The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (44 page)

He took one
look at them and said, "Untie us and let's get moving then. You can
explain to me once we're underway."

After the ship
was away from the port, Kemp asked, "So what happened." 

Sonya turned on
the television in the bridge and hit play on the video recorder.  It was a news
show covering a major explosion in the heart of Boston and describing it as an
act of terrorism.  Kemp's mouth dropped when he saw his name and picture on the
screen as the man believed to be behind the bombing.

"We know
you weren't involved because you've been with us the entire time, but we sure
would like an explanation."

He rubbed his
face in his hands for a moment, then looked up and said, "My employer was
involved in a coup attempt that was nearly successful.  When it wasn't, the
idiot ordered a hit on President Ambrose that also nearly succeeded.  I would
have blocked it had I known.

"Then the
jackass ran and called me on the satellite phone afterward.  He was too stupid
to know that the NSA had to be listening.  From that call he was identified which
led to me being fingered.  They killed him, but I fled before they could get to
me.  They even carpet bombed to try to get me and came very close.  All three
of my men who were with me died. 

"They're
not sure if I'm alive or not, but now they're going to cast as wide a net as
possible.  I'm just glad the bombing wasn't in Southern California.   

"So now
you know my big secret.  You can't say my real name anywhere.  You can't look
me up on the internet because they will be watching for patterns that might
indicate that a searcher knows something about me. 

He sat
upright.  "Did any of you do an internet search?  If you did you can't
ever use that computer online again."

Lisa said, "We
just watched the TV.  We were waiting for you to wake up to do anything at
all." 

"That's a
relief.  If anyone needs off, I understand."

Pam said,
"Fuck you!  I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you.  We're here
to stay and we're going to protect you."  All the rest agreed strongly.

"Sorry. I
had to ask."

Sonya said,
"We wouldn't have recognized you except that we've been with you so much. 
Maybe no one will be able to connect you to that picture."

He thought for
a moment. "The problem is Simon and Phil, and we told both of them we were
heading to Hawaii to live."

"I don't
think they're going to recognize you," said Sonya, "Simon was
nearsighted and only saw you up close once or twice and Phil only saw you for
an hour or so, but just the same, I think you're headed for some plastic
surgery in South America."

He grimaced,
and said, "Unfortunately, that's the plan."

SAN FRANCISCO

LATER THAT MORNING

Phil was
relieved when he saw Kemp's picture on the screen.  He'd been terrified that
the buyer would find out that the boat was stolen and come back to kill him.  He
made a Florida title for the boat and created a fake owner's identity and
signature.  The work was top notch, so it probably went right through, but you
could never be sure when washing a title. 

The
opportunities for a dishonest living these days were amazing.  Phil wasn't his
name and the boat was one he had stolen out of Canada a couple of months
before.  He didn't know if the real owner was alive or not, but he really
didn't care either way. 

He had been
hiding since he sold the boat.  Now he could come out of hiding and enjoy the
$850,000 he scored out of Kemp. 

He knew if he
ever told anyone, he'd be headed straight back to prison.  For all his flaws,
ratting on himself wasn't something he was about to do and, besides, he knew a
set up when he saw one.   There was no way the guy was planting bombs in Boston
when he was buying yachts on the opposite coast. 
Dude must have pissed
someone off big time, he thought.  Nice to see someone else besides me getting my
luck for a change
.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTES

NOVEMBER 7
^th

Rob was beyond
pissed off.  He had his team with him and they were examining the wreckage of
what had been a skyscraper the day before.

"This
doesn't make sense to me," said Will."Why would Kemp hit this?" 
He looked at Airman Green and asked, "What do you think, PK?"

Green was
assigned to the team tracking Kemp and had almost immediately been dubbed PK
for "Puke Kid" by Dave and Ann. The nick name stuck and Green knew
that it was a sign of sick affection and not completely sadism, or at least he
hoped it was affection.  Mostly, he understood he was stuck with it for now. 
He answered, "I don't think that Kemp was involved in this.  I think it
was a hit on Senator Ellis and maybe an attempt to get rid of something in the
building."

Ann asked,
"What about the e-mail taking credit?" 

"Too
convenient.  It's a con."

"I think
PK's right," said Dave.  "Kemp's scurried down a hole somewhere else
in the world or he's dead.  He's not going to screw around with this kind of
operation.  Besides, this just doesn't smell like Mossad methods.  This is
amateur night."

Rob agreed with
that but didn't like where the idea led.  "I'm thinking the conspiracy is
still alive and is covering its tracks, but they've lost their most competent
people.   Casualties?"

"Estimates
are from three hundred to five hundred dead," answered Ann.  "We
won't know for a while."

"So what
happens next?"

Will answered,
"We get out of the way and let the FBI do their thing.  Maybe we'll get
lucky and catch a whiff of something."

Rob said,
"I need all of you looking for conspiracy activity.  Figure out where they
would be and what they would have to be doing.  Find the missing pieces so we
can kill these sons of bitches right."

Will said,
"Okay folks, back to HQ.  We've got work to do."

WISCONSIN

NOVEMBER 12
^th

Luke and Jamie
had picked up a Kunoichi truck in Milwaukee and were running a load of tools to
Columbus, Ohio.  They were met with the usual fanfare at the tool factory, but
managed to cut through most of it with the excuse of having a deadline to
keep. 

The workers
were thrilled to get to meet the two of them.  It was always strange, but Luke
and Jamie were beginning to get used to it. Maybe that's the really weird part,
thought Luke.

Once on the
road, the convoy drove south on the 94.  Luke drove the first leg while Jamie
worked on homework.  It felt good to be on the road and they really did enjoy
the travel.  It seemed like what they had done for most of their time together. 
It was normal.

