Assassin (7 page)

Rain thought about it for a moment. She'd always had a love of the outdoors.

"Um, Yosemite?" Rain suggested, as they got on the elevator.

"Sounds good. We can check out the Half Dome while we're there."

"You've been there?"

"Yeah, it's a great place to get away from civilization, among other things," Case admitted.

Of course. A national park would make a great hideout. Most of the parks allowed walk-ins, hikers who chose to leave their cars at home, so there wouldn't even be a license plate number to check against.

"So, we're taking a vacation before we even start to work?" Rain asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess so. I need a break. You're just catching me at the right time to benefit from my stress," Case replied, her own smile less than convincing.

Rain clamped down on her feelings. She had a duty to fulfill and feeling sorry for an overworked hit woman wasn't in the job description. It didn't matter that Case had probably had a horrible childhood. It wasn't an excuse for what she was doing now.

"My lucky day," Rain enthused.

CHAPTER 8

THEY ONLY SPENT an hour at the shooting range that Case had found by calling information. Rain concentrated on readjusting her aim to the new, smaller gun. The barrel length was shorter by just a quarter of an inch, but it was heavier by two ounces. It took a little getting used to, but after emptying four clips into the paper targets at the far end of her stall, she felt her aim realigning itself to fit the new gun.

She picked up the spare clips and the last two boxes of ammo that were resting on the high bench in front of her, and stepped out of the partitioned booth. She looked down the aisle and saw a small crowd around one of the stalls. Curious, Rain shoved the clips in her jeans pocket and carried the boxes of ammo in one hand, as she made her way to the cubicle that was getting all the attention.

Rain took advantage of her height and peered over the shoulders of several onlookers. At the bench, she saw Case with four different handguns laid out in front of her, and the short woman was taking individual shots with each one, setting one gun down to pick up the next after each shot. When she was finished, Case pushed the button that would automatically bring the paper target forward from where it was hanging on the clothesline.

Rain's eyes widened slightly when she got a look at the target. All the shots had landed within inches of each other in the heart and head areas of the target. Everyone started clapping and Case handed over three of the guns resting on the shelf to their apparent owners. Case's smile was somewhat bashful, but the edgy energy around her subconsciously kept anyone from reaching out to slap her on the back in congratulations.

Case caught Rain's eyes, and she nodded slightly to signal that she was ready to go as soon as she could get away from the group. Rain nodded back and waited patiently, as Case extricated herself from the amazed audience.

"Sorry about that. I like testing myself like that and it's easier than keeping different guns with me all the time," Case explained, as they left the building and walked back to the car.

"How do you do that? It took me almost half an hour before I felt comfortable with the 9mm."

They got into the car and Rain took the driver's seat. She easily maneuvered them into traffic and chose the right freeway to take them to the rental place.

"I don't know," Case said. "I don't even really aim. I just know where I want the bullet to go and it does. It doesn't matter what gun I'm using."

Case shrugged her shoulders and Rain picked up on the sad note in the blonde's voice, or maybe it was resignation.

"You don't sound like you're happy about it. It's an amazing gift you have."

Case snorted in derision.

"Oh yeah, it's great. I can kill people without even meaning to."

Case turned her head to look out the passenger side window. The conversation had gotten way out of hand, and she actually felt her throat tightening up with the need to cry. She blinked hard and swallowed several times and willed her feelings under control.

Maybe she really did need a vacation. That last job had just brought up too many memories.

Knives. I hate knives.

Case banished the thoughts and concentrated on the scenery flying by her window. The black asphalt and dashed yellow lines blended in easily with the concrete barriers that guarded the side of the freeway.

Rain studied the road in front of her in silence. She'd unintentionally hit a nerve and now she wasn't sure how to fix it. Judging by Case's last remarks, she'd probably accidentally killed someone. Maybe that was what had gotten Carlotti's attention.

But there was something more. Rain knew it in her gut. She needed to talk to Dawson to get some background information on the petite woman sitting next to her. At the moment, Rain was just winging it, which she was good at, but to really make any progress, she wanted an edge, and she had a feeling Case was her best shot.

Case pulled out her cell phone, as they arrived at the rental place. She'd almost forgotten that they needed reservations to stay at the campsite she preferred at Yosemite. With that taken care of, she put the cell phone away, and gestured Rain ahead of her. Rain returned the keys and settled the bill, and then they caught the shuttle to the airport.

Case picked up their tickets at the desk, and Rain noticed the thin roll of one-hundred-dollar bills the small woman slipped the clerk. The clerk gave a barely noticeable nod and typed several things into the computer at his right. He looked back up from the monitor and smiled his professional airline clerk smile.

"Your reservations have been confirmed Detective. Enjoy your flight."

"Thanks, I'm sure I will."

Rain followed Case, as they cleared the roped-off waiting lines.

"You know him?"

"Well enough," Case answered vaguely.

"Wish I'd known I could do that. I'd have brought my own babies when I came out here."

"You weren't supposed to know then. Now you are. You've moved up and outside most of the circles you were a part of before. What I'm showing you is not common knowledge and it needs to stay that way."

Case looked pointedly at Rain.

"Got it. Not like there's anyone for me to tell anyway."

Rain grinned and Case smiled back. It was true. Once you got tagged for this line of work, you basically became a loner, an outsider to the entire business. No one wanted to associate with the assassins because it was quite possible they were next up on the hit man's list. And, honestly, who in their right mind would want to hang out with someone who committed cold-blooded murder for a living?

It was one thing to be involved in shoot-outs, where people got killed all the time, because a deal went bad or someone decided they wanted more than what they'd gotten. But to actually just kill someone because you'd been told to... That was more than even the most ruthless crime lords that Case had met could take.

