"Perfect," she thought. She waited under the side awning for it to let up. Surely, it would. The sky grew dark. Cars drove by on the side street on the other side of the building. Then a car drove up and stopped. Well, that was creepy, she thought. She peeked her head around the back of the building to look at the street.
It was Geoff's car. The black sedan. She was getting pounded with rain as she stepped out from around the building to stare at him. He left the car on, and got out. He shut the door. He was dripping wet with rain now too.
He stared at her for a moment and then slowly walked around the car and towards her. He stopped in front of her. He stood there, looking down at her. Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Then pulled her back around to the side of the building under the awning and kissed her passionately, hungrily. The sky was dark and the rain was pounding. So was her heart. Everything around her was cold, but he was warm. And this was not a goodbye kiss. She cried tears of joy that mixed with the rain on her cheeks as she kissed him. He was hers again.
Rachel came to with a crescendo of energy that ended with a snap and her eyes popped open. There she was on her front porch, lying on the floor. She was stunned at how vivid that flash was. The sun was brighter. It was later in the day. She didn't care. She saw an ant crawl across her arm, she didn't care. She couldn't move. She was too stunned. She was getting her life back slowly. One chunk at a time. It was so obvious and vivid, her memories... She couldn't believe she had ever forgotten them.
Chapter 10
Rachel became aware that she was in a public restroom. Zane was in control and she was changing her clothes.
'What are we doing?' Rachel asked from inside.
"Rachel, I swear to God, why do you show up at these moments?" Zane said quietly out loud.
'You're going to kill again!' Rachel said.
"Did you or did you not see what happens when we don't obey?!" Zane snapped and looked up at herself in the mirror.
Rachel was startled. Zane was wearing a wig, long straight blond hair.
'Well, this is different,' Rachel said.
"Only for you," Zane muttered.
'How long have I been out?' Rachel asked.
"I don't know, I don't keep track of you," Zane said as she zipped up a conservative gray skirt. She buttoned up a white long sleeved shirt and tucked it in, then put on the gray suit jacket that matched the skirt.
She looked in the mirror then and carefully slid a black headband over her hair. Behind the wig's bangs. Then she put on dark rimmed glasses.
'When did you speak to me last?' Rachel asked.
"Two weeks ago, after the debriefing," Zane said as she put on a muted lip gloss.
'Have you killed in that time?' Rachel asked.
"Maybe."
'Dammit, Zane.'
"You wanna drive?" Zane asked her in the mirror. "’Cause I think you'd get us all killed really quick." She picked up a briefcase from the floor. She had managed to stuff her old outfit, pants and shirt, into a big chunky purse. She picked that up too and said, "Now shut up and let me do my job."
'Why did you even wake me up at all?' Rachel asked.
'I'm beginning to wonder that myself,' Zane said inside.
Rachel watched as they walked through a busy mall to a door. It led to an office building. It too was fairly busy. Apparently, there was a parade going on. A few workers were crowded around the front glass of the large building.
Zane made her way to the elevator. She rode it up to the fourth floor and got off with a group. She dawdled as they dispersed and then Zane discreetly took the stairs back to the third floor.
She opened the door and there were tarps hanging from the ceiling. Construction was going on. But not right now. It was dark and quiet. Zane made her way over to a window, above the parade. She cracked the window open. She set down her purse and briefcase, and opened the case. It had a rifle inside it, nestled in foam.
Rachel was actually surprised.
"Not a word," Zane said after she'd put the pieces of the gun together and aimed it carefully out the window. City officials were riding in convertibles and waving. Baton twirlers were dancing. Bands were marching. She couldn't remember what parade this might be.
A blue convertible came into view. Zane let it pass. A man in a suit was sitting on the back seat and waving. Then she aimed at the back of the gray haired man's head. Once she had him in her sights, she fired.
The bullet hit him at the top of his neck, base of his skull, killing him instantly. He fell forward and landed on the seat.
