I hated more knowing there was really and truly nowhere safe for us to be. If Alistair could breach my parents’ house like it was nothing. A dangerous assassin walking in through the front door like they were walking into a grocery store.
I folded my arms across my chest, squeezing my body to still the lingering tremors of fear and every other god damned emotion I had gone through in the last hour. Watching the Kit bloodied and half naked run across the yard, chasing that woman, that thing in dead in the snow.
I drifted my eyes away from Kit and to the glass jar sitting on the table staring back at me. I sucked in air through my nose, forcing my body over to it instead of the bed where I wanted nothing more than to climb in next to Kit and hold her for as long as possible.
Instead, I let my mind go into work mode.
Opening the jar I pulled the piece of mask out. Setting it on a small metal tray, I swabbed the blood. I trimmed the swabs and dropped them into the DNA extraction machine. Waiting for it do its job, I snaked my phone out of my jean pocket.
I hit the number three contact and waited as the phone rang, tired eyes settling on the red digital readout counting down until the entire process was done and I had a full DNA profile of Kit's attacker.
I was surprised when she answered the phone normally, then again the incident just happened and the news would be barred from my parent’s property. I closed my eyes, leaning my elbows on the edge of the table, "I need you to do something for me." I paused, "In about an hour you will be receiving a full DNA profile of a woman I need identification on. I need you to pull all your connections and get me into the vaults of the CIA. I think one of the missing three patients of Dr. Bourne's lab accident just paid me a visit at my parents."
I hung up the phone a minute later and set up the DNA extractor to immediately email out the results the second they were done. When it was all set up, I placed the piece of mask back in the glass jar, sealing it and shoving it in a drawer so I wouldn't have to look at it anymore.
Ten steps later, I crawled onto the bed, lifting Kit up enough to remove her bloodied and torn Purdue shirt, replacing it with a cleaner, baggier Ocel Steel Mill shirt. I threw the Purdue shirt in the fire, watching it burn.
I knew Kit would be angry I had destroyed her favorite shirt, but I knew I would never look at the shirt the same way after tonight.
When the fire ate away the last pieces of the cloth, I changed out of my jeans and into an old pair of sweatpants. I removed my button down, also throwing that into the fireplace, leaving me in just the thin tank top I had worn under it.
I crawled into the bed next to Kit, curling up into her. Placing my head over her heart. I closed my eyes and listened, letting each beat tell me it would be okay when Kit couldn't.
The warmth of the sunlight across my cheek, forced me to squint and roll deeper into the pillow. I groaned, stretching my arms out to the empty expanse next to me. I sighed, Claire's side of the bed was cold, telling me she either never came to bed or she had gotten up far too early.
I rolled over onto my back, pushing the covers away from my overheating body. Opening my eyes slowly, I let the sunlight pouring in through the window have its victory. I ran my hands over my hair, taking notice that I felt great. Amazing, better than amazing.
I rubbed my eyes, maybe it was this stress free country living, doing its cure all to make me finally relax and stop. I yawned and opened my eyes fully, scanning around the room for any signs of Claire.
Instead of signs of Claire, I found walls that weren't dark green, but a deep burgundy. There were no bookshelves covering the walls. Just oil paintings of hunting dogs and seaside’s. I also noticed the windows allowing the offending sunlight in were to my left and not to my right as in Claire's bedroom.
I sat up in the bed, I was not in Claire's room. I went to swing out of the bed when I noticed that I was wearing thin cotton pajama pants and an Ocel Steel Mill shirt that drowned me in heather grey material.
"What the fuck?" I mumbled pushing the blankets down and away. I knew I went to bed in my trusty Purdue shirt and no pants. I looked around the room for a phone.
"They moved you into the guest room last night. Claire's room is being repainted this morning. You two can move back by tonight." The familiar voice was softer than I ever remembered it to be, but it didn't grate on my nerves any less.
I looked up at Rebecca standing awkwardly in the middle of the room near the end of the bed. She was wearing her usual stuffy attempt at casual clothing. Nice jeans, a pastel button down with a tailored grey jacket over it.
