1 + 2

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  "I'll check the back door." Johnson walks into the laundry room.

  Looking around, I realize I'm all alone with the Mark. I could easily... I let the notion drop and notice how the Mark looks. I would be the same way if I was the one waiting on death and was powerless to do anything to stop it.

  I sprinkle sugar in Melissa's cup with a spoon as Johnson then Daniels returns. I lift my tea and ask, "Do you gentlemen want any?"

  "No thank you," they reply.

  Sitting next to the Mark, I sip on the weak black tea as silence fills the room and is only broken by the occasional body shifting or cup clinking on the counter. I still can't believe I'm this close, and it's too much. I have to get out of here for a little while, so I stand and state, "I'm going to check on Katharine."

  End Kimberly's view...

  Up stairs in the little girl's room...

  Bonnie looked to Kat and said, "Now, you tell me a story."

  "Me?" Kat pointed to herself. "I don't think I know any stories."

  "You can make one up." Bonnie's large brown eyes widened as she pleaded, "Please. Please tell me a story."

  Kat turned to Chad, and he leaned to her and whispered, "Make one up about yourself. You know, tell her one about Pandora."

  Katharine's view...

  "I don't know," I say and hesitate. No child would want to hear about my messed-up life.

  End Katharine's view...

  "Please," Bonnie pleaded this time with her little hands. "It can be a short one."

  "Okay."

  In the hall, Kim paused at the little girl's door and listened to Kat as she talked to Bonnie.

  Kat began, "There was a..."

  "You're supposed to start the story with once upon a time or long ago," Bonnie interrupted.

  "Okay." Kat sat back in the chair and stared at the white fluffy clouds on the little girl's walls. "Long ago, there lived this woman named Pandora. One day she awoke and didn't know who she was or where she came from, and beside her was a small silver chest..."

  "If she didn't know who she was–" Bonnie interrupted. "–how did she know her name was Pandora?"

  "How did she know?" Kat put a finger to her chin. "Umm... There was a note. The note was addressed to Pandora and since she had it, she guessed her name was Pandora."

  "Oh," Bonnie said and pulled up the covers. "What was in the silver chest?"

  "A melody," Kat replied. "The small silver chest was a music box. Pandora opened the lid, and it played a magical tune. The music made her feel happy, but then evil Un-Men... I mean evil trolls appeared wanting to hurt her. They shot at her with, umm... arrows, and Pandora ran and ran. The evil trolls hunted her and nearly caught her."

  Bonnie asked, "Didn't a knight come and save her?"

  "No. No knight. Pandora had to fight on her own. There was no one to help her fight the evil trolls."

  "That's so sad," Bonnie said. "What happened next?"

  "For a long grueling year, Pandora ran from the evil trolls and she found a... a sword along the way and fought them, but no matter how many trolls she defeated, more came. One day Pandora came across this magical fire bird, and together they fought the evil trolls."

  Bonnie asked, "Pandora found a friend?"

  Katharine's view...

  A friend? Is Kimberly my friend? No, she barely tolerates me, so what does that make us?

  For the sake of the story, I answer the little girl, "Yes, Pandora found a friend who would fight by her side, and a friend who would always have her back."

  Outside in the hall...

  Kimberly's view...

  That woman thinks I'm her friend, and I snicker to myself. She has to be kidding. I would never be her friend, and she's an idiot to think I'll ever be one to her.

  End Kimberly's view...

  In the bedroom...

  Bonnie yawned. "That's good. I wouldn't like the story if Pandora was alone."

  "Yes." Kat's eyes saddened. "It's not good to be alone."

  "What happened next?" Bonnie's eyes drooped.

  "They went to this castle, hoping to find out who Pandora was. Dragons protected the castle. The angry fire bird..."

  "Why was the fire bird angry?" Bonnie asked.

  "Why?" Kat said and thought about it.

  Outside in the hall...

  Kim leaned close to hear the answer.

