CL Hart -From A Distance (33 page)

"Kenzie, look at me. Kenzie?" she begged as Kenzie closed her eyes with a grimace.

"I'm fine," she said with a groan. She was disoriented and having a hard time concentrating. "Just help me up."

"No, you are not fine! You're feverish. You keep mumbling to yourself and it's starting to scare me. I can't do this alone." Relieved that Kenzie was at least conscious for the moment, Cori looked up and down the alley to see if anyone was watching them. She was grateful to see that they were alone.

Cori's fear was enough to pull Kenzie's mind back together, at least for the moment. "Let's go."

"Can you stand?"

"Yeah...I'm fine, I just...slipped. Let's move on," Kenzie said as she steadied herself with her left arm. The movement was enough to dislodge her Colt .45 and, without warning, it clattered onto the ground, the sharp sound echoing loudly through the alley. Cori scooped the gun up and placed it into the front waistband of her pants before she assisted a grunting Kenzie back to her feet.

"Maybe we should rest here for a bit," Cori said, no longer having faith in herself or in escaping their situation.

Kenzie said nothing. It was taking all of her concentration just to get herself upright. Part of her wanted to rest. Her legs felt like tree trunks and her entire upper body felt like it was on fire. Her body was so hot she could feel the sweat rolling down her side beneath her damp clothing. She gingerly touched her side. The warmth oozing through her fingers told her more than she wanted to know. Pain was her friend, keeping her mind alert, telling her she was alive.

"We have to keep moving...now." She took a couple of uncertain steps and then turned to Cori, knowing she couldn't make it without her. "I'm okay, let's go."

Their progress was slow, but steady, until the alley ended at a long, high wooden fence. Looking left and right, Cori tried to decide which way to go. Kenzie was still standing, although every step was a struggle. As if sensing Cori's indecision, Kenzie lifted her head just as the sound of the sirens wailed to an end. The emergency personnel had arrived at the scene. "I think we should go right," she said.

Cori looked over at her and then in the direction she had suggested. "Isn't that back toward the bay?"

"Yeah," Kenzie said. "But if we go left, that will take us out to Mission Bay Boulevard - way too much traffic and too many

"Would that be such a bad thing? I mean, wouldn't we be safer with more people around?"

Kenzie hesitated, but only for a moment. "It might be safer but I think we'd attract too much attention." She took a breath and swallowed hard against her own rising doubt and the pain that clouded her judgment. "We need to find a place to hide."

"What about one of these houses?"

"No, let's just keep moving."

Kenzie attempted to do just that, but her steps were slow and wobbly and Cori reached out to steady her. "I think you need to come up with a plan B." Cori moved closer to her, securing the bag on her shoulder as she attempted to wrap her arm around Kenzie's waist. "I can't pack you around San Diego all night."

"I'm okay," Kenzie said, holding up a hand to fend off Cori's assistance.

"No, you're not. You're a heartbeat away from passing out and then what? We need to find someplace to rest, if only for a short while." She slid a sideways glance at Kenzie's pursed white lips. "And so I can take a look at that battered body of yours."

"Hmmm," she answered with a deep, rumbling grunt "Any excuse to get your hands on my naked body again," she teased quietly, not taking her eyes off the path in front of her.

Cori shook her head in disbelief. "I'm glad to see your sense of humor was undamaged."
This woman is unbelievable.
"Your naked body is the last thing on my mind," she said. "Right now I'm more concerned with saving our asses by getting out of sight."

"I agree. Let's keep moving."

"Until what...you fall down...again?"

Kenzie refused to answer as they came to the end of the alleyway. They were back at the bay, the path blocked by several concrete cylinders that were in place to prevent vehicle traffic The remains of Kenzie's burning boat still lit up the night skies while morbid spectators crowded the shoreline. Their detour down the alley and bike path had let them avoid all the onlookers.

Cori saw the anguish etched into Kenzie's tired face. Silently she watched the embers floating upwards to the heavens. "I'm sorry about your boat, Kenzie," Cori said, almost regretting the intrusion on her privacy.

Kenzie sighed loudly and focused her attention on the woman beside her. "Material things can be replaced."

Knowing what the boat meant to her, Cori could only nod.

They watched for a moment as the emergency crew moved one of the fire trucks closer to the burning sailboat. Several small boats circled around, but it was the Coast Guard's Zodiac that caught Cori's attention.

"What's the Coast Guard doing?"

Kenzie squinted, trying to see what was drawing all the attention as two more small boats moved in next to the Coast Guard's vessel.

"Looks like they've spotted something in the water," Kenzie said as a diver flipped over the side of the rubber Zodiac and splashed into the water. A moment later, he lifted something up toward the outstretched arms of the men on the boat.

"Oh my God, it's a body," Cori said softly.

"Dennis," Kenzie said in a whispered breath.

Cori stared as they pulled the lifeless body from Sail Bay and into the Coast Guard's Zodiac. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be from here." She swallowed hard against the regret rising in her throat. Collateral damage was what they called it, but this time it was more personal. "We need to get out of here, come on." She turned away from the wreckage.

"To where?" Cori asked as they set out on the paved path that ran alongside the water.

"Any place but here."

