A Light From the Darkness

Backstory

2012-06-12T09:16:00.000-07:00

This is the earliest piece of writing I can salvage. It is not my "first" novel as there were probably a half dozen or more before this--Rogue Mutt has always been nothing if not prolific. This is the oldest one that's not stored on some ancient Apple II diskette or in old spiral notebooks.

Anyway, I wrote this as a sophomore in high school. It's about a young woman named Katie who's recruited to join some kind of street gang/criminal organization and her rise to power until she falls in love with an intrepid reporter who's investigating the organization. It's kind of "West Side Story" meets "Scarface" although I hadn't seen either at the time.

This is actually the second version of this story. The first featured an interesting structure where the first half of each chapter featured Katie in prison about ten years later while the second half of the captured featured Katie when she was still gang-banging. That was dropped in this version as it seemed too confusing.

Please enjoy "A Light From the Darkness..."

Epilogue

2007-06-12T09:47:00.002-07:00

Epilogue

The sky was dark and foreboding, black clouds building rapidly in the gray sky. Cold winds ripped the tree leaves around and autumn was closing in. The world seemed silent and dark and then the skies opened up. Rain began pouring down in large, cold drops. On the hill overlooking River City, a gaggle of umbrellas opened.

It was nearly two weeks later when Katie’s body was buried on the hill. Dave held little Stephanie as they put the casket into the ground and covered it with dirt. Friends and family patted him on the shoulders and gave their condolences, leaving the cemetery. Dave stood there in the rain, shielding Stephanie from the cold drops hitting all around the two of them.

He saw Katie’s death not as an ending, but as a new beginning. He knew that times would be hard, but he would live through them and raise his daughter as best he could. He would try to raise her how Katie would have wanted to, and he would give her all the love in his body. He would always remember Katie, and the times they had shared, but he knew that she wanted him to carry on, to not throw away his life pining for her.

That still didn’t silence the emptiness he kept feeling in his heart late at night when he woke up after dreaming of her being in bed next to him. It was then that he would think of her and shed a few tears for her, for the love of his life that had been brutally silenced by cold hatred and lust for revenge. He would think of her and how perfect they had been for each other, and then he would get up and walk to the nursery and watch Stephanie sleep, with the same peaceful look on her face that Katie had always had. It was during these times that he felt Katie’s presence watching over him and Stephanie, and he knew that he was not alone, not really. As long as he remembered her in his heart, Katie would always be with him.

The last shovel full of dirt was thrown on the grave and the gravediggers left the scene, heading for parts warmer and drier. Dave stayed and walked over to the grave slowly, his legs still not fully healed from Tarah’s bullets. Flowers had already been placed near the small tombstone, but Dave reached into his jacket and pulled out a rose he had been saving. It was a red rose and Dave held it in his hands for a few seconds, thinking of Katie. Then he knelt down and gently placed the flower on the grave, where he knew her head would be. Little Stephanie, who was too young to know what was going on, remained silent during this procedure. Dave looked down at the flower and saw the water from the rain delicately running down the curves of the petals. He imagined his wife under the all the dirt, sleeping peacefully forever. He thought of how angelic she looked when she slept, how she would remain that way forever. His cheeks became wet, not from the rain but from tears, the tears that only love could bring.

[END]

Chapter 14

2007-06-12T09:47:00.001-07:00

Chapter 14

Tarah stopped in front of the house and smiled. It was the dead of night and the moment of her greatest triumph. She sat in her car and looked at the suburban house in silent rage. The piece of paper in her hand crumpled and the smile faded. It was almost like a bad dream, one that she would never wake up from. Katie was living her dream now. She was living in the suburbs in a nice house with a family, exactly what she had always wanted for her and Rick. Now that Rick was dead and the organization destroyed, there was no chance for her dream to become reality. Instead that traitor Katie had everything that Tarah had ever wanted, she would pay for that.

After leaving the hospital and stealing a car she had conceived her plan against Katie. She knew that it would be simpler to find her and kill her, but Tarah had something much more devious in mind. After all, Katie didn't deserve to die without suffering, which is what Tarah would make her do. She would suffer long and hard, as Tarah had all of those months in the coma. The first step in the plan was to find out more about her adversary's consort, the popular reporter named Dave McGregor.

She had gotten into as many records about McGregor as she could; she had read nearly every article he had written and had even been able to get some information from his good friend Bernie by less than honest means. She nearly laughed out loud as she thought about how that pasty‑faced reporter had melted the second he saw her bare and plentiful breasts. She had done her homework on McGregor and now she knew exactly how she would avenge Rick, not by confronting Katie, but by ensnaring her in a trap that would not only kill her, but the man that she loved. She would have loved to have killed their little child, but there was no room in her plan for that. Besides, the emotional scars the kid would receive would be more than enough to spoil whatever life she led. That would be the sweetest revenge of all, twisting the very soul of her enemy's child, dashing any hopes she might have for the girl.

Tarah drove away from the house and headed back towards the city and her hideout. The trip took her into the heart of the slums and then to the place where all of her dreams had been destroyed, the place where no one ventured to go: the old fish cannery that had once housed the organization. She stopped her car in the decayed hidden parking lot, which was overgrown with grass and cracking as weeds and cold weather slowly eroded it. Debris crunched under her feet as she walked towards the old warehouse. She carefully stepped over the yellow police tape and then opened the door.

The warehouse was empty now, except for the small cot and overturned crates that Tarah used for furniture. The cot had been in an old closet in the foreman's office, Cris' office. There was ash and soot near where the door to the office complex had once been, before it had been blown apart. Everything was gone except for the large, empty structure, which was slowly falling apart. There was no sound except for the distant noises of small animals in the rafters, birds or rats making a living in the desolate place.

Tarah wasn't sure why the cannery hadn't been torn down, except that it was in a bad part of town where another abandoned building wouldn't matter. The first days she had come here she had spent exploring the wreckage of the offices, searching for anything of value. She had found nothing except two interesting artifacts: a piece of melted green plastic that had been a computer disk, and a few strands of black fabric. The disk had been in Frances' office, while the fabric had been in Katie's. Tarah had kept the objects to remind herself of who it was she was fighting against. She sat down on her cot and looked around at the dark, cold warehouse.

She didn't know why she had come here, she had seemingly been drawn to it by some force. For years the organization had been the center of her life, and now it was gone. But living in this place made her realize that not everything was gone. She already had a long‑range plan that would make her the richest and most powerful woman in River City, and later the world. It was a plan that she knew would work to bring the organization back to glory.

The old organization was dead, Tarah knew that much, but under her leadership a new one could begin. After disposing of Katie and her husband Tarah would slowly begin recruiting workers for a new organization. She would need money to buy products to sell, but that would come later. First she would need to get some help to help her recreate the organization. That help would come in the form of young people who were living on the streets, people who were like her when she had been first recruited. People who were desperate but not stupid, scarred but capable, and most of all people who were loyal. The Boss' mistake had been to garner the support of traitors like Katie, people that couldn't be trusted. Tarah would be sure to recruit only those who would support her and her only.

She closed her eyes, reveling in her dreams of a new organization, revenge on Katie, and a new life for herself. Her old dreams had been destroyed, now was the time for her to build new dreams. This time she wouldn't fail, she would win. It would all start very soon, in three days when Katie and Dave would be at their weakest, on the day of their first anniversary. She couldn't help but let out a maniacal laugh that thundered across the room and echoed before finally fading. Tarah was asleep and dreaming before the last echo bounced off of the walls.

***

Katie wiped away the sweat in her eyes and concentrated on hammering the last nail into place. She swung the hammer and it hit home, sending the nail plummeting into the wood where it would stay for many years. She smiled at her handiwork and looked around to see how the others were doing.

The house's frame was nearly finished, and soon it would be time to begin putting up walls, floors, and the roof. The house was being made for a homeless family as part of the Habitats for Humanity program, of which Katie was a local leader. She put the hammer back into her tool belt and went over to get some water. She sat down and watched the others work. Growing up on the streets she had been homeless for a long time, which made this project all the more important to her. She wanted to help as many people as she could that were in the same situation that she had been.

Following her mother's example, Katie had joined or created many charity organizations. It was ironic that instead of heading up a smuggler organization she was now the head of organizations designed to stop urban crime, despair, and homelessness. She had also helped several homeless kids find good foster homes. It seemed that now her life was nothing but charity work and caring for Stephanie. She had decided only a month ago that it would be all right for her to begin actively working, leaving her three month old daughter with Mrs. Qualen, her baby‑sitter. She missed being at home with her little girl, but there was still a lot for her do, a lot of penance to do for her crimes. She sighed and thought of the publicity that she had been getting recently, publicity that was more than a little unnerving.

It had started a couple of weeks ago when she had begun going to the slums and helping those that she could with gifts of food, money, and hope. She had recruited hundreds of volunteers to help her clean up the streets of the city, and to help those who were poor or homeless. Newspapers and TV news shows had caught wind of her good deeds and made her the subject of several nationally seen human interest stories. While she knew that it was good publicity for her cause, it was also worrying her. If anyone recognized her, then she could be in serious trouble. She shivered at that thought and then stood to go back to work. She checked her watch and knew that she still had about two hours before she had to go back home to begin cooking dinner and to get in some quality time with little Stephanie.

***

Dave sat at his desk, bored. There was little news to cover right now, leaving him with nothing to do. He looked at the picture on his desk of his family: him, Katie, and Stephanie. He wished that he could be home with them but he knew that Katie wouldn't be home right now. She would be too busy doing her volunteer work, which is all she seemed to be doing of late.

There was nothing wrong with doing good deeds, he just wished that it didn't mean depriving him of time with his wife. Every day she was working in the hot sun building homes and many nights she was speaking at rallies or doing something else. Still, she always managed to put aside a little time for her family, but it would be nice if she stopped working so hard. He shook his head and knew that she would never stop working hard. She had worked all of her life, mostly to survive, and he didn't expect her to go from the head of a major organization to being a barefoot and pregnant housewife. Not that he even wanted her barefoot and pregnant, he liked her sense of independence and her strong will, she wouldn't be the woman he loved if she lost those traits. He stopped the rush of thoughts for a moment, realizing that he was going around in circles. There was nothing that he could do, this was her problem, although she may not know it.

He knew the real reason for all of her efforts. She was trying in vain to repair the damage she had caused as the head of the organization. Much of the damage that had been caused would probably never be fixed, the organization had ruined too many lives for that. She hadn't come to terms to that yet and was instead trying to throw herself into work so that she wouldn't have to face the problem. She would slow down eventually, when she realized what many others had learned: you can't fix every problem in the world. Until then he would be patient with her, support her when she needed it, and comfort her when she came to the grips with the fact that she had been responsible for ruining many innocent lives.

Dave began to feel depressed and wondered why he had married her when he knew what she had done. The simple answer was that he loved her more than anything else in the universe and nothing could change that. Besides that, he knew the real Katie, the one who was good and generous, the one that had been naive and desperate when she had joined the organization. He knew what she was really like and he knew in his heart that she had never intended to hurt anyone, she had just been in misery so long that she couldn't see the difference between right and wrong. Their love had changed all of that and she was no longer the head of the organization, she was his wife, Stephanie's mother, and a local heroine for her work helping the poor. That other person no longer existed, at least not in his mind. Now if she would only stop torturing herself by engaging in an endless crusade to make up for actions in her checkered past. He hoped that it would be soon, before it began to strain his patience and their marriage.

***

The pistol gleamed in the dim light and Tarah smiled at it as she slowly loaded the chamber. The gun was a .38 caliber revolver with six shots, which would be more than enough to wipe Katie out once and for all. It had cost her a pretty penny, but it would all be worth it when she was standing over Katie's dying corpse. That would be when her revenge would be complete and Rick could rest in peace. She stopped loading the gun, thinking of him.

All during her coma she had suspected that he was dead when Frances and Cris had stormed into the house to kill her. That had tipped her off that Katie was more than likely alert to him tailing her, and most likely she would kill him to keep him silent. After leaving the hospital she had found an article in an old newspaper about a car chase that ended up with one death. Later she had found the death certificate for her beloved, the only man whom she had ever loved. Then she had known for certain that he was dead and that she would never see him again. Her fists clenched as she thought of the horrible pain aching in her heart from the loss.

She turned back to loading the gun, waiting for tomorrow night. Their first anniversary was the perfect time to strike because the saps would be so busy thinking of their love that they would never suspect her trap until it was too late. It was a trap that had taken a lot of work to set up. It was also a trap that couldn't fail. She finished loading the last bullet, spun the chamber around and then slapped it back into proper position. She set it on an empty crate and lay down on her cot, trying to get some sleep before her big day. As her eyes closed a smile spread across her face and she knew that it would be the best day of her life.

Katie lay next to Dave, feeling exhausted. There were blisters on her hands and her legs were sunburned from working in hot sun. She looked up at the ceiling, unable to sleep. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn't fall asleep. Finally she got up and padded downstairs, going into the kitchen to fix some warm milk, which she had always heard was a great cure for insomnia. She went to the refrigerator and took out the milk and then put it on the stove. As she waited for it to heat up, she sat down on the table and looked outside of the window at the moonlit sky.

She was really getting tired. She had come to the suburbs for peace and quiet, yet something had drawn her into her charity work. Now she spent most days on the streets that she had grown up on, trying to make them better. It was making a difference, but she was growing tired of the long hours it demanded of her. She wanted to spend more time with Dave and Stephanie, but her schedule didn't allow it. She couldn't just quit what she was doing, she had become a local hero and everyone would think that she had given up on her cause. Still, she didn't want her child growing up without a mother, like she had. She may be saving other lives, but she would lose her own daughter's. She stood up and took the milk off of the stove and then poured it into a glass. She went back to the table and took a careful sip. It tasted good and she looked back out the window.

After her anniversary tomorrow she would find someone else to help her with her programs so that she could make more time for her daughter. She thought in her mind of people she could trust to handle the work and knew that there were those whom she could give some of her responsibilities to. It was time for her to be a little selfish, to think a little more about her own happiness, if only because she still had a little girl to raise. She would be damned if her kid would grow up without a mother, without both of her loving parents. She wanted Stephanie to have the chances that she never had growing up. She wanted her to grow up knowing what was right and what was wrong. She wanted her to never know what it was like to live on the streets, to make love to men that she didn't love, to sell drugs to survive. She didn't want her daughter to have the kind of life that she had known.

She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Dave standing in the doorway. It was just like him to notice that she was gone and worry about her. He saw the glass of warm milk and smiled. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked tiredly.

"I was just thinking about our daughter's future. After tomorrow I'm going to make time for you and Stephanie. There's no reason for me to be working so hard, not if it means losing the most important things in my life," she answered quietly. He nodded, elated. He was overjoyed that she had decided to stop working so hard. Maybe she finally put her past behind her, he thought.

"I'm glad to hear that. I've really been missing you lately, and so has Stephanie."

"I know. It'll be good to spend more time with her...and with you," she pecked him on the cheek and smiled. Then she dumped the milk in the sink and followed Dave upstairs. It was after midnight and the anniversary celebration began as cries of passion tore through the nighttime silence.

* * *

The morning dawned clear and bright as the yellow ball the sun cast brilliant colors over the sky. Katie yawned and stretched, knowing that Stephanie would be up soon. Dave stirred next to her and she touched him lightly on the shoulder before she got out of bed and reached for her bath robe. She looked out at the beautiful rising sun and smiled. Today her schedule was clear, there would be nothing to distract her and Dave from spending their first anniversary together. She carefully padded downstairs and turned on the coffee maker. Then she went back upstairs to the nursery and peeked her head into the room.

Stephanie was still asleep and Katie couldn't help but feel joy rise in her heart as she saw her child sleeping peacefully. She was about to pull away, but she couldn't bring herself to turn away. Instead she eased into the room and sat down in a chair, watching her little girl sleep. The world seemed at peace for those moments, it was as if nothing could go wrong and evil didn't exist. The sunlight seemed brighter, the smell of trees and grass seemed fresher, and even the song of birds seemed merrier. Moments like this made her realize that no matter what went wrong with the world there were still things that were so beautiful that they alone made life worth living. She felt a tear come to her eye, a tear of happiness, and a tear of sadness because it made her think of her mother.

She had never missed her parents before, but now that she was a parent and a wife she missed them constantly. She knew that her life had not been a good one, but now that she had Dave and Stephanie everything was different. She had put her past behind her, but she still wondered what her parents thought of how her life had turned out and how different it would have been if they were still alive. She turned away from Stephanie and looked out the window. She stood up and looked out at the neighborhood spread out below.

It still seemed strange to be living in the suburbs after spending her entire life in the slums. There were times when it all seemed like some kind of fairy tale, even though it was real. She sighed and wondered what had happened to Frances and Cris. Last she had heard they had fled the country, bound for somewhere where they could start over again. They hadn't taken a lot of money from the organization, but enough to make a new life somewhere. She hoped that wherever they were they were as happy as she was right now. She heard Stephanie cry out and turned around to attend to her daughter.

* * *

Tarah woke up early, ignored the impressive sunrise and instead concentrating on the problem at hand. Today was the day to destroy Katie forever, which meant putting her plan into action. She reviewed every calculated step of it, knowing that there was little room for error. Of course, if her plan failed then she would have to resort to more direct methods. It wouldn't be as much fun, but it would get the job done.

She picked up her pistol and hefted it a few times, getting used to it. It felt good to hold the weapon; it made her feel a power she hadn't felt in a long time. She thought of Rick, of Katie, and of the organization. Today would be the dawn of a new era, one with Tarah at the helm. After Katie's demise she would rebuild the organization and then she would be able to wield unimaginable power. But for today she would concentrate on eliminating the single threat to her plans: the former leader of the organization, Katie Beyars. Tarah smiled and pantomimed shooting the pistol right at Katie's traitorous heart. Then she stood and went to the telephone, the one from the foreman's office that somehow had survived. She dialed a number and waited.

"River City Informer, this is Bernie. What's up?"

"Hello Bernie, it's me," Tarah breathed in her sexiest voice, the one that the reporter would remember most. "Listen very carefully."

"Why should I?" Bernie demanded.

"Because if you don't then your wife will see certain pictures that I don't think you want her to see, ones that would ruin you." It was a lie, Tarah hadn't taken a single picture, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"All right, I understand. What do you want?"

"I need you to deliver a message to McGregor, a very important one. Before you give it to him I need you to lure him to the office. If you don't follow instructions exactly then I will turn the pictures over."

"Why do you want McGregor?"

"Don't question, just do it."

"All right, I'll do it."

"Excellent. Bye‑bye," Tarah put down the telephone and smiled. Then she began to write down the message that she would leave for McGregor.

* * *

Dave was playing with Stephanie when the phone rang and he ran to the bedroom and picked it up. Katie was downstairs, getting ready for their evening. They had already lined up a baby-sitter and were planning on going to one of the city's fanciest restaurants. Dave still wasn't sure why Katie had flatly refused to go to the Golden Oyster, but he had respected her feelings. Dave quickly answered it, surprised to hear Bernie's panicked voice.

"Dave, we've got an emergency here. We need you to cover a story right away. I don't have the details, but the boss wanted me to get you over to the office right away," Bernie lied, feeling dirty.

"Is everything all right?" Dave asked, feeling a little concerned.

"I'm not sure. Just hurry." Bernie hung up and Dave rolled out of bed and went to the closet. Katie came in and eyed him worriedly.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"They need me at the office, something's come up. I'll be back as soon as I can," he replied quickly.

"Just once couldn't they use someone else? It's our anniversary, our first anniversary!" Katie shouted in frustration.

"I know, I'll be sure to hurry up."

"I'll miss you."

"I know. I love you." He kissed her and then slipped on his shoes. He grabbed his keys and wallet and then dashed downstairs. Then he went to his car and was gone. Katie watched him go and clenched her fists. It was one of the many times that she felt so helpless, so out of place living in the suburbs. Her life had been an adjustment since coming here, but she knew that it was worth it. She went to the nursery and picked up Stephanie, rocking her gently. She went downstairs and sat down on the couch, hoping that Dave would be back soon.

Dave rushed into the office and spotted Bernie. He rushed over and waited to hear what was going on. Bernie's face was pale and he was sweating. Dave knew that something was going on, something very bad.

"What the hell is going on, Bernie!" Dave shouted.

"Keep your voice down, dammit! There isn't any kind of emergency. I was instructed by a mysterious woman to give you this message. I'm sure that you'll know what it means, because I don't have a clue." Dave read the note which read simply: "Same Time, Same Place‑KM". Dave laughed as he read it and Bernie seemed to be relieved.

"This is from my wife, it's our first anniversary today. I suppose I should play along with her little game. There’s about two hours before nine, so I'll just pretend to be covering a story. So Bernie, you got a deck of cards?" They both laughed and Dave began waiting.