Antonio had enjoyed showing her off, in the beginning, impressing his rivals with her deceptively sweet looks and then announcing what she did for him. After a few months, Case had refused to go to any more of his so-called parties. Antonio had threatened her again, but she hadn't backed down, pointing out that she was of much better use to him actually doing her job, rather than hanging out with the upper echelons. He'd agreed and left her alone after that, at least until the Massucci hit had gone bad.

She'd disappeared for a month after that, and when she'd finally been found, half-dead from alcohol poisoning and malnutrition, he'd warned her that if she ever pulled a stunt like that again, he'd have things done to her she couldn't even imagine in her worst nightmares. Since she could never really remember her nightmares, she'd decided not to argue the point. She'd gone back to work and pushed the past as far away from her thoughts as she could.

Case pushed the thoughts away in the present, as the plane left the ground. Things seemed to be conspiring against her to make her think about the past. Maybe this little respite would give her a chance to regroup. At the very least, she would be able to get to know Rain a little better and enjoy some clean air for a change.

CHAPTER 9

THE FLIGHT WENT quickly and they set down in Fresno with barely a jostle. Case followed Rain off the plane, the larger woman naturally creating a large wake for Case to fall into. As soon as they were clear of the terminal, Case moved up to walk beside the tall woman. They'd only had their carry-ons, so they immediately went to the rental desk and Case put in an order for a large SUV. They got a hunter green Ford Explorer.

Case took the driver's seat this time and Rain buckled up on the passenger side. Rain was a little surprised when Case tore out of the parking lot and didn't slow down, as she made the turn onto the street. Case changed gears and sped up, tapped the steering wheel to the side in both directions, causing a slight swerve, and then switched back to a lower gear and slowed down.

Case caught Rain's look out of the corner of her eye and glanced over for a second before returning her eyes to the road in front of her. She smirked.

"I like to know what a vehicle is capable of before I need to find out," she explained and Rain nodded.

"You been in a lot of car chases or something?"

"No. Well, yeah, a few, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared. And we're going up into the mountains, so it's nice to know how touchy the steering is. Most of the roads are sheer drops on one side and the curves come out of nowhere sometimes, so it helps to know how much I need to turn the steering wheel to get the tires to turn." Case glanced over at Rain again and then back to the road. "Unless you want to take a crash course in flying a vehicle that doesn't have wings?"

Rain groaned at the badly made pun and they both laughed. It eased the tension from earlier and Rain felt her chest lighten, as if a small weight had been removed that she hadn't know she'd been carrying.

The ride was quiet, for the most part, until the landscape started to change and then Rain couldn't help ooing and ahing over the beauty that was just outside her window. Case grinned at Rain's enthusiasm.

Case had grown up in Southern California, knowing only city life, until she'd started traveling as part of her work for Carlotti. She'd seen the beauty of upstate New York, namely the Adirondacks, then immediately gone off for a hit in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Grand Canyon was only a few hours north, so she'd driven up and decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Case had stood at the edge of the South Rim for hours just staring out at the orange and pink cliff walls below her. She was never really sure of all the thoughts that had gone through her mind as she stood there.

She'd contemplated jumping, a phenomenon she'd heard affected just about everyone who went there. There was just this strange pull that made you want to experience the free fall the canyon offered, regardless of the fact that your logical mind told you it would cause your death. Of course, Case had more than a few reasons to want to end her life, but she'd never moved from her spot at the cliff's edge.

By the time she'd left, she'd been converted to a nature lover. She'd driven further north to Zion National Park and looked up at the mountain for which the park was named. It had been a strange experience, after visiting the Grand Canyon, where just about everything worth looking at was below you. Mount Zion was absolutely breathtaking in sunset and again at sunrise. After that, Case had made it a point to visit the parks she was near after a hit.

She hadn't been able to do that recently with her back-to-back assignments, but with Rain's obvious interest, hopefully she could get back into it. She'd never been able to share her enjoyment of the peace that being away from the city brought her. The thought made her smile.

It took them over four hours to get to the Upper Pines campsite, mostly because Case kept slowing down, and sometimes even stopping, so Rain could see everything. Case couldn't get the grin off her face. Every time Rain exclaimed over some new discovery, Case felt warmth seep into her. It was a very strange feeling, like suddenly being immersed in warm water without ever having realized you were cold.

Case gave her name to the booth operator and received her reservation ticket in return for some cash. A few minutes later, Case was pulling into one of the campsites.

They settled quite easily into their site. The side trip to a camping supplies shop had been the other factor in their delayed arrival and both of them acted a bit like kids on Christmas day, as they opened up all their new toys.

Case and Rain worked side by side, setting up their sleeping bags and the brand new gas grill, and getting a fire started in the pit in the middle of their camp. It was as though they'd done this a hundred times before. Both were obviously consummate campers and it showed in how they silently communicated with each other while performing their individual chores.

Finally, they were done and Rain gathered up their cooking supplies to get some food started on the little grill. Case heaved an audible sigh of relief. When Rain had picked up the grill, she hadn't said anything and had hoped Rain didn't expect her to play chef.

"Oh, good, you can cook. Usually, I just eat trail mix and beef jerky strips when I'm out here," Case commented.

Rain smiled, then her expression changed to sadness before she could stop it.

"What?" Case asked.

"Nothing. I just... My mother was teaching me how to cook before she died. I took a home ec class after that. I wanted her to know it was important to me."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Case thought about her own mother and couldn't imagine ever learning anything from the woman, let alone something useful like cooking.

"It's okay. She had cancer. Nothing they could do about it. At least, not back then," Rain replied.

"How old were you?" Case asked.

"Eleven."