Assassin (8 page)

"Shit."

"Yeah."

With the somber turn the conversation had taken, Rain decided to distract them both by refocusing on Case, and at the same time, try to glean a little more information about the hit woman's past.

"What about you? Your mother never taught you how to cook?"

Case's eyes went cold in the firelight, but then she laughed, something Rain was learning was a cover for Case's more vulnerable emotions.

"Nah. The woman couldn't cook for shit. We always ate TV dinners. My dad could do scrambled eggs really well, but that's it."

Case looked away. Why the hell had she brought him up? Fuck, you're supposed to be getting away from this shit, not jumping headfirst into it.

Case shook her head and went to the back of the truck to find something to do. She pulled out her bag and started going through it. She found what she'd been unconsciously looking for and then put on a long-sleeved shirt against the cooling temperature of the air, as the sun set behind the trees.

Rain watched, as Case rummaged through her bag and then put everything back in order. Case then walked off into the surrounding forest without so much as a "be back later" to Rain. Rain looked down at the food cooking on the grill. You weren't really supposed to leave the things alone, but then again, Rain didn't think letting Case be alone at the moment was a good idea either.

Rain lowered the flame on the grill and closed it to keep the food at least warm, if not actually cooking. She put out the campfire with a bucket of sand set out for just that purpose and grabbed a sweatshirt from her bag. Then she followed Case's last seen direction into the woods.

Case walked for almost an hour. She knew she should turn around and head back to camp. Rain had probably already finished with making dinner and would be wondering where her teacher was. But she just couldn't stop yet. She looked down at the knife in her hand and saw the blade glint in the light from the rising moon.

She stopped walking and then mechanically bent down to dig in the dirt near a large tree. Once the hole was deep enough, Case dropped the knife into it and then shoved the excavated dirt back over it. She stood up and stomped a booted foot over the area to tamp the dirt back down to the level of the surrounding earth.

She looked up at the moon and then back down to the ground. She took a step forward and leaned against the tree. A song popped into her head, and she started singing it out loud.

The notes began low and soft, and Rain stood transfixed, as she listened to the beautiful voice singing into the night air. She had watched Case in the moonlight, as she dug the grave for the knife and then buried it. The grave imagery hadn't hit her until Case had begun singing, and then she'd just been unable to escape the feeling that she was watching a funeral take place.

Rain recognized the song Case had chosen. It was called Shelter, and it was by Sarah McLachlan, one of Rain's favorite artists. But the way Case had reinterpreted the lyrics for the present situation amazed the agent. Rain was speechless. The complexity of the woman standing only twenty feet away from her was daunting. As a profiler, she had a need to understand even the smallest details about an individual's personality in order to create a complete picture. But as a woman, and Rain only admitted this to herself in her most private thoughts, she simply wanted to learn everything there was to know about Case just for the sake of getting to know the woman.

Case stilled her breathing. There was someone close by. There had been no sounds to alert her, but something in the air was different and Case knew she was being watched. She realized she'd left her gun back in the truck and the one weapon she'd brought with her was now twelve inches under the ground.

Well, unless they had a gun, Case was pretty sure she could handle herself. And putting up a confident front tended to end potentially annoying situations before they even started.

"Show yourself, or I'll come find you."

Rain's ears pricked at the suddenly deafening sound of Case's voice calling out into the silence. She debated attempting to backtrack the way she'd come, but Case sounded sincere in her promise to come after whoever was watching her. Rain stepped forward into a wide beam of silver-blue moonlight coming through a break in the tops of the trees above her.

"Hi. I didn't mean to scare you," Rain offered quietly and continued to move forward, until she was only a body length away from where the woman was still leaning up against the tree.

"You followed me," Case stated accusingly.

"Yeah, you looked upset," Rain replied steadily.

"No, I didn't."

"You did to me."

Case looked away. She was a little annoyed that Rain could apparently read her so well. Case didn't think that was a good thing, but she did feel strangely comforted at not being alone.