  Kat answered, "I believe the fire bird is angry because she is sad. She is sad that her mom is dead. I think she's afraid to show her sadness around others, so she turns it into anger."

  Outside in the hall...

  Kimberly's view...

  It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! That woman doesn't know how I feel; no one knows how I feel.

  I turn, head back to the stairs, and the floor creaks. I'm afraid of nothing, and when the time comes, I'll kill the Mark and that woman if she gets in my way.

  End Kimberly's view...

  Inside the little girl's room, Chad turned at the noise, looked into the hall, and whispered, "Someone's out there."

  "Yes, I know." Kat didn't turn and kept her eyes on the now sleeping Bonnie. "Kimberly was out there for a while." She reached up and turned off the lamp, and several moon nightlights cast a pale yellow glow on the room. "Okay, Chad. Off to bed." She stood. "I'll be down stairs if you need me."

  She passed Daniels who came up to guard the children's room, and he positioned himself right outside their door. Kat took the stairs down to the kitchen and there, Melissa and Kim sat, drinking tea. Johnson stood at the counter near the refrigerator with his arms folded.

  "We must prepare." Kat sat next to Kim and stared at the rosewood granite. "The Closers should be arriving soon. We must be prepared for anything."

  "Yes," Johnson agreed. "Andrews has the living room, Daniels the upstairs, and I'll take the kitchen and back area, so that leaves you two to float between the areas."

  "What's in the back area?" Kim asked.

  "Melissa's office is off to the left of the living room as you come in the front door, and after that room is where Melissa has set up her lab. There are no outside doors on that end of the house, so all we have to worry about is the front and back doors," Kat stated.

  Johnson nodded.

  "I'm going to check out those two rooms off of the living room," Kim said as she stood and walked out of the kitchen.

  Melissa turned to Kat. "Your friend talks less than you do, and she does mutter a lot." Melissa sipped her tea. "And I don't know if it's my nerves or not, but she acts strangely around me. Almost like she's trying not to make eye contact."

  "Kimberly's very shy." Kat slid down from the bar stool. "I did throw her in this situation out of the blue, and I don't think she interacts with people much." She started out the door into the living room. "I'll go talk with her, and see if I can get her to relax a bit." Kat walked out.

  After about a minute...

  Johnson moved from the counter and stood beside Melissa "Where is Kat from?"

  Melissa thought about it. "I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

  Johnson rubbed his neck. "The way she talks, some of the phrases... I've never heard of them." He pushed the kitchen door open, looked into the living room, Andrews nodded to him, and Johnson let the door close. "Maybe she's from the Light Side of the planet."

  "Why do you think Kat's from there?"

  "Some of the things she says," Johnson replied. "For example, what did she mean by out of the blue?"

  Melissa shrugged. "I can safely say that's the least of our worries. I trust Kat. I trust her to protect the children."

  "The children? What about yourself?"

  She stood, grabbed her cup, and placed it in the sink. "I can't ask for everything, and anyway, I've had this feeling all day."

  "What kind of feeling?"

  "I have a feeling, I won't see Tuesday. I feel as though I'm living in my final days."

  "Don't say that!" he sn
apped. "Don't give up. You can survive this."

  "You're right. I shouldn't say such things out loud. I should keep my fears to myself." Melissa grabbed a kitchen rag. "What if the children heard?" She ran water on it, rung the cloth out, moved to the eating area, and wiped the counter down. "I only have to trust you men, Kat, and her friend." She mumbled, "I only have to put all my faith in complete strangers."

  Johnson watched her clean. She might trust Kat, but he didn't trust her friend. There was something off with her.

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  With A Spark

  4:48 P.M...

  The medium sized office had a light oak desk with matching book shelves and a high back brown leather chair. Kim sat at the desk, removed her H.H.C. from her knapsack, and typed an e-mail. "Thanatos, this is the Phoenix. I have a situation with Voice I thought you might help me with." She pressed the send button.

  Somewhere in Noir...

