Stories by Kiera Dellacroix

by Dellacroix, Kiera

  "Take down this address, please."

  "Hold a second," he said and he could hear him fumbling around. "Go ahead," he said and she gave him the address.

  "What do I do with this?"

  "I need the most recent blueprints for the building at that address and if it has undergone any very recent renovations. If it has, I need to know."

  "Alright," he said. "Three days at least."

  "That's fine," she said. "You need to keep any inquiries discreet.

  "Trouble?"

  "The building is occupied by government spooks. The highly classified kind," Bailey said. "You don't want them to catch your scent. Understand?"

  "Clearly," Thumper said. "Change that three days to the end of the week. Possibly early next week."

  "That's fine," Bailey said. "As soon as is safely possible."

  "Anything else?"

  "Not at the moment, contact me as soon as you have what I need."

  "Will do."

  "Thanks, Thumper," she said and hung up.

  She shook a cigarette out of the pack but changed her mind at the last second and put it on the desk. She got up and padded out to the kitchen to find Martin browsing through the refrigerator.

  "Good morning," Bailey said as she approached.

  "Hi there," Martin said jovially. "I didn't catch you when you got in yesterday. How did it go?"

  "Very well," Bailey said amiably. "Hand me a Pepsi, please."

  He handed her a can and she took it to the kitchen table and sat down. "I take it they liked you?" he asked grabbing one for himself and joining her at the table.

  "I think so, they were very nice," she said conversationally. "Piper says they did."

  "Piper your girlfriend?" Martin asked and she nodded. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he said sincerely.

  "I did," Bailey said with a smile. "Did you get along alright while I was gone?"

  "Yeah," Martin said. "I'm going to have to take a night job when this is over so I can keep up with my stupid soap operas."

  "That reminds me," Bailey said reaching in her pocket. "Here," she said handing him the keys to his Gremlin."

  "Thank you," he said taking the keys. "Soap operas reminded you of my car?" he asked confusedly.

  "No," Bailey said. "Stupid did.

  Martin laughed. "Can I ask you a question?"

  "Alright."

  "When you came to get me at the hotel room," he started. "You seemed to know exactly where everyone was. How did you do that?"

  "Would you believe me if I said it was magic?" she asked with a smile.

  "Probably," he said honestly. "Was it?"

  "Thermal Infrared," she admitted casually. "I had a visor in my bag."

  "Oh."

  ----------

  "Debra?" Piper said into the speakerphone.

  "Yes?"

  "Could you come in here for a minute?"

  "Sure."

  Piper waited behind her desk as Debra entered the room and seated herself in one of the chairs in front of her.

  "What's the new gossip?"

  "Excuse me?" Debra said confusedly.

  "Every time I've left my office today, I get the eerie feeling that I'm being talked about," Piper said. "Forgive me if I'm being silly, but if I'm the topic of discussion someone would've made sure my assistant would hear it."

  "You're not being silly," Debra said. "Word is that you and Miss Cameron are a couple."

  "I see," Piper said with a frown. "If it were true would it present a problem with you personally?"

  "Of course not," Debra said dismissively. "Is it true?"

  "Yes," Piper said bluntly. "But that's something that I would appreciate secrecy on."

  "It won't leave this room," Debra said sincerely.

  "Thank you," Piper said. "I'm not sure how she'll handle this. She's a very private person."

  "Give it a few days," Debra said. "It'll die down."

  "Perhaps," Piper said uncertainly. "Are the current polls in my favor?"

  "Heavily," Debra said with a smile.

  "That's good to know," Piper said with a little grin.

  "Don't let it bother you, Piper," Debra said sympathetically.

  "Easier said than done," Piper said. "But I'll do my best. Have you had lunch yet?"

  "No."

  "Would you like to go?" Piper asked with a smile. "My treat."

  "Sure, let me get my coat," Debra said getting up.

  "Okay," Piper said rising from her chair.

  ----------

  "Cameron."

  "Hey there," Piper said

  "Hey."

