"Go to my apartment quickly use the siren if you have to. There are two locked file boxes under my bed, get them both," Rian looked back at Ari. "And go get a bottle of hair color remover. Come back here as soon as you have everything. Room three-fifteen."
"Okay," Leann said.
"If you see anyone watching you or it looks like you're being followed don't come back here, go straight to the station and call from a payphone somewhere. Don't use your cell phone either." Rian paused. "And Leann, please be careful. These people are dangerous."
Leann nodded and drove off.
"She'd go into the gates of hell if you asked her to," Ari said as they walked inside the hotel. "It's because she loves you, I know the feeling."
"Ari, please." Rian sighed as the elevator doors closed.
When they walked into the room the first thing Ari noticed was the double beds. There was a chair, small couch, and coffee table by the window on the opposite side of the room. She took her coat off and laid it across the nearest bed. "This is nice," she said.
"This might be the only comfort we get for a while," Rian said as she grabbed the room service menu. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," Ari walked over and peeked at the menu. "A burger sounds good," she said.
Rian turned her head and looked at the brown eyes staring back at her. She knew Ari was being honest with her, but it was extremely difficult to trust her after everything she found out once the truth surfaced. One thing she knew for certain, Fiorino Canturri and the FBI would never hurt Ari again, not as long as she was alive. Rian closed the menu and called down for two burgers.
When the elevator bell dinged she moved quickly to the door and watched through the peephole. The room service cart stopped at their door. Rian opened the door and watched the guy's every move as he pushed the cart inside and uncovered the two dinner plates. She handed him a five-dollar bill on his way out.
"What's your plan?" Ari said between bites.
"We need to get out of the country undetected. Walsh has a long reach and a lot of puppets that will do whatever he says without question. He'll be back on our trail soon, which is why we need the trail to end." Rian put the lid on the remnants of her dinner and stood up. She watched the cars passing on the street below. The sun had faded and the streetlights were coming on.
"How are we going to end the trail?" Ari asked from behind her.
Rian turned back around. She jumped when she heard a soft knock on the door. She crossed the room in a few steps and checked the peephole. Leann was standing there looking up and down the hall. She pulled the door open and ushered her inside.
Leann handed her the two large file boxes and the plastic bag from the store. Rian set the boxes on the coffee table and handed the bag to Ari. She walked back to the window as Ari went into the bathroom.
"I'm sorry I had to involve you in this," she said.
"Rian, I've been involved for some time now. I wish you would just tell me what's going on."
"Sit down," Rian said as she waved her hand towards the couch. Leann sat in the chair and watched Rian pace the floor.
"I found out recently that my former boss with the FBI is working with Fiorino Canturri. He's helping him bring guns into the States."
"Holy shit," Leann said.
"They know that I know." Rian paused and stopped pacing. "They're trying to kill me."
"Oh my god, Rian. Isn't there someone you can call to turn him in, someone you trust?"
Rian shook her head. "I have no idea how high up the chain this goes. I don't know who is involved. Hell, I'm not even sure how long it's been going on. At this point you're the only one I can trust."
"What are you going to do?" Leann asked.
Rian sat on the couch. "The only thing I can do," she said. "Fake my death and go after these bastards."
"So, that's our plan?" Ari asked from the doorway. Rian jumped. It was like looking at a ghost when she saw Ari's blond hair and different colored eyes. It was one thing to hear the voice, but to physically see her again was almost too much for Rian to handle. Her heart raced and her hands shook.
Rian cleared her throat and forced her nerves to calm down. "Leann, this is Arianna Canturri."
Leann gasped.
Ari walked into the room and sat down next to Rian on the couch.
"I also found out recently that Ari's father faked her death and threatened to kill me if she didn't go with him."
"Wow," Leann said. She couldn't help staring at the beautiful woman sitting next to Rian.
Ari smiled and stuck her hand out. Leann politely shook it.