When they
stopped to fuel up a few hours later, they were surrounded by Kunoichi and
other drivers at the truck stop.  They took the time to talk with all of them in
the store before saying, "Pull time for us, folks.  We need to be back on
the road."

To his left,
Luke noticed a flicker of movement that wasn't right.  He shifted position without
even being aware he'd moved, and narrowly avoided being stabbed an Arab man in
a restaurant uniform.  The man slashed at Luke's head and Luke leaned back out
of the way and kicked the attacker's closest knee with his heel.  Luke then into
the return slash he knew was coming, using both forearms to block the arm and
then to guide the man's right elbow up over his left shoulder as Luke turned
for a better position.  He stood fully upright, pulled down on the forearm and
was rewarded with a sickening snap as the arm broke at the elbow and the knife
fell from the man's useless fingers. 

Luke turned
back the other direction and slid behind the attacker while pulling and
twisting the broken arm to the side.  He kicked out the back of the man's knee and
guided the attacker's head into to the right and upward as the man toppled
backward.  As his assailant hit the floor, Luke dropped his full body weight on
top of the badly hyper-extended neck, just as Uncle Jim had taught him.  The
neck broke at the axis with a loud crack and the man's limbs thrashed for a
moment after he died.

The attack was
over in seconds, and Luke stood carefully.  Everyone in the room was stunned,
except Jamie, who had her pistol out and was looking for a target.  As always
there was someone standing there with a camera recording. 
Figures,
thought Luke. 

Looking down at
the dead man's quivering limbs, Luke thought, Uncle Jim never told me that
could happen.  Luke shivered, very uncomfortable with the entire situation.  He
didn't have to break the man's neck.  He heard Uncle Jim's voice from one of
the training sessions saying, "Killing is a parameters decision.  If they
come at you with a weapon, you take them out."  That's certainly what he had
done without any thought what so ever. 

The silence was
broken when one of the drivers said, "Fucking Muslims.  We'll take care of
this asshole, boss." 

Luke and Jamie
left as the body was dragged out into the parking lot.

Back on the
road, Luke said, "That wasn't my idea of a good time." 

Jamie snorted,
and said, "What a stupid way to die.  But what can you do?  Uncle Jim's
going to be pissed."

"He'll
just figure we took care of it.  I have a feeling that won't be the last time. 
Do you mind driving this leg?"  Luke had put his hands in his pockets to
hide the shaking.

She noticed and
hugged him.  "Of course.  I'm glad you did what you did.  And if you
hadn't killed him, I would have."

"I'm just
getting sick of the body count.  We've killed more people than most combat
soldiers ever did, and they've mostly been other Americans.  I would be happy
to go for the rest of my life without killing anyone."

"I know
what you mean.  Just don't let wishful thinking slow your aim."

"It
won't."                                                           

 By the time
they dropped their load off in Ohio, they were not surprised to find that videos
of the attack and the abuse of the body had been put online and were now being
seen all over the world.  One video showed the attack and the other showed the
body on a tarp, wrapped in bacon and ham from the truck stop restaurants, and being
dumped in a hole behind the truck stop.  The male drivers took turns urinating
on it before finally burying it. 

"I wish
they hadn't done that," said Luke.  "It makes me look like a jackass,
even though I had nothing to do with anything after defending myself."    

"Relax,
it's not all bad," said Jamie.  "It's good for people to know not to
fuck with us."

"I'm just
worried next time will be a rifle.  And I'm not crazy about the whole bacon
thing.  Now we're likely to have more of a problem."

"We'll do okay,
besides, there aren't all that many Muslims left."

"One less,
now, anyhow," he said with a grin.  "Let's dump the truck at the yard
and grab a good night's sleep before flying back."

"That's
the best idea I've heard all day."

Luke's
satellite phone rang.  He looked at the number and said, "I guess mom saw
the video," before answering it.

PANAMA CANAL

NOVEMBER 20
^th

Kemp had bribed
the Panamanian officials well and they had very little time to wait for their
slot to enter the canal.  It seemed amazing to him that they were able to slip
through so easily, but the locals were a lot more interested in getting paid
than in doing their jobs.  Some things never change, he thought.  Thank God!

Travelling
through the canal was fairly boring, actually.   It was even a bit tedious when
it came right down to it.  They just stayed in the shipping lanes at a slow
speed until coming to the locks at the other side and waiting their turn to
exit. 

Kemp used the
down time to think about his situation.  On the surface, the women of his
strange little family had taken the seriousness of his fugitive status in
stride, but in the days since they had discovered it, he found he spent most
nights sleeping alone.  He had stuck to a rule of never asking any of them for
attention.  Truth be told, he hated the idea of having a harem and worked hard
to make sure that it didn't become that.  It was a family and he would never
let them down if he could help it.

Still, he
worried that some would feel left out or slighted, so worked at being
accessible to all of them and to treat them as individuals.  Still, he had
fallen off of the pedestal. 
I hope they come around with time,
he
thought. 

As if reading
his mind, Sandy stepped up behind him and put her arms around him.  She kissed
his neck and said, "We all love you, you know that, right?" 

He melted into
her embrace and gently squeezed her hands in front of him.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

DECEMBER 1st

Kemp was
grateful to make it through the storm.  They had been tossed around like a toy
boat for the past day and a half and he was exhausted.  The clear sky ahead was
one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

He had Lisa
take the wheel for a while and left the bridge to examine the ship and check on
the rest of the crew.  When he got to the living area, he found Pam and Sandy
sleeping in a couple of the reclining chairs.  They were all exhausted. 

Moving on to
the engine room, he was happy with what he found.  Everything looked good.  The
slippery slope was a tough little ship.

When he got
back to the bridge he asked Lisa how she was doing.

"I'm
good.  Why don't you sack out for a while?  I'll wake someone up if I get
sleepy."