Never Miss

by Melissa Koslin

  “Oh, cool. He mentioned his girl was coming to stay with him soon. Hope your trip was nice.” He held out the bag.

  She took the bag. “How much do I owe you?”

  He told her the amount, and she took some cash out of her pocket with her left hand, right hand, holding the knife, still hidden behind the door.

  “What else did he say about me?” she asked with a grin.

  He smiled. “Just that he was excited to see you. I can see why.” He took the cash and headed back down the stairs.

  She closed and locked the door, sheathed her knife, and took the bag of food over to the kitchen counter.

  She looked over at James. Lyndon was behind him holding a hand over his mouth. Lyndon let go and carefully took a wad of fabric out of James’s mouth. It looked like a sock. Then she noticed James’s one bare foot.

  “Nice,” she said to Lyndon.

  “If I was really sadistic, I’d have used my own sock.” He walked back over to the workstation.

  James spit on the floor and cursed at Lyndon.

  Lyndon gave no response.

  She opened the bag of food. Chinese, of course—James’s favorite. She sorted through the containers and found something that was easy to eat, not noodles or rice, but something that could easily be popped into the mouth.

  She walked over and set it on the table next to Lyndon, along with a plastic fork. “You haven’t eaten all day.”

  “I’m all right.” He continued typing, gaze intensely focused on the screen.

  Her voice was softer. “You should eat.”

  His hands paused, and he looked up at her.

  She walked back over to the kitchen counter. Her hands shook while she took the other containers out of the bag. You have to do better than this, Kadance. She could not let him see what was going on inside her head.

  Mac jumped up on the counter and rubbed against her arm.

  She petted his back. “I’ll get you some water, buddy.” She found a plastic container in a cabinet, filled it from the tap, and set it on the counter.

  She let herself glance over and saw Lyndon take a bite of food. Good. Then she turned back to Mac.

  “Got it,” Lyndon said.

  “You’re full of it!” James said.

  Kadance moved closer to the workstation. “Can you shut down facial recognition?”

  “I can shut it all down—I’ll do it right before we leave. She might get some kind of alert when it goes down. And I found confirmation we’re right about how the virus will be disseminated, both at the Capitol and where the designated survivors are staying, along with pictures of the men who are supposed to do it. Well, it’s all in code, but I believe I understand it.”

  James cursed several more times, which told Kadance Lyndon had deciphered the code properly.

  “Can you save what you found?” she asked Lyndon. “Should we take it to the FBI?”

  “It’s a complex code. And I don’t think I made a great impression the first time—I think there’s too good a chance they’d dismiss me again.”

  Or maybe hold him for questioning—not worth the risk. “Can you stop them from bringing the system back online?” Kadance asked Lyndon.

  “I can disable this setup, but I can’t be sure he wouldn’t be able to find another computer. Based on what I’ve seen, he’s the prepared type. I’d guess he has a backup system somewhere in the city.”

  She looked over at James. “What we really need to do is put James out of commission.”

  James stared at her.

  thirty-three

  “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WITH HIM?” Lyndon asked Kadance.

  She paused as she stared back at James. It was freeing that she could now look at him without that sense of betrayal and loss clouding her mind.

  She turned back to Lyndon. “We’ll leave him tied up. Looks like you did a good job—it’ll hold. And we should tie the chair to something immobile so he can’t shift around the room and cause a commotion.”

  “What if someone doesn’t come for him?”

  “I doubt anyone will. I get the feeling all the work goes one direction in this group—all effort goes toward the goal, not helping each other out of jams.” She looked over at James, and she could see from how he tried to hide his expression that she was right. She turned back to Lyndon. “But I’ll make an anonymous call after the State of the Union and get him rescued.”

  “What do you want to tie him to that’s immobile? Kitchen island? There’s a twenty-foot ethernet cable in that pile.”

  “Do you think it’ll stay tight?”

  “I’ll use some zip ties to make sure the knot doesn’t come undone.” He walked over to James.

  Together, they moved James and his chair over to the kitchen island, wrapped the wire around his waist and then around the island. The counter overhang would keep it from slipping up and off. Lyndon zip-tied that knot and all of the others as well.

  “Kadance,” James said. “Please.” The blood on his neck had dripped down his skin and dried.

  “How do we keep him quiet?” Lyndon asked. “The sock?”

  “You’ve grown a dislike for him rather quickly, haven’t you?”

  “To be fair, I didn’t like him before I met him.”

  James stared at Kadance. “You told him about us?”

  She answered Lyndon’s question. “The sock if we can’t find something a little cleaner.”

  “Why would you tell him?” James demanded. “What did you tell him?”

  Lyndon leaned down in front of James. “She told me everything.”

  James struggled against his bindings, but the chair didn’t shift at all.

  “Does that feel like a betrayal?” Lyndon asked. “Now you know how it feels.” He walked away and started looking through cabinets.

  “Who is this guy to you?” James demanded. He strained to turn enough to see her.

  She stood at the other side of the island petting Mac.

  “Are you sleeping with him?”