After nearly two hours he left the office and started his car, heading to the only place that she could have meant, the place where they had met. As he drove towards the pier he had to admire her sense of romance. This was the perfect way to celebrate their anniversary, much better than a fancy restaurant. He smiled and hummed to the song on the radio, feeling at peace with the world.

* * *

Katie sat in the living room, staring at the TV, wishing that this hadn't happened on their anniversary night. Stephanie was asleep in her arms and oblivious to the world. Katie knew that it wouldn't last and very soon she would become a very active toddler. Enjoy it while it lasts, she thought to herself. She sighed and was startled as the phone rang. She answered it and for a moment heard nothing.

"Same time, same place," a voice hissed.

"Who is this?" Katie demanded.

"Forgotten already? You'll never see him alive again. Same time, same place." The line went dead and Katie ran up the stairs and put Stephanie in her crib. She looked at her watch and knew that there wasn't any time to call for a baby-sitter. Still, it was too dangerous to bring her along. She scooped Stephanie up and the girl began to cry. Katie raced to the garage and gently strapped Stephanie into the front seat of the silver Mercedes that had once belonged to Michael. She started it and then headed for Mrs. Qualen's house. Without saying a word she dropped her daughter off and zoomed away towards the pier.

The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place as Katie thought about the message. The voice had sounded familiar, which could only mean one person: Tarah. Obviously Frances and Cris hadn't finished her off. She had lived and was gunning for Dave this time. Now it was up to her to save him before he walked right into a trap. Katie swerved around a car and then ran a red light, knowing that seconds counted. The minutes were ticking away and she didn't have much time. She neared the river and hoped that she would be in time.

Dave stepped out of his car and casually walked towards the old pier. As he neared it he saw a line of yellow tape and then saw its purpose, to keep people from walking onto the sinking pier. He sighed and then looked over at the dock. A single figure was standing there in dark clothes and he smiled as he headed for it. She had really added some nice touches to this, right down to the dark coat and hat that she had worn when they had met. He came onto the dock and saw that her back was turned. As he neared her, he felt something wrong, something that he couldn't place. She turned around and he was shocked to see that it wasn't Katie standing there.

"Hello stranger. Happy anniversary," Tarah said and pulled her gun. She fired once and Dave shouted out in pain as he collapsed to the dock. The bullet had torn into his left hip, making it too hard to stand. Tarah stood over him, leering at his demise.

"What do you want," Dave bit out through the pain.

"Only your wife's death. You see, you mean nothing to me, you're just bait for Katie. Once she come I will kill her and then you. But for now I think that crippling you will do nicely." She aimed the gun down lower and blasted his right knee. He screamed in agony. His hands reached down to try and stop the bleeding while Tarah took a few steps back and turned away.

"Why do you want to kill Katie, what did she ever do to you?"

"What did she do? She killed the only love in my life and ruined any chance I had for a future! She destroyed my life, isn't it only fair that I destroy hers as well?" Dave looked shocked at her and for a moment he was numb to the pain in his hip and leg.

"You're her friend, the one that abandoned her and tried to ruin her life," Dave stammered.

"She abandoned me! She abandoned me for you, her secret lover. Now you will die with her." Tarah looked him over and smiled grimly. "Don't try anything, or else I'll kill you now."

Dave looked around for any help, but there was no one around. Then he heard a car door slam and knew that it was her. "No, Katie! It's a trap!" He screamed. Tarah laughed quietly. Katie wouldn't heed his warning; she would charge in to try and save her lover.

Katie heard Dave's voice and ran towards him. She stopped when she saw the dock, painful memories coming back to her. Then she plunged onward, steeling herself to face Tarah. She expected Tarah to make some comment, but she simply took a shot at her without any prelude.

Katie dove away from the shot and then heard Tarah's arrogant voice cry out, "Long time, no see Katie. You know, I've really missed you since you killed Rick!"

"I didn't kill him, it was an accident!" Katie replied as she hid behind a crate. She took a quick peek and saw Tarah standing in the middle of the dock with Dave lying a few feet away. She wished that she had a gun, but she didn't have anything. She looked around for something to use, but there was nothing. Finally she took a deep breath and readied herself, knowing that this could be the end.

She jumped out from behind the crate and ran straight at Tarah. Tarah laughed and pulled the trigger. Katie dodged it, feeling it just graze her. She plunged on and saw Tarah's face harden as her muscles tensed up. Katie plowed into her like a freight train and both women hit the dock. The gun flew away and Dave saw it land. He began a painstaking crawl for it as Katie and Tarah wrestled.

Katie tried to get off of Tarah to get the gun, but Tarah kept a firm grip on her right arm. Finally Katie came back with a blow from her left hand and the grip loosened, but she still couldn't break free. She lashed out repeatedly until Tarah let go and she scrambled to her feet. The gun was no where in sight and before she could shout a question to Dave Tarah grabbed her from behind, strangling her. Katie managed to elbow Tarah and spin around, kicking her in the midsection. Tarah stumbled backwards and Katie punched her square in the jaw. Tarah kept her feet and slammed her fist into Katie's middle, causing her to double over. Then Tarah sent her knee smashing into Katie's face. Katie cried out and Tarah finished off the job by landing a blow on Katie's jaw, causing her to fall. Tarah looked for the gun and saw Dave crawling away. She spotted it and ran for it.

Katie struggled slowly to her feet and then hurried after Tarah. It was too late as Tarah picked up the fallen pistol, spun around, and fired off a wild shot. The bullet hit Katie in the abdomen and she screamed and fell to the dock. Dave shouted her name and Tarah gave a cry of triumph. She took a few steps and stood over her foe, laughing joyfully. Katie heard the laughter and looked in vain for something to help her, but again there was nothing.

"It's over for you," Tarah growled and cocked the pistol. She aimed it at Katie's head and her finger touched the trigger. Suddenly Katie rose up with every ounce of strength she had left and plowed into Tarah. Both women fell over, and the gun skittered away. Katie and Tarah both looked hungrily at it, but it was Dave who grabbed it. Katie rolled off of Tarah and stood shakily. Dave tossed her the pistol and she caught it as Tarah stood up. Katie gripped the trigger and smiled.

"Go to Hell," she said and pulled the trigger. Tarah's head exploded in a shower of blood and brains. Then Katie's hand dropped the pistol and she collapsed to the dock, landing on her back. She looked up at the starry sky and Dave crawled over to her.

Her skin was pale and getting cold and he took off his jacket and covered her with it. Tears formed in his eyes and he began to sob, holding his wife’s bleeding form.

It was then that her eyes opened. A smile came to her face and one hand shakily pulled his face to hers. She kissed him and looked into his gray eyes one last time, feeling the darkness around her coming closer and covering her like a black blanket. She thought of all of her time in the organization and how it had come to this, dying in her husband’s arms. She lay on the dock and remembered when she had been lying here after being stabbed and how she had mourned Michael’s death on this same dock. She knew that her final mistake had been assuming that Tarah was dead. I should have been more careful, she thought. She had gotten too comfortable in the suburbs and now she was paying for it. She also thought of how Stephanie was going to grow up, with no mother to guide her and help her. She briefly thought of all that she was going to miss and longed to stay with Dave and Stephanie forever. She could feel the darkness closing even further and knew that it was not going to happen.

As the dark curtain began closing around her, she whispered, “Dave, take care of Stephanie for me. I...I love you...I always have...I’m sorry it has to...to end like this.” Then Dave saw her midnight blue eyes close forever. The darkness smothered her and all she was able to get out was a short gasp. Her head lolled to the side and Dave felt her skin go cold.

“NO!” He screamed as he held her bleeding corpse. He bowed his head as he cried aloud, not wanting his wife to go. He didn’t want the only love he had ever had to go away. His tear-filled eyes looked down at the still form that was his wife, Katharine McGregor. He thought of the lips he would never touch again, the golden hair that he would never be able to run his fingers through as they made love, and the eyes he would never be able to look into and see love in again. He held her head to his chest and cried until the police arrived and pulled him away. The paramedics removed Katie’s shrouded body and loaded Dave onto a stretcher. Dave thought of his daughter and knew that she had not died in vain. As long as he had Stephanie, a piece of Katie would always be alive through her.

He felt the aching in his heart at her loss, and knew that it would never go away as long as he lived. He thought of her last words and wished that Katie had never joined that organization. He wished that he would have found her years ago, so that they could have spent more time together. Looking down at Stephanie, he wondered what things were going to be like without her. She had been his soulmate, the only woman he had ever truly loved. He couldn’t imagine going on without her, without being able to hold her and tell her how much he loved her. His life seemed so empty now, without her. He tried to imagine his life without her and all he could see was darkness, emptiness. But he knew that he had to go on, for Stephanie’s sake. He would do his best to raise her and to live without the love of his life, but he knew that no one could ever replace Katie. She was the one that a person only finds once in their life, the one that a person can never find again. Now she had been violently ripped away from him. He of the life he and Katie had created and for a few seconds he could almost feel Katie’s presence there. He smiled a little and hoped that he would be able to see Stephanie soon as the ambulances drove away.

“Good-bye Katie, I love you,” Dave whispered before the paramedics slapped an oxygen mask on his face. Somehow, he knew that she had heard him and then he walked towards the police cars.

Chapter 13

2007-06-12T09:45:00.002-07:00

Chapter 13

Nine months later Katie was gnashing her teeth in the delivery room of the hospital. Dave was at her side, encouraging her as she pushed again. She squeezed his hand and tried to use what she had learned in her class. The doctor was poised between her legs, and he could see the baby’s head appear in the opening.

“I can see the head! Push real hard a couple of more times!” The doctor encouraged Katie.

“Come on, just a couple of more times and we’ll be done!” Dave shouted excitedly. He saw through the mirror over the table the head just peeking out of the opening. Katie wanted to slap both her husband and the doctor. Do they think this is easy? She screamed to herself and wearily pushed, crying out in agony.

The baby’s body was beginning to come out now, and seemed to be waiting for its mother to complete its journey from the womb. Katie closed her eyes as the pain wracked her and knew that nothing she had ever done with the organization had put her in this much pain. She clamped her teeth together and bit down hard on her lip. The taste of brine entered her mouth as a thin trickle of blood dripped into her mouth and onto her chin. She pushed with all the strength left in her, tapping hidden reserves in one final effort. Then the child came out all the way and the doctor grabbed it. Soon the cries of the newborn child could be heard in the delivery room. The doctor wiped the baby clean of all the blood and Dave snipped the umbilical cord.

Meanwhile, Katie panted on the table while the nurse applied a wet cloth to her head and tried to keep her calm. She relaxed a little and the doctor handed Dave the blanket-wrapped kid. “Mrs. McGregor, you have a beautiful baby girl,” the doctor said and Dave gave her the baby. As she held it in her arms, she nearly fainted. The child seemed so beautiful and so perfect in her arms. She kissed it on the cheek and it giggled happily. She reached for Dave’s hand and looked into his eyes. He smiled and the nurse took the girl for observation as Katie and Dave locked in a kiss.

* * *

The girl spent the night in observation and the next morning the healthy child was given to Katie. Dave and Katie had spent the night deciding on a name and as Katie held the child she said, “Hello, little Stephanie. Welcome to the world.” Katie had pushed Dave for that name because it had been the name of her long-dead mother. When she had seen her mother’s name, she knew that it was what she would name her child if it was a girl. Dave had finally sided with her and it had been decided that the girl would be a tribute to Katie’s mother.

Dave had called his mother and told her about her new grandchild. She had been ecstatic and agreed with Katie’s choice of names. Now, little Stephanie looked up at her mother with the gray eyes she shared with her father. Katie smiled and opened her hospital gown so the baby could nurse from her breast. She stroked the girl’s light hair as it drank its mother’s milk. Dave had left for work, and for a few moments Katie felt lonely. Then she looked down at little Stephanie and knew that she would never be lonely again.

Stephanie fell asleep and Katie rocked her slowly in her arms. She still couldn’t believe that anything this small could be so perfect, and such a bundle of joy. She could also remember the look on Dave’s face when he had first held his daughter. He had seemed the happiest he had ever been and Katie knew why. The child was so beautiful and innocent. It seemed so pure and angelic. Katie remembered seeing Stephanie’s gray eyes, Dave’s eyes, looking up at her with such innocence. This was something that had not been tainted by evil like the organization and would never be.

Katie thought of her own growing up, wondering what it had been like to be held by her mother. Katie knew that she would never let her daughter go, never abandon her. She would always be there for her, and watch her grow up. While holding her newborn child, Katie could see her future, one where she and Dave would raise their daughter and watch her grow up, go on her first date, get a job, go to college, and eventually get married. She could see the wheels of life going around and around as her daughter would have children and her children would have children.

What had started in the hospital was more than a single birth, it was the birth of an entirely new family line. One that would hopefully last into infinity and beyond. Katie lightly touched her daughter’s face, feeling the soft skin, and knowing that something wonderful had begun yesterday when something so perfect, so beautiful was born. She could no longer imagine anything like the organization being good compared to this new life that she and Dave’s love had produced. The organization could never, never make anything like it.

* * *

The nurse walked into the darkened room and checked on the same patient she had been checking on for nearly a year now. The woman had been in a coma ever since she had been rushed to the emergency room with severe wounds. The nurse saw that the patient was stable, as usual. As the nurse turned to move, the woman’s hand moved. Then her eyes opened slowly. The woman let out a short gasp and the nurse turned around in shock.

“You’re awake! I’ll get the doctor!” The nurse ran from the room and left the woman alone. She looked around in the darkness, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. The nurse came back in and quickly opened the curtains, sunlight pouring in. The doctor came in and took a look at her chart and then at her.

“You’re finally awake. Welcome back to the world Sleeping Beauty,” the doctor grinned and checked the monitors.

“How long have I been out?” The woman asked, dazed.

“I’d say at least ten months. That’s the longest a person’s been in a coma here. I’ll check on you later. We’ll want to keep you here for a few more days for observation.” The doctor turned to leave and then looked back at the woman. “Oh, we don’t have a name on your chart. What’s your name?”

“Tarah...Tarah Smith,” Tarah covered quickly. She knew that someone in the organization may have given her name away, it would be best to use an alias. The doctor wrote the name down and then he left. The nurse looked over at Tarah and smiled.

“We’d better get you cleaned up,” the nurse said and took Tarah’s hand. Then she helped her up and led her to the bathroom. Tarah looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked.

Her face was deathly pale, she was very thin, and her eyes looked pale and dead. Tarah remembered the dreams and thoughts she torturing her for ten long months. All she could think about was losing Rick because of Katie. She kept seeing him die over and over, in many different ways. It had been ten months of tortured thoughts, ten months of Hell. And Katie was responsible for it all. She was responsible for having Frances and Cris attack her. She was responsible for these past few months, and for Rick’s death. As the nurse washed Tarah with a wet sponge, Tarah plotted how to fulfill a debt that had been accumulating for ten months.

* * *

Dave drove his wife and daughter to their new house that he and Katie had picked out a few months ago. It was in one of River City’s suburbs and Katie knew that it was the house that both she and Dave had dreamed of. It was a white two story house, with plenty of room for the two of them and Stephanie. It had a spacious back yard with a fence on both sides of the lawn to separate it from the other two houses. Katie put Stephanie in a stroller and they went to the front door of their new home. Katie left the stroller at the front of the house and Dave scooped her up to take her over the threshold. He grunted jokingly as he picked her up and she laughed and kissed him when he set her down. Then Dave took the stroller and wheeled their new daughter in. Katie looked around and saw that the movers had moved in all of Dave’s old furniture from the apartment. The three of them went upstairs and Dave put Stephanie in her crib in the nursery.

Katie looked around the nursery that she and Dave had designed. It had soft pink walls with toys, stuffed animals, and a small bed lying around. The bed was for when Stephanie got older and they could move her to the bed. They had also taken the precaution of setting up a table in the room that was for changing dirty diapers. There was a package of unused diapers next to the table and Katie could hardly wait until she had to start changing the dirty undergarments. It was not a task she was really looking forward to, but she knew that eventually she would have to do it. Stephanie giggled happily in the crib and played with some of the toys in it. Dave took his wife’s hand and led her to their bedroom. She gasped in surprise when she saw it. It was entirely different than Dave’s bedroom. All of the furniture in the room was new and he led her to their new king-size waterbed.

“I had this delivered while you were in the hospital. Nothing but the best for my lovely wife and daughter,” Dave whispered and kissed Katie. They collapsed onto the bed, with the waves in the mattress mimicking the waves of passion crashing down upon the two of them. Soon clothes lay about the mint-colored carpet and the couple lay on the bed. Then Katie heard Stephanie’s cries and wearily got to her feet. She put her clothes back on and smiled down at Dave.

“Well, I guess the honeymoon really is over,” she said and went to the nursery. Dave lay on the bed, glad that his surprise had worked. He remembered the surprised look on her face when she had seen the bedroom, and the love in her eyes. He knew that she would like it, and he wanted everything possible to make her happy. He also knew that the next few months would be hard for both of them because they would be woke up throughout the night by Stephanie’s crying. He saw her come back in and she began unpacking the clothes she had taken to the hospital. He knew that she was right: the honeymoon really was over now.

* * *

Tarah lay in the hospital bed and looked out the window. Somewhere, Katie was out there. She was out there, living the good life probably, since she had more than likely stolen all the organization’s money. She was out there and Tarah was in the hospital, unable to leave yet. No, she had to get out there and find her. She had a lot of planning to do. She had to find her, and then she’d have to figure out how to kill her. She needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

But, she told herself, she didn’t have any money or a place to stay. The hospital was as good of place as any to search for one Katharine Beyars. Tarah smiled and pushed the nurse’s call button. The nurse came in and Tarah looked up at her.

“May I please have a phone book, I need to call someone,” Tarah asked nicely and the nurse nodded.

“Sure, Miss Smith. I’m glad to see that you’re better,” the nurse hurried to bring the phone book and soon Tarah was looking through it. She knew that Katie wouldn’t use her real name, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure. She looked through it, but couldn’t find any alias’ that might be Katie and was finally forced to give up. She sighed and gave the phone book back to the nurse.

“Would you have any old newspapers lying around that I could read to kind of catch up on what’s been going on while I’ve been out?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” The nurse came back a few minutes later with a few old newspapers for Tarah to read. Tarah began to peruse them and then came to something interesting. It was a birth announcement for a Katharine and David McGregor. Tarah looked up and wondered, could it be her? She knew it was, she could feel it. Tarah carefully ripped out the announcement and then gave the newspapers back to the nurse.

* * *

Katie woke up the next morning, exhausted from having to care for Stephanie nearly the entire night. Dave had helped, but she wanted him to get some sleep. He was already gone and Katie was all alone with her child. She put on her robe and stumbled to the kitchen and made herself some coffee. She was still getting used to the house and went outside to get the morning paper and to check out the neighborhood and the yard. She took the paper and sipped her coffee, then she looked around at the neighborhood from the top of the stairs and smiled.

It was everything she had dreamt of. It was quiet and peaceful, with large grassy lawns and the sounds of birds chirping. Katie felt a great happiness well up inside of her as she walked barefoot around the yard. She saw the perfect spot along the fence to plant some flowers and nearly laughed out loud. She never thought that she would actually be able to plant and grow flowers. She walked around in the damp grass and felt absolutely wonderful. It just felt so peaceful to be out here, in the peaceful air with no worries. She took a deep breath and then another sip from her coffee mug. Then she heard Stephanie crying and went to check on her.

She checked her child’s diapers and set her on the table to change them. After that, she held the little girl and sat down in a rocking chair and gently rocked the baby. The chair was near a window and Katie smiled. “Smell that air, isn’t it wonderful? This is your new home. I just want you to know that I’ll never leave you, never. I love you,” she whispered as Stephanie yawned and fell asleep. The girl’s face looked like the epitome of peace. She looked so relaxed, so angelic, Katie couldn’t help but love her. She wanted to hold her like that forever, but knew that she couldn’t. She sighed and put little Stephanie back in her crib and then began to read the newspaper in the rocking chair. She took a few gulps of coffee at regular intervals until it was empty and she set it aside.

There was really nothing going on in River City now. The trials for the members of the organization had been finished only a few weeks ago, and almost every one of them had gone to jail, although some had given information to the DA and were allowed to be put on probation. Since then, there had been a radical drop in the crime rate and very little had happened. She saw that the terrorist group she had supplied with weapons had been destroyed, its members running out of ammunition and were unable to fight off a raid on its headquarters. It was over, almost all the organization’s evil had been wiped out.

That didn’t make her feel very good though. She wasn’t really off the hook. She had been responsible. She had been the leader; it was her fault. But, she kept telling herself, she had repented. She was no longer that evil person she had been. She would work for good, somehow. She thought of how her mother had joined numerous charity groups, trying to help people in her own way. Maybe she too could do that.