I groaned quietly, setting my feet on the wooden floor I stood up, "Hello Rebecca." I did my best to keep my irritation out of my tone, but was failing miserably. "Nice to see you again." I opened the drawer on the small bedside table, looking for my phone.
"Claire is downstairs with her parents." She moved closer to me, handing me my cellphone, "I took this from her room before the painters got started." She smiled, "I came to set it on the table for when you woke up."
I took the phone slowly, there was something about her tone that was confusing me. It was kind. Lacking the usual dislike for me in every syllable she spoke my way. I stared at her for a moment, "Why are you here?"
Rebecca kept her smile, dropping her head to look at the floor, "Claire expected you not to remember much. The old formula and its amnesiac side effects." She took a slow breath before looking back at me, "There are clothes on the chair for you, please get dressed Kit, and come downstairs." Rebecca turned to head to the door and paused, looking at me as she opened the door, "And for the record, Claire called me to come." Her pale blue eyes held mine. The glimmer of the old Rebecca flickering quickly, her comment meant to be a silent dig before leaving the room.
I clenched my jaw. Tossing my phone on the bed, I walked to the chair, throwing the jeans and my purple hoodie on. Zipping up the hoodie I grabbed my phone off the comforter and swiped it. I had a few emails, a missed call from Tito and two from Davey. I flicked them away, I would call them back later. I went to text Claire, ask her what the hell was going on when the day and date caught my attention.
The phone was telling me in bright white letters that it was Thursday. I squinted at it, shaking the phone lightly. It couldn't be Thursday, It was Saturday morning. Claire and I had plans to go to the steel mill with her father so I could have a tour on a slow mill day.
I restarted my phone, walking out of the room.
I heard faint voices in the library. I could hear Claire's and her father’s mixing with Rebecca's. I rolled my eyes, hearing Rebecca, certain she was telling bullshit lies to Colin about how much of a fuck up I was and was going to be the longer Claire kept me around. That damn woman was like a starving dog with a bone. Never going to let it go.
Halfway down the stairs, the phone rebooted. Still showing me that it was Thursday and almost a week later than it was supposed to be. I frowned and went to the web browser, hoping that I would not have to get a new phone and go through the process of re-installing my apps and getting back to level 55 on Smashburger. I hit the news button and sifted through headlines, hoping to assure myself that it was still Saturday and my phone was just being a temperamental piece of shit.
At the bottom of the staircase, I paused. The headlines all told me that it was Thursday the 23rd, five days ahead of what I thought. I walked into the library, looking up to see Claire sitting on the leather couch next to Rebecca with the table in front of them covered in papers. Colin was standing by the fireplace, leaning on the mantel with a glass of whiskey in his hands.
My jealousy hit me first, looking at Rebecca sitting closer than I ever would like, next to Claire. I cleared my throat, startling Claire as I stared hard at Rebecca who only moved a centimeter away from Claire.
"Kit." Claire stood up and walked over to me, a relieved smile on her face.
I held up my phone, "Either this thing is broken or I am losing my mind." When Claire was close, I grabbed her arm, pulling her
close so I could kiss her. Claire melted into the kiss, Rebecca huffed and Colin chuckled. I smiled, parting from Claire, whispering, "Good morning."
Claire ran her hands down my hair, whispering back, "I've missed you."
I cocked my eyebrow, "Are we at that stage? It's only been a few hours." I paused, "Why was I moved into the guest room?" I glanced at Rebecca, "And why is she here."
Colin cleared his throat, "Rebecca my dear, I think we should find Mrs. Avondale and help her with breakfast."
Rebecca smiled tightly, standing up, she smoothed out her shirt before quietly following Colin. She gave me a quick look that made me smile, it was a look of embarrassment mixed with the ever present dislike for me.
Claire waited until the two left the room before she spoke, "Kit, sit down. The serum I gave you has clouded your memory. It was a side effect I worked out but never got around to updating the equipment here to formulate properly." She took my hand, leading me to the leather couch.
"Serum?" I sat down next to her, "When did you use the serum on me?" I threw my phone on the table, "Also, that thing decided to take a hot dump this morning. I’m going to have to get a new one."
Claire smiled, reaching for the thick manila folder in front of her on the table, "I used the serum on you last Sunday morning, after you were attacked in my bedroom." She set the manila folder in my lap, "Look at the pictures. It will jog your memory." Claire picked up my phone, setting it off to the side. "Your phone is working just fine."
