by R E Gauthier
Kelsey’s eyes flew open, and she attempted to get to her feet. Struggling against the seatbelt, Kelsey saw the face of a woman near her own. Kelsey gasped.
“Miss, are you alright? Are you sick; do you need some assistance?”
Kelsey’s mind cleared, and she saw the flight attendant leaning over her in her aisle seat. Closing her eyes, Kelsey tried to draw in a deep breath, but her heart pounded, and her lungs felt as though they were on fire. Shaking her head, she said, “no, sorry…I ah…I’m fine; thank you.”
“Well, we’ve landed, and we’re exiting from the plane now. If you’re sure you don’t need assistance, may I ask that you let these people out?” The flight attendant said with a smile.
Kelsey felt, rather than saw the three people next to her crowding her in their attempts to vacate their seats and exit the plane. Feeling somewhat self-conscious of her actions, Kelsey unfastened her seatbelt and stood up on shaking legs. She pivoted out into the aisle to allow the people to climb out, get their carry-on bags from the overhead area, and walk up the aisle to exit the plane. Kelsey stood in the aisle for a few minutes to attempt to quiet her heartbeat and regulate her breathing before she too removed her carry-on bag and walked up the aisle toward the exit at the rear of the plane.
The stop in Newark was almost two hours, giving Kelsey plenty of time to stretch her legs, get some fresh air, and try to settle her rattled nerves. She also went to get something to eat, as it had been almost ten hours since she ate the sandwich and coffee before boarding her flight from Paris.
Finding a small kiosk with hot beverages, and a few baked items, she bought a soothing chamomile tea and a blueberry muffin. As it was still early when they arrived, most of Terminal C was still dark with most shops closed. Kelsey took the opportunity to exit out into the cold, crisp air and walked as she nibbled on her muffin and sipped her tea. Her nerve endings were still tingling with the awareness of adrenaline in her flight or fight response to her vision. The impulse to break into a run was strong, but Kelsey resisted the urge by walking faster and deepening her breaths.
Calming down somewhat, Kelsey returned to the Terminal C doors and made her way to Gate 108 where her flight to Pittsburgh would be boarding in twenty minutes. In another two hours, Kelsey would be setting foot on the ground in Pittsburgh and Nikki would be there to drive her home. Sitting down, Kelsey attempted to determine what her vision maybe communicating to her. What price will I have to pay? Why did Aisling come to her in the form of a woman wanting to kill her?
***
Pittsburgh International Airport, Morning, March 28, 2012
Nikki stood at the end of the long hallway with a big smile on her face. Kelsey couldn’t remember ever being so happy to see a friendly face, in her life. Increasing her pace, Kelsey stood in front of the small, red-head and felt the tears burn as they slid down her face.
“Aww, Mack,” Nikki said as she reached up and drew Kelsey into a hug. “I don’t like saying it, but you look awful. How’s the head? I hope it looks worse than it feels.”
Kelsey was too overwhelmed with emotions; she hadn’t known she was holding in, until she felt Nikki’s arms go around her, to speak. Kelsey drew Nikki closer and let the tears continue to fall. Every moment away from home, the excitement of tracking down her uncle’s life, and then the terror of being shot all came crashing down upon Kelsey at once. She clung to Nikki and sobbed.
After what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, in reality, Kelsey lifted her head and whispered, “I need to get home.”
Nikki simply nodded and drew away to take Kelsey’s bag.
Because Kelsey had entered the US in Newark, she didn’t need to be cleared again through US Customs and Border Protection, so the two women walked through the terminal and out to the parking area.
Once inside the car, Nikki asked, “how long are you going to keep me waiting to hear how you’re doing?”
Kelsey closed her weary eyes and allowed her head to lay on the headrest. “Nikki, I’ve been through so much in the last couple of days, my mind is just spinning. Couple that with what I have been through with my new enhanced visions and my brain is exhausted. I slept the whole way over from Paris to Newark, but I feel like I could sleep an entire day and I’d still feel exhausted.”