"So, why did you follow me, if you knew I was upset?"

Rain looked blank. That was a very good question.

"I don't...I don't know. I guess I was worried about you and I wanted to make sure you were all right."

Rain shrugged her shoulders and looked around at the trees, as if they might offer her a better explanation to give to Case.

"Why would you care? You don't even know me."

Case tried to clamp her mouth shut. This was ridiculous. She was lashing out at a virtual stranger for no reason. It wasn't Rain's fault her mother had chosen her husband over her only daughter, even after... It just had nothing to do with Rain or anything else for that matter.

"I do know you," Rain argued. "At least, enough to care whether you're feeling bad or not. And anyway, we're going to be in pretty close quarters for a while, right? So it would be nice if we could be friends. And friends care about when the other one is hurting." Rain held up her hand to stall Case's immediate objection. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm here if you want to talk about it. I'm not going anywhere."

Rain was surprised at her impassioned speech, more because she actually meant it, than anything else. She also felt slightly guilty because it would be a great break for her, if she could get Case to open up to her. She pushed the guilt aside and went back to walking the line between liking Case and being a Federal Agent.

"You are kind of stuck, aren't you, since I've got the keys to the truck."

Case grinned and Rain smiled back. Rain hoped the attempt at humor was a good sign. It meant Case had gotten her emotions under control again, but maybe with a little gentle prodding, Rain would be allowed to get a better idea about what had set Case off. She knew it had something to do with Case's parents. Case had shut down at the mention of her mother and then pulled away completely when she'd spoken of her father. Rain really needed to talk to Dawson soon.

"You interested in a little night jogging?" Case asked.

Rain dragged her attention back to the outside world and replayed the question she'd halfway missed because of her internal thoughts.

"Yeah, sure. There's plenty of moonlight to see by."

They started off at a pace just barely above a walk and then gained speed as their bodies warmed up. They easily navigated the hard ground in between the large trees, which were illuminated by the bright three-quarter moon. What had taken almost an hour to traverse at a walk, took them less than a half hour to cross at a run. By the time they could see the truck glinting brightly in the moonlight, both of them were at a dead run.

Rain couldn't figure out how Case was keeping up with her long strides. She looked down at Case's legs and they were almost a blur in the diffuse light coming from overhead. They entered the camp together and skidded to a stop, Case using the side of the truck to brace against, as she caught her wind again. Rain was leaned up against a tree doing the same.

They looked up at each other at the same time and burst out laughing.

"Oh man, I haven't done that in a long time. That felt great," Case panted out.

"Yeah. I can't believe you kept up with me. No offense, I just know I've got long legs," Rain replied, as she caught her breath.

"None taken. I used to run when I was a teenager and I had to find a stride that could compensate for my shorter legs. Guess I've still got it," Case grinned.

"Yeah, you sure do."

Rain realized what she'd said and how it sounded and tried not to look as embarrassed as she felt. She looked around for away to excuse herself and noticed the grill.

"I'm gonna go check on the food," she said and quickly walk away.

Case watched the tall woman work over the grill, as she went through a short cool-down routine. Case had wondered if Rain played for the same team she did and now she was pretty sure her gaydar had pinged correctly. But Rain seemed to have some problems with it, at least where Case was concerned. That remark had obviously been spoken unintentionally and it pointed to an attraction that Rain was apparently unwilling to deal with at the moment.

Case stretched her recently worked muscles and used the time to think about her own feelings toward Rain. Rain was, quite simply put, the most beautiful woman Case had ever seen. She was tall, which Case preferred, and had long black hair, another plus in Case's book. And Rain had the most incredible eyes. They were a shade of blue that seemed both light and dark at the same time.

