I furrowed my brow, my heart falling into my stomach, "Kit." I turned my head away from the tree branches, Kit was standing next to me, staring hard in my eyes as mine connected with hers. My eyes welled up, "I have to stop this." I gripped the metal railing, "I going to have Rebecca move Claire and her family out of the Centre and to the next town." I moved back the trees, "I want you to go with them. Go somewhere safer than here."
Kit huffed angrily, "Hell no, Claire. I am not going anywhere. Certainly not leaving your side. And before you say it, yes I am disobeying a direct order from you Senator." She took one step away from me, her face flush with her shortening patience, igniting her temper. I knew she would reject any suggestion of leaving the Centre without me, but I had to try. Try one more time to push the one person I loved more than anything, even my own life, away from the encroaching madness. I tilted my head to catch Kit from the side but still keep a view of the maple trees, "It wasn't necessarily an order, Kit, a suggestion at best. A feeble hope that you would let me deal with this alone and spare you from all of this." I bit my bottom lip, stopping my words. I was sounding more and more like a silly martyr running towards the fire. "I have no idea what I am supposed to do to stop this."
Kit nodded, "We will stop this." She reached to slide her hand across my forearm, settling on top of my hand. "You and me." Her voice softened as she moved closer to me, the quick fire temper waiting to explode replaced by the strong loving woman that had swept me off my feet from day one, healed me with every single fight we endured to create this unbreakable bond. A bond we both would need in the next few hours or days. However long it took for Halston to strike.
I stared at her hand, pressing solidly down on mine. Kit's way of emphasizing her words and thoughts, was through touch, I had learned that over the time I was with her. When she needed me to listen, and listen clearly. She would touch me, hold me, to create a physical connection that would always bring me back to the present and out of my walls. I removed my hand from under hers and the railing, turning it over to catch her fingers before she took my movement as a sign I didn't want her comforting, her strength. She tightened the hold as soon as my fingers fell in the spaces of hers in a way that I would always think her hands were made just to fit mine and mine alone.
Staring at our conjoined hands, I took a slow breath in, "I just want this to be over with. No more running and hiding, Kit. I want my life back. I'm tired of people dying because of me."
She began running her thumb over the skin, a soothing motion that lessened my tangled emotions with every pass, "Then we will get it back." Kit lifted her other hand to rest against my cheek, pulling my eyes back up to hers, "Together."
I subtly nodded, looking in her hazel eyes, I absorbed the undying love and strength that was in this woman. Under pressure she excelled, and it was always the one thing I could rely on when the storms raged on. There was so much more I wanted to say in the silence that I allowed in. And yet, at the same time, I knew I didn't have to say another word.
I turned to look at the door, "We should get back to Davidek and Rebecca." I went to take a step out of Kit's arms, when she held onto my hand tighter, raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What is it?"
Kit's eyes flicked away from mine for a second before returning back, "Halston is here. Ivan picked up chatter on the local police scanner. They found a body in the basement of the natural history museum."
My stomach quickly turned, the minimal contents from breakfast rising up my throat, nodding at Kit to continue.
Her jaw twitched, "The older woman in the mineral exhibit. It was a disguise. It was Halston. Standing right in front of us, smiling, basking in the young love of you and I." Kit scrunched her face in frustration, "I looked in her eyes, they were blue, but she was old. I expected them to be cloudy." She looked away from me, "She was right in front of me and I didn't do a damn thing. Too caught up in myself, what my heart wanted. I lost focus." Kit let out a harsh breath, glancing away from me, "I think it would be best if we moved to stay within the Centre. Davey has the rooms in the Hive ready for you. We can just sleep there. Be normal during the day to keep drawing Halston out." She drifted off.
I swallowed hard, thinking back on the kind elderly woman who reminded me of the nice old grandmother who lived next to my parents. Always saying hello and giving Davidek and I cookies for raking her leaves. I thought nothing further through about Marie. Only seeing the wrinkles and the stale obsolete perfume all older women wore as they aged and scents changed. It also didn't help that I was equally as lost in my heart, standing in front of Kit, testing the waters of a life together with marriage.