"Special Agent Walsh is trying to kill Ari because she witnessed the transaction between himself and her father. He also knows she told me everything. He has FBI agents following us all over the place," Rian watched the changes in Leann's face as she took in everything Rian was saying to her. "I know it's a lot to take in. I feel like I've been on a rollercoaster over the past few weeks."
Leann shook her head. "This is crazy."
"Tell me about it." Rian looked at Leann, then at Ari and smiled softly. "I have to keep her safe. That son of a bitch took her from me once and it's not going to happen again. As far as I'm concerned, Walsh and Canturri can rot in hell together."
"I second that," Ari said.
"What a mess," Leann laughed slightly. "I never realized you came with such dramatic baggage, Rian."
"I told you, you didn't want to know about me, didn't I?" Rian shrugged.
Leann nodded. "Yes, numerous times as I recall. So, how are you going to stop them if you can't get any authorities involved?"
"Walsh tried to find out what I knew when he was here recently by telling me of a plan to set-up Canturri soon. I'm assuming he was telling me the truth about meeting with Canturri soon, even though he was lying about the whole set-up. My goal is to catch them together."
"How are you going to do that?"
"They think we are on the run, so I plan to fake our deaths and hide out until we know when they plan to meet," Rian said.
"How are we going to fake our deaths?" Ari asked.
Rian looked at Leann and took a deep breath. "Here's where your skills come in handy," she said.
Leann raised an eyebrow and waited.
"I need two Jane Doe's," Rian said.
Leann nodded. She was putting her career on the line, but she knew of two bodies she could possibly sneak out of the morgue that had been unclaimed for a number of months.
"I don't want to give you too many details. Just meet us at Mulino Airport tomorrow morning at five a.m. with the cadavers." Rian said. Leann nodded and Rian handed her a paper bag. "Dress them in these clothes," she said. "I also need you to bring a couple of new syringes and empty vacutainer tubes."
"Okay," Leann made a small note in her phone. "Anything else?"
"Go to the sporting goods store and get a small wet-dry backpack big enough to fit both of my file boxes. A floating one would be great, but whatever you can find will do, and two large emergency blankets. They're silver and usually folded really small. Also, get some water tablets and a drinking bottle. And pay cash for everything."
"Got it," Leann said.
"When we take off I want you to take everything out of my apartment and torch it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, everything."
"Okay," she looked at Rian. "Do you know how to fly a plane?"
Rian nodded. "You'd be surprised what the government taught me how to do."
"Do you guys need anything else before I go?" Leann asked as she stood up.
"No," Rian walked her to the door. "Thank you for doing this."
Leann smiled. "I said I wanted to help," she said as she walked away.
"What are you planning to do with the bodies and the blood?" Ari asked when Rian sat back down.
"We are going to die in a plane crash," she said simply.
~
Ari fell asleep and Rian walked over to the window. She watched the l
ights below and silently wiped the tears that fell. She was happy to have Ari back, but she still hurt for the person she lost. Even with Ari alive and in the same room she couldn't stop the grieving. She hoped her plan worked and they would get their lives back. If not, she'd die fighting. She turned to look at the sleeping figure in the bed and realized Ari was standing behind her. She turned around and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman and pulled her tightly against her. Ari reached up and wiped the wet tears from Rian's face.
"I'm sorry for all of the pain I put you through," Ari said through her own tears. "Watching you at my funeral nearly killed me. I hated my father so much for what he did to you, to me, to us. I couldn't take it anymore when I saw what his men did to you. That's why I had to go find you. I had to make sure you were okay. I tried to warn you."
Rian wiped Ari's tears with the back of her hand and kissed her wet cheek. "You sent me those letters?"
"Yes."
Rian smiled. "Very creative."
Ari smiled that same bright smile Rian remembered over and over in her dreams. "I've missed you so much," Rian sighed and held her tightly.
Ari closed her eyes and silently prayed to stay in that position for the rest of her life. She felt so loved and so safe in Rian's arms.