I stared at Claire, my hands reaching for the folder. Her voice was soft, quiet like it was when she was scared and worried, the same voice she used after each random encounter and the morning I woke up after Tennessee. I flipped open the folder to reveal a series of photographs tucked neatly in the folds.
I looked them over as Claire spoke, "The serum I gave you is old. It doesn't work like the other one, it takes longer to fully heal an injured body. You've been out of it for five days. Another side effect of the weaker serum along with the slight memory loss." I turned over a photograph of Claire's room in utter disarray. Holes in the wall, a broken window and blood on the floor. "The pictures should trigger your dormant memory in a minute or two. The old serum shuts the brains immediate memory processor to maximize healing efficiently." The next was a photograph of woman in the snow wearing Claire's clothes, large blood stains on the back and front that looked a lot like two gunshots.
I closed my eyes, the sound of my gun firing rang in my ears.
Everything came back slowly. The fight in the bedroom, the hands on my throat, the dead blue eyes trapped in the face of Claire, and the race across the snow covered backyard in my underwear, bleeding out. I threw the folder on the table, leaning forward, my elbows resting on my knees as I covered my face. "Did I..." I didn't have to finish. I already knew that she had to save me again. The gash on my hip, the hypothermia I drowned my body in.
I felt Claire's hand on my back, followed by her leaning against me, "It doesn't matter Kit. All that does matter is that you did what you had to and in turn you got us a name, a face, and a trail that will hopefully lead back to Alistair."
Claire reached again, handing me a brown folder with the U.S. Navy seal in black across the front. "I did call Rebecca. She is the only person I know and trust with connections to dig into the CIA vault after I got a positive ID on your attacker." I took the folder from her hands, "Kit, meet patient #6242. Jessica Cornwell. Ensign in the U.S. Navy. Served three tours in the Afghanistan war before she was wounded in action and transferred to the rear for treatment."
I opened the file slowly before glancing at the contents. Looking up at me was the fresh faced girl in her Navy dress whites, smiling with pride like all young officers did in their first few pictures.
It was the same face I saw under Claire's, but without the burn scars. I focused on the girls eyes, they were a light brown and full of life, unlike the dead blue ones that only lit up when death was on its way to me under her hands. I flipped through her service record, nothing about Jessica was overly outstanding or overly negative. She served with excellence and was on her way to being promoted to Lieutenant when her convoy was attacked and she was trapped in her vehicle as it burned.
I heard Claire sigh, "Jessica's file, her military file stops at her being sent for burn treatment in the States. Where she was eventually honorably medically discharged." Claire handed me another file, "She effectively disappeared in a traditional sense."
This new file had the CIA logo emblazoned across the front and in a bright red stamp was PROJECT BEEKEEPER cocked on an angle under the logo. "Rebecca was able to get copies of the missing files from Bourne's lab accident. Someone, a someone I never want to know who it is, pulled the files right before the accident and made copies. Throwing them into the deep underground internet as a possible repeat of WikiLeaks. Exposing more of the CIA and gain attention or money."
I looked at Claire, "Have you read this?" Trying to ignore it was Rebecca who came through, I did not want to give that woman any credit even if it was deserved.
She nodded, "I have. It a painful read. A basic back and forth medical chart for the poor girl. A sort of formal communication between Bourne and whoever the mysterious name under the black marker is." Claire met my eyes, "These weren't people to Bourne and the CIA, just lab rats, test subjects." She turned to look in the fireplace, "Although I think the lab rats were treated better than Jessica."
I ran my hand over the stiff folder, "Is she Alistair?"
Claire laughed lightly, dropping her head to look at her hands, "If only, but my life never seems to move that simply." She let out a breath, "Ivan called last night after I sent Rebecca the DNA profile. Jessica is Apel Isaacson, she is Apis. He compared the DNA to a small skin sample collected from Isaacson’s desk when Rebecca had the security team go through it. Jessica was in Geneva while you were in Tennessee with Alistair."
I chewed on my lip whispering, "We are three, we are one. All in the same, all as none, but always one."