  Thanatos worked on the Closings for the day as he rubbed the tuft of blond hair under his lower lip. "What do we have here?" He relaxed in a white recliner chair and glanced at a file that popped up on his screen; it was an e-mail from the Phoenix. Thanatos read the message and then typed, "What situation might that be?"

  "Voice has ordered my Closing," Kim replied.

  He excitedly rapped the chair's arms with his index fingers as if they were drums. The Phoenix had discovered it and lived to type about it. Thanatos howled, elated. The Phoenix was very good, and he typed, "You should know, I cannot interfere with Assassins League business."

  Kim knew this wasn't going to be easy as she typed, "You can if the case for my Closing is founded by lies."

  The Phoenix wasn't going to give up without a fight, and he was quite amazed with the assassin as he twirled the surgical steel piercing in his left eyebrow, and then he typed, "What lies would that be?"

  "I am referring to Mrs. Serqet's Closing in Moscow. I missed my Mark the first time. That part of it is true, but when I went for my second attempt, someone shot the Mark's little girl and another Closer took claim. I had assumed Voice sent in backup."

  "What do you mean by assumed?" After he sent the reply, he hacked into Voice's computer and pulled up the old case file from Moscow in the left bottom corner of his large screen.

  "The two Closers that were sent to take me out claimed the reason for my Closing is that I was the one who killed the child, but it wasn't me. I never had the chance to take a second shot."

  He looked over the file. The Phoenix was right about the second Closer. A backup wasn't recorded, and normally it would mean he or she had none. He wondered if the Phoenix was lying or was something more tantalizing happening.

  Kim franticly tapped across the H.H.C. "I saw the second Closer's business card when it was handed to the detective. The detective swiped the card on the Guild's reader, so I don't understand how I was blamed for the mistake. Even so, no matter how unprofessional a mistake like that is, I can't see it as grounds for my Closing."

  The Phoenix was right, but surely this wasn't all of the story. Thanatos scratched his bare chest before replying, "You have aroused my curiosity, and I will look into this for you. What is the second Closer's name?"

  "Maestro."

  Thanatos questioned, "Are you sure that was the name of the Closer?"

  "Yes, I heard the detective say it out loud. Why do you ask?"

  He pulled up the file. "Maestro has been dead for ten years."

  "The two Closers said as much."

  "This is fascinating though."

  "What is?"

  "Maestro's specialty was killing children." Thanatos moved Maestro's file to the side of his screen above the Moscow Closing. "It is becoming more and more fascinating. I will look into this."

  "Thanks Thanatos, signing off." Kim set the H.H.C. on the desk and stared at it.

  Earlier in the living room...

  Exiting the kitchen, Kat walked over to Andrews who stood in the entry and looked at his H.H.C.; it connected wirelessly to the front door's security camera. Andrews commanded the camera to pan, and he checked the street.

  "Anything out of the ordinary?" she asked.

  "No," he answered, finished his sweep of the street, and turned to her. "I've been meaning to talk with you again. In our line of work, there isn't always an opportunity."

  "Okay," she replied. Kat still couldn't believe how much he resembled Argus, and she wished she could talk with Argus like this, but he was always focused on his work and on not interfering. She questioned Andrews, "What's up?"

  "I wanted to pick up from our last conversation. How did you get started in the protection business? That's what I think you're in. Your training isn't like anything I've seen."

  Katharine's view...

  I consider my training, and I can't recall anything but the feelings of being lost, misplaced, and alone.

  I remember his question and repeat it, "How did I get into the protection business?" I reflect on the past year and on the different people I've encountered and then answer, "I really stumbled into it."

  End Katharine's view...

  "Of what I've seen... I mean the way you handled the Un-Men, you're very good at what you do."

  "I try my best." There were a few moments of silence, and Kat asked, "Have you seen Kimberly?"

  "Your friend went into Ms. Odin's office several minutes ago." Andrews pointed to the hallway.

  "Thanks." She started toward the couch in the center of the room, paused, and stared at its shot up leather. "How often do you fail at your job?"

