Cori, and for a moment she wondered where she was. The movement of the train swayed everything back and forth as she got her bearings. Kenzie groaned again and Cori gently placed a hand on her arm. "Shhh, it's okay," she whispered softly into Kenzie's ear.