“That’s normal for anyone who has been traveling and has learned what you have about your uncle, but to add to that, the fact you were shot and recovering from a concussion; I cannot imagine the state your brain is in. Are you sure you shouldn’t go see a doctor?”
Kelsey looked at Nikki and smiled weakly. “For the first time since the incident at Heathrow, I don’t have a headache. My stomach isn’t rolling anymore, and my neck doesn’t feel like it may fall off my shoulders. If being tired is my only complaint, no doctor can tell me more than what I’m planning on doing when I get home. I’m going to sleep and rest my brain.”
Nikki put the keys in the ignition and started the car. “You cannot imagine how relieved I am to hear, that. It wasn’t easy to keep your condition from Miranda; she asked how you sounded and if everything was all right.”
“I’m sorry I put you in the position you had to lie, but I was afraid if I heard her voice, I’d breakdown, and I needed to keep my wits about me. I couldn’t relax until the plane took off in Paris.”
“I know you’re tired, but there is something I need to tell you; your uncle worked for the CIA.”
Kelsey closed her eye. Nothing could surprise her after all the truth that came out about her uncle in the past few days. Learning he had worked for the CIA joined the long list of revelations that kept her head spinning. “I’m not surprised. But this only compounds the possible reasons why someone wanted him and his family dead.” Kelsey opened her eye as Nikki pulled out onto the highway heading towards Canonsburg and home.
“I also received a call from the Director of the CIA, and he told me flatly that if you or I or anyone to do with our unit continued to pursue this investigation into your uncle, he’d shut us down and we’d be riding a desk for the rest of our careers.”
Kelsey swore under her breath. That’s just what they needed now, more resistance to finding the truth. “I’d understand if you want to stop helping me. This case was a disaster from the beginning; it’s not worth you ruining your career for, if you keep helping me.”
“If I backed down every time the CIA got huffy about us working a case; I wouldn’t have stayed with the FBI this long. This guy is only puffing up his chest and making idle threats. If and only if we hear from our bosses, will I shut down this investigation.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to get you into any trouble. I cannot believe someone wanted to scare me off in London.” Kelsey touched the still raw area on her head. She had thought about some cover stories she could tell Nanna and Miranda about how she came to get the nasty looking abrasion on her scalp. Not one seemed plausible.
Nikki frowned. “About that, I didn’t want to tell you this, but you may find out about it sooner or later.” Taking out her phone and tapping it to life, Nikki swiped a few times and handed the phone to Kelsey. “Hit the play, but I warn you the first time I watched it, I nearly fainted. I had no idea.”
Kelsey took the phone from Nikki. “What’s this a video of?”
“Someone captured the moments after you were shot and posted the video on YouTube.”
“How? Are you able to see the person who shot me?”
“The quality isn’t great, and the person taking the video was running, so at times the picture is blurry from all the shaking, but you do see someone leaving carrying a rifle.”
Kelsey swallowed hard and tried to dislodge the hard lump in her throat; she didn’t think she was ready to watch the aftermath of the shooting. Drawing in a deep breath, Kelsey hit the play icon on the screen. A video began with people running, yelling, and hiding, then the video showed Kelsey touching her head before she was sent backward into the pillar, hitting her head. Crumbling to the ground,
Kelsey fell into a crowd of scrambling, panicked people. The person taking the video then turned and captured the image of a slight person running away with a rifle. The footage then distorted as the videographer was running and cursing under his breath. Police and Airport Security ran about, and sirens blared before the video ended.
The video answered some questions as well as ask more than she had before. One thing, stood out the most, from the video was that the person who took the shot looked to be a small man or a woman. Another thing she noticed from watching the video, was that after the first gunshot, she recalled feeling someone push her, but in the video, there wasn’t anyone close enough to shove her back against the pillar. What happened? Why did I fall as if someone pushed me if no one was near me? With shaking hands, she put the phone down.
“Did you see it? Did you see what I saw?”
