Mismatched

by Chautona Havig

  Working swiftly, he pulled up a blog site, and began tinkering. Thank God, for Linux and privacy, he thought as he added pink and black zebra stripes to the header.

  His fingers flew as he typed up gossipy fifty word posts and inserted stolen photos from all over the web. By the time he finished, Ernie was quite pleased with himself. There. Couldn’t be better if I tried. Just hope three months back is far enough.

  He removed the disc and hid it in the laptop bag before calling up his internet browser. Google searched for Fairbury, Ferndale, Marshfield, New Cheltenham—all the cities around the Loop. He traveled up the state to Yorktown, back down to Stoneyhill, and paused. Bingo.

  Ernie’s finger punched Jenk’s number and he waited for the boss to answer. “Hey, found something. Can I bring the laptop in or do you—got it. Be right there.”

  Jenk’s door stood open, waiting for him to enter. Wentz glared at him and slid his eyes to the boss. “He’s got a computer.”

  “I know. I told him to bring it.”

  “’kay.”

  Ernie rolled his eyes and edged around the burly fool, placing the laptop on Jenk’s desk. “Look what I found. Did a quick search before I left and this popped up. I almost missed it.”

  Jenk’s eyes scanned the screen, disdain curling his lip. “What kind of stupid—”

  “It’s just some kid’s blog in Stoneyhill. Look, it says here that Ryan Delmont claimed to see a guy with holes in his ears and a giant spider web tattoo on his neck—new people just moved into a duplex there in town.”

  Jenk kept reading, a slow smile forming. “So… outted twice by a blog. We need to pay closer attention to these things. This stupid girl—gonna be cute someday—just ensured that someone else gets a nice, fat homeowner’s claim.”

  “Stick it to the insurance racket, eh?” Ernie slowly allowed himself to relax.

  “Yep. Send Tag in. Tell him to make it look like an accident. Don’t want anyone connecting things.”

  Dismissed, Ernie returned the laptop to his office, powered it down, grabbed his laptop case, and stepped out the door, handing it to a waiting Wentz for inspection. The oaf slid his hands through pockets, stared at papers as if he understood what was on them, and passed it back.

  “It’s clear, boss,” he called.

  “See you tomorrow, Ernie. Hopefully we’ll celebrate.”

  “Looking forward to it. I’ll buy drinks for the guys.” That’s a promise I won’t have to keep, Ernie thought to himself as he strolled outside and to his car.

  Once inside, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through contacts for JENk. STONEYHILL HAS A CO2 PROBLEM. NEED TO CLEAN THE AIR THERE. COOPERATE WITH AUTHORITIES.

  “You’d be risking your life, Leo! You can’t do it. Demand protection and let’s end this!” Allison stood, her arms crossed over her chest, shaking with fear and anger.

  Leo pushed back his chair and rose to comfort her. With arms wrapped around her, he tried to make her understand. “They can’t. Even I can see that. If they were law enforcement, maybe, but they can’t get the cops to show up unless something’s going to happen. So, we have to make something happen.”

  “And get yourself killed!” Allison’s eyes flashed at Keith. “I can’t believe you’re okay with this!”

  “Who said I am?”

  “But—”

  “Keith will do his job,” Mark said, speaking in that low, calm voice that should have been in old-time radio. “He doesn’t get paid to be ‘okay’ with my orders. He gets paid to follow them.”

  “Well, that’s something, but not much.”

  “It’ll work. I’ll be there, I’ll see who came in, the FBI will catch them, and I’ll testify in exchange for Witness Protection.” Leo squeezed her just a little tighter at the thought of what that would mean. Still, she’d be safe—her parents too. That’s what mattered.

  “That’s right, Allison,” Eva assured her. “Mark says they’ll put us in protection too. We’ll all start fresh somewhere.”

  Leo froze and Allison’s eyes rose to meet his. “What is it?”

  “I can’t go with you guys,” he whispered. “I’m too recognizable.”

  Her eyes flew to Mark and then Keith. “What? We can’t go together? Why did you bring me then? This is ridiculous!”