* * *

Tarah looked at the birth announcement and knew that she had to leave now, she needed to find some money and to find Katie. The hospital had allowed her to wake up and get her strength back, but it was time for her to leave. She had a lot of work to do to find and kill Katie. The nurse came in and Tarah looked up at her and smiled.

“I know I’ve asked a lot of you, but I need your help again,” Tarah started sweetly.

The nurse looked a little confused and asked, “What can I do for you?”

“I need you to help me get out of here. I feel fine, and...and I want to find my family. I know that they haven’t come because they didn’t know where I was, but...but I miss them so terribly! I’ve got to find them!” Tarah added some false tears and the nurse took her hand.

“Sure, I’ll help you. Come on, let’s get you some clothes.” The nurse went and soon handed Tarah some clothes. Tarah didn’t ask where they came from, and didn’t care. All she cared about was that she was getting out of here, to find Katie and kill her. The nurse gave Tarah some money and then helped sneak her out to the elevator. Tarah rode the elevator down to the ground floor and then walked out of the hospital. The nurse had given her a light jacket, which barely protected Tarah from the strong, cold breeze. She put her head down and walked towards the nearest phone booth to find a telephone book. She knew that she would have to find Katie quickly and then form some sort of plan to get her revenge.

She found a phone book and then began to look through it for McGregors. There were three listed and she looked for Dave McGregor. She finally saw it and then ripped the page out of the phone book and read the address. It was somewhere outside of town, out in one of the city’s suburbs. Tarah felt her anger rising.

The bitch had stolen her dream! She had been the one who had wanted to live out in the suburbs with her boyfriend and have children with him. She was living her dream! Tarah stuffed the page in her pocket and knew that she had to get a car to get out there.

She smiled and looked over in a nearby department store parking lot.

* * *

Katie heard a knock on the door and answered it, exhausted after running to take care of Stephanie all day. She also had begun to do some cleaning and unpacking, all of which she found tiring, but enjoyable. She felt good doing something so simple, so good, so fulfilling. She had to admit that she felt very comfortable as a mother and housewife. It was such a refreshing change from her days of running the organization. As she opened the door in a dirty T-shirt and jeans, she realized how foul-smelling and sweaty she was.

At the door was one of her neighbors with a cake in her hands. She was an older woman in her sixties, a grandmotherly sort of woman. “Hello?” Katie asked, wondering what this woman was doing here.

“Hello dear, I just thought I’d welcome you to the neighborhood properly with a little housewarming gift,” the woman announced and Katie smiled.

“Oh, thank-you. Won’t you come in?” Katie motioned for the woman to come in and escorted her to the living room. The woman set down the cake and she and Katie began talking.

Katie had never expected this. After growing up on the streets, she had never seen such courtesy. It was something she had only dreamed about. The two women shared pieces of cake and coffee while they talked, and they agreed that the older woman could baby-sit Stephanie if Katie had to go out for some reason. By the time the woman left, they felt like two old friends.

Dave came home and Katie met him at the front steps. As they exchanged greetings, Katie noticed someone looking at the house across the street that was renting out. She turned away and followed Dave up to the bedroom. “So how was your day?” Katie asked as she unbuttoned her blouse and smiled at him. She was really getting to like this place.

Chapter 12

2007-06-12T09:45:00.001-07:00

Chapter 12

It was springtime now and the grass was a deep shade of green and the sun’s rays provided comfortable temperatures. It was a perfect day on the hill overlooking River City as the first strains of music could be heard. Slowly, a woman in a white gown walked barefoot in the grass to where a man in a tuxedo waited.

Katie couldn’t believe that she was doing this. Here, on top of the hill overlooking the city, she was marrying her true love. She saw Dave waiting expectantly by the boulder on the hill. His best man, Bernie the reporter who had helped Dave find Katie, stood next to him. A priest waited near Dave to begin the ceremony. All of Dave’s friends and colleagues stood in the grassy meadow, and for a brief moment Katie was sad that she had no friends of her own and no father to give her away. She quickly banished those thoughts, concentrating on the sheer joy and happiness of the day, the day that she would marry Dave.

She finally took the last step and stood next to Dave. The priest began the ceremony and Katie knew that she had to be dreaming. They looked at each other, and both could feel the strength of their love. They had both waited for this day for a long time, and Dave knew that marrying Katie was the best thing he could possibly do. He thought of last night, and how much he had missed being with Katie during the bachelor party his friends had thrown for him. He wanted to be around her as much as he could, because he loved her too much to be apart from her for too long. He knew that she hadn’t had any sort of bridal shower because none of his friends knew her and she had no friends of her own.

Several people had asked him who this girl was that he was marrying, and he tried not to tell them anything of her past. He still had trouble believing that the woman standing next to him had once been the head of a major organization that had specialized in selling drugs and guns. She had seemed too nice and too loving of a person to be involved in that, but he understood that she had known no other life and she had not known the difference between right and wrong. Seeing her now, in the beautiful white lace and silk dress, he knew that she had changed, that she was no longer that girl who had grown up on the streets. She was a mature woman now, one who knew the difference between good and evil. He couldn’t help thinking how lucky he was to be marrying her.

They looked at each other and Dave began to speak, “Katie, I love you with all of my heart and I promise to take care of you in sickness in health, to provide for you in wealth or poverty, and to be faithful to you as long as I live. I want to marry no one else but you, and I never will. I will love you forever, until we are parted by death.”

“Dave, I love you too and I promise to be a good and faithful wife to you forever. I will never let anything separate us. I pledge to you my heart and my soul for as long as we both live,” Katie vowed to him and then they exchanged rings.

The priest smiled at them and then said, “I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride.” Dave lifted the veil from Katie’s face. His lips touched hers and they embraced each other. The kiss was long and passionate, and cameras snapped pictures as the guests were stunned. The kiss finally ended and Dave took Katie’s hand in his. They walked down the aisle as the guest applauded and cheered, Dave had told them to keep the hill clean and not throw the traditional rice, they went to Dave’s car and Katie climbed in. The car was decorated with streamers and cans and Dave took the wheel. He started the car and Katie opened the window. She flung her bouquet of flowers out of the window and then Dave floored the accelerator.

The car sped down the hill and soon the wedding was left behind. Katie smiled at Dave and they headed for his apartment for the beginning of their honeymoon. Katie had told Dave that she didn’t want to go anywhere special; she just wanted to be with him. He had agreed not to go anywhere and to just spend the week of their honeymoon relaxing at home.

When they arrived at his apartment door, he scooped her up and carried her over the threshold. She giggled nervously and he set her down, a little out of breath. Still in her wedding dress, she turned down the lights and turned on some romantic music, savoring spending the rest of her life with him. They ate dinner quietly, just happy to be together. After dinner, Dave took Katie’s hand and led her back to the bedroom. He closed the door and kissed her.

Katie began taking off Dave’s clothes, slowly unfastening each button. He caressed her shoulders and began slipping the wedding dress off of her. Soon all their clothes lay in a heap on the floor. Then Katie laid down on the bed, waiting for Dave to make a move. He got down on top of her, his fingers moving up her body, and his lips touching hers. Katie’s head tilted back as Dave’s lips touched her neck and breasts and she could feel the passion rising. It rose like a wave and washed over both of them and soon they were in a tangle of arms and legs. She moaned with pleasure and thought of how much she loved him. She thought of that first time on the beach, where everything had seemed so right and so perfect, like a finely crafted gem. She felt this sense of perfection again, only this time they were married and were at his apartment. She also thought of Michael and wondered what it would have been like to make love to him. Would it have been like this? Would their bodies have melded together in such a way as to make the experience so absolutely perfect?

She didn’t know the answers to these questions, but she did know that Michael was nothing like Dave. His goals, his dreams, were evil and based on taking advantage of young people. Dave, however, simply wanted to be with her and to spend time with her; he cared about her and understood her like no one else ever had. He had protected her and sheltered her, giving her a safe haven after the organization was destroyed. Now, on their honeymoon, she didn’t care about Michael anymore. He was just a thing in her past. A past she was trying to leave behind. She wanted only to be with Dave and make a family with him now. Nothing else that had happened mattered. Only her and Dave, and the time they spent together mattered now.

Dave looked down at her, seeing the look of pleasure on her face that he knew matched his own. This time seemed even better than the first. Now that he was married to her, he looked forward to seeing her every time he woke up and every time he went to bed. They would be together forever. There was nothing to stop them now. Her past was gone and all that remained was their love for each other. He thought of each time he had met her, how she had seemed to tell him more about her each time, until that moment on the beach where he had taken her into his arms and made love to her. Then afterwards she had told him of Michael, whom she had been in love with once.

He knew though, seeing again the look on her face, that she was over Michael and she loved him with all of her heart now. He was looking forward to the rest of the week with her and no one else. He finally rolled off of her and lay on his back, looking at the ceiling. Katie touched him and they kissed. Then sleep caught up to both of them and claimed them. As Dave’s eyes closed, he saw a contented look on her face; her eyes closed and her breathing soft and barely audible, like a summer breeze. Finally, he was plunged into blackness, whispering, “You are the most beautiful wife a man could have, Mrs. McGregor.” In her sleep, a smile came across Katie’s face as if to acknowledge the statement.

* * *

The sun rose over River City, bringing in a new day. A day that was normal for most of the city, as the hustle and bustle of the day began. But, to a newlywed couple, it was the first day of their lives together. Katie turned over in her sleep and her eyes fluttered open. For a second she felt disoriented, then she remembered that she was in Dave’s bed. She looked over and saw him still peacefully slumbering. They had somehow become untangled in the night, and Katie rolled over and put her hand on his bare chest.

“Wake up Sleepyhead,” Katie whispered playfully. He groaned and as she was going to get up and get dressed, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. He kissed her and soon they were picking up where they had left off from the previous night. The sunlight trickled in from between the curtains and highlighted Katie’s naked body. Dave couldn’t think of anything better than to awaken and make love to a woman like Katie. He leaned over and put his mouth to her ear.

“I don’t suppose you have anything you need to do today,” he whispered to her. She laughed and they continued until almost noon. Then, panting from the sheer passion of the whole experience, they both got out of bed and got dressed. Katie made breakfast, and for the first time in her life she felt like a normal person. There were no reports to look over, no guns or drugs to be moved, and no fear of the police. In the past months her life had changed drastically and she had Dave to thank for it, Dave and the hand of Fate that had allowed her to find him. They shared a quiet breakfast, both of them savoring their first day together as man and wife. After breakfast, he took her arm and walked her down to his car. They got in and the car lit out of the parking lot. They were soon streaking down the country road they had visited before, only this time they didn’t turn around, but just kept going. By nightfall they had reached the border and only then decided to turn back. Instead of going home they stopped at a little bed and breakfast and spent the night there, making love just as they had the previous night.

They were off again the next morning, exploring the vast area. They laughed and cried together on that journey, both revealing what secrets they had left. Katie talked about Frances and Cris and how she had felt when they first met. Dave listened and told her of all of his ex-girlfriends. Finally, after two days they headed back to River City. They spent the nights in small motels and the like, each time making increasingly passionate love. Soon they were home again and Katie kissed him at the door. A neighbor passing by huffed and shook her head, telling herself how silly these young people today were. They stood in the doorway kissing for a long time, and then Dave finally put his key into the door. They went inside and to the bedroom, stripping off their clothes and spending the last night of their honeymoon as they had spent the first, making love.

Dave didn’t really want to go back to work, but he knew that he had to. He wished that he could spend the rest of his life just making love to Katie. But, as so often happened, other things got in the way. Katie was asleep now next to him, and he could feel the peaceful tranquillity in the air as she slept. He savored the air and wished that he could bottle it and keep it forever. He rolled over and watched her sleep, looking so beautiful in her innocent nakedness as she slept with the sheet just barely covering her breasts. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he dared not wake her and spoil the moment. He thought of when he had found her at the lake shore, lying there just like she was now, looking like a sleeping angel.

He fell asleep with his face to her, weariness finally overcoming his silent vigil of watching her. In her sleep, Katie turned over and their lips brushed against each other. She sighed and her eyes fluttered open for a few seconds. She pulled the sheet over him and rested her hand on his back. They slept like that until Dave’s alarm clock sounded shrilly in the morning, bringing forth the unwanted morning sun. Katie watched Dave get up and get dressed, kissing her briefly before he left. She knew then that the honeymoon really was over.

Chapter 11

2007-06-12T09:44:00.001-07:00

Chapter 11

The sun rose on the awakening River City. Most of the people of the city stumbled into their morning routines, groggily trying not to be late for work or school. The sun also shone on a new day, a day that would be much different for everyone in the organization. While most went to their jobs the same as always, something even deeper, even darker and more sinister was afoot all around the organization.

Katie awoke in her bed, still remembering that chilling conversation she had participated in with Frances and Cris. Now, though, she knew that their causes were the same: to destroy the organization and start new lives. They had all agreed that tonight would be the night, tonight they would destroy the organization once and for all. As for Tarah, Frances had assured Katie that she and Cris would deal with her. She smiled as she stuffed clothes into suitcases, anxious to get done quickly. After an hour of frenzied packing, Katie picked up the phone and called Dave at his office. She let the phone ring until he finally answered it.

“Hello?” He answered, the buzzing of machines and people providing a backdrop to the conversation.

“It’s Katie, I want to talk to you about something. I need to meet with you tonight, it’s about something very important.”

“How important?”

“Let me just say that it could stop a lot of the problems in the city. Will you meet me at the pier tonight?”

“Of course I will. I’ll see you there. I love you.”

“I love you too. Good-bye.” Katie hung up and sighed, knowing that tonight she would be completely honest with him and tell him everything about the organization. She knew that he would understand what she had done and why she hadn’t told him. Then she could start over again. She looked around the apartment, to see what else she would have to pack.

* * *

Frances awoke in her old apartment, feeling full of energy and knowing that today she would destroy Tarah. She rose from her bed, putting on her glasses and walking over to the closet to get out some fresh clothes. She dusted off an outfit and then went to the small kitchen, peeking into the refrigerator. Other than a box of baking soda, the refrigerator contained nothing suitable for human consumption. Frances groaned and threw out all the rotten food. She went over to Cris’ and found that he was already cooking a breakfast feast.

“Sit down, I’ll have it all ready in a few minutes,” he said and waved to a seat at the table. Her eyes bulged at the sight of all the real food. After eating nothing but hospital food, she was more than ready to sink her teeth into some actual food. Cris had cooked biscuits, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs with bacon, and a tower of pancakes. He bent down and took something from the oven and let it cool. Then he took a pitcher filled with steaming coffee and poured Frances a mug. His smile was from ear to ear as he put the pitcher back on the stove.

“I must say that you’re in a good mood today,” Frances laughed.

“Today’s the day, Independence Day! The day we leave the organization and start our lives together. How could I not be excited about that?” He set a tray of streusels down in front of Frances and then finally seated himself. Frances hungrily served herself several plates of food and scarfed it down like a starving lion. They said little during breakfast; Frances was too busy eating her first actual meal in over a week. Cris sipped his coffee and ate his food in a more civilized manner, with a grin still fixed to his face. Today was the day he would take Frances away from here forever. They would get married and live their lives together, in peace and without having to worry about Tarah. He and Frances would see to that; they would make sure that Tarah didn’t escape.

Then they would leave this city forever. He planned to leave the state, and maybe even the country. They had enough money to live comfortably and to never have to work again. He smiled and thought about that: the organization paying for his and Frances’ new life. He nearly choked on his food and then stood up and walked to the window. Ever since he had been in the street gang, he had known what he wanted. He wanted a life with security, something to count on day after day. He wanted a life where he didn’t have to worry about being killed every day. He only wanted to be like the rest of the people, the normal people. Now was his chance. With Tarah gone, he and Frances could destroy the organization and start over. He turned away from the window and looked at Frances.

He loved her so much; even when she had been dying, he had loved her. Today they would begin their long journey together, their journey to live their lives together and in peace. He knew that she wasn’t well-liked by others in the organization, but he knew what she was really like. She was kind, gentle, a good person. But the world around her had constantly put her down, had forced her to join the organization to prove to herself that she was worth something. Now she knew that she had proven herself. She had been strong through this entire ordeal, not giving up and still loving him all this time.

After they took care of Tarah, Cris knew that Frances could start again with more confidence than she had ever felt before. She had helped stop this unspeakable evil that was the organization. Her laptop computer, which would soon contain copies of all the organization’s records, would put the organization away for good. Now, all he had to do was get the tools they would need to set the plan into motion.

* * *

Tarah sat at the table again, waiting for tonight. Tonight her plan would go into effect and she would begin to destroy Katie. Rick was still in bed, sleeping. He knew what his part of the plan was, he would have to follow Katie and tell Tarah just what she was doing. Then he would stop her activities.

On the table was the small 9mm pistol that Tarah owned. She had already cleaned it in preparation for tonight. She wished that she could get some of the rifles from the organization’s warehouse, but that was nearly impossible. Someone would recognize her and eventually Katie would hear about it. The one gun would have to do for now, unless she risked having Rick go into the city and buy another. Lately he had seemed less than inclined to help her, moping around the house all day. Didn’t he see what she was trying to do? Didn’t he see that her plan was to make sure that they could live peacefully together? No, he probably didn’t. Rick was nothing more than a simple-minded salesman, lacking any vision.

Rick would just follow her and do what she said because he loved her and didn’t want to lose her. Still, she could feel some tension between him and herself. Her plan seemed to be stretching their love to the limit. She only hoped that it didn’t stretch so far as to completely break it. It wouldn’t be long until the plan went into action and they ran the organization. Then they could start their new life together.

* * *

Frances sat at her old computer, hurriedly dumping file after file onto a disk. It was slow going, but she knew that she could do it. It would be dark in a few hours, almost time for her to finish. She had to make sure that she got every financial record of the organization as well as lists of its suppliers, members, and buyers. That should be evidence enough for the police to get a warrant to search the organization’s headquarters. When they did they would find all the drugs and weapons that were stockpiled, but none of its leaders. They would all be gone. Katie with her boyfriend, Cris and her, and Tarah and Rick would both be dead.

Katie had only wanted Tarah put in jail, but Frances had finally convinced her that the only way for Tarah to be stopped once and for all was for her to be killed, and Rick with her. Otherwise, Tarah could escape and come after them, seeking revenge. Frances didn’t want to live with the fear of Tarah still alive looming over her. No, Tarah would die and never make trouble for anyone ever again. Frances took a disk out of the computer and inserted another one as the door opened.

Cris stood there with two rifles on his shoulders and something in his hands. He looked gravely at Frances and showed the object to her. “Where should I put it?” He asked.

“Anywhere should do, but I would suggest that you put it by the electrical plug. That way it might have a greater effect,” she suggested and he hurried over and put the object on the wall near the plug.

“It’s done,” he said and she nodded, working even faster than she had before and wishing that the computer could work faster. She avoided looking at the object, knowing what it was and what it was going to do. After a few more hours of work, she was finished and turned to leave her office. Then she thought of one last thing. She took the dark green disk hidden in the wall and stared at it for a few moments.

She had always wanted to use it to write a book about the organization after she left, but now she found that she didn’t want to remember anymore. She knelt down by the electrical plug and set the disk near it. She only hoped that, in time, her memory of the organization would fade.

* * *

The sun was setting on River City. Darkness was falling, disguising the plots and schemes that were about to go into action. Dave left his office, checking his watch before speeding back to his apartment to get dinner and to get dressed to meet Katie. Katie, meanwhile, was finishing packing and stuffing the laptop computer that Frances had given her on the top of a box. Frances had finished copying files to it only a few minutes earlier, and several disks were put with the computer, the small laptop not being able to hold enough of the information on it. She took a last look around the apartment and then knew that it was time for her to leave. She was again wearing the trenchcoat and hat she had worn when she had first met Dave on the pier. She stepped out of the door for the last time, hoping that everything went as planned.

Tarah handed Rick the pistol and a walkie-talkie so that they could keep in touch with each other. He kissed her good-bye and got into his car, waiting for Katie to come out. He knew that after tonight they would be able to live happily ever after; with the organization as their playground. They would plunder it and then leave it for the cops to have.

Frances and Cris checked all the offices one last time and then took all their things out to Cris’ car. It barely held everything, and then they knew that it was time. Time to finish off Tarah once and for all. Linking hands, they walked away from the car and into the night, the two shotguns that Cris had stolen on their shoulders.

