Fractured Futures

by SY Thompson

  Prepared for a hasty exit since she hadn’t really spoken to anyone at the party, Ronan discreetly followed Sidney Weaver from the mansion. She hid in the shadows until Sidney’s limousine pulled away from the curb. Then she heard raised voices and the squeal of rubber on pavement. A black, unmarked vehicle shot away from the darkness of an overhanging willow and followed the luxury car. Maybe it was unrelated, Ronan allowed. Maybe whoever was in that car was in a hurry for another reason.

  And maybe she could fly.

  She wasn’t about to take that chance. Ronan bolted down the steps toward her own vehicle, just to follow and make sure Sidney was safe.

  GUNFIRE CHATTERED FROM the weapon and struck the side of the limousine. Some of the bullets lodged in the metal while others ricocheted off harmlessly. An instant later, the limousine careened out of control when a few of the rounds found their mark and one of the front tires exploded with a cannon-like bang. Jordy fought the shuddering wheel as he tried to maintain control over a ton of skidding, shrieking, and straining metal. He could hear Sidney yell from behind that she wanted to know “what the hell was going on.” He lost the battle for control and the vehicle flew sideways off the road. It skidded through slush and snow before it came to an abrupt halt when it hit a guardrail, preventing it from a long fall over a sheer cliff.

  Two gunmen leapt from the black sedan and ran toward them while streetlights flashed off the muzzles of their weapons. Their breaths puffed clouds of smoke into the frigid air.

  He knew that the guardrail on one side and the thugs on the other trapped them, so Jordy did the only thing he could to protect the woman in his charge: he hit the button on his door that automatically locked all exits and then pressed the OnStar emergency call button on the console. Fortunately, the limo had been recently fitted with bulletproof glass. That upgrade had resulted from an over-enthusiastic fan that had begun to stalk Sidney, and Jordy was relieved that the rounds couldn’t pass through the glass.

  If they were very lucky, someone would have reported the

  incident or the OnStar would have connected with the authorities and the police were already on the way. A sudden flash of light reflected in the rearview mirror. It blinded Jordy before it shot out of his field of vision.

  Chapter Four

  SIDNEY SAW THE light that flashed from behind them and feared that the gunmen had brought reinforcements. In morbid fascination, she watched the scene as it unfolded next to her. The events seemed surreal. Sidney didn’t think they could possibly be after her. She hadn’t done anything.

  The motorcycle was huge and menacingly black as it shot through the night and in front of the gunmen. The rider was all in black and wore helmet and gloves. No features were discernible. Captivated by something that looked like it was out of one of her movies, Sidney couldn't look away.

  The rider squeezed the large bike’s front brake hard and the rear of the machine rose off the turf. For a moment, Sidney was sure the rider would fall from the vehicle as it skidded on the slush but at the last second, the rider used his body weight to sling the rear of the bike around in midair. The tire connected solidly with the lead assassin’s face. The man flew into the air and somersaulted backward before he landed heavily on the frozen ground. He didn’t move again.

  Undeterred, the other ruffian directed his gunfire toward Sidney’s would-be savior. He left a trail of gunfire on the ground that led toward the rescuer. The bullets tore up bits of snow and frozen turf but before they could reach the motorcycle, the rider stopped the huge bike and reached for a concealed weapon inside the black jacket. Faster than Sidney’s eyes could follow, a pistol emerged and one round was fired. The semi-automatic barked once into the night in sharp contrast to the staccato burst of the automatic rifle. The gunman pitched backward onto the ground. When he didn’t move again, Sidney thought he might be dead.

  She watched as the rider calmly turned off the machine and dismounted before pocketing the weapon and sauntering toward the limousine. Sidney was terrified that the nightmare hadn’t ended and dove onto the floorboard. After all, it was a stretch to believe that a Good Samaritan was riding along in the middle of the night and just happened to pack a gun. Could this be her stalker? Was he determined to prevent anyone else from harming Sidney for the sake of doing so himself?