  "You still coming over tonight?"

  "Yes."

  "Goody," Piper said happily. "Wanna just ride with me?"

  "Okay."

  "If you make a stop with me, I'll buy you dinner."

  "Where?" Bailey asked warily.

  "The mall," Piper said. "I need to get makeup and I need another pair of shoes."

  "Shoes?" Bailey groaned.

  "I promise to make it quick," Piper said with a chuckle.

  "Okay," Bailey said with a sigh.

  "Gee, you act like I'm taking you to a firing squad," Piper said amused.

  "At least a firing squad would be quick and relatively painless."

  "Hush," Piper laughed. "Do you want me to come find you or do you want to swing by the office around five?"

  "Why don't you give me a call when you're ready and you can pick me up out front."

  "Sounds like a plan," Piper said. "I'll see you in a little while then."

  "Okay."

  "Bye, sweetie."

  Piper hung up the phone thoughtfully and returned her attention to the computer in front of her until Debra's voice came over the speakerphone.

  "Piper?"

  "Yes?" Piper said without looking away from the monitor.

  "I'm going home for the day," Debra said. "Is there anything you need before I go?"

  Piper looked at the time with a little frown. "Gosh, I didn't know how late it had gotten," she said. "No thanks, Debra. I'll see you tomorrow."

  "Have a good evening."

  "You too," Piper said pleasantly in parting and she returned to the computer for a few minutes before she logged off and stood up to collect her things.

  She made it to the elevator encountering only a few people, one of which smiled brightly at her. She had a little grin on her own face as she waited, a grin that rapidly vanished when Julio appeared with the arriving elevator.

  "Nice catch, Piper," he said smugly and lapped his tongue at her as he passed.

  She opted to ignore him and got into the elevator alone, scowling worriedly as she descended. She sighed a little as she emerged into the lobby, imagining Bailey's reaction to the current news, for she was far more sensitive than she let on and had more than her fair share of insecurities to deal with as it was. With a quick shake of her head, she put on a smile and dialed Bailey's number on her cell phone.

  "Hey, you out front?" Bailey asked in answering.

  "Will be in a sec," Piper said with a grin.

  "On my way," Bailey said happily.

  "Okay, see ya in a minute," Piper said smiling at the excitement in Bailey's voice as she got into the Corvette.

  "Okay," Bailey said.

  ----------

  "There's the girlfriend," Zack said looking through his binoculars at the little black Corvette that had just emerged from the parking garage.

  "Is she alone?" Russell asked.

  "Yeah."

  "Should we follow her?"

  "No, she's stopping out front," Zack said watching the Corvette with interest. "I bet she picks up Cameron."

  "Okay," Russell said picking up his own binoculars.

  "Yeah, here she comes," Zack said as he watched her come down the steps and get into the car.

  "Call it in," Russell said as he pulled out and began to follow the Corvette. "They really got someone standing by to hit her?"

  "Yeah," Zack said
. "If she steps into a suitable location," he added as he dialed his cell phone.

  "Think he'll pull it off?" Russell asked curiously when Zack hung up.

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "I think it's just a chess move," Zack speculated.

  Russell considered that silently for a moment. "It would suck to be the guy going for her."

  "Yeah it would," Zack agreed.

  They followed the Corvette in silence until it pulled into a mall parking lot.

  "Looks like they're going shopping," Zack said picking up the phone. "I guess we'll see what happens."

  Part Six

  She has a volatile nature,

  Moves in a dangerous way.

  - B. Andrews

  I

  Bailey stood dutifully by one of the several makeup counters inside Dillard's as Piper browsed and chatted with one of the girls behind the counter. She was tempted to sigh when she saw Piper heading back towards her but was suddenly sidetracked by something that caught her eye. After what seemed like twenty minutes, but was in reality around two, she finally had what she wanted and approached her with a smile.

  "Sorry," Piper said, amused at the look on Bailey's face. "I got carried away."

  "Uh huh," Bailey said as Piper took her hand.