"Not what I was aiming for, but it worked anyway," Zane said as she quickly moved away from the window. She packed up her gun and moved back and watched from the shadows. The car had screeched to a stop. A horrified crowd had gathered. Two police officers were trying to hold off the throng. Back up had probably been called.
The bands had stopped, the parade had stopped. Zane stepped back quickly and went into the stairwell.
She quickly descended the three flights of stairs and went out into the lobby. She followed stray people as they went over to the window to join the crowd there.
"Oh my God, what happened?" Zane said, sounding like a sweet worried office worker.
"Someone's been shot," a voice said near her.
There was a constant chatter as people speculated aloud and tried to get a better view.
Zane jostled forward and managed to get up to the glass at one point. She put her hand to it and peered out, faking worry.
'All I have to do is open this briefcase and let the gun fall out,' Rachel said inside. 'And they'll all know you did it.'
'That's it,' Zane said as she hurried away from the window. 'You're going back inside.'
Rachel heard the clip clop of Zane's comfortable pumps as she hurried across the lobby, and Zane pushed her back inside her mind, 'til there was nothing but black. And then she was gone.
Chapter 11
Rachel was drifting through a memory again. Her wedding day. She was 19. Most of the people at the wedding were Geoff's family and friends and colleagues. Allie was her maid of honor, but Geoff's sister and cousin were her other bridesmaids.
Still it was the happiest day of her life. They kissed at the altar and everyone clapped and cheered as they walked out of the church.
Then it dissolved. Another memory took its place. She was arguing with her husband the night of the party where she had found him cheating. She had actually eventually gone back down to her guests and put on a false cheery face and finished the party. She’d told them Geoff was sick and couldn't join them. She had told him not to come down. The blond woman had discreetly left while Rachel was locked in the bathroom.
But now the party was over, the guests and servants had gone. It was just the two of them. And she was furious. She went to find him in his study upstairs. She burst into the room. He was sitting in silence in a chair with his feet up. In the dark.
She flipped on a light.
"What the HELL were you thinking?" she fumed at him.
He jumped up out of his chair. "Let me explain..." he started.
She laughed. "There IS no explanation. You cheated!" She started to cry. "And in my house!"
"Our house," he said quietly.
"Well, that makes it all better," Rachel said with a laugh. "I guess that gives you every right to start a little harem."
"That wasn't what I meant," he said, getting frustrated. "You are never around. You're always busy with your projects and friends—"
"THAT'S your excuse for having an affair?! Like you weren't always busy at the office." She realized something, "God, if you were even at the office."
"We had grown apart, Rach," he said, trying to explain. "We barely knew each other anymore."
"So, instead of talking to me about it, you have SEX with someone else? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Quit blaming me for everything!" he shouted.
"You're the one who cheated!" she shouted back. Te
ars were streaming down her face. "I want a divorce."
"What?!" He was shocked. "Over THIS?!"
"Are you kidding me? Yes, over this!" She couldn't believe he was surprised by this. "I will take half of your money and everyone will know why we split. I'll give interviews about it. Everyone will know what kind of a person you are."
That had hit home. He was dazed. Then a fury of anger rose up in him. "You will NOT take half of what I have. You didn't even earn it. I did."
"You were born into it! Most of it was given to you at birth," she argued.
"You would never tell the world about our personal life. You hate that," he said, his face getting redder.
"I hate you more," she said through her tears. "What if I do more than that, huh, Geoff? What if I call the police and tell them you committed statutory rape? That you seduced a 17-year-old girl when you were 29? How does jail sound to you?" She glared at him.
"Shut up," he said. He was red with anger, almost shaking.
"I'll take your money, I'll tell everyone what you did, hell I'll write a book—"
"Shut up!" he shouted.
"And I'll have you put in jail for being a pervert when I was 17!" she shouted.
"SHUT UP!" He yelled with rage and grabbed the heavy vase on a nearby table and swung it at her.