  Her heart thumped in fear and she couldn’t tear her eyes away as the dark rider neared the driver’s door. Long-fingered hands reached up and fumbled with the chinstrap for a moment. Then the helmet came off and blonde hair cascaded down around the slender shoulders. Sidney was astonished that the rider was a woman. She was even more so when she recognized the woman from the party. The stranger smiled at the driver in a friendly manner and gestured for him to lower the window. For a moment, he hesitated, seeming unsure the threat was truly at an end.

  Sidney sat up in the back and pressed the intercom button. “It’s all right, Jordy. Lower the glass.”

  Although she didn’t know this woman, had never even spoken to her, Sidney instinctively knew they were in no danger from her. After a moment of hesitation, Jordy followed her orders by lowering the privacy shield and then his own driver’s window.

  “Hi.” She squatted beside the limousine and briefly met the young driver’s eyes before she looked into the rear at Sidney. “Is everyone all right?”

  The question was casual, just another day in Baltimore.

  “Thanks to you,” Jordy said.

  His comment was a self-mocking snort and Sidney felt sorry for him. He obviously felt that he hadn’t been up to the challenge of protecting her from harm, but he had done everything possible. She hadn’t hired Jordy as a bodyguard.

  “You’re the woman from the party.” Sidney didn’t answer Ronan’s original question.

  The woman smiled and nodded once before she shrugged. “I was bored and decided to leave. I saw them following you and decided to see what was up. I always was too curious for my own good.”

  “And you just happen to ride a motorcycle like a stunt driver and carry a gun?” Sidney inquired with an arched brow of disbelief.

  “A girl’s got to be able to take care of herself.”

  Sidney didn’t quite know how to respond to the offbeat humor. “Yes, well...I owe you my life. I don’t know how I can ever thank you.”

  Although she didn’t believe that was all there was to it, she was willing to let it go. If it hadn’t been for this woman, she would most likely be dead by now. She noticed that the woman had a slight accent and found it utterly charming.

  Sidney’s offer of repayment had been sincere but she didn’t really expect the young stranger to take her up on it. She was surprised to hear, “How about a job?”

  “How’s that?”

  This woman was obviously well educated and dressed in a suit that screamed money. She didn’t look like someone that needed a job. Added to the fact that she had never seen her before tonight and Sidney couldn’t prevent her outburst. “I don’t even know your name.”

  She didn’t miss a beat. “Ronan Lee, and word has it that you’re in need of a pilot.”

  It was a well-known fact that Sidney kept a pilot on her payroll because she was an impatient person and she didn’t like to wait if she needed to travel. Since she didn’t like crowded airports, that left only one alternative. She just wondered how this woman would know.

  “And you just happen to be qualified?” Sidney made the question sound playful to eliminate any sting.

  The wail of approaching sirens screamed in the background, and for a moment Ronan looked nervous. Then her shoulders relaxed and she answered Sidney’s question.

  “I just happen to be, yes. And you even have the fringe benefit of me being a fairly decent bodyguard in a pinch,” she added, nodding toward the assailants.

  Sidney followed Ronan’s gaze and realized that she had enjoyed talking to the young woman so much that she had almost forgotten about the attack. “So I see. You’re a woman of many skills. I just can’t imagin
e why anyone would try to kill me.”

  “Neither can I.” Ronan stared intently into her eyes and Sidney felt her heart thump. “I can’t imagine why anyone would want to eliminate such a beautiful woman.”

  Speechless, Sidney blushed in pleased embarrassment. At that moment, an army of police cars surrounded them and a melee ensued while the uniforms attempted to sort out the mess. An officer took their statements while others cordoned the area off from curious bystanders and the media arrived like a pack of hungry hyena on the scent of wounded prey. The police confiscated Ronan’s weapon for ballistics checks, but said that since her permit was up to date and only fired in self-defense, they would return it as soon as the investigation was complete.