I took in a slow breath, "It's not your fault. I distracted you, I was distracted." I lifted Kit's hand, still clasped in mine, "You and Davidek are right, maybe it's best if we move into the Centre for a few days. At least until I figure out where to go next now that Beth is healthy and on her way to being safe."
I saw the massive wave of relief wash over Kit when I agreed to moving into the protective, yet sterile, walls of the Centre. It was the last thing I wanted to do, prove to Halston once again, her mere presence was enough to set us all running like scared children. The look on Kit's face told me I had to, at least for her. "I want to go back to the cottage to grab a few things, clothes and such, then we can get set up in the Hive." I pulled Kit closer, smiling softly at her, "It's still early, maybe we can salvage dinner."
Kit allowed a half smile to appear, shaking her head lightly, "We eat after I know you and everyone is safe." She pulled me towards the door, "Let's get a move on, my anxiety is about to overrun me if we don't." She reached for the handle of the glass door, pausing as it opened a crack, looking over her shoulder at me, "Claire, I love you."
I looked at her, mildly confused at the stern declaration of three little words we had repeated over and over in the last few months. This time there was a firm finality in her tone that unnerved me. Maybe it was her nerves and my nerves all coming to a head as we were about to charge into battle, regardless it had its intended effect as I felt some of the weight lift off of me. I held her eyes, "I know, Kit. I love you." I gave her a soft smile, telling her silently that I would always know even if the words were not spoken.
Kit smiled, turning back to the door, opening it fully, "I needed to say it one more time before I go into full bodyguard mode and don't get a chance to until later."
I nodded back, following her out of the room and falling to her side as we took the hallways back to Davidek and Rebecca. I leaned into her, whispering in her ear, "Your eyes will always tell me even when you can't, Kit," I pressed a delicate kiss against her cheek, making her blush and squeeze my hand tighter. I straightened up, standing taller as I began to slip on the mask of the Senator, drawing on the tough skin I had created within that persona. One I knew I would need when I finally came face to face with my tormentor and finished what she started.
The relief I felt when Claire agreed to move to the secured bunker, was immense. I almost jumped in her arms when she finally gave in. It was one last thing for me to worry about as we all were still in the middle of untangling the expansive web that was Meredith Halston. The woman behind Alistair Montgomery.
I sat in the small chair next to Ivan, reading over more of Meredith's operational briefings from the CIA. All of her case notes, field notes and final reports, from the years between her trying to recruit a young Claire up to the failed attack in Malibu that sent her to the desert.
Meredith was truly a master at her craft. She had helped the CIA develop voice masking technology that was quicker and better than the old technology. She had created a field device that could recreate a person’s vocal tone, accent and dialect in a matter of seconds versus the handful of specific words needed by the old technology. It made sense why Halston was able to adapt and mask her identity in a matter of minutes. It appeared after Dr. Bourne's lab explosion, Halston had broken into a CIA equipment depot and stolen all of the tools she would need to make the un
detectable latex masks, wigs and other items to make her disguises flawless. The woman was impressive. Impressive and yet pure unmitigated evil.
Ivan typed away next to me, trying to pluck the local police crime scene photographs of the museum scene as they uploaded them. Claire had gone with Rebecca to say goodbye to Beth and her family to ensure they were taken immediately to safety without being alerted something was wrong. Davidek disappeared to make calls to his contacts nearby in Russia. Contacts I knew where not on the right side of the law, but at this point I didn't care if we had Los Angeles meanest and vicious gangs on our side, it was numbers and bodies that we needed.
I flipped absently through a few more pages, glancing at the clock. Claire would be back in the next ten minutes. I wanted to get back to the cottage and packed up in the half hour and back to the Centre. The sooner we were behind these thick walls, the better I could breathe.
I decided to distract my mind by getting to know the boy wonder hacker next to me. I spun in my chair, setting the file down, making Ivan look over and smile before returning to the monitor. I smiled back, "You've been with Claire since you were sixteen?"