Chapter Seventeen
At two o'clock in the morning Ari felt Rian shaking and heard her talking in her sleep.
"No," Rian said over and over. "Please, Ari no," she cried.
"Wake up. Rian, wake up." Ari said as she held onto her.
When Rian opened her eyes and saw Ari she jumped back and nearly fell out the bed. Her heart was racing and she was shaking uncontrollably. Ari slowly moved towards her.
"It's okay. I'm right here, baby," she said softly.
Rian got up and drank a glass of water and splashed cold water on her face. When she walked back towards the bed Ari was sitting there with the sheet wrapped around her. Rian closed her eyes and opened them again. Ari was still sitting there.
"I keep dreaming about you dying over and over again. I used to have horrible nightmares and since you've been back they've come back too," she said as she sat down next to Ari.
"I'm so sorry, Rian." Ari wrapped her arms around her and held her tight. "I should have told you the truth instead of listening to my father. I was just so scared he would hurt you," she sighed. "I turned out to be the one that hurt you."
Rian backed away and looked into her eyes. "You didn't hurt me, Ari. Your father did, and he will pay for everything he's done."
Both women jumped when the phone on the nightstand rang loudly. Rian picked it up on the second ring.
"The captain's been looking all over for you," Leann said. "Steven Monahan was pulled over earlier tonight just outside of Portland. He had a tail light out on his repair van and when the officer ran his license, it was flagged of course. He arrested him and held him until Quinn got there. He had a .308 caliber hunting rifle with a high powered scope in the van," she said enthusiastically.
"Wow, that's great," Rian said.
"It looks like he has a wife and a child according to the pictures in his wallet and apparently he's living outside of Yakima," she said.
"Everything they have is circumstantial at most. I hope it sticks."
"Quinn's on the way to his house with a search warrant. That's why the captain was looking for you. I told him you were sick and probably turned your phone off," Leann said.
"I tossed that phone at Dulles Airport," Rian said.
Leann laughed. "Always the agent. I think it's embedded in your bones or something."
"Maybe," Rian said.
"You solved this case."
"No, you did, Leann. I just helped you along."
"We did it together. We make a good team," Leann said.
"Yeah, I'm going to miss working with you a little bit," Rian said.
"Only a little bit?" Leann teased. "I wish we could go out and celebrate. Instead, I'm thawing bodies in the middle of the night."
"Where are you calling from?" Rian asked.
"A payphone. I know the drill. Get some sleep. I'll see you in a few hours."
When Rian hung the phone up Ari was sitting next to her. "Tonight they picked up the only suspect in a serial killer case we were working together," Rian said.
"Oh, that's good. You're good at what you do," Ari smiled. "Your intelligence and confidence are what drew me to you in the first place."
Rian raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was my looks and my charm."
Ari grinned. "That too."
~
When Ari woke up again Rian was standing at the window fully dressed sipping a cup of coffee. "I'd say good morning, but I'm not sure how good it really is," Rian said hearing Ari get out of bed.
"Every morning I wake up with you is a good morning to me," Ari said as she walked past Rian and into the bathroom.
Ari finished her shower and dried her hair. She finished dressing, poured a cup of coffee, and sat down. "What time do we need to leave?"
"The car's already here. I'm just waiting for you."
"Why didn't you say something, Rian?" Ari said as she stood up and closed her small bag.
Rian shrugged. "There was no need to rush you. Is there anything in that bag you can't live without?"
"No, why?"
"You'll never see it again. Make sure your wallet and I.D. are in there," Rian said as she grabbed her own bag and walked towards the door. Ari quickly followed.
~
When the taxi pulled up on the backside of the airport Rian handed him a hundred dollar bill and she and Ari got out. The black M.E. van was parked nearby. The taxi drove out of sight before they walked over to the van.