Moving away from what had been their original destination, they followed the water's edge to a large hotel at the north end of Sail Bay. The hotel's manicured lawns were brightly lit by rows of tall pedestal lights. The numerous volleyball pits were empty, but there were still too many people milling about for Kenzie's comfort.

Her eyes were on the move, searching for shelter or at least for a refuge away from the excitement around the bay. She saw another pathway lined with low-wattage ground lights, which directed hotel guests toward a tall wooden gate. "There." Kenzie motioned toward the gate.

Cori followed without thought. She trusted Kenzie and her instincts. However, as they approached the gate, a neatly printed sign dashed their hopes for an easy exit. GATE LOCKED - HOTEL GUESTS ONLY.

Cori tried the handle anyhow, in hopes that the sign was only a discouragement, but the gate was indeed locked. "Now what?"

Cobra had just paid his cabbie when his cell phone warbled in his pocket. "Yeah?" he answered curtly. He listened for a moment as he watched the cab pull away from the curb. "It's done." The voice on the other end of the phone responded sharply and Cobra's brow furrowed. "I said...it's done. I saw the explosion myself."

"And I am telling you I want confirmation. Find their bodies and finish this! They're on American soil now and we cannot afford for this to become a story on the six o'clock news. Get it done quickly and quietly, and I want visual confirmation. Understood?"

"Yes...sir." But the caller had already hung up "This is un-God damn-believable," he said to himself as he signaled for another cab. "You want visual goddamn confirmation. Ill give you visual confirmation!" He yanked the back door of the cab open and slid into the back seat. "Santa Clara Point in Sail Bay - now!" he ordered as he pulled his Blackberry from his pocket.

The cab ride was quick, though not quick enough for him He threw some money at the driver and exited, slamming the door behind him. Cobra could smell the acidic smoke in the air as he moved quickly toward the flaming wreckage. The choppy water was littered with unrecognizable debris. There was nothing left of the boat. Several small boats and a Coast Guard Zodiac were buzzing about as he scanned the water for bodies.

A commotion near an aluminum gangplank drew his attention, and he smiled in satisfaction as he watched the men from the Coast Guard pull a body from the water. The smile slid from his face when he realized it was the body of a man. Cursing violently under his breath, Cobra scratched at the stubble on his chin. Hands on hips, he sighed as his eyes drifted over the crowd and the surrounding area. If they were not in the water, they had to be close by. Cobra moved slowly through the onlookers, his eyes never stopping as he pushed his way past a group of young men. They hurled insults at him for his rudeness, but he ignored them. Something had caught his attention at the north end of the bay He quickened his pace as he watched the slow moving silhouettes He was positive it was them. They were definitely women, and one was shuttling, her steps slow and unsteady.

"Gotcha," he said as he narrowed his eyes on his targets He drew his gun and attached the silencer as he watched them come to a stop outside a tall wooden gate. It was easy to tell, even from this distance, the gate was locked. He had them cornered with nowhere to go.

Cori stared at the gate, willing it to open. "It's locked."

"We climb over," Kenzie said as she looked over her shoulder. No one was paying them any attention, but that was not what she was looking for. She felt something...or someone.

"You can barely keep upright and you think you're going to climb over this gate?"

Kenzie grudgingly accepted that Cori was right. She could feel that her side was bleeding again. She didn't want to look at it, knowing it would cause Cori even greater concern. "Let's go back and carry on along the pathway then. There have to be other exits somewhere further on. I don't want to be standing out here any longer than we have to."

"That makes two of us," Cori said.

They turned to head back the way they had come, when there was a
click
and the gate opened. A couple emerged from it, hand-in-hand, unaware of the women on the other side.

Cori offered a broad smile. "Hi."

The man smiled in return, but his smile faded as he scrutinized their appearance. "Rough night," Cori said with all the humor she could muster.

The man hesitated, then held the gate open as Cori reached for it. "Thanks. Saves us from having to dig our key out," Cori said lightly.

"No problem," he said as he and the woman continued on their way.

"That was a bit of luck," Cori said as they walked through the gate.

Kenzie turned to pull the gate shut and her eyes connected with someone moving swiftly along the bike path in their direction. "Goddamn it, he's like a fucking pit bull," she said. "Our luck just ran out!"

Kenzie's words filled Cori with panic. She looked back to see Cobra rushing toward the closing gate, his gun aimed directly at them.

"Go!" Kenzie urged as she tugged on the handle, but Cori was already moving. The gun made no sound, but the bullets striking the gate did as it solidly closed with a click behind them.

Racing away from Cobra, they found themselves in an open courtyard of the hotel. A curving brick pathway wound around large tropical plants and tall palm trees. Moving as fast as Kenzie could manage, they heard the sound of Cobra trying to break down the wooden gate. "That won't hold him for long," Kenzie said as the world wavered around her. Reaching out, she held onto Cori's small body for support.

"Go!" Kenzie urged as she tugged on the handle, but Con was already moving. The gun made no sound, but the bullets striking the gate did as it solidly closed with a click behind them.

Racing away from Cobra, they found themselves in an open courtyard of the hotel. A curving brick pathway wound around large tropical plants and tall palm trees. Moving as fast as Kenzie could manage, they heard the sound of Cobra trying to break down the wooden gate. "That won't hold him for long," Kenzie said as the world wavered around her. Reaching out, she held onto Cori's small body for support.