  A little puzzled by her question, he asked, "What?"

  "Have you ever not protected someone? Have they died?"

  "Yes," he admitted. "But not because the team didn't lay down their lives." His gaze shifted to the H.H.C. as he remembered. "It was about four years ago. We were out numbered. I was shot three times." He thought about his comrades. "I'm the only one who survived. We were protecting a mother of four." Andrews glanced at the kitchen. "At least she had the good sense to send the children away to live with their grandmother."

  "I'm sorry for your loss. I know it's painful to lose someone. What I don't understand is, why are you still a bodyguard? You came so close to death. Wasn't that job enough to fulfill your sense of duty?"

  "No, it was a failure. I believe I've been given a second chance, and I won't fail again." Another moment of silence followed and then he asked, "What about you? Have you ever failed?"

  Her face saddened. "Yes." She thought about those she had met, protected, and a few failures came to mind. "One of them was someone very dear to me." Her face hardened, thinking of Preacher, then it became determined. "We'll do better. There will be no Closings today." She walked past the couch to Melissa's office.

  He followed her with his eyes. Closings? It must have been the slip of the tongue, and Andrews turned his attention back to the video feed.

  In the hallway, Kat opened the door and walked into the office. "Did you get in touch with Thanatos?"

  "He said he would contact Voice, but for now..."

  Kat studied her face and knew that helpless look; it was an expression Kat had come accustomed to showing, and it was one of the worst experiences in the world. "It's not the best feeling to know someone's trying to kill you."

  Kimberly's view...

  "How would you know?" I snap.

  I hate it when people try to sympathize with something they have no understanding of. It's like humoring a child, so they'll leave you alone.

  Katharine's view...

  Kimberly's outburst is filled with fear and anxiety, and I don't reply to it. I only stare at her with a look of understanding. If Kimberly doesn't know that I understand how it feels, then there's no arguing with her.

  I know how our relationship stands. I'm on the outside looking in a window to Kimberly's life. I feel alone in a crowded world. Does she feel the same way or is she as
cold as she puts on?

  Kimberly's view...

  I notice her gazing at me with a compassionate look, and I almost yell at her, but then I realize that woman isn't mollycoddling me, but being sincere, so there's no need of me to have snapped at her. The current situation with my job, not that woman is why I'm all wound up and angry.

  I stand and say, "I'm sorry. You of all people do understand what it's like to be hunted."

  Katharine's view...

  I'm amazed that she actually apologized to me. I don't think I've ever heard her apologize for anything.

  Kimberly's view...

  I grab the H.H.C. from the desk, pick up my knapsack, place the device in it, and tell her, "There's nothing more I can do but stay alive."

  I do need to complete my Closing when the time comes, and that woman isn't going to make it easy, not easy one bit. Hades! My life's becoming complicated.

  End Kimberly's view...

  Earlier in the living room...

  In the entry...

  Andrews tapped the button on his earpiece as he stared at the video feed. "Johnson, there's a large man moving across the street towards the house. He is wearing a WM-D and carrying what appears to be a gasoline can and a large gun case."

  In the kitchen...

  Johnson moved to the door that connected to the living room. "What's the man doing now?"

  In the entry...

  Andrews looked to the H.H.C. "The man is making his way up the stoop." He pulled his gun. "The man is dousing the house with the gasoline. Do I engage?"

  In the kitchen...

  "Negative. I repeat negative." Johnson turned to Melissa and said in a voice that didn't betray his apprehension, "Go upstairs with Daniels."

  Without hesitation, Melissa set down her mug and rushed up the steps from the kitchen.

  "Daniels, the Closers are making their move," Johnson relayed as he hurried into the living room.

  Up stairs...

  "Understood," Daniels replied and turned as Melissa came up the stairs to him, and he ushered her into Bonnie's bedroom. "Wake the children. Get them ready to move if we have to."

  A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard as she entered the little girl's room. Melissa tried to hide her panic. "Wake children." She closed the door. "Time to get dressed."