In the midst of it all were the men and women of the organization, unknowing that all these plots would affect them. The shifts in the warehouse were changing and

the men and women that served the organization kept going with their lives, not suspecting that anything was going on. One worker had seen Cris take two shotguns that were nearly useless to the organization, nobody wanted a shotgun when they could have a machine-gun, plus he had taken a couple of other things from the surplus area. He didn’t worry about it, Cris was his boss and if he wanted some of that junk, he could have it. Another worker had seen Katie leaving with some boxes, but didn’t think anything of it. It was probably some old records that needed burned or something. It didn’t matter; she was the boss and could do what she wanted.

Katie walked slowly out to her car in the hidden parking lot, stuffing all the boxes into the trunk and back seat. One thing that she had left was the evening gown Michael had given her to wear. That was draped over a chair in her office, the dried blood still caking it. She didn’t want to take it with her to start her new life with Dave; it brought back too many bad memories. She closed the doors and trunk and carefully put the laptop computer in the passenger’s seat. She would make an anonymous call later to tell the police where they could find it. Then again, they soon wouldn’t even need a warrant to go to the old cannery. Cris had seen to that.

She had been right about him. He was a lot like her when she had first joined the organization. He was eager, capable, imaginative, and able, but also a little naive. She was glad to see that he still clung to his dreams, just like she held onto hers. Some things never did change, she thought to herself as she started the car’s engine.

As Katie pulled out of the parking lot, Rick started his car’s engine. His heart pounded and he knew that now was the time. The time for Tarah’s plan to begin. Soon, very soon, they would have the organization for themselves. Rick smiled as he shadowed the silver Mercedes.

* * *

Frances and Cris stood at the door of the abandoned house near the cannery, where Frances had been taken when she had been wounded. They both leveled their shotguns at the door and then Cris kicked the door. The door caved in easily and a surprised Tarah looked up from the table to see two shotguns aimed at her. Frances shakily entered the room and Cris came in behind, covering her.

“I’ll search the house, you keep her covered,” Cris commanded and Frances nodded. Frances motioned with the barrel of her gun for Tarah to stand. Tarah stood, still trying to figure out what Frances and Cris were doing here. She wished Rick were here, but she’d just have to deal with this on her own. Frances kept the gun trained on Tarah’s head, knowing that she didn’t need to come that close to kill her. Tarah casually eased away from Frances, who barely noticed it until it was too late.

Tarah had made her way over to the table and her hand slowly moved to where her walkie-talkie lay. Then, with cat-like quickness, Tarah grabbed the radio and hurled it at Frances, diving away from the table. Frances saw the walkie-talkie flying at her and her finger pulled the shotgun’s trigger. The shell harmlessly struck the back wall and a storm of dust flew. Tarah used this distraction to lunge at Frances and tackle her. She seized the gun and then stood. To her relief she saw that there was still one shell left. She smiled and knelt down next to Frances, who was hurting too much to get up or do anything to stop Tarah.

“I’m going to take care of your friend now,” she whispered and Frances’ eyes glowed with anger and hatred.

“No!” She screamed and threw herself at Tarah, her battered legs fueled only by her intense anger. She knocked Tarah onto the floor, Frances sitting on top and pummeling Tarah with her fists. Tarah could barely notice the hits, she was still too dazed by what had just happened. She quickly snapped back to reality as Frances landed a blow off her chin. Tarah kneed Frances in the abdomen and then rolled her off. She stood and picked Frances up by the collar, kneeing her again and then punching her in the jaw. Frances moaned a little, but her anger still burned. She kicked Tarah and then felt the grip on her collar loosen. Tarah stumbled back and took up a fighting stance. Frances charged forward, going under Tarah’s swinging arms and coming up with an uppercut to Tarah’s jaw, accompanied by a whirlwind of shots to the face that would have made any heavyweight boxer go down.

Tarah stumbled backwards in the hail of blows and unknowingly she collided with the wall. Frances kept hitting her, releasing over a week of frustration, anger, and hate. Tarah, her face covered in blood, slipped to the floor and covered her face with her hands. “You coward!” Frances yelled and ripped Tarah’s hands free. Tarah couldn’t explain it, Frances seemed almost possessed. Tarah hoarded her strength, preparing for one last lunge that could get her free. Now it was Frances who pulled Tarah to her feet by her collar. Frances spit in Tarah’s face and then pinned her against the wall. “I’m not going to be pushed around by you or anyone else anymore!” With that, Frances punched Tarah in the stomach with all of her strength and let Tarah slip back to the floor.

Tarah felt her strength drain as blood streamed into her eyes. She slowly began to black out. No, she screamed to herself. She had been beaten; her plans were ruined. Unless...Her mind blacked out before she could finish the thought.

Cris came back in the room, hearing the gunshot and screaming. He saw Tarah on the floor and smiled at his girlfriend. “Your handiwork, I presume,” he said and she grinned.

“That it is. Now what do we do?”

“Rick isn’t here, so she must have him out doing her dirty work. Whatever it is, I’m sure it has something to do with Katie. I hope she can handle him.”

“She can. Let’s just dispose of her, shall we?” Cris nodded and aimed the shotgun at Tarah’s middle. He took a step back and Frances moved over by the door. She picked up her weapon and shouldered it. Cris turned his head and pulled the trigger. Tarah’s body jerked once as she took the shot full in the chest. The shell shredded her clothes and fragments tore into her chest, arms, and neck. Blood oozed to the floor and pooled at her feet. Frances and Cris solemnly walked out of the house and disappeared into the night.

* * *

Katie drove as fast as she could to the pier, not looking to see if anyone was following her. At some distance behind her lurked Rick’s car, following her every turn until she arrived at the pier. Then he pulled off the road nearby and quietly got out of the car, moving gracefully on foot near the pier to watch Katie. She, meanwhile, was standing at the end of the pier, waiting for Dave to arrive.

Katie stared out over the water, thinking of how the people of the organization would feel when the police burst into the warehouses and offices to arrest everyone. She rested her chin on the rail of the pier. She wished that she didn’t have to turn all of those people in, but she couldn’t let the organization’s evil activities continue any further. She didn’t notice the footsteps on the wooden pier, she was too deep in thought. A hand touched her shoulder and she spun around in surprise. She was relieved to see that it was only Dave standing there.

“What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” He asked.

“I need to make a confession. It’s about my past. You see, I’ve never been like other people...” She started, unsure if she should be telling him all this.

“I know that, but that’s why I love you, because you’re different.”

“No, it’s not like that. I didn’t have a normal family like other people...Wait, I think you’ll need to sit down to hear the rest.” She led him over to the grass and he sat down, curious about what she was going to say. She continued, pacing the ground around him nervously. “My parents died when I was very young and I was taken to an abusive foster home. I took it as long as I could, but finally I had to escape, so I ran away. From then on, I lived on the streets.”

“That’s horrible,” Dave mumbled softly.

“It’s not that, it’s what I did on the streets. You see, to make money to survive I...I sold drugs, guns, even myself.” Tears came to her eyes as she uncovered all these terrible memories of her past. “And then, one day, a man came and offered me a job in his smuggling organization. And...I took it. That’s who Michael was, he was the man who too me off the streets. And that’s where I met my friend Tarah. Everything I told you was a lie. I’m sorry,” she wailed helplessly and then broke down into tears. He held her numbly, digesting the information. Anger rose as he thought of everything that she had ever said to him, it was all a lie. Maybe their love was a lie too. His heart raced and he was ready to pull away when he looked into her eyes. In them he could see that their love was not a lie, it was the real thing. Her life had been hard; she needed his support right now, not his anger.

“It’s all right, I forgive you,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry I never told you, but...but now I need to tell you the rest.” She proceeded to tell him of the plot she, Cris, and Frances had concocted. Dave sat with her in the cool grass and held her the whole time. Even when she began to sob he held her tightly, feeling all the pain she had borne for years. He could scarcely imagine how her life must have been. “Now, I need to...ask for a favor. Can I live with you until we get married?” She asked, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Dave nodded, and then kissed her. She was surprised for a few seconds, but then she began to return his kiss. Then he unbuttoned her blouse, and she his shirt. Their clothes were flung in a heap in the grass, and through it all, a single pair of eyes watched. Rick watched from the bushes, turning away as the couple made love.

He knew that he had to tell Tarah what was going on soon, and then he would eliminate Katie and her boyfriend. As the naked pair lay on the grass, Rick began to crawl away, realizing that he had forgotten his radio.

Katie felt better than she had in a very long time. She had exposed her soul to Dave, and he had forgiven her for what she had done. He had also agreed that Tarah and the organization had to be dealt with. She finally gave him one last kiss and reached for her clothes, knowing that it was time to call the cops and blow the whistle on the organization. The laptop computer lay under a tree by the pier, ready for the police to find. She put her bra back on and then her panties, blushing a little as she realized that anyone could have seen them making out. Dave was putting his clothes back on and he smiled at her.

They were ready now, ready to live together and get married. He no longer felt any fear. He was glad that all of this was out in the open, before it had damaged their relationship. Now he knew that Katie could marry him with a clear conscience. Now all their secrets were out in the open. She stood and looked around for a pay phone.

Rick emerged from his hiding place, but as he did he stumbled over a loose rock and fell to the ground. He groaned and Katie looked over in his direction. The light from a streetlight combined with the moonlight to allow Katie to get a good picture of who had come out of hiding.

Katie recognized Rick, knowing that Tarah was following her. She looked over at Dave and raced towards Rick. “Shit!” Rick yelled and reached for his gun. He snatched it up and took one wild shot at Katie. She hit the ground and he ran to his car. Then she heard someone moaning and ran over to Dave, who was sitting on the ground, holding his right arm.

“He got me in the arm. It’s all right, I’ll be fine. You’d better get call the cops.”

“All right. Just be careful.”

“By the way, who was that guy?”

“I’ll tell you later. I love you!” Katie called as she dashed away. Dave struggled to his feet and stumbled towards his car. Katie reached her car and started the engine. She could see Rick’s car roaring away and floored the accelerator in pursuit. She dialed the number for the police on the carphone and left her anonymous tip, then she called for an ambulance. She kept her foot down on the accelerator and saw the speedometer rise past one hundred. Rick turned onto a four-lane freeway, forcing traffic to stop as he turned wildly. Katie followed the turn, slowly closing the gap between them. Rick expertly dodged some cars coming head-on at him. Katie swerved around them and kept after him, stalking him. The traffic was getting heavier as they neared the city, and they both had to slow down to avoid getting in a collision.

At an intersection, Rick’s car smashed past the front end of a turning vehicle. Katie barely was able to make the turn, leaving black skid marks in her wake. Rick was heading back towards the organization’s headquarters, and she recognized the trap he wanted to set. She had to stop him before he reached Tarah and the two of them could ruin her plan. She was still gaining on him, and she saw that the road was going to merge into two lanes in only a few miles. Her car, coming up steadily on Rick’s, finally pulled even with his as they went up a hill. On the way down she saw that the merging wasn’t very far away and an idea came to her.

She kept even with him, staying in the left lane and forcing him to stay on the outside. The merger was coming up, each white line passing underneath the two cars a sign warning them that death was ahead. Katie held her breath as the right lane began to shrink away and Rick was forced onto the shoulder. Rick began to panic, slamming his car into the side of Katie’s, hoping desperately that she would move. Finally she gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and swung the wheel sharply to the right. The car responded and connected with Rick’s car. The shoulder disappeared and he flew off the road, his car’s tires briefly clinging to the dirt. Then he skidded into a ditch and, as if the car was a skier on a ramp, it flew into the air as it cleared the lip of the ditch and smacked into a large birch tree. The car hit the ground, landing on its roof, the gas tank ruptured and gas spilled over the ground. A fire began in the engine, smoke pouring into the night sky. Rick was unconscious, unable to unfasten his safety belt and escape the flaming wreck that had once been an automobile. The flame caught the gas and the car exploded in a ball of flame, taking Rick with it. Katie pulled off the road not too far away and she saw the car explode less than a minute after it hit the tree. She ran towards the car and hit the ground as it exploded, debris flying over her head. She slowly stood up and knew right away that Rick was dead; no one could have walked away from that explosion in under a minute.

She struggled back to her car and grabbed her cellular phone. She dialed 911 and hurriedly told the operator of Rick’s accident. As she hung up she turned around and headed back towards the pier. When she arrived, a paramedic was bandaging Dave’s wound. There was a crowd around and she knew better than to try and talk to him now. Instead she stood in the shadows and watched him be put into the ambulance and driven towards the hospital. She climbed into her car, following the distant ambulance lights.

* * *

A hand moved experimentally, reassuring its owner that she was still alive. Then the legs moved slowly and the eyes opened. The arms moved and pushed her up from the floor, and she stood shakily for a few seconds before collapsing again. Realizing that she couldn’t walk, she crawled over to the table and reached for the telephone. The casing was dented and a shrapnel protruded from it, but it still worked. The fingers punched a few buttons. Now, the dazed brain realized that it would have to work the mouth. Slowly, almost as if she forgot how, she opened her lips and tried to make sound.

“Need...hhh...help...die...ing,” Tarah managed to get out before she blacked out again. Just before she did, she heard Rick’s voice over the radio.

“I’m getting out of the car, baby. I’ll report back soon,” he said quietly, but she had a sinking feeling that those were the last words she would ever hear from him.

* * *

The objects near the electrical outlets of the organization’s offices ticked away their last seconds. The timers soon reached zero and then the plastic explosives Cris had set up exploded. The explosion was violent, as all three rooms exploded at once. The explosions blew outward, towards the doors of the offices. The desks, chairs, and equipment were wiped out from the blast and the intense heat of fire that washed over the rooms.

The ceiling supports collapsed and the fine oak floors sunk to the first floor and burned. The ornate curtains, furniture, and walls soon became blackened and blasted rubble. All of the expensive and gorgeous paintings were turned to ash as a tidal wave of heat fell upon them.

The explosion ripped through Katie’s office, heat melting the fax machine and computer. Shards of glass coated the floor and the furniture splintered and collapsed. The first flames from the blast tore through the walls and the evening gown that had been lying on Katie’s chair. The fabric smoldered and the bloodstains smoked as the heat washed over them. Then shockwaves tore the gown apart and scattered the ashes all over the room. Katie’s last symbol of Michael and the night that they had shared was gone now, destroyed for eternity.

In Frances’ office the explosion swept through the room and over the floor. The computer disk melted and bubbled, the green plastic streaming over the floor. The center of the disk, containing the journal, was blasted into tiny plastic shards. There was no way to ever put the disk back together again or to piece together the information it had contained. Frances’ journal was forever lost.

Cris and Frances sat in his car, watching the explosion. They cheered as it burned, laughed as the apartments collapsed, and kissed when they heard the distant wail of approaching sirens. The kiss was passionate, releasing all the love running through their bodies. It was finally over for both of them. There would be no more organization and no more Tarah. It was time for only them. They unwillingly disengaged their lips and Cris turned the car out of the hidden parking lot and hit the accelerator. The car shot down the street and soon disappeared in the black void of the night, forever leaving behind the smoking remains of the organization.

* * *

A police car screeched to a stop in front of the cannery. A single officer got out and saw the smoke rising. He shook his head and called it in, then rushed into the house across the street. He had received a call of an injured woman in the house. He immediately saw the blood and drew his gun, hoping that the perpetrator wasn’t still here. He took a few careful steps, and then he saw the woman lying in a pool of blood by the telephone. He made his way slowly over to her, keeping his gun ready. After the cop saw no one around, he put the gun away and rolled the woman over.

Her face was caked with blood, but she was still breathing shallowly and had a weak pulse. There was little he could do until the ambulance arrived, so he left her there and went to the sink to get some water to try and clean her wounds. He had cleaned the blood off of her face when the ambulance finally arrived and the paramedics took over. They checked her condition and readied her to move. As the stretcher was moved outside, Tarah awoke for a few seconds. All she saw was the organization’s headquarters on fire and police and fire department sirens everywhere.

“No,” she whispered hoarsely. All is lost now, she thought and soon blacked out again. The ambulance lit out for the hospital, sirens blaring. The paramedics kept a careful eye on Tarah, making sure that they didn’t lose her before she could be taken to the emergency room. After another few minutes, Tarah was taken to the emergency room and was admitted to surgery.

While she was unconscious, all Tarah could think of was Rick and her shattered dreams. She could feel that he wasn’t coming back. She had lost everything, all because of Katie. Katie had ruined her plans and killed Rick, her only love. She had taken everything from Tarah, and now she would have to pay. In her dreams she saw peaceful scenes torn apart by Katie, Frances, and Cris.

Tarah knew that Katie had put Frances and Cris up to attacking her. There was no way that they would have done it on their own, and besides, Katie had already kicked her out of the organization at gun point. As doctors struggled to save her life, Tarah could only think of what she had lost and how to get revenge.

* * *

More police cars arrived at the cannery, surrounding it with lights flashing and sirens blaring. The members of the organization were huddled outside of the building in small groups. Some had run off before the cops had arrived, but most were too paralyzed by shock. In minutes their lives had been turned completely upside down by the explosion and fire ripping through the office complex and slowly spreading to the warehouse. Fire trucks had also arrived and began dumping water and foam onto the fire, trying to put it out before it touched off the ammunition inside.

The workers were herded into cars, handcuffs binding their hands. Many watched the cannery burning with horrified looks on their faces. Many had families to support and now their jobs were gone, destroyed by betrayal. No one knew who had set the explosives, but they knew that their leaders were long gone. Despite the many weapons that the organization sold, there was no trouble arresting the warehouse workers. Many were just hard-working men and women who had lost their jobs and could find no other legal ones, so they had turned to the organization for help. The police cars began to leave the scene and soon the fire trucks had brought the fire under control. All that remained was the blackened walls and roof of the warehouse and the rubble of the offices.

***

Katie carefully walked down the hallway to Dave’s hospital room. There was no one around and Katie went inside. Dave lay in a hospital bed, sitting idly with a bandage wrapped around his forearm. He looked up at Katie and a brief smile came to his face.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you tonight,” Katie said and took Dave’s good hand.

“It’s all right, I’ll be fine. It’s not really your fault, you did what you had to do. I’m just sorry I was stupid enough to get in the way of a bullet,” they both laughed uneasily and silence settled over the room. “When you called me today, I knew that there was something I needed to tell you. Something I’ve been wanting to say ever since I met you.” Dave sighed a little and then gathered up his courage. “Would you...would you get something out of my right pants pocket for me?” Katie grabbed his pants and searched the pockets. Finally she found the right one and removed a velvet covered box. “Open it,” Dave said.

Katie opened the box and gasped. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring. “I meant to give it to you earlier. I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but I knew that today would be the day that I would ask you. Katie Beyars, would you have the honor of being my wife?” Katie was silent for a few seconds and Dave continued. “Live with me as my wife and we can escape all of this, both of our pasts. I’ve known since the day we met that I loved you. I don’t care about your past, all I care about is your future. Spend it with me, please,” Dave said from the bed and Katie’s hands trembled. She took the ring out of the box and put it on her finger.

“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” She shouted and hugged him warmly. They kissed and then she lay next to him in the hospital bed, her legs weak from all the night’s excitement. She felt a great happiness rise up in her chest, and she had to restrain herself from singing with joy. Instead, she lay on the bed, Dave’s hand in hers, crying tears of joy.

There was no more organization; no more of its evil would spread. For Katie, evil seemed to have been banished for good. Her fight was over now, she could commit her life to Dave and their love. For her, there was no more hate, or anger, or sadness. There was only love. As she lay in that bed, holding Dave’s hand, she knew that at last her life had changed for the better.

She wondered what her parents would have thought of this. Then she realized that she had never really gotten to know them, she didn’t even remember their names or what they looked like. All she remembered was that they had been good people and that they had been taken away from her forever by a terrible accident. She looked over at Dave and knew that there was one thing she had to do before they could get married. She had to find out who her parents were, to uncover all the hidden ghosts of her past. Before she started a new life, and a new family, she wanted to know who her parents had been, so that she could remember them and keep them with her in her heart.

* * *

Two days later Katie was staring at a screen in the hall of records, browsing the headlines of newspapers from the day of the accident that had taken her parents. Through all of her life, Katie had kept that date in her memory. It had been burned in by the dark even which had occurred that February night. She wondered as she searched the paper why she hadn’t thought of this earlier.

Then she knew that she had been too caught up in just surviving to worry about her past. Then, with the organization, she had been too blind to want to know. She vowed to herself that that would never happen again. She wouldn’t lose them again, she would remember them always. Only then could she move on with a clear conscience.

Finally Katie found something on her parents accident. It was on page three of the Informer, Dave’s paper, she noted grimly. She scanned the article and found the names of her parents. She left the newspaper viewer and then went to research the two people who had been ripped away from her at such an early age. It took hours, but eventually she found files on Samuel and Stephanie Beyars. She took them to a table and began to go through them.