Shaking her head, Kelsey shrugged but remained silent. She still wasn’t sure of all of what she saw in the video. What could she tell Nikki about her version of events when they didn’t make sense to her?
“When you said the person was only trying to scare you, I, believed you, but then I saw this video, and I’m not so sure this person was sent to scare you.”
“What do you mean? How can you tell that someone was trying to kill me from watching the video?”
“I do what I do best, and when I analyzed the video, and saw the unobstructed view the shooter had and the distance away from you; it’s a miracle you’re sitting here next to me.” I saw the police report, and they said the second shot hit the building behind where you stood. I did measurements, and if you hadn’t moved when you did, both shots would have hit you in the head. They were ten seconds apart and centered on the back of your head. What made you move? From the video before the second shot, it looks as if you something or someone shoved you back.”
What can I say? “I don’t know what I can tell you. Everything happened so fast, but just before I felt the pain in my head, a wayward baggage cart hit my leg sending me off balance. I didn’t know that someone shot me. Then people were running, and I thought someone shoved me to the ground, but from the video, there isn’t anyone nearby who could have pushed me out of the way.”
“By the sounds of it, you had a guardian angel watching out for you. I also did an enhancement on the person running away with the rifle. I think it was a woman.”
“I thought the same thing when I watched the video; could you see her face?”
“I cannot perform miracles with the quality of the video, but the woman looked to be small built; maybe five foot, six and about one twenty. The cap she wore obscured her face.”
Kelsey recalled the vision she had on the plane of Aisling pointing a gun at her; what did it mean?
Chapter Forty-Seven
Driving to an undisclosed spot, Northwest of Pittsburgh, Morning, March 30, 2012
Kelsey sat in her SUV as she drove down the road toward an unknown destination. The GPS on her dash plotted a course from the coordinates she entered earlier. The coordinates were given to her by a text she received an hour and a half ago on her phone. In that text an unknown sender told Kelsey if she wanted to find all the answers she sought, she was to follow the directions precisely. Kelsey was instructed to take the coordinates and enter them into her GPS, she wasn’t to tell anyone about the text, nor was she to bring anyone with her. She had to turn her phone off before leaving the house. Kelsey had left Miranda a note that she had gone to meet Nikki at their office and she sent Nikki a text to say she was spending the day with Miranda. She hated misleading both women, but she needed this to be over and if this person had the answers, she needed to find the truth, she was willing to overlook a few transgressions.
The GPS was now taking her on a trip out past the Pittsburgh Airport. The rolling countryside began to climb, and the forests closed in upon Kelsey. After driving nearly one hour, with Kelsey following Interstate 376, Northwest of Pittsburgh, the peaceful drive caused her mind to wander. Recalling the moments before she woke to the sound of the phone buzzing, brought a broad smile to her lips. Kelsey had been dreaming about making love to Miranda. Upon her arrival earlier, the day before, Miranda greeted her at the door and with a little coaxing, had Kelsey panting with need. Miranda’s hands and lips enticed Kelsey to forget all about her physical exhaustion and carried Miranda up the stairs to their bedroom. Once in the room, Kelsey placed Miranda on the floor, and Miranda disrobed Kelsey; kissing every inch of exposed skin until she had Kelsey naked in front of her. Remembering how her body felt, Kelsey smiled wistfully. Miranda was too consumed with her need to welcome Kelsey home; she didn’t notice the small abrasion on Kelsey’s head from the bullet. Even Nanna seemed too preoccupied with Kelsey telling her about her trip to Scotland, to see the wound on Kelsey’s head.
Kelsey squirmed and tried pushing the pleasurable memories of Miranda’s lips on hers, on her neck, and her breasts out of her mind. A desire erupted inside her now as it did yesterday with Miranda all around her. Muscles she hadn’t used in a long time were complaining when she climbed down the stairs and out into the car earlier. Now, those same muscles warmed with the heat of desire. Lord, I hope this trip won’t take much longer; I need to get back to Miranda. Being away from home and the anchor of Miranda’s love weighed heavily on Kelsey’s heart. Miranda was like a lifeline for her heart, without Miranda’s nearness, Kelsey felt like her heart drifted as she meandered through life.