It cracked into her skull. The vase shattered. She fell to the floor, everything went black.
Her head was throbbing, she was waking up, but so groggy and dizzy and weak she couldn't open her eyes. Male voices were speaking over her.
"Thank you, Rob," her husband was saying in a broken voice. "I didn't know who else to call."
"Whew!" Rob said, probably as he caught sight of her. "You've really made a mess," he said.
Rachel recognized his voice. He was one of Geoff's friends from a men's club he belonged to.
"I don't know what to do." Geoff had a sob in his voice.
"Don't worry," Rob said calmly. "I've dealt with problems like this before. I know people who can help you clean up this mess. It'll cost you, though."
"Anything," Geoff said, still upset. "Just make it go away."
Rachel was disturbed by this conversation, afraid of what they would do to her. Kill her? Bury her alive? She tried to move or speak, but all she could do was let out a little moan and roll her head slightly. She still couldn't open her eyes.
"Oh my God!" Geoff said. But he didn't rush to her side. He didn't try to help her.
"Wow," Rob said. He paused for moment. "This is even better," he said.
"What?" Geoff asked, confused.
"You won't be paying anyone to take care of this problem. They'll be paying you," Rob said.
Geoff said nothing.
"I know of a group who will buy... unwanted people, so they can train them with special skills and do research, etc.," Rob said.
"I..." Geoff said, sounding shocked.
"They'll erase her memory, Geoff," Rob told him. "All I have to do is make a phone call."
"I can't believe this is happening," Geoff said with tears in his voice again. "What will they do to her?" he asked.
"Frankly," Rob said, then paused, thinking it over, "they'll most likely make her into an assassin or a spy. To be rented out. It's a lucrative business," he said.
"I don't know," Geoff sobbed.
"Look, if she comes to, you'll go to prison for assault or attempted murder."
Geoff said nothing. Rachel heard him sniffle.
"So unless you want to finish the job, or have someone else finish the job, I suggest you take this deal." Rob spoke as calmly and firmly as if he were selling real estate to someone.
"Hey, she'll be alive," Rob said, softening his voice into sympathy. "It's the best way to go."
There was a big silence and then Geoff said with tears in his voice, "Make the call... sell her."
"Good man," Rob said, almost cheerfully, and started to dial his cell phone.
Rachel struggled to move again, or speak. The world faded in and out. The light came back. She moaned. She tried to move, but her arms seemed to be tied down. She was lying on something hard, like a metal table or gurney.
"We can't contain her anymore," a male voice said. "Look at the brain waves. The host personality is completely out and retrieving forbidden memories. We have to terminate her."
Another man sighed. "Alright. I'll go get the order signed. You get the kit ready."
She heard one man leave the room. She was waking up more now, becoming less groggy. She opened her eyes and saw a man with short dark hair, average looks, 30-something. He wore white pants and a white shirt neatly tucked in. He had a grim expression on his face. He was opening a case near her, setting things on the table near hers. The room was small and white and bright.
Suddenly someone took over her body, and spoke. "Billy!" she said. It was Zane.
He looked over at her with pity, and what looked a bit like puppy love.
"Billy," Zane pleaded, in a feminine sweet way Rachel didn't know she was capable of, "Please don't let them do this to me. We'll run away together," she said. "It's time. Please, let me up," she begged. "We'll take care of him and get out of here. Please..."
Billy was softening with her pleas and desperation and the way she looked at him. It occurred to Rachel that Zane had been cultivating this relationship for a long time, just for this purpose.
Billy had paused. He’d stopped setting up the termination kit.
"Please, Billy," Zane started to cry. "Please don't let them kill me..."
He made his decision and got the key to unlock her cuffs from across the room. He unlocked the chains around her ankles too. Zane leaped off the table and grabbed Billy's face and kissed him full on the mouth.