Her father had been a CPA with his own small firm in town. He managed to bring home a nice salary and support his wife. She saw that he was also involved in the school board and other organizations. Probably where I got my professional skills from, Katie thought and sighed as she saw a picture of the man who had, for a short time, been her father. He was a short, balding man of about thirty-five with brown hair and deep blue eyes. The color of his eyes shocked her when she realized that they were the same color as her own. She nearly broke down crying, but held back and then looked at her mother’s file.

She had been a waitress before she had met her future husband. After they were married, she left work to start a family. She was more involved than her husband, leading a local women’s rights group and serving with a number of charity organizations. She devoted her life to doing good, while I...Katie silenced that thought and looked at her mother’s picture. She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and emerald green eyes of about thirty years of age. In her picture she looked as royal as a queen and yet as tough as the girls Katie had seen on the streets.

Katie looked at the next page of the file and saw that they had only been married for about five months before she had been born. How they had met, she wasn’t sure, but she knew that they had come from different worlds. Her mother had come from a poor, rural family, while her father had been from a rich city-dwelling family. That they had come together at all made her realize how much they must have loved each other, and then she thought of her and Dave. They too came from different worlds, yet somehow had been brought together. She frowned and hoped that she and Dave didn’t end up like her parents, their lives cut too short by an accident.

It took some bribing and arguing, but finally she was able to take her parents’ pictures with her to the motel she was staying at until Dave got out of the hospital and they could move in together. She put them in a frame by her bedside and began to cry. She finally knew who they were and what they had done, but now she felt as if she were letting them down. She had led such a horrible life; they couldn’t possibly be proud of her. Still, she knew that she had changed and that they could be proud of her for what she had become. She took the picture and hugged it to her breasts, sleeping with it all night, wanting to be close to the parents she had never known.

* * *

Three days later, Katie helped Dave into his car. She took the wheel and drove him to her hotel. They went upstairs to one of the larger rooms and he saw that there were suitcases and boxes piled up. Katie took his hand and led him back to the bedroom, where a queen-sized bed waited. He smiled and motioned to his arm, which was in a cast. She only grinned and shook her head, leading him to the bed and slowly helping him onto it. She laid down on top of him and helped take his shirt off. Then she slowly unbuttoned her blouse and took off her bra.

They were soon naked and kissing, Katie being careful with Dave’s arm. She lightly touched his warm skin and ran her fingers through his hair, kissing him again and again. Soon she rolled over and lay at his side, holding his hand and smiling at him. They closed their eyes and slept like that for the rest of the night.

Chapter 10

2007-06-12T09:42:00.002-07:00

Chapter 10

Frances woke up and looked down at the morning traffic. She quickly turned away, feeling envious of those who weren’t stuck in the hospital. She was healing slowly and knew that it would be a while before she could be released. Cris hadn’t shown up yet, then again she knew that he would be busy. She missed him terribly and longed to spend more hours with him once she got out of the hospital.

She knew that it wasn’t going to be for a while; she had Rick and Tarah to thank for that. She would have to get to back at them when she got out. Then she and Cris would leave the organization for good. The organization had already betrayed her, and she wasn’t about to let it do it to her again. She would abandon it and then feed it to the cops, destroying it once and for all.

She turned on her laptop computer and typed in her journal. She typed out her plans and then saved the file onto a disk. She put the computer away and then stuffed the disk in the night stand’s drawer. She yawned and moved her legs a little. It was hard for her to breathe if she did anything too extraneous, but she could stretch a little. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep, knowing that she would need to rest to get her strength up as soon as possible.

* * *

Katie awoke the next day feeling relaxed. She rubbed her eyes to clear them and stretched happily. Sunlight poured in through the curtains. She easily got out of bed and saw that she had slept in late. She walked out to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. She went into the living room to drink it while she caught up on the news.

Nothing much had changed since she had last watched the news. The world was still in turmoil and crisis; it was just another day in River City. Katie drained her coffee mug and then casually walked back to the bedroom to get dressed. She didn’t bother with any makeup, knowing that she wouldn’t have any time for anything other than the huge loads of paperwork that were sitting on her desk. She sighed at the thought and then left her apartment. She stepped into the hall and looked down to where Tarah’s apartment was. She was tempted to go down there and beg Tarah to come back, but she couldn’t.

For whatever reason Tarah had left, Katie knew that she had to give her enough time to deal with the problem. With that thought ruining what was left of her good mood, Katie walked down the stairs and to her office. She opened the door and saw that as usual there was a ton of paperwork to deal with. She sat down and began to get to the task at hand. She sorted through the stacks of memos, inventory slips, and other forms. She half-heartedly did the work, thinking each moment of Dave. She wanted to be with him so much. She had to see him again, but the paperwork just kept mounting up. She needed to do something soon.

She couldn’t wait any longer for Tarah to come back. She needed someone to help her handle the workload, now. Katie stomped upstairs and knocked on Tarah’s door. No one answered and Katie waited for a few more seconds. “I know you can hear me!” Katie shouted. Tarah sat on the couch and smiled. Let her knock, Tarah thought. I want to hear her beg. “All right then, if you won’t answer then I’ll just tell you what I came up here for. You’re fired! I want you out of here within an hour!” Katie turned and stormed downstairs; she wouldn’t play Tarah’s game anymore. If Tarah wouldn’t work, then she couldn’t work for the organization any longer.

She was dying in her office, trying to deal with all the paperwork that three people usually did, and Tarah sat upstairs sulking. It was time she learned her lesson. Standard procedure was to eliminate anyone causing trouble in the organization, but Katie knew that she didn’t have the nerve to kill Tarah. Letting her leave with her life should teach her a good enough lesson.

She walked into the warehouse and went to the foreman’s office. Cris looked up and wondered what was going on. It wasn’t time for the monthly inspection of the warehouses yet, unless this was some kind of surprise inspection. Cris hurriedly stuffed his picture of Frances in his desk drawer and stood up.

“Cris, you’ve just received a promotion. I’ll need you to find a replacement as soon as possible,” Katie commanded him, using every ounce of authority she could muster. “I’ve lost both members from my staff, so I need someone to replace them. You can go home and get your things, because you’ll be moving into one of the apartments,” Cris looked ecstatic for a few seconds and then his smile faded. He left the office and Katie went over to the crates where piles of machine-guns were kept, ready for sale. She took one out of a partially opened crate and then found some ammunition for it. She slapped the clip in and found three burly men. Katie led the men upstairs. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but Tarah needed to go. They reached the top of the stairs and Katie pointed to the door. “Kick it in.”

One of the men did so and the door flew off its hinges and hit the floor. Tarah and Rick hurriedly put their clothes on and Katie leveled her gun at her former friend. “I told you that you were fired. You have exactly fifty minutes left to pack up your things. After that, I don’t care where you go. And if you even think of calling the cops I’ll find you and kill you. You can take Rick with you, because he’s fired too. These three will help you load up your car. Hurry up and don’t ever come back.” Katie turned on her heel and left; each step punctuated by the sound of her heels striking hard against the floor. The stairs groaned as she stormed down them and slammed the door to her office. Once she was in the haven of the office, she couldn’t help putting her face in her hands and cry. Tarah would be gone by the time the tears stopped running down her cheeks and through her fingers

* * *

Tarah finished putting her possessions into her car with the three gun-toting men watching her. Rick was beside her, equally angry. Their plan had been wrecked, destroyed by Fate’s fiendish hand. Now they would have to start again. Tarah ground her teeth as she took the wheel of her car. Rick got into his car and they drove to his apartment. There was no passionate sex that night, only backbreaking labor as they moved Tarah’s things in.

Neither of them spoke as they worked. Their dreams had been shattered. There was nothing left for them, except revenge. Tarah vowed that she would avenge herself upon Katie. In blind rage she hurled a crystal vase into a wall. It shattered and Tarah smiled for an instant as she heard the crystal break. Rick had expected as much from her and knew that it would be hard for her. The way Katie had come in there with guns leveled was so...brutal. He rested on the couch for a bit, sipping a can of beer. He had been sure that Tarah’s plan would work. It was a perfect plan, just that Katie had somehow found the strength to get rid of her ex-friend.

“What do we do now?” He demanded of Tarah.

“We watch her night and day. We can go over to that house across the street. With some binoculars we should be able to see when she comes out again. Then we might be able to grab her. Let’s go,” Tarah grabbed her purse and a few other supplies and then rummaged around to find some binoculars. Rick followed her and they took his car to a store where they bought a pair of walkie-talkies and a pair of binoculars that had more range than Rick’s. Then they drove to the abandoned house near to where the organization was located, coincidentally the house where Frances’ battered body had been dumped.

They took up watch at one of the windows and found that they had a great vantage point of the cannery’s back door, which led to the hidden parking lot. Now all they had to do was wait for Katie to come out. While they waited Tarah handed Rick something she had taken from her apartment, a small handgun. Rick palmed it and stuffed it in his belt. They scavenged through the house and found nothing of value. They both relaxed and took turns watching the parking lot.

* * *

Katie was beat. Cris had just moved into the apartment, rehinging the doors as he did so, and Katie had made time to teach him his new job. He was a pretty smart guy and caught on quickly. She had heard about how useful he had been to Michael, and only hoped that he would be just as much so to her. Katie was about to go to bed, but something nagged at her. Dave! She picked up her office phone and dialed the number. After a few rings, Dave answered.

“Hello?” He answered sleepily.

“Did I wake you up?” Katie asked worriedly.

“I was just about to go to bed, but it can definitely wait.” Suddenly his voice gained its usual tone. Just hearing Katie’s voice energized him.

“Could we talk, I mean in person?”

“Of course, you got something on your mind?”

“I’ve got a lot of things on my mind.”

“Same time, same place?”

“Of course.” Katie hung up and smiled. She grabbed her jacket and walked into Cris’ office, that had belonged to Tarah. “I’ll be gone for a while, don’t wait up. By the way, you’re doing an excellent job.” Cris smiled that shy/meek grin of his and got back to work. Katie closed the door and saw that Cris had changed the name on the door. Instead of ‘Tarah Hillard’ it read simply: ‘Cris’. She smiled and then walked out to her car.

Tarah watched Katie go to her car, losing her as she entered the parking lot. She woke Rick and they watched her car leave. “Tomorrow night I want you to hide in the bushes. Last night she went somewhere too. Perhaps our dear friend has some sort of secret,” Tarah said, smiling madly. Rick didn’t join her. He was rapidly losing his enthusiasm for this vendetta of Tarah’s. But it was important to her and he did love her, so he would go along with it, for now. Besides, Katie had fired him too; she deserved whatever Tarah was planning.

Tarah paced the room, watching the car go. Whatever Katie was hiding, Tarah was going to find out. She would get back at Katie for kicking her and Rick out of the organization. She finally sat down in a padded chair and kicked her feet up on a crate. It would be so easy to follow Katie now, to find out her secret now. But there were other things to do tonight. She nodded at Rick and he grinned. She stripped down and his grin turned to an insane smile; he did love her body.

* * *

Frances heard the door open and looked up to see Cris rushing in. He had left the organization’s headquarters shortly after Katie had. He needed to tell Frances what had just happened. Tarah’s being fired changed everything. Now finding her would be harder than ever. “I have good news and bad news,” he began and sat down, taking her hand.

“What’s the good news?” Frances wanted to know.

“Tarah and Rick were fired. Katie kicked them both out. That’s sort of the bad news too. They’re still alive, and I’ve got a bad feeling that they’re planning to do something to get back at her. We’ve got to stop them, before they do whatever it is.”

Frances thought about that for a few moments. Poor, blind, naive Katie, Frances thought sadly. She would never see it coming. She and Cris were the only ones who knew the full extent of what Tarah and her consort were capable of. If they had been fired, then it wouldn’t be long until they tried something to get back at Katie. If that happened, the organization would fall into chaos and be ripped apart. She and Cris could escape, but Frances couldn’t help thinking of Katie. The only thing Katie had done to Tarah had been to fall in love with whomever she had met at the mall. All she had done was try to move on with her life, and for that she was being punished. It wasn’t fair, no one deserved that, except maybe Tarah. No, they had to try and help somehow. To do that, though, she needed to get out of the hospital. Even though she wasn’t very well, she would have to get to the organization’s headquarters in time to warn Katie that Tarah was up to something. And to tell Katie what had happened to her. She had sworn Cris to secrecy, but now it was time to tell Katie everything, it would probably save her life.

“I’ve got to get out of here,” Frances whispered. Cris nodded, he knew that they had to get to Katie before something happened. They both knew that Tarah wouldn’t rest until she had her revenge. And that would be soon, Cris could feel it.

“Get your stuff, I’ll try to find a way to sneak you out,” Cris replied and looked around the room. There seemed to be no way to get her past the nurses’ station without them noticing. Unless... “When do the nurses change shifts?”

Frances thought for a few moments and tried to recall what time she heard the nurses leave and their replacements arrive. “About nine o’clock, after visitor’s hours are over.”

“That’ll give us about twenty minutes to prepare. Do you have any clothes?”

“Only the ones I came in with.”

“I’ll need your sizes to get you some new ones. There’s a clothes store not too far away. Get ready to go, we won’t have much time when I get back.” Cris rushed out the door after Frances gave him her measurements and jogged to the elevator. Cursing the slow machine he opened the door to the stairs and flew down them to the ground floor and then hurried out to his car. He drove for about a block to a small clothing boutique and ran inside.

He browsed the racks for a few seconds and then snapped up a pair of blue jeans and an ugly olive blouse that were the right sizes and took them to the counter. He paid for them and checked his watch. He still had about ten minutes to get to Frances and have her get dressed before the nurses changed shifts. Bolting out of the store, Cris wondered why he was going to all of this trouble. But he knew that Katie needed to know what was going on, to spoil the plans of the power-hungry Tarah. She had to be stopped at all costs, and he and Frances were the only ones who could do it.

* * *

Katie drove to the pier and waited for Dave to come. A few minutes later his Z26 sped into view and parked next to her car. He climbed into the passenger seat of her car and looked over at her. She didn’t say anything, but her face looked worried.

“Is something wrong?” He asked her.

“I’ll tell you in a few minutes,” she mumbled and then drove out of town, back to the hill that overlooked the city. Dave relaxed in his seat, thinking that this was the most unique relationship that he’d ever had. All she wanted to do was talk, not dance, not eat, but just talk to him. He didn’t mind it though, he liked to talk to her, even if he only listened to her problems and told her advice. He just wanted to be around her and he liked the unconventionalness of their relationship, it was something new and different. It was exciting to him, both physically and mentally. Leaning back in his seat, he looked over at her. Unlike other women, she was an equal to him in terms of brains. That was why they could talk so much, because he felt at ease talking to her. He sighed audibly, but she didn’t even look over at him.

For the first time, he had found someone that satisfied all of his needs. His needs for intelligent conversation, caring and sensitivity, and physical pleasure were all being met by just this one woman. She was amazing, but also very troubled. It seemed that every time they went out she was having some sort of problem. She may be smart, but that wasn’t helping her solve whatever was going on. Then again, he knew that intelligence had nothing to do with it. Her problems were emotional, and emotion was something she seemed to have a problem dealing with. But he had dealt with many emotional problems of his own and so he couldn’t blame her for hers. Emotion was something that could rapidly become a tidal wave, overflowing and swallowing you whole, unless you had someone to talk to, someone to grab you and keep you safe like a life preserver. And for Katie, he was that person. That was something else that had never happened to him in a relationship before.

Most other woman he had known had tended to bottle up their feelings and troubles, venting them to friends, family, or even shrinks. But Katie was different, she talked to him about what was bothering her. That added so much to their relationship, it made it so much deeper than anything he had ever known. Each time they met he could feel the chemistry, the bonding between them that defied all physical laws. It was a bond born from their trust and tempered in the fires of their love. In other words, Dave thought to himself, this is what true love is like. True love wasn’t based on sex and physical passion, it was based on the emotional and mental bonds formed between two people. Of anyone Dave had ever known, he was the only one who had ever experienced something like this. Everyone else had based their relationships on money or sex, and years later these relationships had become tired and stale and thus they crumbled through the court system.

The car stopped and the dying of its engine brought Dave out of his thoughts. He could see that they were on the hill, her favorite place to go when she was troubled. He had to admit that he liked the view and the privacy it afforded. A privacy that he shared with only her, the woman whom he shared that special bond with. She got out of the car and he followed, the moon casting a spectral glow about her body. She sat down in the grass, near the protruding rock and waited for him to sit down. Slowly he walked towards her, seeing that the moonlight had shadowed her face to make it unreadable. But that bond with her was telling him that something was very, very wrong. He sat down and waited for her to say what was on her mind.

“My...my best friend is gone. She was fired and said that it was all my fault. And it was! I was the one who had to fire her. I was the one who had to betray my friend. I knew that she deserved it, she had been slacking off and taking too many vacation days, but I was still the one responsible for betraying my own best friend. So now, I’ve lost my best friend. I don’t have anyone, no friends, no family, no one else! I feel...I feel so alone!” She blurted, tears coming to her eyes. He was taken aback by the statement and the bluntness of the conversation. But seconds later he forgot it. He knew that she hadn’t forgotten him, she knew that she could always count on him. Or so he hoped. “I didn’t mean to make you mad, but you’re all that I have left. You’re all that’s left of my life! I don’t have anything else except my job! Everyone else is gone! I’m just so tired of this, of my life being nothing but work!” The problem was now out in the open and Dave took a few moments to analyze it, thinking of something comforting to say. But what could he tell her, she was right.

“It doesn’t have to be just about work. You can make new friends, and you’ve always got me. You’ll always have me,” Dave said, but her tears didn’t stop. Katie looked away from his kind, gentle face, those piercing yet comforting gray eyes. How could she tell him of the emptiness she felt now? While Dave did fill her needs, he couldn’t replace that old friendship between her and Tarah that had been destroyed for whatever reason. It seemed that there was a great, empty void in her heart now, that not even Dave could fill. The betrayal of Tarah had torn that void open and nothing could bridge it, it would forever be a scar. She felt as if she had been pushed into a dark and empty room with no way of escape. She felt trapped in an endless, dark void. There seemed to be no escape, no way out. It was just like when Michael had died.

“I know that, but we were friends for so long, and then she turned on me just like that. Everything that we had shared, all of those good times, were thrown away, tossed aside like a piece of garbage. Everything used to seem so simple, the future seemed so bright, and now...” She broke off and looked back into his eyes, her own suddenly very intense, like twin pools of blue fire. “I want us to have a future together. I don’t want our relationship to end up like mine with Tarah. I don’t want to be hurt anymore!” Her tears turned to sobs that caused her to bury her face in her hands. Dave reached out and touched her, feeling confused and overwhelmed. Her intensity had stirred feelings deep inside of him and he held her tightly with new understanding.

All that she wanted was some security in her life. A relationship that wouldn’t be gone tomorrow. She wanted to make sure that he was feeling the same kind of love that she was. She didn’t want to be abandoned and hurt anymore. Tears came to Dave’s eyes. He loved her so much, and he knew that he could give her what she wanted.

“I know, and I’m not going to hurt you. I love you Katie, I love you so much that every second away from you is an eternity. I wouldn’t even dream of hurting you, ever. I won’t leave you tomorrow, the next day, or any other day. I love you too much for that,” he raised her chin and she looked at him, drying her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Thank-you, thank-you so much. I love you too, I don’t ever want to be away from you,” Katie seemed very relieved, then she became serious again. “I want us to get married, so we never have to leave each other. I know that it is a huge step, but we both love each other and that is all that counts. I want us to have a future.”

That shocked Dave into silence. He had never expected her to want this kind of commitment so quickly. He knew that he loved her, and that he could support her, but it was still so quick. He didn’t want their relationship to be some kind of whirlwind affair that they would regret a year from now. But, looking into her eyes, he no longer cared about that. Love was all they had and all they would ever need. That special bond that they shared couldn’t be broken in a year or a hundred years. He took a deep breath, knowing that his next words would catapult the both of them into a new dimension. His reply was the only thing holding them back, like a swaying and frayed rope bridge hanging over a huge gap of despair. And he was standing at the foot of the bridge, the frightened adventurer who was not sure he could cross it to the new frontier that lay ahead.

He gathered his courage, the sum of it making his tongue dry and heavy. “Yes, I want us to have a future too,” he said, his throat dry as cotton. She instantly hugged him, releasing her pent-up feelings of joy and happiness.

“Oh, I’m so glad Dave. I didn’t want our love to be some sort of temporary thing. I want us to get married, get our own house, have some kids, get a dog, all of that. That’s been my dream for so long, even before we met,” Katie again grew distant and Dave wondered what was going on. “I’ve always dreamed of finding someone like you, to just have Prince Charming come and sweep me off my feet. Now it’s all coming true. It’s too bad that Tarah won’t be around to be at the wedding. I wish that she hadn’t wrecked our friendship.”

