Borne Darkly

by Lee Perry

  Closing her eyes, she cradled Jordan’s head, pillowing it on her chest. Sighing deeply, she contented herself with listening to Jordan’s breathing slow and deepen as she slipped into slumber. I’m happy to stay just like this until she’s really deeply asleep…

  She spent the previous day remotely hacking Wallace’s on-site servers with her laptop, using his access code to download thirty-minute loops of video from the security cameras. She worked on her new programs while sitting across from Jordan at the kitchen table as she worked on her tablet writing reports and responding to emails from Stewart and other agents. She found herself enjoying the work, and when Jordan asked what she was doing she told her the truth; she was brainstorming various ways to find Alex. She quickly created a secondary program to connect to the motion sensors before creating her own text/chat program, carefully and intricately encrypted for privacy. When she and Jordan weren’t working at the kitchen table, they made love and talked, but their conversations always came back to how to find Alex and Cameron.

  She made sure they went to Jordan’s room for the night, and she tried to commit to memory every feature and expression on the sleeping features; the eyelashes that fanned over the high cheekbones, the outline of the strong jaw... It had been a long night of slow lovemaking, But the time has come… She watched, waiting until Jordan sank deeply into the mattress, All her muscles appear lax and whatever dream she was having seems to have ended… She watched her for another long minute before carefully sliding from beneath the covers. She checked to make sure Jordan’s cell phone was on and fully charged then padded, naked, across the hall to her bedroom. She dressed quickly and grabbed her already packed overnight bag and the bag with her laptop. Silently activating her phone, she auto-initiated her remote program, making sure it was running before quietly tiptoeing downstairs and out the door.

  Jordan’s phone buzzed in vibrate mode and rang softly and she fumbled for it sleepily. A blue window filled her screen; a dark lighthouse emitting a white beam of light filled the center and beneath it blinked the words, “Catherine is sending you a message.” Confused, she tapped the screen and a chat window opened,

  “Do you like the icon? This is a chat/message program I created so we can communicate privately. I made it just for you. Just for us.”

  Jordan sat up, swinging her feet to the floor and turned on the lamp on her nightstand, realizing she was alone in the bed. “I like it,” she typed back, “where are you?”

  “I’m parked on the side of the road. I took the black SUV, I’ll leave it at the FBI building in SF, please hang onto what I left behind for me.”

  Jordan’s heart thudded in her chest, “Why?” she typed the reply.

  “I want to be with you Jordan, but we have to find Cameron first. Use this encrypted program to contact me. I’m sure you can find me if you want, but don’t, not yet.”

  Jordan slumped, holding her phone loosely between her knees when it chimed and vibrated again,

  “We can find solace together in our loss (as I find it in your arms), but we should build a relationship and life together in joy, not sadness. When I have my son back, I want to talk about our future together. Because I love you, Agent Hawkins.”

  Jordan’s heart swelled at the words, “I love you...” and she burst into tears.

  PART 3

  Borne

  San Francisco, CA

  Catherine paid the driver and when she exited the cab with her overnight and computer bags she heard a voice from her past,

  “Cathy?”

  She turned, smiling.

  “Oh my god it’s you!” The tall slim Asian man dressed in a tank top, shorts and running shoes swept her up in muscular arms, hugging her fiercely then abruptly put her down again, “Oh jeez… I’m… I’m sorry…” he sputtered, confused, “It... you… you look just like…”

  She nodded vigorously, patting and pointing to her chest. She quickly pulled the collar of her shirt from the scars on her neck and when his eyes widened in horror she held up her left palm. Drawing with her right forefinger on her palm like a pointer tracing on a blackboard, she slowly and deliberately drew in Chinese characters, “Shen, it’s me, Catherine.”

  Speechless for a moment, he watched her tracing words in the first language he learned in life and looked in confusion from her hands to the scars on her neck to her eyes, “I thought you were killed by the mafia…” He spoke in a whisper and when she pointed to her neck and nodded, half-shrugging, he suddenly grabbed her bags from the sidewalk and looking fearfully around him, pulled her to the door of his building, “Come inside…” He hurriedly slung the straps on her bags over his shoulder and hurried her to the elevator and when he pressed the button, she held up her palm again,

  “It’s okay, I’m not being followed… My death was faked so I could go into Witness Protection for a while.”

  “So…” he appeared relieved but still confused, “So your daughter Chelsea is alive too?”

  Catherine shook her head, her eyes instantly brimming and she tried vainly to stop the quiver in her chin.

  The elevator doors opened and when they stepped inside, Shen pressed the button for the top floor and waited for the doors to slide silently shut before saying, “I’m so sorry, Cathy.” He swiped awkwardly at his eyes and gave the small shoulder a heartfelt squeeze. He and Cathy had fallen out of touch over the years, but they had been close at Symteck, he regarded her as a little sister and he had followed the news stories online of the shooting that killed Cathy and Alex’s young daughter and as the news stories had reported, also ended the life of his friend. “I can’t believe it…” He shook his head; the smile slowly returning to his face, “I’m still so glad to see you…” he sputtered and grabbed her up in another hug.

  Catherine closed her eyes, grateful for the human contact but longing for Jordan’s touch. A trembling smile tugged at her lips and she sniffed, hugging him back.