Ivan shrugged awkwardly, "Yes Ms. Witmer. I am twenty one now, so the last five years I have worked for Dr. Avondale." The kid was nervous in a way that almost made it adorable.
I nodded, "Please call me Kit, I feel weird with formal titles. Reminds me of the days when I was an Agent and had to call everyone Mr., Mrs., or by whatever fancy title they held in office." Ivan held his smile, visibly growing more and more nervous. Clear the kid was only used to interacting with computers. "How did you come to work for Claire?"
Ivan's hands paused, his head dropped slightly, "I hacked into her senate campaign website and turned it into a parody site." He glanced at me, "It was a dare by my school mates to see if I could back up what I would talk about in computer science classes." Ivan turned back to his screen, "They picked Dr. Avondale because she was American and the hottest bird they'd ever seen." I could see the blush flood his cheeks even in the low light of the room, "Their words not mine, Ms. Witmer. Er. I mean Kit."
I chuckled, "I cannot disagree with your mates, Claire is one fine bird." I turned my head to the screens lining the wall in front of us, "I am assuming Claire or Rebecca found out it was you tampering with her website?"
Ivan nodded, "It was Becky. She sent some of her NSA coworkers to my house. They escorted me to a townhouse in London. I thought I was about to be thrown into the deep dungeons of an American prison." He stopped typing, turning to look directly at me, "Instead I met Dr. Avondale. Sitting in the front room, wearing jeans and a tee, offering me some of the pizza she was eating before offering me a job. She told me that she could use someone like me who had a knack and wit like I seemed to have. She even laughed when she pulled up the website to ask how I did it."
I smirked, "What did you turn her website into?"
Ivan grinned, "I put Benny Hills face over hers and turned the website into a giant Benny Hill spoof. Every time you clicked on anything, it would play his awful theme song and she would chase half naked girls with her head on them." Ivan pushed his glasses up, "She took me on from that day. Paid for my private education, my University which I am about to finish up next month, took care of my family and gave me a permanent job doing what I love. Hacking and digging through the digital trash of others, all I have to do is ensure her mainframe security is one step ahead of everyone else's. "You are looking at the world's greatest white hat hacker, Ivan the terrible."
I laughed at his nickname, "How appropriate for you." I leaned a little closer, "Well I am extremely grateful that Claire has you. Even if she buried you a dark room in Geneva." I looked around the dark room.
"I am normally working out of England, but Becky had me move to Geneva when you were hired." Ivan paused, his smile falling, "Kit, I must apologize. I was the one who found your files. All of them." He looked in my eyes, "If I had met you and seen how happy you make Dr. Avondale, I would have destroyed them before letting Becky take them."
I let out a soft breath, placing my hand on the kid's shoulder, "I should thank you, Ivan. If it wasn't for you digging up the past I did my best to bury, I don't think I would have found my way out and to what I have with Claire. Sometimes the only way out is through, no matter how utterly painful it may be." I squeezed his shoulder, "You saved my life, Ivan." I paused before leaning closer, "Why do you call Rebecca, Becky? She clearly hates it."
Ivan held my eyes trying to digest my words and debate whether or not to tell the why he called Rebecca, Becky, when the door opened. Pushing a bright light into the room. He and I both squinted to look at Claire and Rebecca as they returned. Claire walked over to me while Rebecca held the door open.
Claire looked better than she had when we left the atrium, she had a half smile on her face, "The family just left. In the next two hours they will be sixty miles away in one of our safest cottages. Preparing for the morning flight to London for a few day vacation before they head back to the states." She moved closer to me, resting her hand on the space between my shoulder and neck, "We can head back to the cottage, Rebecca has a security vehicle waiting for us in the garage." Claire handed me the keys, "You can drive."
I palmed the keys and stood up, my hand automatically falling to Claire's elbow, "We should move now."
Claire nodded, turning to the door, walking out first, when Ivan blurted out quietly, "I call her that because she hates it. She's been the big annoying little sister I never wanted, but we care about each other." Ivan grinned, "It takes her out of her stale agent face, makes her remember she is still a human and not a machine."