  The tall, cool woman seemed unconcerned and then the officers focused on Sidney’s statement. In deference to her fame, the officers took her statement first. Next, Jordy spoke with the police. AAA showed up to replace the blown tire on the limo and Sidney made a mental note to reward Jordy for his foresight. She wasn’t even aware he had phoned the car service. She was free to go long before Ronan finished with her part in the investigation. Unsure why she was so reluctant to leave the young stranger, Sidney approached her and held out a card.

  “This has been such a crazy night that I’m just not up for anything else. But why don’t you call me tomorrow and we’ll talk about that pilot position?”

  Ronan glanced down and took the card Sidney offered, one card complete with her private telephone number and her penthouse address. When she reached for the card, their fingertips brushed lightly and Sidney felt an electric tingle race up her arm from the point of contact. Again, their eyes met and something passed between them.

  Sidney nervously broke the eye contact and searched for something neutral to say. “Nice bike. I’ve never seen anything like it. What kind is it?”

  “It’s a BMW Avantgarde,” Ronan said. “I’ve always loved that machine, but now I have another reason. It just helped to save your life.”

  “Very nice,” Sidney murmured as she glanced back at the woman again. She searched for something else to say. “Maybe I could go for a ride sometime?”

  Just as quickly as she asked the question, Sidney realized no one would ever be able to convince her to climb onto the back of the suicide rocket. A slow sensual smile curled Ronan’s full lips and Sidney forgot about the motorcycle.

  “Sometime,” Ronan agreed softly, and for a moment Sidney wasn’t convinced they were both talking about the motorcycle.

  I must be more intoxicated than I realized, Sidney thought as she cleared her throat and pulled her gaze away from Ronan’s blue eyes.

  “Yes, well...” She glanced away and saw with relief that Jordy was patiently standing by the limo with his hands folded. “I’m getting cold and it looks like my driver is ready. I guess I should go.”

  Ronan politely walked Sidney to her car and offered a hand to assist her into the vehicle. Sidney didn’t need help but took the hand anyway. “Thank you, again,” she said. Ronan closed the door for her.

  Watching from the vehicle’s side mirror, Sidney could have sworn Ronan spoke a single word. Always. Her thoughts were in a whirlwind.

  She found herself fascinated by this person, a virtual stranger. Why? She could sense that the woman could be dangerous in the right circumstances, hell she had seen it herself, but Sidney felt safe with her. Weird. She tried to piece things together before deciding that she just felt grateful because Ronan had saved her life. Sidney shook her head. It was more than that. She had been captivated from the moment she’d seen the stranger at the Governor’s mansion. On the plus side, if she did relent and employed Ronan as her pilot, she would see even more of her.

  Sidney Weaver was not reluctant to show off a beautiful woman in the background and let everyone know she was not available. In a strictly professional capacity, of course.

  Chapter Five

  RONAN FORCED HERSELF to wait until midmorning to call Sidney. It had been hard but she knew Sidney had been up late the night before and had been slightly inebriated at the time. Finally, with shaking hands she dialed Sidney’s personal number. Someone answered the call on the first ring. For a brief second, Ronan dared hope Sidney had been waiting for her to call.

  “Hello?”

  Sidney’s breathlessly husky voice spoke from the other end of the connection and Ronan grinned stupidly for a second before she remembered there was no visual interface.

  “Hi,” she said, her voice rushed in concern that Sidney might think it was her stalker and break off the call. “This is Ronan Lee. I met you last night.”

  Sidney laughed into the connection. The sound twisted around Ronan’s insides and she blushed furiously at her reaction.

  “How could I forget? It’s not every day you get rescued by superwoman on a motorcycle.”

  “It was rather memorable,” Ronan admitted. Then she decided to plunge in with both feet and get to the point of the phone call. “I really hate to bother you with this so soon after your ordeal, but I was wondering about what we talked about last night. About the pilot opening?”

  Ronan couldn’t admit that she’d been responsible for the opening in the first place. Offering him a large sum of money and suggesting he take a permanent vacation might not have worked without the threat of bodily harm to go along with it. One look at a loaded MP5 with an extended magazine proved the incentive for him to agree to her terms. Of course, there was no way the man could know Ronan wouldn’t back up her threat.

