Regenesis (Book 1): Impact (64 page)

“Then
you have killed people before?”

Vladimir
offered a reply he felt answered her curiosity, “Pyotr’s angelic abilities
allow me to continue to exist without the risk of starving to death. However
the pangs of hunger continued to ail me for years before he taught me how to
endure and manage the pain.”

“How
is that?”

“It
is not important.” He returned to the primary subject even though Rachel did
not wish to leave the previous subject alone, “Cipriana met up with Constantine
in nineteen-thirty-six shortly before we lost contact with her.”

“Okay,
then who else is on Constantine’s side?”

“Over
the years he has had numerous allies, but of those who were once close friends
of ours were only four. They are Raphael, Cecil, Joshua, and Cipriana, though
recently Pyotr and I seem to have had a spot of luck, as we finally located and
killed Cecil.”

Rachel
took a moment to mull over what Vladimir told her. “You were friends with each
of them?”

He
nodded, “And we were all very close at one time.”

“How
many people were in your group of friends?”

“Twelve.”
Vladimir rubbed his forehead and continued, “I would tell you everything about
every one of them, but the tale would comprise its own volume and there is no
time for that now. All you need to know is that Cipriana is our target and that
we are going to kill her.”

“But
how are we supposed to find her if neither one of us knows what she looks
like?”

Vladimir
told her it was irrelevant and promptly walked away from the bench and toward
the exit. She ran to catch up with him and asked if he had a plan. He said he
didn’t but imagined something would come up. “I do not know what at this time,
but if we fail to make any progress I am sure Pyotr will play his part and
reveal some clue to us, should he find one before we do.”

“But
she’ll know who you are before you know who she is, so how are you supposed to
hide and find her at the same time?”

He
told her he and Pyotr played that game for centuries and knew how to find
seemingly invisible people. “We will find her. It is nothing more than a matter
of time.”

Rachel
nodded and walked with him for a brief moment before she asked how old he was.
Vladimir told her he didn’t want to speak about his past and prompted her to
hurry along.

---*---

9:35
AM

Seattle,
Washington

The
bus Nick and Lauren rode to Seattle hardly concealed the roar of the engine and
the collective cacophony from the traffic to and from the Emerald City. Nick
felt somewhat relieved at the level of noise, simply because it eliminated any
possibility of a conversation with Lauren. He felt his heart shake his entire
being as it slammed into his chest and he worked to stave off tears as best he
could. Lauren only stared vacantly out the window and paid him no mind.

Nick
thought he needed to say something to her, some sort of apology, or at the very
least a reminder that he wanted to support her as best as he could, but every
word clung to his throat. Lauren hadn’t looked at him, said a word, looked at
her cell phone, or cried since they left the apartment. She remained in a
catatonic state until they arrived at their stop.

Bruce
met them and after a brief greeting and introduction he walked with them the
four blocks to the warehouse Mizuno told Nick to meet him at. The warehouse
stored dozens of industrial shipping crates, one of which upon opening revealed
a narrow staircase that led into a small safe house.

The
room was only as big as the classroom Mizuno taught in during his time
moonlighting as a teacher. The ceiling only stood nine feet high and made Nick
feel claustrophobic. A few ceiling lights were erected and dangled on little
more than a chain and a power cord. Two tables stood at the entrance to the
hideout with boxes of passports, multiple forms of identification, credit cards
of every color, cell phones, and stacks of currency from the Euro to the South
African rand. And four cots stood in a row against the wall on the opposite
side of the entrance.

Kyle
sat at the end of one of the cots, his arm in a sling, while he tried his best
to type as furiously as he could with one hand. Strom reclined in the furthest
bed from Kyle but Nick couldn’t tell if he was awake. The remainder of the
group stood or sat waiting for Mizuno’s direction. However Mizuno was not with
the group.

Nick
frowned and asked Bruce where Mizuno was, but before Bruce replied, Lauren
recognized David and called out to him, “here?>”

David
walked over to her and took her by the hand when he gave her his condolences.
“couldn’t have been there to help you.>”

“you know it was going to happen?>”

He
shook his head, “parents, but not about the assassin. No one expected that.>”

Lauren
wiped a few tears from her eyes and asked why he was there. “know Nick?>”

David
scratched the back of his head and told her about the group. “super powers, even I do, and we try to make a difference in the world…though we
seem to have had a bit of bad luck in our last endeavor.>”

“mean the museum?>”

“I take it Nick told you?>”

She
nodded, “super powers.>”

David
apologized for keeping his abilities from her, “allowed it then I would have, but secrecy equals security in this line of
work.>”

“long have you been a part of all of this?>”

“two years,>” Mizuno cut in.

He
walked down into the room while he adjusted his gloves and examined Lauren and
Nick. His eyes flashed before he continued, “I’m sorry to interrupt you two,
but there are more important matters that need tending to than your reunion.”

It
took Lauren a moment to recall where she’d seen Mizuno before, but when she did
she looked between him and David and asked, “from Paris?>”

“Yes,”
Mizuno answered for David, “Now please, in English from now on so I don’t have
to translate everything you say for Nick.” He turned to Jian and Long and
thanked them in Cantonese for their help. “off and return home if you’d like. I’ll contact you as soon as anything else
comes up.>”

The
twins nodded in understanding, received a sum of money from Mizuno, and took
their leave.

