CL Hart -From A Distance (11 page)

Kenzie stared out the windshield. "Who?"

"Brad Pitt." It was easy to see Kenzie had no idea who the actor was, "You don't know who Brad Pitt is?"

"Should I?"

"Brad Pitt, the actor. You know,
Interview with a Vampire, Troy, Legends of the Fall."
She looked at Kenzie and could tell the titles meant nothing. "Just had a baby with Angelina Jolie?"

Kenzie shook her head. "Sorry."

"Actually, you kinda look like her," Cori said as she studied Kenzie's profile.

Kenzie turned to face her. "Like who?"

"Forget it," Cori said, and then questioned in an afterthought, "What was the last movie you saw, anyhow?"

It was an innocent question, but to Kenzie, it reinforced the reality of what her life was, or rather, was not. It was not normal and it never had been. She didn't see movies, she didn't date, she didn't do a number of things. Follow orders...that's what she did. Her life was her job and her job was her life. She had given everything to the military and had never looked back - until recently. "I-I don't remember," Kenzie answered honestly.

"I suppose you don't watch TV either, do you?" Kenzie's thoughts went to her home in Seattle. There was a television there, but she couldn't recall if she'd ever actually sat down and turned it on.

"You must have watched some as a kid, or gone to the movies for fun when you were a teenager?"

As Cori watched the changes in Kenzie's facial expressions, Kenzie was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"You did have fun, didn't you? Or, at the very least, a childhood?"

Fun?
It wasn't really a word in her vocabulary.
Has my life ever been fun?
The more she listened to Cori talk, the more she realized there had been a lot missing from her life.

"I don't remember much about my childhood, but I know I didn't watch TV or go to movies."

"Well, what did you do? You must have done something for fun - hobbies, sports, boys?" The question resulted in a subtle change in Kenzie's demeanor, and Cori dropped her sunglasses to get a better look at Kenzie.

The scrutiny made Kenzie pause for a moment before she answered. "I didn't have time for that stuff."

"For boys?"

She turned and looked at Cori. "Actually, it was girls...but I didn't have much time for them, either."

"Really?"

Kenzie was looking at Cori wondering what the woman thought about that revelation. Then Cori asked without more than a little hesitation.

"What did you do with your time, then?"

"I stole cars."

The conversation in the car was mostly one sided as Cori related the story of her life as Kenzie pursued any reason for Cori being a target. Nothing made sense, at least not to Kenzie. After hours of listening to Cori's normal childhood, she was even more confused.

"What about work?"

"You mean since high school?" Kenzie nodded and Cori thought a moment, then shook her head. "I delivered pizzas and then flowers for a while after graduation. Then I moved away from the Midwest and came out to the coast. I did a number of different odd jobs, just about anything to pay the rent and put food on the table, until I landed a good job working as a secretary with Trillium International, which has offices all around the world, including Mexico. They're the ones that helped me get into the University of Guadalajara."

"Helped you...how?"

"They have this in-house program that helps people at the lower income levels advance their education."

"Really?" Kenzie chewed on that information for a moment. "So, they're paying for your education? Why would they do that?"

"They say if they invest in their employees, then the employees are more loyal and will do a better job. I suppose that's partially true, but I think the real reason is because they get a big tax break. Either way, I don't care. I get an education and a good job to go back to once I'm finished with school." Cori paused in her recollection. "I was lucky. I owe Trillium a lot."

"I would guess it was the result of a lot of hard work on your part rather than luck. What does Trillium International do?"

"I'm not really sure. They're one of those big conglomerates that seem to have branding irons in a lot of different fires. You've heard of them, haven't you?" Cori turned to Kenzie and registered her blank look. "Where exactly did you grow up, in a cave?"

"In Seattle."

"Seattle! That's where I was, that's where I was working for Trillium, in their head office. That's something we have in common. You've never heard of them?"

"Who?" Kenzie asked.

"Trillium International."

"Nope."

"Have you actually been living this life?" Cori asked. "You lived in Seattle, so you must have at least heard of Bill Gates."

The name did ring a bell for Kenzie. "You mean that computer guy?"

"Yeah, that computer guy. You really need to get out more." Cori shook her head in disbelief. "Calling Bill Gates 'that computer guy' is like saying Wayne Gretzky was an ice skater." Even that name was unfamiliar to Kenzie. "Never mind," Cori said. "Anyhow, I liked Seattle."

"Yeah, it's okay, if you can handle the rain. What exactly did you do at Trillium?"

"Secretarial stuff mostly."

The questions and answers died away and Kenzie was actually a little disappointed to see the port of Mazatlan in the distance. It had been relaxing, listening to Cori talk. All the same, the more she heard, the more Kenzie was reminded that her own life had been anything but conventional. Robbed of a childhood, she had learned the art of survival on the streets, picking fights instead of picking outfits. Stealing cars had been a lot easier than stealing hearts. She didn't have a mother to teach her how to be a woman, she had the military, and they taught her how to be a soldier and then they taught her how to kill. Gingerly, she rubbed at the dried blood that matted the hair at her temple as she thought about her most recent trip to the Middle East. She was not aware that she winced but Cori saw it.