I grinned back, winking at the kid, "Makes perfect sense." I waved at him, "We will be back in about an hour. After I get Claire settled, I might come back down so you can tell me more stories about Becky."
Ivan chuckled, saying nothing more as he turned back to his monitors and lit up the keyboard.
_________________________
Inside the SUV, I drove quickly up the winding roads that lead to the cottage. Claire was quiet the short ride up. Her soft smile still present as she was lost in thoughts. I could tell she was thinking about Claire and the remarkable success she was. I left Claire to her thoughts, she needed something positive to distract her for as long as possible before reality slipped its way back in.
Pulling up at the edge of the small driveway to the cottage, I shifted the SUV into park, looking over at the blonde, "I can run inside if you want to sit here?" Maybe if Claire stayed in the car, I could hurry things along. I was starting to get a horrible gut feeling with every minute we were out of the safe confines of the Centre.
Claire shook her head, pushing the door open, "I'll be fine, Kit." She bent over the console, kissing me lightly on the lips before exiting the car.
I was close behind her, instincts pushing me to reach for my hip for a gun that wasn't there and hadn't been there since I arrived in Geneva. I groaned at myself, it was in the bedroom in the bedside table drawer. I would have to grab it first and make sure I never went anywhere without it again.
Claire went in first, calling over her shoulder as she moved to the living room where we had left all the files and paperwork from earlier. "Kit, I am going to grab the files and my briefcase first."
I nodded at her back, rushing to the staircase, "Okay, I'll get started on throwing clothes in bags." I took two stairs at a time, eager to get my gun. The eerie feeling I had outside was growing exponentially, making my stomach tighten.
My hand hit the doorknob, turning it, I shoved the door open. My eyes going straight to the bedside table where my P99 laid. I rushed around the bed, yanking the drawer open I froze when I saw inside.
My P99 was in pieces. Perfectly disassembled and laid out like we had been taught in the academy. Like any agent in any federal agency had been taught to do. Tear down your weapon and lay it out as you cleaned it. I felt my heart tense up and race, I quickly noticed that firing pin for th
e firearm was missing. In its place was a handful words written in bold red marker on the bottom of the drawer.
"Tsk, Tsk, Caitriona, forget something?"
I took a step back, swinging my head around to come face to face with a horrifying sight. The wall facing the bed was covered in photographs. Photographs of me, Davey, Rebecca, Tito, all of Halston's victims, and in the center was Claire, the picture taken from earlier today as we entered the museum. A large red circle with the words "SHE IS RESPONSIBLE, ONE CANNOT PLAY GOD AND IGNORE THE CONSEQUENCES"
There were large red X's over the faces of those who had died at Halston's hands, red arrows pointing up to Claire, with HER FAULT and other phrases written underneath. I covered my mouth, stepping back as the rage and fear all tumbled into each other like two ships in the sea. I looked up over Claire's head.
"IT ENDS TODAY. THE ONLY BLOOD TO BE SPILLED WILL BE YOURS, CLAIRE. I WILL BATHE IN IT AS I KILL EVERYONE YOU LOVE. ONE BY ONE. AS MY REVENGE CRAVES IT."
I began to breathe harder, my eyes stuck to the wall and the words of madness written everywhere. My gut screaming at me to run, grab Claire and get the fuck out of the cottage. I flinched when I heard Claire calling after me as she moved to the stairs, I forced my voice out, "I'll be down in a minute, Claire. I have everything. I’ll meet you at the car."
I scanned the room, Halston had been in the cottage. Meaning she had breached the security somehow and that this was the last place Claire and I needed to be. I ran to the closet, grabbing a handful of clothes and shoving them in a bag with shaking hands. I grabbed Claire's boots when I heard a distant, consistent beeping coming from under the bed.
My entire body seized up and froze as I tried to tune my ears in to pick up the beep. The beep was barely audible, but I could hear it, drawing my attention to look under the bed. I leaned on my knees and flat palms to look under the bed.
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