  “Of course,” Sidney said right away. “Why don’t you come by this morning and we’ll talk about it. Is an hour too soon?”

  “Not at all. I’ll be there.”

  Ronan was elated that she would be seeing Sidney so soon and decided to be grateful for the attempted murder the night before. It had allowed her to make a connection to a woman she’d been agonizing over since before arriving in this century. Ronan didn’t think she could have come up with a plausible excuse to get Sidney to trust her simply by applying for the job opening. She was horrified that someone had tried to kill Sidney and didn’t remember any of her files from the future mentioning such an incident. The fact that it occurred in this time line made Ronan worry that she’d already affected future events and not in a good way. Sidney distracted her from her thoughts when she spoke again. She gave Ronan directions that she didn’t need to the penthouse apartment and an hour later, they met in the parlor.

  THE MEETING WAS completely unnecessary as far as Sidney was concerned. She had seen the young woman in action the night before and was ready to hire her on the spot. Still, she felt she ought to interview the woman if only for propriety’s sake. Sidney felt very self-conscious as the young woman walked through the front door and couldn’t explain why, exactly.

  For heaven’s sake, Sidney told herself, she’s the one interviewing for a job.

  “Come in,” Sidney invited. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

  She walked back to the parlor with Ronan following, and sat on the sofa. A silver tea service rested on the coffee table and Sidney began to prepare a cup of tea for her visitor. She didn’t even know if Miss Lee liked tea, but she was nervous and needed something to do with her hands.

  “Niet,” Ronan said. “Your directions were very clear.”

  Sidney glanced up at Ronan with an appreciative look. “That’s a very interesting accent you have. Are you German?”

  “Yes,” Ronan nodded. “Half-German anyway. My father was American.”

  “Ah, that explains the last name. But you grew up in Germany,” she prompted.

  Ronan accepted the tea and seemed to weigh her words before she answered. Sidney had noticed the same tendency the night before. “Yes, I was raised in Germany. My mother refused to leave and my father loved her too much to argue. She was a German socialite and I always had the feeling that my grandfather never forgave her for marrying so far below her station.”

  Ronan had said the last bit light
ly, but Sidney got the feeling that her grandfather’s attitude had hurt the young woman very much. She decided a change of subject was in order.

  “Your English is flawless. Have you been in the States long?” Sidney was simply curious and making small talk so she was surprised to see a light blush cover the pale cheeks.

  “Actually, I have never been in America before. I was educated at the University of Berlin and they insisted that we learn perfect English.”

  “Is that for the purpose of infiltrating the United States if the need should arise?”

  Ronan’s eyes widened and she reeled slightly in surprise. Sidney felt bad for teasing her and quickly said, “I’m sorry, too many movies. However it happened, I’m glad it brought you here.”

  Sidney took a hasty sip of her own tea and tried to cover her embarrassment at the remark. If she weren’t careful, Ronan would think she was flirting, but wasn’t she? She frowned as she thought how easy she seemed to fall into this teasing behavior with Ronan.

  “Thank you.”

  Ronan sipped her tea and then halted, swallowed hard and obviously resisted the urge to cough.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.” Ronan coughed again. “Usually I take tea with milk and no sugar. I’m afraid I was too distracted to add them this time.”

  “My fault, I should have offered. I guess I’m a little nervous. I’m not accustomed to conducting interviews.”

  Sidney tried not to look at Ronan directly. Seeing her color high from coughing made her think of things that had nothing to do with tea. She wondered if perhaps there was a mutual chemistry brewing, but that was impossible. She had only met Ronan last night and they didn’t even know each other. It didn’t matter, she realized. There was no way she would get involved with an employee. To allow them to get involved in anything more than a business relationship would lower her guard and put her professional career at risk. Sidney refused to be reduced to the level of an article in a tabloid magazine. That didn’t mean she couldn’t take advantage of Ronan’s skills.