  "Come on, it wasn't that bad," Piper said playfully. "I promise to make the shoes quick."

  Bailey sighed and Piper chuckled at her as she led her out into the mall.

  "You hungry?" Piper asked.

  "A little."

  "What are you in the mood for?"

  "Whatever you want," Bailey said noncommittally.

  "What do you want?"

  "I want to be with you," Bailey said. "I really don't care where we eat, you choose."

  "You're such a big softie," Piper said bumping her with her hips. "Let's go in there," she added pointing to a shoe store.

  "Alright," Bailey said and followed her in with another sigh, resigning herself to twenty questions and at least half an hour.

  Piper immediately went into browsing mode, and five minutes later Bailey found herself sitting next to her waiting on the salesperson to bring out the four pair of shoes that had struck her fancy.

  "Piper, why do you ask for three different sizes? I think you would…" Bailey trailed off when she caught sight of an Asian man looking in the store window as he passed by.

  "Bailey, what's wrong?" Piper asked in concern as the little smile faded from Bailey's face and she abruptly stopped talking.

  "Nothing," Bailey said tonelessly. "I need to make a phone call."

  "Is everything alright?" Piper asked, her anxiety growing at Bailey's rapidly changing demeanor.

  "Yes. I'll be right back," Bailey said as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and walked several paces away.

  "What's up?" Josh said when he answered.

  "Any changes?" Bailey asked quietly.

  "Not that I'm aware of," Josh said all business when he caught her tone. "Two suits followed you to the mall. I'm watching them right now."

  "No one has joined them?"

  "Just the two as far as I know," Josh said. "Is anything wrong?"

  "I don't know yet," Bailey said. "Ring me if the two outside move and I'm not visible."

  "Will do," Josh said. "Take care."

  "Thank you," she said as she hung up and walked back over to Piper who was looking at her with a concerned expression.

  "Everything okay?" Piper said as the saleslady arrived with her shoes.

  "Yeah," Bailey said distantly.

  Piper started to grow nervous as Bailey remained standing, her attention focused on the activity in the mall outside.

  "Ma'am, would you like me to show you anything else?" the saleslady asked.

  "I'm sorry," Piper said taking her attention from Bailey. "I'll try these on and get back to you, if that's alright."

  "That's fine," the woman said pleasantly. "I'll be right over there." She gestured toward another customer.

  "Okay."

  Piper looked back at Bailey just in time to see her eyes flash. "Piper, we need to go now," she said taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.

  "What's going on, Bailey?" Piper asked worriedly as Bailey fairly dragged her to the front of the store.

  "I'll explain later," Bailey said tonelessly. "Just do as I ask, please."

  "You're scaring me," Piper said worriedly as Bailey led her by the hand toward the mall exit but stopped abruptly.

  "Go to the car and wait for me."

  "No," Piper said. "Tell me what's going on," she demanded.

  She didn't say anything so Piper followed her gaze to an Asian man about seventy feet away who was returning Bailey's stare.

  "Piper, please do as I ask," Bailey said emotionlessly.

  Piper opened her mouth to speak but Bailey snapped her head around to glare at her. "Please," she repeated.

  She looked at her for a long moment not recognizing her at all. "Are you coming too?" she asked agitated.

  "Shortly," Bailey replied and turned her attention back in the direction of the Asian man.

  Bailey watched the man carefully and as soon as Piper started to walk away, he moved in her direction. "Piper," she said as she turned and caught up with her. "Stay with me," she said as she took her hand and began to lead her in the opposite direction.

  "Please tell me what's going on," Piper pleaded.

  "I can't right now," Bailey said unsympathetically as she led Piper into the crowd milling around the food court.

  Bailey suddenly took a turn and quickly led them through an employee entrance into a long service hallway. She hurriedly dragged Piper to the end and around the corner into a shorter, but almost identical hall that ended with another door. Piper opened her mouth to speak but Bailey brought a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture and she subsided. She waited for almost five minutes, growing more frantic by the second as Bailey continued to stand quietly with an emotionless expression and flashing black eyes.