Dave, still recoiling from the hug and all this talk of weddings, hardly noticed her change in behavior. He spoke slowly and chose his words carefully. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but let’s hold off on planning our wedding for a little while. I mean, we aren’t even engaged yet. I really want this to work, but let’s not rush it. Let’s wait for at least a couple of months and see what happens, all right?”

This change in attitude shocked Katie so much that she opened her mouth for a few seconds, but nothing came out but a gasp. Finally her anger reached the surface and she took his hands off of him. “What! First you want us to have something and then you get cold feet! Make up your mind! I don’t want us to go any further until you know what you want to do.”

“I don’t see why we should force everything. Why can’t we just move slowly? This entire relationship has been unusual from the start, but can’t we just stop and wait for a little while. Or are you afraid that if you stop and think you’ll think that this is all wrong?” Dave had raised his voice and they pulled away from each other, that special bond collapsing under an avalanche of anger. Katie was so shocked by his anger that all she could do was sit there and stare dumbly at him for a little while.

Her head was a swirling mass of confusing and conflicting emotions. On one hand she still loved Dave and knew that what he was proposing made sense. On the other hand, she still felt so betrayed by Tarah that his plea to go slow made her feel like he was trying to abandon her. She just no longer knew what to do. Only a few months ago everything had seemed so simple. Then Michael had come and gone, Tarah had blown up at her, and she had met Dave. Now everything was mixed up and unsepararable, like two chemicals that when combined could never again return to their normal states. Her mind was just a melting pot for feelings of anger, despair, depression, hope, happiness, and love. It all melted together until it became one feeling, confusion. Now she knew that she was faced with two choices: she could accept Dave’s advice and keep their relationship on track, giving in to her feelings of love, or she could continue the argument, derail their relationship, and give in to her feelings of anger and betrayal.

She regarded each path carefully. It was now time to choose, only there was no map for her to consult, only her heart could guide her. She looked at Dave, thought of an apology, and then hesitated. Crying, she stood and ran. She ran past her car and across the road. She didn’t want to choose, she couldn’t choose. Her heart was much too confused to make this kind of decision. So instead she ran as fast as her long legs would carry her. Her shoes trampled fallen branches, leaves, and pine needles. They carried her over grass, dirt, and sand. When she thought they could no longer support her, they did. They carried her into a field of ripening corn. She ran past the corn stalks and onto an abandoned dirt road. It was only then that she stopped, lying exhausted in the middle of the road. She sat in a heap amongst the dirt, gasping for air.

She thought to herself, I’ve gotten far enough away now. Then she saw headlights coming up the road and knew that he was pursuing her. He would track her like a hound on the trail of a fox. She wearily got to her feet and ran harder than before. She tripped over a rock and twisted her ankle, but kept on running like a madman, pain shooting through her body with every step. She didn’t know where she was running to, only that she had to run, had to get away from him and the terrible abyss of choosing. She had to run from Tarah and the organization. She ran off the road and darted in between trees as she headed to some unknown destination. She stopped in the middle of the grove of trees, catching her breath. Still, she could feel her problems trying to catch her. She could feel the depression and despair descending upon her again.

So again she ran, now faster than ever. Finally she reached a lake and knelt by its edge. The moonlight provided her with a reflection of herself and she stared at it, wide-eyed. Somehow, her reflection almost seemed to be of a different person. She looked into the eyes of that reflection and saw something there that she was lacking: courage. She eased her hand towards the water and her fingers touched those of the reflection.

It was then that something seemed to run through her, some kind of energy full of vitality. All of the dark images surrounding her disappeared and all that there was the naked glow of the truth. It was all around her and she could see how wrong she had been about Tarah, Rick, and Michael. Her eyes were now open to the raw reality of her life and she could see that the organization was what was most wrong in her life. In her mind’s eye she could see innocent men, women, and children dying because she had sold weapons to various groups who had used them to cause violence and spread death throughout the planet. She could also see how the drugs she sold ruined lives and scarred people forever. She shook her head in shame, not wanting to recognize this evil within herself, that she herself had spread and nurtured until it had blossomed to enormous size. She couldn’t help but recognize it now.

She could also feel her courage building, and she knew that she had to face her problems. She could see now that she had been a fool, she had always told herself that the organization was good, but had turned a blind eye to the destruction it was causing. The energy finished running through her and her vision ceased and now in the water all she saw was herself, what she was now. She wiped her tears and realized that she had acted like a child, running away from her problems instead of facing them. Now she knew that she would have to go back and make amends. As the energy drained from her body, she felt exhausted, yet fulfilled somehow. She lay her head by the water and looked up at the stars, and slowly her eyes closed and a smile came across her face.

Dave sat on the hill, looking down at the city and thinking of how a relationship that had seemed so right had suddenly gone so wrong. He shook his head: he had been a fool to suggest they go slow, because he knew in his heart that he didn’t want to go slow. It was just that he hadn’t been prepared for such a hasty proposal. He sighed and knew that his cowardice, his fear, had damaged their relation ship. But, he told himself, it wasn’t all his fault.

She was just too sensitive sometimes. And sometimes even that special bond failed him and made her seem foreign and strange to him. He had come to expect that in other women, but not in her. He had hurt her and he couldn’t figure out why she had acted the way she had. He knew that her friend had abandoned her, but he wasn’t going to. He just wanted to slow down, so that he could silence all the doubts that nagged at him and constantly plagued his conscience. He wanted to end his fear.

He stood up and took one last look down at the city. He knew that he loved her more than anyone he had ever met, and he’d be damned if he was just going to let her run out of his life like this. His fists clenched and his jaw tightened, he would pursue her, find her, and try to repair all the damage that he had caused.

Dave ran to Katie’s car and saw that she had left the keys in the ignition. He jumped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Soon, the silver Mercedes was racing down the country roads and Dave knew that he would find her, he had to. He remembered how hard it had been to find her last time, but this time he knew her, and his heart told him where to go. He soon stopped and dashed into the woods, knowing that she was nearby.

He saw a lake and could feel that she was near. Somehow, every fiber in his being told him that this is where she had gone. He wasn’t sure what the lake was called, but he could see something lying at the edge of it. The sense of dread rose and he raced over to her side. He hoped that she hadn’t tried to drown herself over this, but knew it was a possibility. She had been so depressed, that she just might have done something like this.

She was at the lake’s shore, lying face-up. The moonlight highlighted the smile on her face and he saw that she looked so at peace as she lay out in the cold, moonlit air with tremors shaking her every now and then. He knelt down beside her and took off his jacket. He covered her with it and checked her pulse to make sure that she was alive. He was relieved when he felt a strong heartbeat. The tremors had stopped now and he looked around to see if there was anything or anyone around. He saw nothing except for her car, which was almost hidden in the darkness. When he looked back down at her, her eyes were open.

Katie looked up at Dave and smiled. She knew that she had to leave the organization before she could make a life with Dave. She had to get rid of the black stain haunting her. She was going to destroy the organization and destroy Michael’s dream. She, being the head of the organization, bore the responsibility of destroying it, because she was in the best position to do it. Dave gave her a hand and pulled her to a sitting position. She looked around her and thought of Cris.

Cris was much like she had been when she was his age, too much like her. If she simply left the organization he would be able to rebuild it, he was a very capable person. He could recruit anyone he would need to restore the organization to its previous level of efficiency. So she would have to eliminate him as a threat. But her reborn conscience was telling her that she could not kill him, she would have to find some other way to get rid of him. If she could somehow get the police to the organization’s headquarters, then they would all be arrested and put into jail.

She knew that if Cris was like her, then all he would need was a wake-up call to see what the organization was doing. He wasn’t a bad person, like her, he had been misled to think that the organization was good and that it wasn’t really harming anyone. Maybe she could talk some sense into him, get him to come with her, and to make a fresh start.

She walked back to the car with Dave, leaving these disturbing thoughts behind. She would have time to think about this later, but for now she had to concentrate on their relationship. She had been stupid and now it was the time to apologize.

“I’m sorry about running off like that. I know it must have seemed pretty foolish and childish. I just want you to know that you’re right, there’s no need that we can’t slow down a little to make sure that this really is love and that we really can handle marriage. I want this to work just as much as you do, but I didn’t want you to back out of this, to abandon me and our relationship. But I know that you’re only thinking about preserving our relationship and I was wrong in thinking that you wanted to back out of it,” Dave was glad to see that she had solved her own problems. She brushed the sand off of herself and stood up with more strength than he would have thought she could have left after running for so long. But her brief rest had energized her and awakened her soul, causing new life to run through her body. She felt like an entirely different person now.

They walked back to Dave’s car, hand-in-hand. Dave was overjoyed that she had decided to take things slow, that would give him time to straighten things out in his mind. She climbed into the car and took the wheel. They drove in silence to the pier and as he climbed out she stopped him. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, feeling her body seem to melt as he kissed her. He slowly moved back away and she still seemed to be a little surprised by what he had done.

“Good-bye Dave. I’ll talk to you later,” she said and then drove away. He pulled away and smiled. As he drove back to his apartment, he knew that their relationship was on the right track. He couldn’t wait to see her again, glad that she had repaired the damage for him. Whistling, he opened his apartment door and went inside.

* * *

Frances hurried to dress and Cris checked outside the door. The nurses at the desk were putting their jackets on and getting ready to leave. Frances put Cris’ jacket on and took her things in hand. Then Cris opened the door and held up the flowers he had hastily bought. They stepped out into the empty corridor and moved cautiously for the elevator.

The nurses were just changing shifts and didn’t seem to notice the couple. Cris felt his heart lighten; they might just make it! Then he pressed the elevator button and waited. He tapped his feet nervously and waited some more. Seconds seemed to stretch into eternity as Frances’ shoulder leaned against his arm. She still couldn’t walk very well, but well enough to get away from this hospital. The elevator doors opened as the nursing shift left for the night. They piled into the elevator with Frances and Cris and they began sweating. Frances pressed the ground floor button and the doors closed. The nurses chatted amongst themselves for a few moments and then one looked over at Cris.

“So, are you guys visiting someone?”

“Oh, yeah. My wife and I were going to see my aunt, but she was in surgery. We’re just going to get a bite to eat before we go back to wait. I hope she’s all right,” Cris lied and Frances hoped that they bought it.

“Well, I hope she pulls through,” the nurse replied and began chatting with the others. The doors opened and Frances and Cris stepped out. Just then one of the nurses took a look at Frances and whispered to one of the others.

“You’re right! That’s her! Hey, you, stop!” Frances and Cris began to move quicker, but were held up by Frances’ legs. Cris grabbed an empty wheelchair and Frances threw it in it as security guards and the nurses chased after the pair. Cris wheeled her as fast as he could and they reached the doors. He punched the automatic open for a handicap door and it slowly whined open. He pushed the wheelchair through with the pursuers still hot on his tail. He ran as fast as he could, pushing the wheelchair forward at speeds it wasn’t designed for. They neared his car with the gaggle of people chasing him closing. He opened the doors and helped Frances in.

Cris took the empty wheelchair and pushed it at the guards and nurses as hard as he could. They moved aside and he sprinted to the driver’s seat and started the engine. He mashed the accelerator down and the car leapt out of the parking spot. One of the guards got in his car and moved to cut Cris’ car, a Chevy Lumina, off. The blue-gray Lumina swerved around the front end of the car and drove over a patch of grass before getting onto the open road.

The four-laned road led deep into the heart of the city, and Cris knew that was the best place to lose anyone that would try to follow him. Police cars, with sirens blaring and lights blinking, roared after him. Cris deftly put the car in a hairpin right turn that nearly caused the Lumina to slam into another car. It narrowly missed the collision and Cris kept moving, hoping to double back towards the headquarters of the organization. Frances gripped the side of the door tightly and her teeth were set firmly together. The car flew over a bump in the road and Cris looked in his rearview mirror. The police cars were still behind him, still chasing him. They were a little farther back, but still too close to try and double back on. He swerved past a car and then veered off into a side street. He gunned the engine and saw the cops still on his tail. He did a quick U-turn and headed straight at the police cars. They swerved to block the road but Cris headed onto the sidewalk and went around them. The cops struggled to follow and Frances gave a shout of triumph. Cris looked around him and saw a road to his left. He made a quick left turn, that stopped oncoming traffic, and then spun into a parking lot. He edged the car behind a little convenience store and hid it between two other cars. The police cars sped by, following a car that was no longer on the road. When they were gone, Cris put the car back onto the road and began backtracking towards the organization’s headquarters.

“That was some fancy driving,” Frances remarked with a giggle.

“Thanks,” Cris replied and soon they were casually heading out of town and back to the cannery that housed the organization. Cris pulled into the parking lot and helped Frances out. They slowly went inside and made their way into the office area. As they went upstairs, Frances saw that Katie’s office was empty. She sighed and went upstairs to Cris’ apartment. Cris helped her onto his bed and she lay down, resting. Then he kissed her and went back downstairs.

* * *

Katie was just going upstairs when Cris stopped her. “Hello, Cris. I need to talk to you as soon as you’re free,” she said sweetly, not wanting to alert him to what she had to say.

“Can it wait? I need to talk to you, privately,” Cris blurted out hurriedly.

“What about?”

“It’s Frances, she’s back. We need to talk to you.” Katie was dumbfounded. Frances? Back? How could that be? Frances had left and killed someone, or so she had been told. Then she remembered who had been the first one to tell her of Frances’ absence. In light of the fact that it was Tarah, Katie decided to listen to Frances’ explanation. Cris led her up to his apartment and back to the bedroom. Frances leaned up and smiled at Katie.

“Hello, Katie. We need to talk.”

* * *

Tarah sat at an old table in the abandoned house, trying to make sense of a few things. Katie was leaving and coming back almost every night; she had to be doing something. Was it business or pleasure? Either way, putting a stop to Katie’s nighttime excursions would considerably help her plan. Her plan lay before her in a stack of papers. There were three steps into the plan; each one carefully calculated to draw her web in around Katie.

The first part of the plan was to shut off everything that Katie enjoyed. If Katie couldn’t blow off steam then she would self-destruct from stress. Tarah would have to keep an eye on Katie and find out what she did in her spare time so that she would be able to pinpoint just which activities had to be shut off in order for Katie to become mentally stressed and frustrated. Then she would have to infiltrate the organization and take away all support for Katie. She would have to point out any mistakes that Katie had made and then use that in order to gain support for herself. She would need to do it carefully so that Katie didn’t find out about it, otherwise things could go very badly for her. She would have to gather support in key positions of the organizations, ones that could influence other people. Positions like the warehouse foreman, the top salesperson, and the product distributor, the ones that were the most important to the warehouse staff. Then it would be time to destroy Katie, leaving the organization for Tarah to take over, the ultimate victory. With support behind her it would be easy for Tarah to proclaim herself as the leader of the organization. It would also be easy to crush any challengers. Tarah knew that her plan would work, it had taken so long to conceive that it was sure to work. She looked over the first part of the plan. If her calculations were right, tomorrow night the plan would begin and Katie’s downfall would begin. She couldn’t wait until she killed that arrogant bitch, who she had been a friend to for years. For being a friend she had been repaid with betrayal, kicked out of her apartment at gun point by order of her former friend.

Now it was time for revenge. Tarah began to feel hot with lust for revenge, sweat seeping down her back and accumulated at the base of her spine. She wiped her brow, the fever growing each time she thought of the death blow she would deliver to Katie tomorrow. A blow that would give her the organization, the key to her even larger plans with Rick. Then within only a few years she could leave this miserable city and go somewhere to start over, with Rick and the millions she would take from the organization. She yawned, deciding that if her plan was to work then she would need sleep to be at her best. She tucked the papers away in a kitchen drawer until she would look them over tomorrow. She stumbled off to her bed, or at least what passed for her bed. She fell asleep almost instantly, her head spinning with dreams of revenge.

Chapter 9

2007-06-12T09:42:00.001-07:00

Chapter 9

Katie was about ready to shove the paperwork off of her desk in frustration. A week since Frances had run off, and Tarah had disappeared, and Katie was still swamped with work. She did it as fast as she could, but it still kept piling up. She knew that she had to get Tarah back soon or else she would have a nervous breakdown from overworking.

Katie yawned, exhausted from several nights of little sleep. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes, wondering when was the last time she had seen the outside of the office. The short periods of rest she got were here, in her office. She replaced her glasses on her nose and went back to work. A week without going outside of the office, a week without changing clothes or taking a shower, and most of all a week without Dave.

She had wanted to see him many times, but the insurmountable task of keeping the organization running was taking up all of her time. She knew that she would eventually have to get a new assistant to help handle the overflow, but no one was nearly as good at running things than Frances. If only she were back, then Katie could get some rest and get out to see Dave again. To see him, to touch him, to make love to him...Katie suddenly realized that she had dozed off and snapped back to work. She hurriedly typed numbers from a sheet of paper into the computer and then attacked the stack of paper; hoping to at least get it half done before she collapsed from exhaustion.

* * *

Tarah sat naked on her bed, smiling as Rick massaged her feet. She was deep in thought now, any moment Katie would crack and come running up here to ask her back. When that happened, it would be easy enough for Tarah to make her demands; she could easily demand more control over the organization. Enough control so that she would be able to gain the support of the entire organization and bump Katie off without having to worry about any trouble from the other organization members.

The problem was that she didn’t expect Katie to crack for a long time, though. She wouldn’t come back until the pressure became too unbearable. That could take a while, since Katie was a fairly tough girl, a survivor. It would take a lot for her to come up and ask Tarah back. Tarah didn’t want to wait forever, if Katie didn’t come around soon, then she would have to be eliminated.

That could mean trouble for her. Some young hotshot salesperson or warehouse worker could try and grab a piece of the action, Tarah’s action. A struggle for power within the organization could factionalize it and ultimately shatter it, and Tarah’s dreams with it. No, Tarah would have to take Katie out quietly, assume power quickly and keep power unquestioningly. Rick sat down on the bed and Tarah snapped out of her thoughts. That could wait, for now.

* * *

Katie awoke a few hours later, her head on a stack of papers. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She checked her watch and saw that it was already morning. She stood up, her back aching from several nights of sleeping in her chair. She stretched her muscles out and looked at the pile of paper. It had taken a lot of work, but she had nearly cleared the pile from off of her desk. She smiled and decided that she could take a vacation for the rest of the day. She locked up the remaining papers and turned off the lights. She slowly dragged herself to her apartment, seeming to get more tired with each step.

She made it into her apartment and went back to her bedroom. She stripped off her clothes and put on a bathrobe. Then she dropped onto her bed and instantly fell asleep. Her sleep was deep and dreamless. When Katie awoke later that day she felt well rested. She checked the time and grabbed the telephone. She dialed Dave’s number and heard him answer.

“Dave, it’s me,” Katie said joyfully.

“Katie! I thought I’d never hear from you again!” Dave was glad to hear her voice again, after over a week of no contact with her. He didn’t want to lose her so soon. He had begun to think that she had left town, left him. Now he knew that that wasn’t the case.

“I was really busy with some...business. Do you think we can get together tonight?” Dave thought about it for a second.

“Of course we can. Same meeting place, same time?”

“That’ll be fine. I’ll see you then. I love you.”

“I love you too.” They both hung up, Dave feeling good, knowing that she still loved him. He couldn’t bear the thought of spending the rest of his life without her. He thought of the last time they had met, when they had made love on the beach. Everything had seemed so right then. They had seemed like a perfect couple. Now, Dave knew that he wanted to marry her, to be with her forever.

Katie felt better knowing that she was going to see Dave again, now she just had to get ready to meet him on the pier. One look in the mirror told her that getting ready was going to take a while. Her hair was disheveled, there were bags under her eyes, and she felt dirty from not having showered in a week. Katie took off her robe and rushed into the shower. The warm water felt good and it was a half hour later when she finally emerged. She wrapped her hair in a towel to dry as she looked into her closet to see what she could find to wear.

* * *

Frances lay in her bed with her computer on her lap. Cris had left to go back to the organization; so once again she was alone. She looked over towards the window and watched the cars and people pass by below her for a few moments. She wished that she could be among those people, if only they would learn to treat her as a person, as an equal. She shook her head, knowing that no one would appreciate her because they were jealous of her and her abilities. Sighing, she unfolded the screen of her computer and turned it on. She logged in her progress and then thought of how she could beat Tarah.

She knew that she would need a weapon, a gun would be preferable, so that she could take her down at long range. In her condition she wouldn’t last five minutes in actual fighting. She shook her head and decided that she would wait until she had healed completely. She turned the computer off and put it on her night stand. She stared up at the ceiling and for a moment she was no longer in the hospital. She was once again in her office, with Rick standing over her, helpless and bloody. She could see the shiny and blood-stained letter opener coming down at her. Before it hit her, her eyes flew open. She looked around and saw that it was darker in her room than she last remembered.