  Kadance continued petting Mac. Mac stared at James and growled.

  “Answer me,” James demanded while twisting around, trying to look at her.

  Mac growled louder and hissed.

  “Mac has good instincts.” Lyndon continued to look through cabinets.

  She kept stroking her hand slowly down Mac’s back. “He’s my protective little man.”

  “You are sleeping with him, aren’t you?” James said.

  “You don’t have any say in my life,” Kadance said. “You don’t have the right to manipulate anyone’s life.” She walked around and stood in front of him. “And we’re going to make sure you don’t hurt anyone else.”

  “You were happy with me.”

  “I was lonely.”

  He nodded toward Lyndon. “He’s just a stand-in, a way to fill the void.”

  She leaned closer and murmured, “He’s so much more than you.”

  She thought she saw Lyndon pause, but then he moved on to the next cabinet.

  “This should work.” Lyndon closed a drawer and then walked over with a couple of washcloths in his hand. They looked ratty. He lifted them to his nose. “I think they’re clean.”

  She took them from Lyndon and stuffed them in James’s mouth. He turned his head and tried to spit them out. She pressed his head back against the counter, probably a very uncomfortable angle for his neck. She pressed one hand down on his forehead to keep him still and stuffed the rags in his mouth with the other hand.

  Lyndon connected a few zip ties and then wrapped them from James’s mouth around the back of his neck. “That should hold him.” He looked at Kadance. “Ready?”

  She leaned close to James. “We’ll get you rescued when we’re done. If we remember. Until then, I hope you enjoy sitting in your own excrement.” She picked Mac up off the counter and headed for the door.

  Lyndon hit a few keys on the computer keyboard and followed her.

  Before they walked out, Lyndon murmured,
“You’re sure you’re all right leaving him like this?”

  “He won’t die.”

  “I meant does it bother you? You used to be close to him. If it upsets you, we can find another way.”

  “You’re kinder to me than I deserve.” She walked out the door.

  LYNDON FOLLOWED KADANCE down the stairs. He had the feeling something had happened in there. Something had changed with Kadance. But he wasn’t sure what. He’d started to worry perhaps she still had feelings for James. Now, he was fairly certain that wasn’t it.

  “Do you think she might have people watching the streets?” he asked as they walked outside.

  “My gut tells me she keeps her group tight, small. Her little acolytes who follow her website don’t know what’s going on. She’s chosen to keep only those who could offer a significant benefit. She’s depending on James to be her eyes and ears. There’s probably only a handful in on the plot. Too many and she risks exposure.”

  Her gut. He trusted her instincts, and where they came from.

  They headed back toward the car. They kept mostly to the alleys again, but they didn’t have to hide from cameras anymore. She didn’t even ask if he was certain he’d killed the feed. That kind of trust seemed astonishing coming from her.

  Something had definitely changed.

  “He’s been masking your identity,” Lyndon said. “I looked through his communication with her. It’s all in email—coded, but not difficult to understand if you have half a brain. He keeps calling you the ‘unnamed female accompanying the target.’”

  “She doesn’t see the live feeds?”

  “No. He sends her clips and explains everything else in text, maybe some in calls too. All the shots with you in them are of the back of your head. I think he actually was trying to get you inoculated and saved.”

  “I’d rather fight to the bitter end.”

  He readied himself for her annoyance. “I think we should keep your identity hidden.”

  She stopped.

  Before she could say anything, he added, “We might be able to use it to our advantage. I wager that’s part of why you were so successful in the CIA—no one saw you coming.”

  She continued walking but said nothing.

  Instead of walking back through the church, she circled around the outside, and he followed. He figured she hadn’t yelled at him yet because she was considering his point about strategy. He hoped, anyway.

  “What are your thoughts for a disturbance at the Capitol building?” he asked.

  “I think it should be specifically in the House chamber.”

  “I agree.”

  “I want to hear your ideas. You’ll probably come up with something more appropriate.”

  “What do you mean ‘more appropriate’?”

  “My brand of disturbance has historically involved bloodshed.”

  He wished she hadn’t had to live through that, and at the same time, he knew she’d saved many lives in the course of her service.

  “What’re your thoughts?” she asked.

  “We need to show any gaps in security, and it should be something that grabs attention. If it ends up on the evening news, the State of the Union is more likely to be moved or postponed. Maybe even canceled.”

  “And my mind goes straight to sniping one of the stupider congresspeople while they sit there.”

  He paused his steps. “Maybe that’s exactly what we should do.”

  “Are you serious?”

  KADANCE WAITED FOR LYNDON on the sidewalk outside the Capitol building. He’d researched the layout pretty well on the phone, but they’d agreed they should also get eyes on as much as possible, so Lyndon had taken a tour. He walked down the steps toward her.

  “That was interesting,” he said as they headed down the sidewalk.

  She looked over at him. She’d found herself taking any opportunity to look at him. She kept thinking back to the differences between him and James. Lyndon never asked anything of her. He’d hidden his feelings, simply because he believed that was what she wanted. No matter how much it hurt him.

