#2 Shades of Gray: From Moscow, With Love

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  With A Spark

  4:48 P.M...

  The medium sized office had a light oak desk with matching book shelves and a high back brown leather chair. Kim sat at the desk, removed her H.H.C. from her knapsack, and typed an e-mail. "Thanatos, this is the Phoenix. I have a situation with Voice I thought you might help me with." She pressed the send button.

  Somewhere in Noir...

  Thanatos worked on the Closings for the day as he rubbed the tuft of blond hair under his lower lip. "What do we have here?" He relaxed in a white recliner chair and glanced at a file that popped up on his screen; it was an e-mail from the Phoenix. Thanatos read the message and then typed, "What situation might that be?"

  "Voice has ordered my Closing," Kim replied.

  He excitedly rapped the chair's arms with his index fingers as if they were drums. The Phoenix had discovered it and lived to type about it. Thanatos howled, elated. The Phoenix was very good, and he typed, "You should know, I cannot interfere with Assassins League business."

  Kim knew this wasn't going to be easy as she typed, "You can if the case for my Closing is founded by lies."

  The Phoenix wasn't going to give up without a fight, and he was quite amazed with the assassin as he twirled the surgical steel piercing in his left eyebrow, and then he typed, "What lies would that be?"

  "I am referring to Mrs. Serqet's Closing in Moscow. I missed my Mark the first time. That part of it is true, but when I went for my second attempt, someone shot the Mark's little girl and another Closer took claim. I had assumed Voice sent in backup."

  "What do you mean by assumed?" After he sent the reply, he hacked into Voice's computer and pulled up the old case file from Moscow in the left bottom corner of his large screen.

  "The two Closers that were sent to take me out claimed the reason for my Closing is that I was the one who killed the child, but it wasn't me. I never had the chance to take a second shot."

  He looked over the file. The Phoenix was right about the second Closer. A backup wasn't recorded, and normally it would mean he or she had none. He wondered if the Phoenix was lying or was something more tantalizing happening.

  Kim franticly tapped across the H.H.C. "I saw the second Closer's business card when it was handed to the detective. The detective swiped the card on the Guild's reader, so I don't understand how I was blamed for the mistake. Even so, no matter how unprofessional a mistake like that is, I can't see it as grounds for my Closing."

  The Phoenix was right, but surely this wasn't all of the story. Thanatos scratched his bare chest before replying, "You have aroused my curiosity, and I will look into this for you. What is the second Closer's name?"

  "Maestro."

  Thanatos questioned, "Are you sure that was the name of the Closer?"

  "Yes, I heard the detective say it out loud. Why do you ask?"

  He pulled up the file. "Maestro has been dead for ten years."

  "The two Closers said as much."

  "This is fascinating though."

  "What is?"

  "Maestro's specialty was killing children." Thanatos moved Maestro's file to the side of his screen above the Moscow Closing. "It is becoming more and more fascinating. I will look into this."

  "Thanks Thanatos, signing off." Kim set the H.H.C. on the desk and stared at it.

  Earlier in the living room...

  Exiting the kitchen, Kat walked over to Andrews who stood in the entry and looked at his H.H.C.; it connected wirelessly to the front door's security camera. Andrews commanded the camera to pan, and he checked the street.

  "Anything out of the ordinary?" she asked.

  "No," he answered, finished his sweep of the street, and turned to her. "I've been meaning to talk with you again. In our line of work, there isn't always an opportunity."

  "Okay," she replied. Kat still couldn't believe how much he resembled Argus, and she wished she could talk with Argus like this, but he was always focused on his work and on not interfering. She questioned Andrews, "What's up?"

  "I wanted to pick up from our last conversation. How did you get started in the protection business? That's what I think you're in. Your training isn't like anything I've seen."

  Katharine's view...

  I consider my training, and I can't recall anything but the feelings of being lost, misplaced, and alone.

  I remember his question and repeat it, "How did I get into the protection business?" I reflect on the past year and on the different people I've encountered and then answer, "I really stumbled into it."

  End Katharine's view...

  "Of what I've seen... I mean the way you handled the Un-Men, you're very good at what you do."

  "I try my best." There were a few moments of silence, and Kat asked, "Have you seen Kimberly?"

  "Your friend went into Ms. Odin's office several minutes ago." Andrews pointed to the hallway.

  "Thanks." She started toward the couch in the center of the room, paused, and stared at its shot up leather. "How often do you fail at your job?"

  A little puzzled by her question, he asked, "What?"

  "Have you ever not protected someone? Have they died?"

  "Yes," he admitted. "But not because the team didn't lay down their lives." His gaze shifted to the H.H.C. as he remembered. "It was about four years ago. We were out numbered. I was shot three times." He thought about his comrades. "I'm the only one who survived. We were protecting a mother of four." Andrews glanced at the kitchen. "At least she had the good sense to send the children away to live with their grandmother."

  "I'm sorry for your loss. I know it's painful to lose someone. What I don't understand is, why are you still a bodyguard? You came so close to death. Wasn't that job enough to fulfill your sense of duty?"

  "No, it was a failure. I believe I've been given a second chance, and I won't fail again." Another moment of silence followed and then he asked, "What about you? Have you ever failed?"

  Her face saddened. "Yes." She thought about those she had met, protected, and a few failures came to mind. "One of them was someone very dear to me." Her face hardened, thinking of Preacher, then it became determined. "We'll do better. There will be no Closings today." She walked past the couch to Melissa's office.

  He followed her with his eyes. Closings? It must have been the slip of the tongue, and Andrews turned his attention back to the video feed.