"Is your head okay?"

"I've had worse," she answered as she removed her sunglasses and looked at the side of her head in the mirror.

"I can look at that if you want. I wanted to be a doctor for a while, until I realized how much schooling it was going to take...and how much it was going to cost. I tried med school for one semester but it didn't work out, so I left school and kept looking for a job. Are you sure your head is okay?"

"It's fine." Kenzie put her glasses back on. "Thanks," she added, barely above a whisper, but loudly enough for Cori to hear the attempted nicety.

At the outskirts of Mazatlan, Kenzie looked sadly at the rubble that some people called homes. Everything seemed to have a layer of dust, even some of the people. Cement buildings with their chipped paint and unfinished fences contrasted sharply against the backdrop of fancy hotels where wealthy foreigners came to play. Money bought color, she realized - the more money spent, the more vibrant and vivid the colors. The poor seemed to exist in grays and browns, while the wealthy basked in the energy of blues, oranges, reds, and greens.

"Welcome to Mazatlan, the Pearl of the Pacific," Kenzie said. In order to cross traffic at the next light, Kenzie pulled the car over into the right-hand lane.

The city roads, more pot-holed than paved, were made of cobblestones that had been there since before time, or so it felt as they swayed back and forth inside the car.

"So, what didn't work out?" Kenzie asked.

Cori seemed surprised by Kenzie's sudden question. "Pardon?"

"I asked what didn't work out...with being a doctor?"

Looking down at her hands, Cori recalled with vivid clarity. "I couldn't stomach it." She turned back to the window, attempting to hide her embarrassment. "Watching the surgeries made me vomit."

Kenzie maneuvered the car through the city until they reached the road that traveled alongside the ocean. Mazatlan's harbor was home to the West Coast's largest fishing fleet, making it easy to find. Kenzie pulled the car into a vacant lot. Driving through the long grass, avoiding the piles of rubble and discarded refuse, she stopped at the edge, parking just above the ferry terminal. Killing the motor, they sat and watched the fishing vessels come in and out of the harbor.

Cori sat quietly for a while, periodically glancing at her watch. "Would it be okay if I went to find a bathroom?" she asked hesitantly.

"I told you this morning, you're free to do as you please." Kenzie climbed from the car and then leaned in through the window. "You may want to try back there." She jerked her thumb back toward the main road.

Turning in the direction indicated, Cori started walking. Climbing onto the hood of the car, Kenzie leaned back against the windshield and closed her eyes for the first time in days. She wondered whether she would ever see Cori again.

Chapter 6

The morning started with fog and a light drizzle. It kept the judge inside for most of the day. That was okay with him. He had enough paperwork to work through to keep him busy for a month.

He closed the curtain and turned back to the boxes of files stacked up around his library. It was actually his office, but he thought it sounded better to call it a library. Frustration and anger etched his careworn face as he sighed loudly. He had been searching all night and most of the day, but so far he had not come up with anything. However, if he couldn't find Kenzie, then maybe-

The phone warbled and its intrusion startled him. "Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone surprised him, but then he realized it probably should not have. "What did you find out?" He listened intently, nodding and taking notes but saying little.

"But is it possible?" He listened some more. "No, don't get them involved. We need to find another way."

There was a long pause, then the judge jumped to his feet in anger. "I don't care! Might I remind you who you're talking to?" He pounded his desk. "Find out...now!"

Unaware that thousands of miles away the judge was looking for her, Kenzie was lying atop the hood of the car, fighting off fatigue, when she spotted Cori in the distance. Taking a long drink from the water bottle next to her, Kenzie waited for her to get closer.

"Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Yeah, finally," Cori said as she made her way through the long grass, past a pile of discarded kitchen sinks. Kenzie offered her the bottle of water and Cori took it. She unscrewed the cap and took a long, greedy drink.

"Who were you trying to reach?"

The questioned surprised Cori as she almost choked on her swallow of water. Kenzie knew Cori had gone to look for a phone, not a bathroom, but she wasn't sure until she saw Cori's response.

"My mother. With everything that's been going on, I wanted to be sure she was okay."

A young Mexican boy about seven or eight years of age appeared out of nowhere by the pile of sinks. Kenzie saw him but kept her attention on Cori. "And?"

The young boy's appearance captured Cori's interest and she ignored Kenzie's question. "Hi, there," she said, smiling brightly.

"Hello,
senorita."
He smiled at Cori. "You American, from USA?"

Cori looked to Kenzie and the young boy mistook the response. "You Canadian,
si?"
He looked from one to the other. "From Vancouver...Toronto?"