"I need to go check in. I believe that is our plane over there," Rian nodded in the direction of a white small single engine Piper aircraft with a thin red stripe down the side.
Ari and Leann watched her walk away.
"She cares for you, you know," Ari said.
Leann nodded. "She loves you," she said.
Ari looked at her. "She's different since you've been back, less broken," Leann said to her.
"Thank you for helping her, for helping us," Ari said.
Leann smiled. "Someone needed to be her friend. I'm glad it was me."
Rian returned a few minutes later. "Okay, we're all set. Drive over to that plane and park close by. We'll unload everything without them noticing, hopefully."
Leann positioned the van next to the plane and opened the side doors. She and Rian slid both of the bodies into the plane one at a time. The four-seater plane only had two seats in it and the rest of the space created a very small compartment behind the front two seats for luggage and supplies. They piled the two bodies in the compartment on top of Rian and Ari's sparse luggage and put a blanket over them.
"Did you bring the other stuff?" Rian asked. Leann nodded and handed her a sealed plastic bag.
"I need you to draw two tubes of blood from each of us," Rian said as she held her arm out.
"I haven't done this on a living person in ten years," Leann said as she tied the rubber band around Rian's arm and stuck her. Rian flinched. "I'm sorry," she said.
Rian watched the small tube fill up. Leann quickly replaced it with a second tube. She did the same thing to Ari, careful not to stick her as hard. She finished and Ari climbed into the co-pilot seat and put her seatbelt on.
"I'll get word to you when I can. Watch your mail and don't believe what the news reports, but make sure everyone thinks you do," Rian said as she hugged her quickly. "Thank you for everything, Leann."
"You're welcome. Please be careful," she said.
Leann got back in the van and drove over to the hangar to wait and watch them take off.
Rian put the headphones on and pushed the choke on the dash. The little plane sputtered to life. She idled the engine for a minute to warm it up.
"Tower, this is Hotel, eight, seven, four, three requesting an open runway for takeoff, over
," Rian said into the headset.
"Eight, seven, four, three, tower, you're cleared for runway 1B, over."
"Here we go," Rian said to Ari as she engaged the throttle. They began slowly bouncing towards the open strip. When they reached the end Rian pushed the throttle back and the plane picked up speed. When they reached the middle, Rian pulled back on the yolk and the little plane slowly lifted off the ground. She climbed the plane to five-thousand feet and leveled out.
"Eight, seven, four, three, tower, you're unscheduled so your ceiling is ten-thousand, over.
"Tower, eight, seven, four, three, roger on ten-thousand," Rian said as she climbed the plane to seven-thousand feet and leveled off again. She set the autopilot to fly north at the same speed and altitude and opened the map.
"It's going to take about two hours," Rian said to Ari through the headset.
"Where are we going?" Ari asked.
"Canada," Rian said.
Ari nodded and watched the blue sky in front of them. It was so peaceful flying through the clouds with nothing else around. The headset drowned out most of the noise from the engine. They hit turbulence and Ari gripped the seat with both hands as the tiny plane shook. Rian smiled and pulled back on the yolk slightly to push them a little higher away from the turbulence.
An hour into their flight Rian set the autopilot on the coordinates she chose and got up from her seat. Ari watched her shift the bodies around to open a small compartment door at the very back of the plane. She pulled out a small black backpack and put it to the side.
"What's that?" Ari said when Rian sat back down and put her headset back on.
"Parachute," Rian said. Ari's eyes grew large. "When we cross the border soon we are going to put them in our places and I'm going to set the autopilot to fly back into Washington and crash. We're going to jump out over the Strait of Georgia and swim to shore before we freeze to death."
Ari nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I trust you," she said.
~
"Are you sure about this?" Ari asked as she watched Rian spread the blood from the tubes all over the plane in areas that wouldn't burn as easily. She knew the bodies would burn beyond recognition because of the alcohol used to clean the bodies and the formaldehyde used to preserve them.
Love Loss Revenge Page 10