  In the hallway, Kat opened the door and walked into the office. "Did you get in touch with Thanatos?"

  "He said he would contact Voice, but for now..."

  Kat studied her face and knew that helpless look; it was an expression Kat had come accustomed to showing, and it was one of the worst experiences in the world. "It's not the best feeling to know someone's trying to kill you."

  Kimberly's view...

  "How would you know?" I snap.

  I hate it when people try to sympathize with something they have no understanding of. It's like humoring a child, so they'll leave you alone.

  Katharine's view...

  Kimberly's outburst is filled with fear and anxiety, and I don't reply to it. I only stare at her with a look of understanding. If Kimberly doesn't know that I understand how it feels, then there's no arguing with her.

  I know how our relationship stands. I'm on the outside looking in a window to Kimberly's life. I feel alone in a crowded world. Does she feel the same way or is she as cold as she puts on?

  Kimberly's view...

  I notice her gazing at me with a compassionate look, and I almost yell at her, but then I realize that woman isn't mollycoddling me, but being sincere, so there's no need of me to have snapped at her. The current situation with my job, not that woman is why I'm all wound up and angry.

  I stand and say, "I'm sorry. You of all people do understand what it's like to be hunted."

  Katharine's view...

  I'm amazed that she actually apologized
to me. I don't think I've ever heard her apologize for anything.

  Kimberly's view...

  I grab the H.H.C. from the desk, pick up my knapsack, place the device in it, and tell her, "There's nothing more I can do but stay alive."

  I do need to complete my Closing when the time comes, and that woman isn't going to make it easy, not easy one bit. Hades! My life's becoming complicated.

  End Kimberly's view...

  Earlier in the living room...

  In the entry...

  Andrews tapped the button on his earpiece as he stared at the video feed. "Johnson, there's a large man moving across the street towards the house. He is wearing a WM-D and carrying what appears to be a gasoline can and a large gun case."

  In the kitchen...

  Johnson moved to the door that connected to the living room. "What's the man doing now?"

  In the entry...

  Andrews looked to the H.H.C. "The man is making his way up the stoop." He pulled his gun. "The man is dousing the house with the gasoline. Do I engage?"

  In the kitchen...

  "Negative. I repeat negative." Johnson turned to Melissa and said in a voice that didn't betray his apprehension, "Go upstairs with Daniels."

  Without hesitation, Melissa set down her mug and rushed up the steps from the kitchen.

  "Daniels, the Closers are making their move," Johnson relayed as he hurried into the living room.

  Up stairs...

  "Understood," Daniels replied and turned as Melissa came up the stairs to him, and he ushered her into Bonnie's bedroom. "Wake the children. Get them ready to move if we have to."

  A lump formed in her throat and she swallowed hard as she entered the little girl's room. Melissa tried to hide her panic. "Wake children." She closed the door. "Time to get dressed."

  Down stairs...

  "What's going on?" Kat asked as she and Kim walked into the living room.

  Johnson pulled his gun. "We believe the Closers are making their move." He took Andrews' H.H.C. and watched the video feed.

  Outside...

  The mountain of a man emptied the gas container and set it on the stoop. Nikolai removed the Thompson Submachine Gun from its case and aimed it up in the air as if posing for a gangster photo, and then he removed a lighter, turned to the camera, and flicked it on. A small flame came to life.

  "Shoot him before he lights the gas!" Andrews shouted, moving toward the front door.

  "Wait!" Johnson yelled. "You could ignite the liquid with your gun fire, and that antique he's holding will cut you in half. Besides that..." He panned the camera, searching the street. "Wasn't there supposed to be two Closers?"

  Glancing over Johnson's arm to the H.H.C., Kat peered at the video and replied, "Yes, maybe he's trying to distract us." She turned to the kitchen. "I'm going to check the back door." Kat hurried through the kitchen and into the laundry room, unlocking the knobs as she went and then cautiously opened the door to the backyard. All seemed fine, but... There was a petroleum scent on the wind, and it was more than the smell of Tainted Rain; it was gasoline! She wondered if she was smelling the gas from the front. No, it wasn't faint, so it had to be close. Kat glanced at the wooden fence and rushed back into the house, making sure to lock the doors behind her.

  In the living room...

  "What did you find?" Johnson asked.

  "The back fence is doused with gas and that leaves both our exits blocked." She moved to his side to watch the video feed. "My guess is the second Closer is waiting somewhere outback." The camera feed showed Nikolai standing on the stoop with the lit lighter in his hand as a breeze whipped the small flame.

  "What is he waiting for? Do they plan on burning us out?" Andrews asked.

  "More like lure us out," Kim answered. "Death by fire doesn't pay that much. There's property damage the Closer is liable for and that comes out of their pay." Both bodyguards gave her an odd glance, so she added, "Or so I've heard."

  Kimberly's view...

  Hades! I'm not very good at keeping my mouth shut, and it might get me killed.

  End Kimberly's view...

  "If we don't make a move soon, they will set the fires," Johnson said.

  "What do we do?" Andrews asked.

  "What if... What if the Closers are not sure of their target?" Kat looked to Johnson. "Will they still take the shot?"

  "They aren't supposed to," he answered. "Why do you ask?"

  "I have a plan, but it'll leave everyone in the open. Are you sure they will light the gas?" Kat asked.

  "Very sure," Johnson answered. "If we don't come out of the house like they hope, either way by threat or for real, they'll get us outside."

  "I agree," Kim said. "Closers don't bluff. He'll set the fire if we don't go outside."

  "Gather everyone together." Kat grabbed her backpack from the couch and put her Ravlek vest on over her jacket. "We don't have much time."