Reaching to turn on the radio, Kelsey thought the music would distract her from her erotic musings about her lovemaking with Miranda. Lovemaking that had kept both women busy for most of the day, yesterday. The notes of a piano filled the car as lyrics of a lamenting love song crooned about how the singer loved the one, she desired. Kelsey rolled her eyes; the song only served to remind her of the first time she saw Miranda’s face, the first time she kissed her lips, and the first time she lay with her. The GPS’s voice instructed her to take the next exit off of Interstate 376. She took the road, and it brought her under the highway and to the left. The signs told her she was on Green Garden Road and the GPS showed her traveling west into a sparsely-populated area with small homesteads dotting the countryside. The sun was coming up behind her and shone in her rearview mirror. Kelsey reached for her sunglasses and put them on, as a car passed her on her left.
Another song came on the radio, and it made her heart clench; the song reminded her of the first time Miranda, and she made love. In Baltimore after a night terror, Miranda clung to her and begged her to touch her. Groaning, Kelsey reached out and turned the radio off. The GPS told her, she had to turn left and drive two miles to her destination. Willing her mind to get it together, Kelsey decided to try a trick Rachel had taught her years ago to train her mind to focus on something. Watching the center line of the road, she imagined finding the person with all the answers and then driving back to Miranda.
Behind, a large truck crowded her on the road, she slowed and pulled to the right to let it pass. The Semi-truck remained behind her, almost touching the bumper of her SUV. Kelsey sped up and tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she made a sharp turn up ahead. An oncoming truck sped past, the driver beeping his horn. Cursing under her breath, Kelsey slowed to pull off the road. When another Semi-truck cab came down an eastbound crossroad. Kelsey felt the impact of both Semis’ bumpers as they pushed her SUV across the road. Trying to control the forward movement, she applied the brakes. The tires on Kelsey’s SUV squealed as they. gripped the road. The last thing Kelsey saw before she went unconscious were trees engulfing her vehicle.
***
Cold Case Behavioral Unit Offices, Pittsburgh, Mid-Day, March 30, 2012
“Red, have you heard from Mack today? I thought she might come in since you said she spent all of yesterday in bed with Miranda.” Torres winked.
Chuckling, Nikki thought about the text she got early this morning. “Not according to the text, she sent me. She’s staying home one more day.”
Torres’s
phone rang with a dire death march.
Nikki watched Torres answer it, wondering what number she had assigned that dreary ringtone to. Her mind wandered a little as Deborah Norman walked into the staff room and smiled. Just smile and try not to think about what it would be like to kiss those lips. Nikki smiled and dipped her head in acknowledgment.
Torres’s hushed voice grew alarmed, and Nikki turned to witness the tall older woman’s face go ashen. “I will. Thank you for calling. Let me know if there is any progress on your end.”
Nikki hardly waited for Torres to end the call before she spoke. “What is it? Something terrible has you upset.”
Torres’s jaw clenched, and she tore her hands through her hair. “That was the warden from Greensville; Washburg has escaped.”
“What the fuck? You cannot be serious; this has to be some sick joke. How the Hell did this happen?”
“There was a fight that turned into a riot. The guards were moving Washburg to solitary when a man stabbed him. There was a large fight, and after the dust settled, a couple of corrections officers took Washburg to the infirmary for his wounds. Another inmate, who got caught up in the fray was unconscious and convulsing; they took him to a nearby hospital because the infirmary couldn’t handle more casualties. The inmate, in the hospital, escaped through a window into the night. This morning they discovered that the man in the infirmary, who they thought was Washburg, was, in fact, another inmate. Washburg had somehow convinced an inmate to switch places with him in the shower, and he looked enough like the other man, the corrections officers didn’t notice anything.”