  “We brought you because you weren’t safe alone, and we weren’t safe having someone report to the police before we got out of there. The minute you screamed, the Kasimir lookout would have killed us.” Keith looked to Mark. “Want to step in here?”

  “Yes. I understand Leo’s concern. If we could move you to some place like Greenland and wear turtlenecks all the time, no problem. But he will stand out wherever he goes. With the media and Internet, he’ll be recognized—no doubt.”

  Rod hadn’t yet spoken, but he waved his hands and asked, “What about laser surgery? Can’t they take those things off with surgery? Even if they just did the spider web first—”

  “Can’t afford it, and the government isn’t going to cover that, Rod.” Leo sighed and murmured into Allison’s ear, “You don’t think I want to go where I’ll never see you again, do you?”

  “You’re acting like it! We can fix this. I have savings—”

  “That’s right!” Rod’s fist slammed on the table. He looked startled at his own vehemence. Much quieter, he added, “What about our assets? Does the Witness Protection program get any of that for us? Like our insurance claims on our house or…”

  “They’ll take care of liquidating all of your assets and transferring them into your new identities,” Mark assured them.

  “That’ll make it easier for them to process me,” Leo muttered. “I don’t have anything anyway. Just a debt for a root canal and an extraction—to this guy.” He jerked his thumb at Rod and smiled.

  “So, I’ll pay for it—what of it I can,” Allison began.

  “No!” Hating himself for hurting her, Leo forced himself to continue. “You’ll need it to start a life. I won’t take it.”

  “Then you’ll take it from me,” Rod insisted. “Regardless of whether you choose to take up life with us or on the opposite side of the country, I’m paying for it. We all know that Witness Protection won’t do you any good if you’re so easily identified.”

  “I couldn’t—”

  “If you don’t take it from him, I’m paying for it,” Mark interjected.”

  Brian snickered.

  “You can’t let Mark spend any more of his money on us,” Eva interjected. “We’re friends. Let your friends help.”

  A snort followed Brian’s snickers and preceded a chuckle.

  Keith beckoned Leo to follow him down the hall. They stepped into the men’s bedroom and he shut the door behind them. “Look. Welcome to Christianity 101.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We do this little thing you’ve read about, I’m sure. It’s called ‘bearing one another’s burdens.’ That tattoo is a burden. The Wahls are going to bear it.”

  “They aren’t Christians.”

  “Allison is,” Keith reminded him. “They’re doing it for her anyway, so it’s pretty much the same thing.”

  Arguments fired themselves through his mind one after another. Keith just waited, arms across his chest and looking much too smug for Leo’s comfort. “Okay, tell me something.”

  “Shoot.”

  Leo swallowed hard. “Will it help?”

  “The surgery?”

  “Yeah. I mean, I’ll still have the holes—”

  “Repair surgery for that is cheap. With the holes repaired and the tattoos gone, you’re not going to look like yourself.”

  “Would they be safe with me,” Leo murmured, not quite ready to hear the answer.

  “How about this,” Keith suggested. “Why don’t we agree to talk to a WITSEC approved doctor? If he says it’ll change enough to make you look like an average Joe, then you stick with the Wahls. If not, then they let you go.”

  “Think they’ll go for it?�
�

  Keith shrugged. “They won’t have a choice, but Allison’s going to fight it.”

  A smile twitched Leo’s lip. “Yeah, yeah she will.”

  The planning session turned into chaos as each attempted to orchestrate the scenario that best suited his purposes. Allison tried to nix any idea that allowed a Kasimir to know that Leo saw him. Eva and Rod pushed for a public scenario, certain that everyone would be safer. Mark listened for several minutes before he stood.

  “Okay, I think Brian is going to take the Wahls for a drive—just to give them a little fresh air and change of scenery.”

  “And get us out of the planning,” Allison muttered.

  “Something like that.” Mark nodded at Leo. “I’d like you to stay, but you’re free to go with them.”

  “I’m staying.”

  “Leo!” Allison glared at him. “You’re going to help them devise a plan to get you killed.”