Rain was also very intelligent. No matter what average front Rain tried to put up, Case knew that Rain saw everything and understood things on more levels than most people even knew existed. And Case realized she was attracted to that intelligence because of the danger it represented to her internal world. In a flash of insight and precognition, Case knew Rain would come to understand more about her than she'd ever allowed anyone else to know.

Unless she stopped divulging any and all information about herself and she knew she wouldn't do that. She wanted Rain to know her. For the first time in her entire life, Case actually wanted to share her secrets with another human being. That in itself was dangerous and Case resolved to be careful. Trust was not something she thought she could ever give, having never known it herself, and this sudden feeling of safety was unnerving.

Case finished with her stretching and joined Rain at the grill.

"How's it look?" Case asked.

"Well, I think the stuff actually cooked while we were gone. I left it on low and I guess it worked like an oven. Get some plates and I'll dish it up."

Case pulled out two metal plates from their respective mess kits and grabbed their cups and forks, as well. They sat on an accommodating log that had been placed there for just that purpose and watched the flames of the newly relit campfire as they ate.

They spoke only a few words during clean up and then they both retreated to their sleeping bags. Case banked down the fire so that it would continue to do a slow burn during the night to keep them warm, without too much possibility of it getting out of control while they slept. They exchanged goodnights and then let sleep take them where it would.

CHAPTER 10

CASE WALKED AROUND the factory. The two women that had taken her in, and now held her captive, seemed familiar and yet, a part of her mind knew none of this made sense. For some reason, she had to get to the back of the factory. But she also knew she wasn't supposed to be in that area. She heard the voices of the women behind her, asking her what she was doing and why she was disobeying, but she didn't turn around or even acknowledge them.

Finally, she made it out to the back door and she opened it, somehow having a clear view of everything, even though she was halfway hiding behind the door. The two women were there in the back parking lot, greeting a tall man, and Case didn't even wonder at how they had somehow passed her without her knowing about it to get in front of her. The man turned his head and Case's heart stopped beating and then beat triple time all at once. What the hell was he doing here?

The man saw her and smiled, but it was far from nice. Case backed away from the door and somehow the man was suddenly in the doorway, stalking her as she backpedaled the way she'd come. This was not possible.

The man's smile disappeared and his face contorted in rage.

"Where the fuck have you been, huh? You trying to run away from me? Fucking bitch..."

The man lunged for her and Case tried to run backwards even faster, but she tripped. There was no jarring sensation as she hit the ground. She just immediately went into a spider crawl to keep trying to get way.

"Get your goddamn ass back here, you little bitch. Fucking cunt. You think you can get away from me?"

He started kicking at her legs and Case felt the impacts on her shins. He was going to break her legs again, she knew it. She started crying and kept trying to get away, but he followed her and kept kicking at whatever part of her legs he could reach with his steel-toed boots.

"Fucking little cunt. Stop or I'll really give you something to cry about. Goddamn bitch, you're just like your mother."

Each kick was heralded by a new abusive remark.

"Please, not again, don't, please, don't..." Case begged.

In the back of her mind, Case knew the two women were standing behind the man, and she begged him not to hurt her again, praying that the women would step in and stop him. It didn't matter that she'd never known mercy before. Her soul still longed for the protection she'd never received.

Then everything changed and Case was pinned to her bed by a heavy body. Her eyes were shut tightly, but the tears still leaked out in a never-ending stream down her temples and into her ears. Her ribs hurt and she knew her upper arms were purple and blue with bruises from hard hands yanking her around and holding her down. She could barely breathe from the weight on top of her and her throat hurt from screaming so much. She coughed as she tried to swallow the thick saliva that was trying to ease her dry mouth and her body was wracked with more pain as her ribs grated against each other.

But the absolute burning she felt in her vagina, as the man forced himself inside her again and again, blotted out most of that pain. She was completely dry, but he seemed oblivious. Her muscles futilely tried to clamp shut to keep him out, but the flesh was too tender and it only made it hurt all the more. She knew that from past experiences with him, but her body never seemed to get the idea.