Claire stared at me, "What did you say?"
I kept my eyes on the folder, "It was what Jessica said right before she died when I asked her if she was Alistair or where he was." I threw the folder on the table with a hard slap, things coming together, "Micrapis, Apis and Hive. All three of them are working together, all three Bourne test subjects who escaped." I shook my head, "The clues have been there taunting us the entire time." I leaned back into the couch, closing my eyes, "Was Rebecca able to get the other two patient files?"
"No. She needs concrete identification to be able to pull anything. I collected Jessica's blood right before the police arrived and tainted everything and was able to send that to Rebecca so she could go hunting. There are frighteningly enough, thousands of files floating in the internet that the CIA tried to bury deep." Claire paused, "Did, did Jessica say anything else?”
I heard the hesitation in her voice, I knew she wanted to know if Jessica spilled the beans on the motive and reasoning behind wanting Claire dead. I shook my head, "All she said was her cryptic little motto. Then played with my head, taunting me in the mask and messing with mind to the point I couldn’t finish the fight quickly." I sighed, "She only said that she was coming for you next after she killed me." I rolled my head to Claire, tears rimming her eyes, her jaw twitching. I reached for her, my hand circling her bicep and pulling her into my arms. Kissing the top of her head I whispered, "You saved my life again, Claire."
She squeezed me tight, saying nothing, letting the silence saying everything.
God I was getting tired of this and moments like this. It hurt more knowing that Alistair was able to infiltrate the only sanctuary Claire thought she had left. At the same time I could feel the sense of relief between the two of us, at least one of Alistair's thugs or main right hands was dead, dead as dead could get. It was one less thing to worry about, but one more motivator to find the mad man and end this.
Rebecca walked back into the library, looking away from
Claire and I. "Claire, your mother needs you in the kitchen."
Claire slowly left my arms and stood up, nodding, "I will be back Kit." She turned to Rebecca, "Will you please fill Kit in on everything else?"
Rebecca smiled lightly, "Of course Claire." Her sweet, kind tone made me want to gag.
I rolled my eyes and picked the CIA file backup, waiting until I was certain Claire was well and far out of earshot, "Save the lectures, Becky, I really don't have the patience to hear you blither for the millionth time how I am a crap bodyguard and nothing good for Claire." I flicked the file open, "Has anyone figured out how that thing, that woman got into the house undetected?"
"We think the woman just managed to distract the staff by her impeccable disguise. The property cameras have her appearing from nowhere from the east and walking right into the house through a side door. She picked the locks like they were nothing." Rebecca suddenly laughed lightly, moving to sit in the chair next to the couch. "I don't really like you, Kit. That is definitely a true statement." Her smile widened at my reaction of a raised eyebrow and strange change of subjects, "However, Mr. Avondale told me everything. Mrs. Avondale also throwing in her two cents when I stormed down here hearing what had happened, whole heartedly believing you had screwed up again."
I focused on the file, not reading a damn word but doing my best not to react poorly towards my arch nemesis of sorts. "I think you will always see me as the screw up. The drunk that could barely function the first week. I will give you that, Becky. That first week was not a proud moment for me." I looked up in her pale blue eyes, "But that was months ago, and one day you will have to give up the hope Claire will return to you and finally listen to your bullshit and fire me."
Rebecca cut me off, "Kit sometimes you really need to shut up and let me finish." She leaned closer to me, ensuring she had my full attention, "Like I said, I don't like you, but Claire does. Claire loves you. I’ve never seen her happier than when she looks at you and is around you. Something that I will have to get over in my own time." She paused, searching my eyes, "What I was going to say was this, I apologize for any doubts I had about you, any of the ones I verbally expressed to you, Claire or her family. For I was very wrong about you." She pointed at the file in my hand, "I would not have been able to get that if it weren't for your giant set of balls to jump out of a damn window, fall four feet to the ground in the middle of winter. Chase a genetic test subject gone mad across the snow in your underwear and kill them." Rebecca smiled, "I certainly do not have the audacity or the slight mental instability needed to do that. You saved Claire and her family and for that, I can never say a bad word about you. You have proven me wrong. You are a better man for this job then I ever could be."
Redemptio Animae Page 69