It was nighttime now and Cris sat beside her bed. He looked worried and she smiled up at him. “What is it?” She asked. He took her hand and sighed.

“I saw that you were sleeping and I was afraid, afraid that you were...dead or something. This scares me, this whole place keeps reminding me of what happened. And I realized something, that I want to help you get back at whoever did this. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. I love you,” Cris said quietly and Frances squeezed his hand.

“Thanks,” she whispered and he nodded. They sat there like that, in silence, until visiting hours were over. Frances watched him leave and couldn’t wait to leave the hospital. With his support, it would be much easier to defeat Tarah and Rick. She also knew now how much he loved her; he loved her enough to go through with her plans for vengeance. She leaned back on her pillows and thought of how to avenge herself.

* * *

Katie didn’t have to wait long for Dave at the pier. He strode down the long pier and they embraced. When they had disengaged, Dave wrapped his arm around her and they walked back towards their cars. “Let’s take my car,” Katie said. She steered him to her car and then they both climbed in. Katie pulled out of the parking lot and looked over at Dave. “Where do you want to go?”

“Somewhere quiet,” Dave responded. Katie nodded and drove out of town. She drove up towards the hill she had gone to many times. She stopped at a fast food restaurant at the base of the hill. After they had gotten their food, Katie drove the car up to the hill. She pulled off of the road and then climbed out. “What’s this?”

“It’s got the best view of the city...and the sun rising. It’s where I go when I need to think,” Katie answered. They walked past the trees to the spot where Katie always sat. Dave was going to spread his jacket on the ground for her, but she motioned for him to stop. She didn’t care if the blue jeans she was wearing were dirtied by the ground. Dave nodded and put his jacket back on. He leaned back against a protruding rock, munching on the greasy hamburger, looking down at the city. The view was absolutely beautiful. He had never seen the city from this vantage point. The lights from the city sparkled against the backdrop of the river. It was so romantic, he wanted to kiss her right there, but she seemed uncomfortable.

“Is something wrong?” Dave asked. “It seems like something’s bothering you.”

“It’s...it’s just my job. I’ve been under so much pressure lately. I was hoping that you wouldn’t notice.”

“Work can be hell sometimes. I’ve been there before. What do you do anyway?”

“Well, I take care of the finances for one of the shipping companies. I’m not supposed to tell you which one,” Katie whispered the last sentence conspiratorially.

“Oh, so that’s the way it is. They must keep you really busy then.”

“Yeah, but especially so lately. Some of the other people I worked with took off, so now I’ve got to do their work and my own. It’s kept me awake a lot of nights.” Katie thought about the lie she was telling Dave, telling herself that it wasn’t too far from the truth. Frances and Tarah had run off, leaving her to do everything. And the smuggling organization did ship things, so it wasn’t so much lying as misleading Dave. She wanted to be honest to him, but she couldn’t compromise the entire organization. She gazed down at the city, not really looking at the pretty scenery. She looked around the river and saw where the organization was located, at just about the point where the river bent and flowed south. It looked like a dark spot against the shimmering river, almost like a cancer among healthy cells.

Katie shook away these dark thoughts, wanting only to think about Dave and the happiness that she had found in him. They had finished their food and set the wrappers aside. Katie eased closer to Dave, until they wrapped their arms around each other. They fell asleep in each other’s arms and Dave nudged Katie awake early that next morning. The sun was just peeking out from the horizon. They watched the sun rise, as the grays in the sky faded into rosy colors. As the sun positioned itself over the city they kissed.

The kiss lasted for a long time. They ended up sprawled on the grassy ground, giggling in a tangle of arms and legs. They finally untangled themselves and sat on the ground, smiling at one another. Katie felt so much better now that she was with Dave. Her work seemed so far away. She took in a deep breath of the pure air and felt more relaxed than she had in the past week. Dave grabbed her hand and helped her stand up. They walked back to her car and then pulled onto the road. Instead of heading towards the city, Katie led the car down the road. Dave sighed and looked around at the expanses of farmland and herds of dairy cows. It was just like a postcard.

Dave had always lived in the city, and this was one of the first times that he had been out to the country. The pastoral beauty of it shocked him and he stared, wide-eyed and in awe, at it. It contrasted greatly with the city where everything was loud and busy. There wasn’t any traffic around, any crowds of rushing people, any piece of trash thrown haphazardly. Everything was so peaceful and quiet, and Dave looked over at Katie. She was driving with her eyes ahead, but he could tell she was thinking about something else. He hoped that she was thinking what he was: he wanted the two of them to live here together. He turned his eyes back to the farmland stretching before him and sighed. It was so tranquil and different from the city. He knew that this is where he and Katie could live their lives out happily.

Katie was sharing the same thoughts as Dave, wanting to be out in the peaceful beauty of the country with the one she loved, to live there forever. They passed through small towns and large farms on their journey. Dave entertained Katie with stories of the most ridiculous things he had covered as a reporter. They laughed together, joking around like two old friends. They got gas in one of the small towns they came upon and then turned around to go back to the city. The sun was about to set when they returned to the hill. They stood and held hands as they watched the sunset and then Katie took Dave back to the pier. It was by far the most fun road trip that Dave had ever experienced.

“I had a great time today. Thank-you,” Dave said as he walked with her to his car. They embraced one last time and ended the date with another extremely long kiss. They both reluctantly let go.

“I’ll call you some time. I love you,” Katie told him as she turned to go.

“I love you too!” Dave called after her. Katie climbed into her car and left. When she arrived at the organization, she didn’t see that Tarah was watching her. Katie was smiling as she went up to her apartment. She undressed and then went to sleep, thinking of what a wonderful time she had experienced with Dave.

* * *

Tarah paced her apartment, muttering curses to herself. Katie wasn’t supposed to go out and have fun; she was supposed to work herself to death. Tarah grimaced, but knew it was only a setback. She would have to watch her more carefully now. Tarah wished she knew where Katie had gone, but that wasn’t important now. What was important was making sure that that didn’t happen again. Somehow she had to keep Katie busy with work so that she would crack and give Tarah the opportunity she needed to take over the organization.

Rick came into the apartment, carrying some badly needed groceries. He had been getting her supplies ever since she had begun her self-imposed exile. He set the groceries on the table and kissed Tarah on the cheek. Tarah led him back to the bedroom, not thinking about Katie anymore.

Chapter 8

2007-06-12T09:41:00.002-07:00

Chapter 8

Frances awoke slowly. Her eyes were blurry and she knew that this was only partly due to her lack of glasses. She sat up in bed and took a look around. She was in a hospital bed, in a bleak white room. The name on her clipboard simply read: ‘Jane Doe’. She found her glasses on a nightstand next to her bed and put them on. A doctor came in and took her chart.

“What is your name?” The doctor asked.

“My name? It’s Frances, Frances Arneiss. Didn’t anyone tell you who I was?”

“I’m sorry, but you were found alone in your house. Is there something that I should know about?” Bad move, Frances chastized herself. She had almost made a very serious error. She wondered where Cris was, he had to be around somewhere, why hadn’t he come to see her?

“Oh, no. I wasn’t sure if any relatives had been found, that’s all.” The doctor looked satisfied and took her chart, scrawling something on it. “How bad is it?” Frances tried to take a deep breath but a sharp pain shot up her body.

“You were very lucky. The wounds you suffered missed the more important veins and arteries, but you did lose a lot of blood. You had a severe concussion and a fractured skull but so far we haven’t detected any brain damage. We patched you up the best we could but you’ll probably need a few skin grafts. I’m afraid that there are some really bad scars on your torso and arms. A couple of ribs were cracked but nothing major. You were pretty lucky in other words. You should be up and around in about three to four weeks. I’m sorry that it’s so long, but these injuries will need a while to heal.” Frances nodded her understanding, she could feel that she wasn’t going to be able to get out of bed for a while. She put her head against her pillow and stared at the ceiling. No one had come to visit her or to give her flowers. She was alone in this dungeon for three or four weeks. She wished that she had her computer here to give her something to do. If only she could get the laptop from her apartment. But that was impossible. No one cared about her, they wouldn’t do anything for her. She sighed as her anger rose.

No one gave a damn about her, that much was obvious by the lack of any contact with anyone from the organization. Not even Cris, whom she thought had loved her, had come to see her. Frances’ hands clutched the sheets and she couldn’t wait to get back to work, to see Cris, and to avenge herself upon Rick. When did I become like them? Frances asked. Since they attacked you, scarred you, and left you for dead that’s when, a voice in her head answered without hesitation. She knew that that was very true. She had given her all for Katie, to make the organization prosper. But now they had taken her out of the picture and were going to destroy everything she had worked hard to preserve. They, Tarah and Rick. They were going to blindside Katie and ultimately take power for themselves. And there was nothing that Frances could do to help. Frances had forgotten the number for the organization, suffering from a minor case of temporary short-term memory loss. But she still knew most of what was going on, and who was responsible for it. She thought of how helpless she had been while Rick had rammed the letter opener into her over and over again. How she had struggled to open the door and get help. She vowed never to be that helpless again.

She lifted her hospital gown and looked down at her chest. Bruises, scars, and blotches where skin had been grafted on were clearly visible. Tears stung her eyes. It was as bad as the doctors had said. She wheezed and choked a little as she breathed. She knew that she could never again be what she had been before the attack. When she got back she would kill them both and leave the scraps of the organization for the cops to clean up. Then she could move somewhere and start over again. Maybe she could finally find someone who appreciated her and didn’t abandon her for their own selfish whims.

As for Cris, he could be taken to jail with all the rest as far as she was concerned. If he didn’t want to come and see her, then he really didn’t love her. He was just another person betraying her, using her, and ultimately, abusing her. Well, she didn’t need him anymore, she could take care of herself, by herself.

* * *

Katie couldn’t concentrate. She looked at the paperwork, trying to handle the overflow since Frances wasn’t around and Tarah hadn’t come to work. It was then that the door opened and Katie expected it to be Frances, coming to give her some excuse for being late, instead it was Rick. “Hello Katie,” he greeted cheerfully. She looked at him strangely. Something seemed different about him. She couldn’t put her finger on it and threw her glasses on top of the paperwork as she stood up.

“What is it?” Katie inquired.

“It’s...it’s about Frances. I didn’t want to be the one to have to tell you this, but she’s gone. She snapped last night and threw a fit in her office. Someone came to see what was the matter and she...assaulted him and killed him with her letter opener. Then she went to her car and left. I found the body when I went into her office after she had left. It was really gruesome. No one knows why this happened, but we have our suspicions. I...I thought that I should tell you since I was the one who found the dead worker. I’m sorry.” Frances, a killer? No way! Katie thought to herself. Katie bolted out of the office and to Frances’ office. As she stepped inside she saw the blood coating the floor. A pool of it was in one corner. Rick and Tarah had had the door, and the bloody trail that Frances had left as she crawled to the door, cleaned up. Katie looked all around the room, trying to find something to disprove what Rick had said. Why would Frances snap? Rick was in the doorway and held up a plastic bag containing the letter opener. Katie took the bag and hoped that it wasn’t true. Rick had wiped his fingerprints off and had put it in Frances’ hand while she had been unconscious.

Frances wouldn’t hurt anyone, she wouldn’t snap, would she? Katie wondered. But everything she had seen showed that she had indeed done what Rick had said. Frances had been the pillar of strength in the organization, the one person Katie could turn to with a personal or business problem. Her most loyal and trustworthy advisor was gone, just like that. What would she do? Slowly Katie walked back to her office and threw herself down into her chair. Rick smiled in the hallway, his mission accomplished. It wouldn’t be long until Katie, without the help of Frances or Tarah, would make mistakes and Rick would capitalize on them. Soon she would be a nervous wreck and have no choice but to give the organization to Tarah. Then they would be in charge, Tarah and him side-by-side. They could get married and work on making their dreams come true. Without anyone getting in their way. Rick walked upstairs to Tarah’s apartment.

Katie spent the next few hours trying to figure out what she was going to do. She could feel that Rick was holding something back, and Tarah’s not showing up for work hinted that something was very fishy. Katie knew that Tarah was mad at her because of the mall incident. It was almost like something had snapped in her, something had turned her against Katie. Katie thought about when Michael had died and when she had gone into her shell, avoiding everyone, including Tarah. Now Tarah was avoiding her, but why? Katie yawned and suddenly remembered that she had another date with Dave tonight. That brightened her day a little and she hoped that she could talk about this with him.

* * *

“Did she go for it?” Tarah demanded from Rick when he stepped in the door.

“Yes, hook, line, and sinker,” Rick grinned and Tarah laughed with pleasure.

“Now we just have to sit back and wait. It won’t be long until she screws up. We’ll just have to be there when she does.” Rick nodded and soon they were making love again. Tarah thought of what Rick and her would do once Katie was out of the way. How they would start over again and live the good life.

Ever since she had been a child that was all that she had wanted. All of those lonely nights on the street she had dreamt of that. It was what had kept her going. And soon it would all happen. Just as she had planned for all of these years.

Tarah remembered seeing Katie being taken away that cold winter and how she had wanted to go so badly. Katie had been the one standing in her way all of these years, the one The Boss had liked better than her. But soon, Katie would be liked by no one in the organization and everyone would like her. Especially Rick, she smiled at Rick and knew that he would never leave her. He would never abandon her, either. He would stay with her and they could live out their dreams together.

They finished making love, laying side-by-side in bed, and Tarah stared blankly at the ceiling. She thought of the countless number of stars in the sky and she wished on one of them. She wished for everything she had ever wanted. She knew that she would get it too. The stars were the limit now. Soon, very soon her plan would be finished and she could fulfill her dreams. Only one woman stood in her way, but soon she would be gone and nothing would be able to stop her.

* * *

Katie hurried to her car, not caring that she wasn’t wearing any makeup or that she hadn’t changed her clothes before she left. She only wanted to be away from the organization’s headquarters, away from Frances’ office. She didn’t want to come to grips with what had happened in there. That evil act that seemed so strange, so unlike Frances. She had been the one person who Katie had always believed could not ever do anything wrong, and now she had done that bloody, vulgar act. Katie started her car and left the parking lot at top speed. She raced to the pier where she would meet Dave. When she got there she saw that only one car was there, his car. She knew that he would be standing at the end of the pier, looking out over the water. She walked briskly to the pier’s end and found him standing there. He turned to look at her and she ran right into his arms, crying. Dazed, he slowly wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair with his hands.

“It’s...it’s so terrible,” Katie mumbled as her voice choked on tears.

“What is?” Dave asked softly.

“Just...just hold me. I’ll tell you later.” Katie only wanted to feel his arms around her, to feel safe. To be away from the madness and horror of Frances’ office. The tears finally stopped, but she still didn’t want him to let go of her. She didn’t want to face the world anymore, it was too confusing. Everything was changing around her, except the love she and Dave shared. It was the only thing that she could count on anymore. Finally she did pull away from him and for a few moments had her back to him. Dave let her go, not knowing what to think.

What was wrong with her? He waited in silence, waited for her to tell him why she was acting this way. She turned around and the moonlight highlighted her face. Her eyes were moist and red from crying and he could see that she wasn’t wearing any sort of makeup. Her clothes were rumpled and her hair a mess, Dave noted with his reporter’s eyes. Whatever was going on, it must have been something very bad.

“An old friend of mine left today. That isn’t the bad part though, it was the way she left. She...she went into a blind rage and trashed her office and stormed out of the building. She didn’t even say good-bye to me. She just left. She was the only friend I had left, other than you. Now everything seems to be going wrong. My whole world has collapsed. I...I’m so sorry that I’m bothering you like this,” Katie looked at him and then turned and ran down the dock. She couldn’t stand to burden him with her problems anymore. She didn’t want to hurt him by making him feel sorry for her. Dave stood dumbfounded for a moment and then charged after her.

It was beginning to rain, drops brushing against Katie as she ran. She didn’t know where she was going, but she just wanted to run away and hide. She ran past rows of warehouses and docks. She finally passed all of the docks and was plunged into darkness. She reached the bank of the river and sat on the sandy embankment. She put her hands to her face and sobbed, her body wracked with spasms as she cried. Dave skidded to a halt a few feet from her and heard her sobs. He didn’t know what to do, but then he knew that he had to help her. She barely felt the hand on her shoulder and stood to run again. She didn’t want to face him, to listen to his attempts to comfort her. She didn’t want to be pitied, she wanted to be understood.

Dave took her arm as she tried to run and turned her towards him. He didn’t want her to get away. He didn’t want their relationship to end this way. She weakly hit at him with her free hand, but he wouldn’t let go of her. Finally she gave herself to him and buried her head on his shoulder. He held her again, determined to not let her go this time. “Please don’t go, Katie. We can talk through this,” Dave whispered to her. She nodded and he sat her down on the sand. The rain whipped against them, but neither of them cared.

“Can you understand what it’s like to lose your two closest friends? Can you understand or are you just trying to make me feel better? I don’t need your comforting or your pity!” The words hit him like a razor, cutting to his very soul.

“I know what its like. I didn’t want to tell you, but I lost a friend once. I was investigating a story on a drug ring. I dug up some information on the drug ring and found that my best friend was delivering pot for a drug cartel. I wasn’t sure what to do, but finally I turned him in to the cops. After he was convicted he told me that he hated me and that I should burn in Hell for betraying him. I...I had never felt so bad in my life. So I do understand what your saying. There’s nothing as bad as losing a friend...except losing someone you love very much,” Dave looked at the river and Katie turned to face him, seeing him in a new light. He understood what she was saying! She grabbed his chin with her hands and then pulled him towards her. She leaned forward and kissed him. They soon were embracing each other and then Katie slipped a hand free and unbuttoned his shirt. He smiled and his hands moved to the back of her dress. He unzipped it and then they ripped each other’s clothes off. The rain had stopped and they made love passionately on the beach.

She had imagined for a while what it would be like to make love to Dave, but it was better than she had imagined. They seemed to know each other’s bodies perfectly, there was never an awkward moment. He was so gentle with her, so delicate, his touch sent electricity up and down her body. It felt so good to her, much better than the sex she had experienced during her years of prostitution on the streets. They touched each other’s warm, wet flesh, and then their lips touched and they kissed. They broke away from each other after a few moments and then she moaned with pleasure as he went back to work.

When they had put their clothes back on, they sat huddled on the shore with their arms around each other. The moon disappeared over the horizon, promising the beginning of a new day. And it was a new day for both of them. At last their souls were nearly freed of their burdens. But as she watched the sun come up, Katie couldn’t help but think about Michael. She thought of what could have happened if he hadn’t been killed.

“I still miss him,” Katie murmured to herself.

“Who?” Dave asked and Katie realized that she had spoken aloud.

“Michael. Do you remember when you found me on the dock with that dead man, that was him. He was...he was my first love.” Dave was quiet for a long while, digesting that information. So there had been someone else! Dave thought. What did she still feel for him though?

“I see. How long were you and Mike together?” Dave was barely able to keep the anger from his voice. He couldn’t bare to take his arms off of her, so he left them where they were. It was Katie’s turn to be silent for a minute or two, as she thought about how long they had spent together. It had only been a few hours, and they had both been half drunk from wine. So why had she taken it so hard?

“It was only for a few hours,” Katie laughed nervously. “We were both a little drunk from too much wine. And you know...it was my first time. My first time to be in love. And then he died that very same night. I...I guess that’s why I’ve kept him in my heart for so long, because I keep thinking about what could have happened instead of what did happen. Oh Dave, thank you so much!” She quickly kissed him, feeling new vigor now that all of the chains weighing down her soul were lifted.

Dave could barely understand what was going on, but he knew now that she had let go of Michael, whoever he was. He smiled and was glad for her, now they could start to live their lives together, without the past tangling things up.

Katie looked over at Dave, glad to be rid of her feelings for Michael. She knew now that she had only felt so bad for him because of his murder. She hadn’t really understood love before she had met Dave, and now that she understood it, she knew that she had never really loved Michael. She had just been feeling sorry for herself and what might have happened.

The two lovers held each other and smiled as they looked out at the river. It was a brighter day now for both of them. The sun was high in the sky before Katie and Dave decided to head back to the pier.

* * *

Frances sat in her hospital bed as she heard a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called and wondered who it was. The door opened and Cris stepped in carrying flowers and a case with something in it. “Cris!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, but I was so...scared. I saw what happened and I just fainted and got all sick. It sickened me with the senselessness of it all. But, I’ve gotten over that and I came to see you. I brought you some flowers and a little present.” Cris apologized and stepped closer. Frances smiled and her heart melted. He still did care about her! Even when all others had abandoned her, he had come back to see her. He really did love her!