  The door at the end of the hall suddenly opened and she had to bite her lip not to scream as the Asian man stepped into the hallway and stopped about fifteen feet away. His dark eyes landed on her fleetingly before they focused intently on Bailey and he started walking in her direction.

  "Piper, step away from me," Bailey said in monotone.

  "No," she whined, pulling on Bailey's hand. "Come with me."

  "I can't."

  "Bailey…" Piper started, still tugging fearfully on her hand.

  "Step away from me," she interrupted harshly, turning her eyes on Piper. "Step away, don't run, don't scream," she said and abruptly removed her hand from Piper's.

  Almost in tears and closing in on panic, she reluctantly backed away a few steps and watched in extreme agitation as the man stopped about six feet away from Bailey and ran a gaze over her from head to toe.

  "Wraith," the man purred. "This is an honor," he said with a slight respectful nod of his head, slowly producing an oriental blade about sixteen inches long from under his suit jacket.

  Bailey said nothing and stood calmly until the man suddenly lunged at her with frightening speed.

  Piper bit down on her hand to keep from screaming when the man moved for Bailey, but she moved at the same time, her knife flashing into her hand. She sidestepped the blade streaking toward her with an explosion of reflexes and backhanded her knife under the man's extended arm to bury it to the hilt in his armpit. The man grunted loudly in pain as his blade dropped from his hand to clatter on the concrete floor and he fell to his knees with a mixture of surprise and pain on his face. Her knife flickered across his throat in a quicksilver motion as soon as his knees hit the ground and he fell face first to the floor in a rapidly spreading pool of blood. She knelt and quickly used his pant leg to clean the blood off of her blade before rising to take Piper's hand without comment, brusquely leading her around the corner and back down the long service hall.

  Piper let Bailey pull her back
through the mall and into the parking lot before she spoke.

  "Are we going to call the police?" she asked roughly.

  "No," Bailey said quietly. "Give me the keys."

  Piper took the keys out of her purse and handed them to her quietly. Bailey unlocked the passenger side door and waited until she was seated before she walked around to the driver's side, getting in behind the wheel and starting the car.

  "He called you Wraith," Piper said softly, beginning to sniffle.

  "Yes, he did," Bailey said emotionlessly.

  "Where are we going?" Piper asked distantly.

  "To my place," Bailey said. "There are some things you need to know."

  Piper just nodded as the tears began to come in earnest.

  Bailey let out a ragged sigh and was surprised when Piper took her hand and squeezed it tightly.

  II

  Sometimes I'm an angel and sometimes I'm cruel,

  When it comes to love, I'm just another fool.

  - M. Cohn

  By the time Bailey led Piper into the elevator, her chest had tightened to an almost unbearable degree and her eyes had begun to water. She wiped at them in puzzlement as the elevator stopped and she walked down the short hall to open the door to her flat. Piper had been extremely quiet for the last ten minutes and she had been afraid to say anything to her.

  She led her to the kitchen and seated her at the table. "I'll be right back," she said quietly.

  Martin was heading for the kitchen when he heard Bailey's voice and he stopped dead in his tracks, just short of rounding the corner. Knowing that she had been speaking to someone, he leaned against the wall to eavesdrop.

  Piper looked up as Bailey returned a moment later with a leather document bag that she placed on the table in front of her.

  "Everything about me is in this file," Bailey said, her voice cracking on the last two words. "My bedroom is down that hall, you'll need to come and get me when you're ready to leave," she said with difficulty. "I've a man staying here, kind of an ex-coworker; don't be surprised if you see him," she finished struggling and turned to go.

  "Wait," Piper said. "Stay with me."

  Bailey didn't turn around and it took her several seconds to reply. "I can't," she rasped, walking away quickly and finally breaking into a jog as she disappeared down the hall.

  Piper watched her go with a sniffle and slowly turned to the case, apprehensively pulling out the very thick file. She opened it hesitantly and looked at the first page, it took less than twenty seconds for her to burst into tears.