  She wasn’t used to so many feelings. All of it was confusing.

  “Something wrong?” he asked.

  She blinked and looked away. “Lost in thought.”

  He paused while they passed someone on the sidewalk and then lowered his voice. “Are you sure you have the right kind of ammunition?”

  “It’ll work.”

  It was dark by the time they made it to the car hidden in a back parking lot several blocks from the Capitol. They’d decided to sleep here for the night. She sat in the driver’s seat, and Lyndon took the passenger seat, though she offered that he could stretch out on the back seat. She wasn’t sure it was wise for her to be so close to him in the dark.

  She called Mac to sit on her lap. He curled up and rested his head on his paws.

  They both tilted their seats back and sat there in the dark quietly. She couldn’t sleep.

  Finally, she said, “You should stay here tomorrow.”

  There was just enough light from a nearby pole that she could see as he looked over at her.

  “I can do it all myself. There’s no reason to risk both of us going to jail. If it doesn’t work and I get arrested, you can still find a way to stop it.”

  He took his glasses off, set them on the dash, and sat back in his seat. “What would you say if I tried some line like that on you?”

  “You already did—trying to keep my identity hidden.”

  “That has a strategic advantage. There’s no upside to revealing your identity. But our plan for tomorrow is much more likely to succeed if we do it like we discussed.”

  “I’m perfectly able to do all of it myself.”

  “It would leave more time for the package to be discovered.” He looked over at her. “Why’re you pushing this all of a sudden?”

  She turned her head to look out the side window and stroked Mac’s fur.

  Lyndon’s voice was softer. “Something seems off with you. What’s wrong?”

  thirty-four

  LYNDON WATCHED KADANCE CAREFULLY.

  “Nothing,” she said.

  “I can tell something is wrong.”

  She looked him dead in the eye. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m working out our best strategy.” She laid her head back and stared out the windshield.

  Lyndon didn’t keep pushing. Something was wrong with Kadance, but he knew there was no way to get her to talk to him. He had little to no influence over her, nothing like she had over him, and every time he thought about it, he felt like a little part of him chipped off and fell away. He feared the rest of his life would be like this. She would leave and forget about him, and he would keep thinking about her. Little parts of him would chip off every day, until there was nothing left.

  He took a slow, quiet breath and looked out the side window.

  Now was not the time to think about this. He had the rest of his life for that. Right now, he needed to focus on their plan. And hope whatever was wrong with Kadance didn’t interfere with it.

  ONCE THE SUN started to rise, Lyndon left to get something for them to eat. When he got back with croissants and orange juice, she was in the back seat loading her sniper rifle.

  He waited for her to be done and set the gun down before handing her juice.

  “Thank you.” She sipped the juice.

  “Everything ready?”

  She nodded.

  He handed her a bag with a couple of small croissants. She took one out of the bag and looked at it for a second before taking a bite.

  “Have you never had a croissant before?” he asked.

  “No.” She took another bite.

  He almost asked why not. It was a rather popular food to have never had one, but then he remembered where she’d lived for ten years and what her life had been like before and after her service. There were probably a lot of things she’d never experienced.

  Though she didn’t say anything, he could tel
l she liked it. This small thing made him feel just a little better—he wanted to bring happiness into her life, no matter how small and insignificant.

  They had a little while to wait, and they spent it in silence. Other than Mac meowing for his breakfast.

  Finally, it was time to leave. Lyndon walked off with his black generic backpack emptied except for the package they’d put together yesterday, and Kadance drove off with her sniper rifle in the back seat. She’d put it into what looked like a baseball bat case, though it was longer than a baseball bat. The case was a little worn and had a couple of White Sox and Cubs stickers on it.

  At the Capitol building, Lyndon headed toward the service entrance they’d noticed yesterday. There were some renovations going on, and they’d seen the workers using this entrance. The workers had to go through a metal detector, but their bags weren’t x-rayed. Tools were already onsite, so their bags were surely just lunch and maybe a fresh shirt.

  While he went through security, he was careful to speak as little as possible, specifically so he wouldn’t have to try to lie. He was sure no one else could detect lies as well as Kadance could, but he wasn’t taking any chances.

  After security, he followed another couple of workers down the hall, but when another hall branched off, he slipped down it. He followed the map of the building in his mind until he came to a tour group, and he assimilated into the back of the group.

  A middle-aged woman looked at him. He smiled at her, and she turned back to the tour guide.

  Once in the National Statuary Hall, he meandered toward the east side of the huge room. He looked up at the massive domed ceiling and then focused on the statues surrounding the perimeter of the room along with marble Corinthian columns.

  The tour guide prattled on, and Lyndon watched for his opportunity.

  When all backs were turned, he slipped through a doorway and turned right down a hall. Then he turned right again.

  “Excuse me.”

  Lyndon turned to see a security guard headed toward him. Lyndon mentally reviewed the tips Kadance had given him.

  The guard stopped in front of him. “Are you lost, sir?” His words were polite, but his expression and tone were hard.