Cris put the flowers in a vase and then handed Frances the case. She opened it up and pulled out her laptop computer. “I figured you’d be pretty bored,” Cris stammered and Frances took his hand. He bent down and she kissed him. It was the best present anyone had ever given her, because it showed that he still cared about her.

“I love you,” Frances told him and his face brightened. He had hoped that she would understand, and she had. He squeezed her hand and could almost feel her love.

“I love you too,” he whispered and then they kissed. It was the longest kiss she had ever had and was sorry that they couldn’t make love until her wounds healed. After their lips disengaged, Cris pulled up a chair and Frances turned the computer on. Then she began to outline to him a plan to get back at Tarah and Rick, and to put the organization away for good.

Chapter 7

2007-06-12T09:41:00.001-07:00

Chapter 7

Tarah arrived late at her office. She opened the door and threw herself into her chair. After a love-making session of marathon proportions, Tarah had fallen into a deep sleep. She hadn’t awoke until Rick had gotten her up at eight in the morning. She was still tired and angry at both Katie and Frances. But she was determined to find out what was going on. She had to know their plans before she could make her own. Otherwise, she could be taken unawares and her bid for power could be snuffed out.

She shuffled through the papers on her desk and absently worked on them. Katie was hiding something and Frances was covering for her. But what could it be? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good news for her. So she would have to find it and eliminate it. A determined look came across her face, no one would keep secrets from her. Tarah leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

Tarah knew that she had to stop whatever Katie was planning. She had to make sure that her way to power was cleared, and if Katie and Frances were plotting together, then that would only make things worse for her. She had to stop them both before her plans, her dreams, were fouled up.

* * *

Frances was worried. That encounter with Tarah last night had shown Frances the evil, insane side of Tarah. It had also told her that Katie and Tarah were no longer friends, and Frances wondered if they had ever been. Once again, things were reaching critical mass. Soon everyone would be choosing up sides, it wouldn’t take long before everyone knew that things were falling apart at the higher levels in the chain of command. A rumor here, a rumor there, and soon everyone would know. And when that happened things would turn ugly and possibly violent.

Frances quickly typed in her theories into her journal. In weeks there would be a shifting of power, one way or the other, with Katie or Tarah coming out on top. The loser of the struggle would more than likely die, no one could be allowed to leave and give away information to the police. Frances knew that she had already chosen her side, but that didn’t mean that she would simply let this happen. She would have to alert Katie and see if she could get Tarah to put aside her hatred. But even as she thought these thoughts, she knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

Katie was on cloud nine because of the man she had met and Tarah was simply too angry and out of control to listen to reason. Frances pondered on how she could wake Katie up. If she could at least warn Katie, then maybe she could get the support she would need from the rest of the organization to get rid of Tarah. She shook her head, trying to find some way to solve this problem without bloodshed. But as Frances put away the dark green disk containing her journal, she could see no way to avoid it.

* * *

To try and fend off her nervousness Katie threw herself into her work. But that wasn’t helping very much. The butterflies in her stomach were still there, flapping madly and making her feel queasy. She finally gave up on working and checked her watch. It was only ten in the morning and she still had eleven hours until she would meet Dave. Until she could talk to him again, before she could look into his eyes again.

It was excruciating that she had to wait for so long to see him again. Until then she would have to wait. The clock seemed to tick ever so slowly as she plowed through paperwork. As she read the papers, she felt a strange feeling in the back of her head. She couldn’t figure out what it was, or why it was happening, but she knew that something was wrong. She looked around and shrugged. Everything was normal. She signed the papers that would allow delivery of three thousand machine-guns from one of the organization’s warehouses to a freighter working for a drug cartel in Colombia. The freighter would in turn deliver several tons of cocaine and marijuana to the organization for sale on the streets of River City and other cities in the state. She put the paper aside and kept working.

As she looked at a sales update, Katie checked her watch again. It was now five o’clock and almost time for her to leave. She turned back to the sales report, which was shown as a pie graph, and as she looked at it she saw that something was different. Instead of being labeled with each section of the city, it was simply labeled ‘Katie’ and ‘Tarah’. Her section contained most of the pie graph, eighty-five percent of it compared to Tarah’s thirteen percent. Looking at the bottom of the strange graph, Katie could see that it was from Frances’ office.

What is she trying to tell me? Katie thought as she looked at it. A chill ran through her spine and Katie wished that she knew what it meant. She finally set it aside and finished the rest of the paperwork. Then she checked her watch again and filed all of the papers, including the graph, away in a locked cabinet. Then she turned out the lights, locked her office door, and left for her apartment.

Katie’s shadow passed Tarah’s door and Tarah smiled. It wouldn’t be long until she found out what Katie was up to. As Tarah left her office, she didn’t look at her reflection when she passed the small magnetic mirror attached to a filing cabinet. If she had, she would have seen that her face and hair were covered in sweat, that the grin on her face looked silly and insane, and that her eyes had an evil glimmer in them. But Frances saw all of these things and shivered. She felt weak and clutched onto the door frame for support. Things were happening even quicker than she had thought.

Tarah’s paranoia and jealously had come to a boil and she knew that she would have to act soon to rid the organization of Katie. She would need to enlist the help of her only true friend: Rick, and then she could eliminate the first obstacle in her road to power.

* * *

Rick had just finished his selling shift for the night and he walked through the warehouse to place his orders. It had been a light selling night because pressure had been brought to bear on several of his clients by the police. He gave his order to Cris to fill, and then went down the office corridor and upstairs to Tarah’s apartment.

He saw her sitting naked on a couch, wearing only a strange grin. He walked over and sat down next to her and began touching her warm, moist skin. She laughed and then looked over at him.

She knew that she needed his help more than ever. She needed his strength to crush Frances. She was no longer going to stand by and let her plans be ruined. It was time for her to put her plans into motion and to take the organization.

She had tried to strengthen her power base by being friendly to Katie, but Katie had rejected her. Not only that but she had abandoned her in the mall. Tarah hated to be abandoned, she had been left behind all of her life. She was no longer going to be abandoned, this time she was going to have her revenge, she was going to take the organization over.

“I need your help,” Tarah said and her hand moved down to his pants’ zipper and she slowly undid it and then began to unbutton his pants. He smiled and helped her by pulling down his pants and underwear, then her hand moved to unbutton his shirt.

“Anything,” he moaned as as she got down on the floor and began to rub her fingers along his crotch.

“I need you to kill Frances,” she suggested and then stood and cuddled naked next to him. Rick, thought about it for a few minutes. This was the woman he loved, but would he kill for her? He told himself that it was only Frances, the computer nerd, nobody would miss her.

“Why?” He asked simply, he needed to know why he had to kill her, she was no real threat to them, was she?

“It’s for our future, darling. I know that Frances and Katie are plotting to have me taken out of the organization, so we’ve got to strike first and take one of them out of the equation. I’ll handle the cover-up, but I need your strength to put Frances back in her place.”

“I see, how do you want me to do it?”

“I don’t care, anyway you like.” Rick stood and left Tarah lying on the couch. She laughed insanely, Katie’s plans would come screeching to a halt soon enough!

Rick walked downstairs and thought of how to kill Frances. He decided to just strangle her with his bare hands unless he found some other way. As he went down the office corridor, he felt anger rise. Frances was standing in between Tarah and their life together, she would have to taken out of the picture. He reached her door and flung it open.

Frances stood and rounded her desk as Rick angrily strode towards her. The look on his face was nearly identical to the one Tarah had had earlier. Frances wanted to scream, but she couldn’t, her voice was stuck in her throat. She stumbled backward and fell to the floor. Rick grabbed Frances by the collar. He raised her fist to strike her.

“No!” Frances wailed, but it didn’t do any good. Rick’s fist struck her in the face like a rock. The fabric of her blouse tore as Rick flung her away and she flew through the air and against the wall. She let out a groan and tried to stand, but she couldn’t. She could taste blood in her mouth and the world around her was going black. The last thing she saw was the glint of her letter opener in his hand. The letter opener came down and Frances screamed hoarsely as it was plunged into her abdomen and she blacked out.

* * *

Katie passed Frances’ office on her way out a couple hours later, but the light was off and the door shut, so Katie knew that she was gone. She walked out to her car and started it. Soon she driving towards the docks, anxious to see Dave. When she reached the parking lot near the familiar pier, she stopped her car and got out. Looking around she couldn’t see him. She walked to the end of the dock and waited, looking out over the water.

Dave pulled into the parking lot and stopped his car, taking a look around as he did. He climbed out and walked onto the pier. There were a few people on the old pier, talking to each other in hushed tones. None of them looked like Katie. He eased his way past these people and looked around, then he saw someone standing at the end of the pier. The moonlight reflecting off of the water cast a bluish glow around the figure and as he came closer electricity seemed to be running through the air. Katie turned and faced him. He stopped dead in his tracks. She was wearing a baseball cap, blue jeans with a body-hugging pink blouse, and a brown leather jacket. He nearly laughed when he saw that she was wearing sunglasses.

“Don’t you think that the sunglasses are a little much?” Dave asked her as he closed the distance between them. She smiled and they hugged like old friends.

“I figured you would be able to find me then,” she replied and took his hand. She took off the sunglasses and the moonlight seemed to reflect off of her eyes. They looked out over the water and Katie suddenly became serious. “I’m glad that you remembered where this pier was.”

“I could never forget that. Now, where shall we go?” He led her off of the dock and into his car. She put on her safety belt as he started the car. She looked over at him as he pulled the car onto the road and wondered where he was taking her. He finally stopped in the downtown area and Katie looked around. There seemed to be nothing here, but Dave had already gotten out and opened her door for her. She unbuckled her safety belt and stepped out. He took her hand and led her around a corner to the front of a little bar, the same bar he had gotten drunk at before getting hit by a car. He held the door open for her and then led her to a small booth in a corner of the bar.

Katie remembered hitting Dave near here, and wondered why he would ever want to come back. But when she saw the bar, she knew why. It was a small, friendly little bar, the kind of place they could go and relax without having to dress up. Somewhere where they wouldn’t feel as much pressure to have a good time. In other words, they could be themselves.

There were only a few people in the bar and they minded their business as Dave and Katie sat down. A waitress came over and Dave ordered a beer. “What’ll ya have?” the waitress asked Katie.

“A beer, and leave it in the bottle,” Katie ordered and Dave relaxed in his seat. “Nice place.”

“I didn’t think that you were the stuffy French restaurant type,” Dave smiled and Katie hid her pain with a fake smile, remembering that night when Michael had taken her to a fancy restaurant. She didn’t want to ruin the date by thinking of the past though. “Besides, we’re both dressed pretty casual.”

“Right. So, how many friends do you have at the newspaper?” Katie asked, hoping to lead him into another subject.

“A few, why?”

“Well, its just that...I’ve been having problems with my best friend lately.” Their beers arrived and Katie took a long pull on hers before she continued. “She just doesn’t seem to trust me, especially since I accidentally left her at the mall. I really don’t want to lose her after all of the time that we’ve been together.” Dave nodded, knowing that they were getting off on some pretty heavy talk for a first date. But he found that he didn’t mind. He loved the way that she was so direct when it came to her feelings. No one else whom he had ever met had done that, they had been content to just talk small talk and dance around the important issues. Being a reporter, Dave had always preferred being direct to being subtle and risk a misunderstanding. It made him feel good to have someone else who thought that way.

“It’s not about us, is it?”

“No, of course not. At least I don’t think so. But I don’t think she’d like it if she found out about us.”

“Why’s that?”

“She doesn’t like reporters very much. That’s why I wanted to meet you away from my apartment, so that she wouldn’t see you.”

“Wasn’t she the one that you were with at that clothes store robbery?”

“Yeah. She’s kind of shy when it comes to reporters and cameras.”

“Oh, I see why she wouldn’t like me then. So we won’t get near her then. All right?”

“Sure. Just thought I’d warn you.” She took another long drink of beer and was glad that that issue had been resolved, now she could relax a little more. She leaned back in the booth and for a moment an easy silence hovered over the booth.

“You ready to get something to eat?” Dave asked and signaled for the waitress to come over to their booth.

“Sure.” They placed their orders and went back to sipping their beers. “I can’t remembered when I’ve had fun like this.” Katie smiled at Dave and he smiled back. He couldn’t remember either. It seemed that just being together was enough for him.

“Hey, you wanna dance?” Dave stood and offered Katie his hand. She took it and stood. They walked over to where a jukebox sat. Dave inserted his money and seconds later a compact disc began to play. An unfamiliar love song played and Dave wrapped his arms around Katie. They glided around the bar, oblivious to the stares they received by the other patrons. The waitress nearly dropped their orders, but managed to put the tray on the bar. She stood back and watched the two lovers dance. Katie again imagined that grassy meadow of her dreams. Everything around her seemed unreal, and Dave took a hold of one of her hands and spun her around.

Katie laughed with pleasure and she spun back to Dave’s arms. Even after the music had faded they kept dancing and at one point someone put another song on the jukebox. The romantic fever swept the bar and soon anyone who could find a partner began to dance. The bartender moved tables and chairs aside and then stood back to watch the spectacle. In the middle of everything were Katie and Dave. Dave kept dancing with Katie, wondering why each time he was near her his whole world seemed to fade away, leaving only a world full of love. Every time he was near her a gap in his heart was mended. He needed her, he wanted her, and most of all he loved her.

Katie pressed close to Dave’s chest, feeling so safe and secure. Every time she was with him all of the worries and stress from the organization were gone. He fulfilled some need of hers, something primal and abstract. Companionship? Love? Security? She didn’t know what this need was, nor did she care. All that mattered was that she was with him, close to him. Finally Katie led Dave back to their booth and soon everything was back to normal. Their meals arrived, but went untouched. Neither of them said a word, they only looked at each other and thought of those moments of intense love they had just experienced.

Dave thought of how Katie felt when he had held her, she had almost seemed a part of him as they had danced. She seemed to know exactly what he was going to do, as if she shared some mental bond with him. Some kind of kinship that he had never felt before. He could only stare into her eyes, thinking about what was behind them. He wished that he had known her sooner. But she was still young and she probably wouldn’t have felt the same way a few years ago. But all that mattered to him was that moment in time and space when he could gaze into her eyes and see her soul, a soul filled with love.

* * *

Dave and Katie walked down the pier again, to take one last look at the scenic beauty of the river at night. They held hands and looked up at the stars, both of them making wishes for a continuation of their relationship. Then Katie turned to face Dave.

“I had such a good time tonight...with you. You’re like no one I’ve ever known before,” Katie said quietly. “I hope that I can see you again.”

“Of course you can. In fact, I hope that we can get together soon. I don’t think I could stand to wait too long to see you again...” As he said this he leaned towards her and put his arms around her. She embraced him tightly and they kissed, this time needing no imaginary backdrop. The moon, the building fog, and the quiet beauty of the river seemed to enhance the kiss. Katie had never felt anything more passionate than that kiss. She wanted it to never end, for that moment to be frozen forever so that she could feel it again and again. Dave could feel her love flowing through her lips and into him. Time seemed to stop for him and Dave wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with this woman.

He wanted to get down on his knees and ask for marriage then and there, but he held back. He needed to know her better, know what was going on behind those dazzling blue eyes. Even with her eyes closed she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. The moonlight shining on her gave her a blue, angelic glow. Her natural beauty seemed to create this image in his mind. He could feel in his heart that she was the right woman for him. There could be, wouldn’t be, anyone else. Never again could he find someone like her.

They finally pulled away from each other and Katie mumbled something about it being time for her to leave. Dave agreed and saw her to her car. He had to admit that she had a very nice car. Where she got it he couldn’t even fathom a guess. A recently graduated college student with an almost new car? It was just a little strange. But he shoved these thoughts from his mind, they were unimportant at the moment.

* * *

Frances lay dying on the floor of her office. Her eyes opened and she realized that she was lying in a pool of her blood. She didn’t even want to look down to see how badly she was hurt, she knew that she was wounded very badly. Slowly she crawled forward, smearing blood on the floor and on the tattered remnants of her clothes. It seemed to take forever to reach the door. Frances slumped against the door, too tired to reach up for the door handle but knowing that she had to or she would most certainly die.

Finally her hand reached up and grabbed the door handle. Frances gripped it as hard as she could and then pulled herself up the door until she was standing very shakily. She turned and opened the door. She pitched forward and fell into the corridor. Her bloody body was in a heap on the floor and it took a few minutes until she was discovered. Cris ran over to her and turned her over.

“Help,” Frances gasped, paying for each sound she made. Her world was going black and it hurt to breathe. I’m going to die, Frances thought as the worker sounded the alarm and someone ran to get help. Soon Frances’ diminished vision was staring up at a multitude of curious faces. None of which belonged to Katie, Tarah, or that bastard Rick. They were all strangers, except for Cris. He wore a look of shocked horror, and was too shaken by the sight to even talk. She was loaded and taken out of the headquarters building, which was standard procedure. An ambulance had been called and Frances was transported to an old shack of a house across from the old canning plant. At least they’re following procedure, Frances remarked to herself.

Paramedics finally arrived and slapped an oxygen mask on Frances’ mouth. They checked her over and then lifted her onto a gurney which was put into the ambulance. Medics were looking down at her and hooking up various tubes and monitors to her body. She finally blacked out. The medics noted that her condition had stabilized, but they still wondered how she had survived with over thirty gashes on her body.

No one followed the ambulance, no one knew or cared about Frances, except for Cris. He was slumped in the office corridor, faint and gasping for air. He couldn’t believe that this had happened. Why would someone do this to her? He wondered. He knew that she wasn’t popular, but that was no reason to brutalize her so. A couple of the warehouse workers helped him to his feet and then took him home. He laid in bed for the entire night, clutching the sheets and seeing his battered and bloody girlfriend. He fell asleep that morning, but had only tortured dreams of Frances.

News was sent to Tarah, who looked over at Rick and smiled. “I see you’ve been a little busy tonight,” Tarah said, laughing hysterically. Rick joined in.

“You could say that I’ve really been cutting loose,” Rick joked and they both laughed maniacally at the very bad joke. Holding that letter opener in his hand, Rick had descended into the depths of madness, he didn’t care about who he had to kill to please Tarah anymore. He only wanted to keep her safe and to make all of her dreams come true.

“This will fit perfectly into my plan. Now Katie will have no one else to support her. What a shame.” Tarah walked into the kitchen and grabbed a pair of glasses and a bottle of wine. She poured the wine and toasted her fiancé. “To our success.” They drank the wine and Tarah laid down on her bed. Everything was going perfectly. Soon that backstabbing traitor Katie would be out of power. That would show her not to abandon her.

As for Frances, Tarah knew that she’d stay out of any conflict if Tarah played her cards right. Even though she was still alive, she would be easy to deal with now. She had learned not to cross her. Then when she had wrested power from Katie, she would finish what Rick had started with Frances. Only this time she wouldn’t live through it. Tarah finished sipping her wine and leaned back in her bed, letting the madness control her. Nothing could stop her now, nothing.

Rick threw aside his wine glass and positioned himself at Tarah’s feet. He slowly began to work his tongue up her body until it was in between her breasts. Then he kissed her on the lips and they rolled around the bed, making the most wild and passionate love they had ever known.

Their love-making seemed almost animal-like, but Tarah enjoyed it still. Soon, Katie would have no choice but to give her control of the organization, or else she would die. Tarah would make sure of that.

* * *

When Katie opened the door to her apartment she hadn’t heard about Frances. No one had seen her go up to her apartment and none of the people who had witnessed Frances being taken to the hospital had thought to tell their boss what had happened. They all believed that someone else would handle it. That someone else was in his apartment, too traumatized to get out of bed.

Katie threw her jacket on the sofa and then went into her bedroom. She was tired, but all she could think about was Dave. Those hours they had spent together seemed to have gone by much too quickly. As Katie crawled onto her bed to get some rest, she thought of that kiss on the pier. She knew that she wanted him very badly, but a part of her mind was still telling her that she was betraying Michael, her first true love. But when she had been with Dave everything had seemed so right. The chemistry had been instantaneous. The first time she had kissed him in the mall she had felt nothing but love and total devotion. All of her memories of Michael had been tossed aside, but they were still there, plaguing her mind. She fell into a fitful sleep, her conscience torturing her with bad dreams.

Dreams of the time she had spent with Michael. Then she saw his bloody corpse rise as she held it, telling her that he still loved her and that he always would. As her heart tried to fly free from the bondage of these dreams, and the memories they brought up, her mind was still chained to Michael. She awoke in a cold sweat, confused by the images she had been bombarded with. She looked around her bedroom and noticed that the sun was up. She went downstairs and out to her car. She drove out of the city and to the hill she had cried upon what seemed like ages ago. She watched the sun rise into the sky, seeking an answer to her dilemma. But no answers came and so she sat there until the sun was high in the sky.