  “These are the people who you assured me were not going to kill me. For days, you told me this. Now they’re killers?”

  Allison stormed out of the kitchen and to her room, slamming her door behind her. Leo snickered. “People keep talking about how unflappable she is. I bring out the worst in her.”

  “You bring out the life in her, Leo.” Eva nudged him down the hall. “Go talk to her. Trust me, just go.”

  Unwilling to refuse Eva’s request, Leo shuffled down the hall and knocked on her door. “Can I come in?”

  Her reply came so quietly, he almost didn’t hear it. “Yes.”

  Leo stepped into the room and the picture pricked his heart. She stood at a window, the blinds blocking the view from outside, but she stood there as if looking out into the street. Something about the vignette reminded him of a prisoner locked in a jail.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Three steps from the window and she stepped into his arms. “I’m scared.”

  “I know.”

  “You could die.”

  Leo rested his cheek on her head and murmured, “Mmm hmm. I could also get a few more Kasimirs off the street. Either way, we’re on the run until we get them caught.”

  “So we run ourselves,” she suggested, a desperate tone entering her voice. “We just go and—”

  “With what money? How?” Leo would never have imagined her being so illogical.

  “We’ll use my parents’ money. We’ll get a motorhome and just travel.”

  “And,” he said, trying to make her see without making her feel foolish, “the minute they showed up to close out their accounts or sign papers about anything, someone would be there to pick them off.”

  She sagged against him. “Really? They can do that?”

  “I would imagine they’re watching Ferndale and Fairbury very closely. If he went into his office, to a bank, to an insurance office—anything. They probably have Ernie or someone hacking accounts left and right, trying to see what is happening.”

  “Why don’t they just hack accounts and take the money then. I mean, if they can do that…”

  She’d never understand. Leo felt ridiculous even trying to explain. “Allison, they don’t steal. They earn their money. Yeah, it’s illegal. Yeah, they’ll kill you if you get in their way, but stealing is utterly unacceptable. You don’t steal a beer from your friend’s fridge, you don’t steal a kiss from his girl, you don’t steal a ride on his bike without permission, you don’t steal a ‘sample’ of product, and you don’t steal from innocent people.”

  “Warped.” She glanced up at him. “Sorry. That’s probably insulting.”

  He watched the emotions flicker in her eyes. Fear, confusion, anger, love. The realization that she loved him hit him hard, nearly knocking the wind from him. “Allison…”

  “I want you alive,” she whispered.

  The urge to kiss her built slowly as he stood there gazing down at her. Leo nearly groaned aloud with the frustration of it all. Kissing her would signal acquiescence. He couldn’t do it. Hugging her fiercely, he tried for the next best thing.

  “I’ll do what Keith says.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If the WITSEC approved doctor says that removing my tattoos is worth the money, and if closing my gauge holes isn’t too expensive. If it all means that I shouldn’t be recognizable by those things, then I’ll let them place me with you guys.”

  “Really!” The smile in her voice sent a wave of relief over him.

  “Yeah. Now, go for that drive. If we’re going to start a new life somewhere, I’d rather it be sooner than later.”

  Three seconds after the car pulled out of the drive, perspiration beaded on Leo’s forehead and upper lip. You just as much as promised to marry her.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Leo listened to the debate rage around him. The ideas, though all good, also seemed too complicated. Still, he listened, and as he did, he prayed.

  Mark noticed his silence and turned to him. “So, what do you think about it all, Leo?”

  Unsure how much to say, he shrugged. “I’m not the expert on covert operations.”

  “But you are the expert on Kasimirs.”

  He’d been waiting for that opening. “Okay.” Leo swallowed a swig of water and wiped his mouth. “You keep trying to keep me from getting shot.”

  “Yeah, it’s kind of important to us. You’re no good to the FBI if you are dead.” Brian growled. Keith punched him. “What!”

  “Way to show support for the guy putting his life on the line here.”

  “It’s okay, Keith. He’s right, and you know it.” Leo tried again. “The problem is that you’re looking at it as if the Kasimirs will come in, see me, and shoot to kill with the first shot. They won’t.”