“Bruce,
David, Ke, and Alisa, you’re free to go as well. Your money is already in your
bank accounts and you can expect to hear from me in about a week,” Mizuno told
them. Ke and Alisa started for the door, though Bruce and David remained.
Mizuno continued and addressed Mithra, Melanie, and Afifa, “Head back to the
hotel, we’re leaving tomorrow for the next operation. Mithra, if you don’t mind
please translate what I’ve said to Afifa and take them back.” Mithra nodded and
walked the girls out while he explained the situation to Afifa in Arabic.
Mizuno waited until they left before he asked Kyle how he felt. “I did my best
to patch you up but obviously it’s going to take time for you to fully
recover.”

Kyle
stopped what he worked on and admitted that he wouldn’t mind some rest. “Yong
and I could return to Seoul, unless you need him for the next operation that
is. You know I can fully play my part from our place.”

Mizuno
nodded and said Yong wasn’t needed. “Head home and rest and Yong,” he made eye
contact with him, “Take care of Kyle, okay?”

Yong
nodded dutifully and said it would be his pleasure. “Is there any chance we can
fly home in first class seats?”

“If
you get the hell out of here then I don’t care.”

Yong
grinned and helped Kyle with his belongings. The boys were nearly out of the
room when Yong stole a few stacks of South Korean won and stashed it away
before Mizuno could take notice. He then rushed Kyle outside in hope that
Mizuno might never realized the money was stolen.

Mizuno
asked David why he lingered. “You’re not needed here anymore.”

“I’m
going to hang around for Lauren.”

“Really?”
Mizuno’s eyes gleamed, “That is so kind of you David. Are you going to be there
for her like you were for your mutual friend Reine Forestier after her best
friend overdosed on heroin? If I recall correctly, you two drank a little too
much and one thing led to another and the next morning you woke up in her bed
with her in your arms.”

Lauren
frowned and asked David if it was true. “Reine?>”

David
swore and told her it was a mistake, “things just got out of hand and–>”

“they got out of hand with Melanie and Alisa on more than one occasion?>”
Mizuno interjected.

David
stopped. He rubbed his eyes and admitted to those incidents as well. “doesn’t have anything to do with you though,>” David tried to assure her,
“”

“”
She took a step toward him and asked, with tears in her eyes, whether their
intimacy back in Paris meant nothing to him as well. “David and I believed I wanted to be with you, but you are a liar.>”

“a deviant,>” Mizuno added.

“don’t want you anywhere near me, okay?>” Lauren quietly to leave.

Mizuno
seconded the request and ordered him to leave. “I’ll let you know when I need
you again, but please leave.”

David
tried to get another word in but Lauren would not listen. She backed away and
returned to Nick’s side. Nick remained still through the whole conversation and
watched David finally relent and leave without another word.

Mizuno
turned to Lauren and asked what she wanted out of him. “Normally I wouldn’t
offer any assistance, but since Nick managed to escape with you when he fled
the hotel and because you now know about this organization I feel somewhat
obligated to compensate you for what happened.”

“What
do you mean?”

“If
you’d like, I can arrange to send you back home or to your family in Quebec,
though I imagine whichever you choose there will be a great deal of aftermath
from your parents’ death. You’d no doubt inherit their home and wealth once you
and a few lawyers sort through your parents’ will, but you could live a decent
life either way. So let me ask again, what would you like me to do for you?”

Lauren
let out a tense breath and said she wasn’t sure.

Mizuno
rubbed his eyes and told her it was simple, “Make a decision. I wouldn’t even
offer you one if Nick hadn’t made such a mess.”

“What
are you talking about?” Lauren glanced at Nick and back to Mizuno. “Nick didn’t
know someone was going to kill my parents, what could he have done?”

“He
could have done what I asked and delayed your parents and would have been able
to act as guard against the assassin who killed your mother and father. But he
dawdled and chose to contact you first. Not to mention he should have shot the
killer and saved your father’s life and spared you of becoming an orphan.”

“It
wasn’t his fault though.”

Mizuno
scowled and asked her how long she’d known Nick for. “You met him at six
forty-one last night and all you know about that timid young man is he saved
your life and is a part of this clandestine organization. What you don’t know
is that I’ve spent the past four weeks training him to be able to handle that
exact kind of hostile situation, should it ever occur.” He turned to Nick and
asked why he failed.

Nick
kept his eyes fixed on the floor and only offered an apology. “I…I don’t know
what happened. I just froze. I was scared.”

Mizuno
didn’t look away from him. “What did you think all of that training was all for
Nick? I wouldn’t have even wasted my time if I knew you were going to choke at
the last second and not only let the man you’ve wanted to apprehend kill more
people, but escape as well.”

Bruce
stepped forward and tried to get Mizuno to back off, but Mizuno sharply told
him to stay out of the conversation.   “Why the hell wouldn’t you just pull the
trigger and kill him?” Mizuno waited a moment for Nick to respond, but the
young man remained silent. “You could have killed him, avenged your brother and
dozens of others, but you didn’t.”

“I
was scared,” Nick admitted.

“Scared
of what?” Mizuno barked. “What could he have done to you Nick? You were twenty
feet away from him. He couldn’t shoot you, he couldn’t attack you without
giving you sufficient time to defend yourself, and you could killed the
charlatan and saved her father, so why didn’t you?”

Nick
trembled where he stood and after a few reassuring breaths he admitted that he
was afraid to kill someone. “I-I don’t want t-to kill anyone.” He confessed
that he worried that if he had killed the charlatan that he worried he might
become a murderer too.