"Thank you!" she whispered. Then she moved her hands back a little and pressed firmly into pressure points at the top of his neck on both sides. He immediately fell to the floor, unconscious. She was wearing her own clothes. Rachel had expected a hospital gown.
She grabbed her shoes from a table nearby and put them on, and her jacket. Zane was still in control. Rachel realized this must be one of those 'doctor's appointments' where they debriefed her after a kill.
Zane rummaged through Billy's pockets and found his keys and took them. Just then the other man came back in with a piece of paper, probably the order to kill her.
He was older, had wavy gray and brown hair. He also wore the all white clothing, possibly some kind of uniform. He stopped and immediately reached for the pepper spray on his belt. Before he could pull it off and spray it Zane had turned and kicked him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him and knocking him to the floor.
He lay in the doorway trying to catch his breath. Zane looked down at him and said in a snide greeting, "Walter," then kicked him in the head and knocked him out.
She immediately ran down a hall to her right. She just followed the "Exit" signs. Twice she had to unlock doors with the keys, but she saw no other people in the hall. She ran out of the back of the building. The sun was just setting. The building was huge, made of brick. It could have passed for a hospital or clinic. Maybe it had been one.
Zane continued to run as fast as she could away. She was more scared than Rachel had ever seen her. It grew dark. They began to walk. "I'm out," Zane said, exhausted, and dropped back into the body and gave Rachel control of it. She stumbled a little as she took over. Then she ran over to the nearest dark corner she could find, between an old brick building and some bushes and a wooden fence, and crouched down to hide.
She was in a panic. Where could she possibly go where they could not find her? Or where one of her fellow assassins could not find her. She crouched in the dark, hugging her knees to herself, and rocking, partly for comfort and partly for warmth as it grew cold.
Chapter 12
It was cold crouching in her corner. She had to think up a plan. She checked her pockets to see if she had a cell phone. She found one in her jacket pocket. She flipped it open with shivering fing
ers and looked through the menu for Tom's phone number.
Thank God Kayla had put it in there. It had little heart icons next to it. She pressed the call button and waited for him to pick up. He did on the fourth ring.
"Kayla?" he said.
"Rachel," she said as she shivered. It wasn't too cold that night, but sitting still in cool air had gotten to her.
"Where are you?" he asked, concerned.
"Are you on my side, Tom?" Rachel asked in a small voice.
"Yes. I'm on your side," he said reassuringly. "What's going on?"
"Because I know I made a big mess of everything, and I don't know if you and Kayla worked things out or not." She babbled, shaking, partly from panic.
"We did, Rachel. We're still together."
"I have some bad news," she said as she shivered.
"What is it?"
"I think... I think they will have put out a hit on me by now. They got a signed order to kill me at their clinic. I escaped—Zane escaped—and I don't know what to do..." She started to cry. "And they may have tapped your phone, or my phone and it could be too late—"
"Shh, Rachel. It's okay," he said. "I'm coming to get you."
"We can't go home," she said, still crying, "Yours or mine. They'll find us..."
"We'll find a place," he said. "The GPS map on my phone shows me where you are." He paused to think. "You shouldn't stay there. Is Kayla around?"
Kayla didn't come forward. She was too scared. Rachel could feel her in the background, though.
"I think she's here," Rachel said.
"I want you to meet me at the place we had our second date. She'll know where it is." He paused. "Don't say it out loud. And you should probably start moving soon... and, Rachel?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"Me too," she said in a small voice into the phone. "Goodbye."
"Bye."
She clicked her phone off and left it there in the dirt, just in case they could track it anyway. She got up with stiff cold limbs and sort of limped to the edge of the bushes. No sign of anyone yet. She followed the wooden fence to its edge and climbed behind it. She ran across a vacant lot.
'Two blocks,' Kayla said in her head.
Rachel obeyed and ran two blocks in the direction she was going. When she reached that corner Kayla said, 'Three blocks left. On Cresher Street. The Midnight Cafe.'