  “Good point,” Mark agreed. “They’re known for their brutality, but you’ve already been taught a lesson. Do you still think—”

  “Jenk took over, right?”

  Keith nodded. “Yep.”

  “Jenk is going to want to make a name for himself. To do that, he has to come out strong. We’ve eluded him twice now, right?”

  “At least…”

  Leo leaned forward. “Then he’s going to let Del have ‘some fun’ before I die.”

  “So, you don’t think he’ll come in shooting.” Brian leaned back, crossed his arms over his chest, and shook his head. “I don’t buy it.”

  “No, I think he probably will. I just don’t think he’ll kill me with the shot.”

  “So, you’re saying you want to get shot.” Brian rolled his eyes. “What is it with these Jesus people and their martyr issues?”

  “I’m saying,” Leo corrected with an edge to his voice that once struck fear in the hearts of drug dealers, “that if it’s the best way to get them into the room where the FBI can storm up and keep them from getting out, then it’s what we need to do and I’ll have to deal with it.”

  As Keith listened, he doodled on a pad of paper. Now he pushed it across the table to Leo. “Draw out the layout of your apartment. Every bit.”

  It took less than thirty seconds to draw a dozen lines. “There.”

  “That’s your bedroom. What is it? Size wise, I mean.”

  “Nine by ten? Wide enough for a twin, but anything bigger would be hard to get in there.”

  “Bathroom?”

  Leo thought aloud. “Two feet for a toilet, three for the shower, two between them… eight by four or five? Sounds too big.”

  “Kitchen and living room?”

  “Sixteen by twelve… maybe?” Leo shrugged. “I didn’t exactly go through with an interior decorator and take measurements.”

  Keith ignored the sarcasm. “And that closet—it butts up to one in the bedroom?”

  “Yeah.”

  Mark leaned forward. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m wondering where this layout fits with the lower part of the store.”

  He’d only been in the shop once—the day he signed his rental agreement. He played with placement until he thought he had t
hings in roughly the right spots. “Okay, the living room windows are here…” The moment he said the words Keith wanted to hear, Leo realized the man’s plan. “I see. You’re right. It’ll work.”

  “I think so.”

  Brian sat up and stared at the paper. “I don’t get it. What?”

  Keith laid out the plan—foolproof as long as no fools messed up the one thing that could make it difficult. “We’ve got to try.”

  Mark agreed. “We have other obligations coming up. We need this to come to a head and soon.” He turned to Leo. “Sorry, but it’s probably time for you to go to bed. We’ll let you know when—maybe tomorrow. I’ll talk to Connors in the morning.”

  Leo stood and gripped the chair back as he pushed it into the table. “Look, I want to make something clear.”

  “What’s that?” Mark seemed unruffled by the assertiveness Leo projected.

  “If something goes wrong here? I chose this. I want that in writing somewhere.”

  “Can’t do in writing, sorry.”

  Frustrated, Leo strode down the hall and jerked open the door to his room. He snapped on his light and nearly jumped when he saw Allison sitting on the end of his bed—waiting. “How long have you been there?”

  “Since Brian brought us back.”

  “Why—”

  “Is it safe?”

  “Is what safe?” The moment he asked, Leo groaned. “Sorry—habit. If you mean will I die, no. I’m not going to die. I don’t think Keith is convinced, but Mark knows.”

  “But you think you’ll be hurt.”

  “Most likely. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

  She stood and crossed the room. Her hand rose to trace the lines of the spider web on his neck. “Then I guess we have to take it,” she whispered. He shivered slightly under her touch. “This’ll be gone after this is all over. That seems so strange.” Her finger traced the edge of the hole in his ear. “Will you miss them?”

  “Probably—at first.” Despite every intention of keeping a bit of distance until the ordeal was over, Leo brushed her hair with the back of his fingers. “It’s been part of my identity for a long time but…” A lump rose in his throat as her eyes—bluer than he’d ever noticed before—rose to meet his. “But I have a new identity in Jesus now. He’ll fill it. Probably sooner than I expect and not soon enough for my tastes.”