  He again lowered her carefully to the floor, “Oh my god,” He held her gingerly at arm’s length, “I didn’t even ask if it was okay to do that…” He gestured with a shaking finger to her scars, “Are you okay?”

  She held up her palm and traced, “I can’t use my voice for a while yet, but I hope to again one day soon. I read this is how deaf people in China communicate with the hearing… I can write on a pad too if it’s easier for you.”

  The elevator came to a stop and picking up her bags, he led her down the hall to his apartment door, opening it with the key he kept zipped in the pocket of his tank top and ushered her inside, “This is my place… Ordinarily I would say I’m surprised you found me,” he left her bags on the sofa and turned to her, smiling, “But given this is you… of course you found me.” He slung a long arm around her shoulders, “Come on, let me make you some tea.” He gestured to the high stools at the kitchen counter and filled the kettle while Catherine pulled her laptop from her bag, opening it on the counter and booting it up. Shen pulled his traditional tea set from a cupboard and Catherine opened the document she had written for him at Point Sur. When he leaned over the counter to see what she was doing, she turned the screen to him and he read,

  “My friend, it is good to see you. I am sorry for dropping by unexpectedly, but I was hoping you could help me find a furnished room to rent while I am here. I prefer Chinatown since I can communicate with my hands in simplified Chinese. You may have read/seen in the news that I died as a result of complications from when I was shot in the throat. With help from the FBI, my death was faked so my son and I could get away and we could help the FBI catch the man who shot Chelsea and me. But Alex and Cameron were taken by the Rossi Family, an organized crime family, they killed a lot of FBI agents when I was waiting for them in the Witness Protection Program.

  Outside of the FBI, you are the only person who knows I am still alive. I left FBI protection so I can try to figure out for myself where Alex is hiding. I will only be here until I find where Cameron and Alex are. You are not in any danger, I would
not have contacted you otherwise, I swear this to you my friend, Master Po.

  He finished reading just as the kettle started to whistle and he hurried to turn off the stove, “My god, Cathy…” He shook his head ruefully as he prepared the tea, pouring the boiling water over the tealeaves in the ceramic pot given to him by his mother. When he placed the tray with the tea set and steeping tea on the counter, Catherine had typed another line on the page,

  “My name is Catherine now, Catherine Bernard.”

  “Oh…” he nodded, “I get it, sorry Catherine…” He leaned his elbows on the counter, “How about instead of finding you a place in the city you stay here with me?” His smile was soft and genuine, “Come on, you got to admit, I got a great place…” His eyebrows bobbed playfully, “It’s got two bedrooms, each has its own bathroom and I’m alone at the moment.” Catherine brows arched sympathetically and he added, “It’s okay, his name is Tommy Chang… he’s a cop at the San Francisco Police Department.” Catherine’s eyebrows still arched but she smiled and he shrugged, “We didn’t exactly break up, but we did decide that… for now, we’re a better couple if we don’t live together.”

  She drew on her palm, “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” he chuckled, “it really is better this way for now… we’ll see what happens down the road.” He sighed, smiling, “He’s a good man.”

  They caught up on their lives, and Catherine showed Shen pictures and videos of Cameron and Chelsea on her cell phone, both shedding more tears. They moved to the sofa and sat together, Shen’s long arm draped around her small shoulders.

  “Well, little Grasshopper…” he said softly, “I think you even you have to admit you are Master now…” He looked down into red-rimmed brown eyes, “You are Master of your present and your future… I want you to stay here for as long as you need… and I promise to help you any way I can…”

  “Thank you my friend.”

  “Let’s get you settled in then…” He stood then hesitated, “Is it okay if you go outside?”

  She nodded, “Yes, especially here… I’m not a recognizable person, as far as I know my picture has never even appeared on TV.”

  “Excellent,” he pulled her to her feet, “then let me give you a tour and get you settled in so I can take you out to lunch.” He first showed her his view of San Francisco Bay from his panoramic living room windows, “You can see Angel Island off to the left, then Treasure Island…” he pointed through the glass, “and the Bay Bridge and Yerba Buena Island…” He looked down at her hands and she drew,

  “It’s a beautiful view, Shen…” she looked up at him, “Although I think I’d like to go back to calling you Master Po… at least for a while.”

  He grinned, “Okay, Grasshopper… come on, you have this same view in your bedroom.”

  Shen busied himself with making sure he stocked her bathroom with a full compliment of towels before excusing himself to change clothes and reschedule his afternoon appointments. He discretely shut her bedroom door when he left and Catherine opened her overnight bag on the bed, pulling out her clothes and hanging her few jeans, pullovers and turtleneck sweaters in the closet. Reaching through the clothes to the bottom, she pulled out Ted and Cameron’s Glowworm and sat on the bed, pressing her face into the toys. Their scents are fading… She sobbed quietly, soaking the plush toys with silent tears, suddenly overwhelmed. Sniffing aloud, she pulled the remaining contents from the bag and returned the teddy bear and glowworm, zipping the bag closed. I will find him… she vowed the treasured toys, I will.

  New York, NY

  The steward had just taken Jordan’s lunch tray when her phone vibrated and the blue icon with the dark lighthouse filled the screen,

  “Catherine has a message for you.”

  She tapped the screen and a dialogue box opened,

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m on a plane,” she typed, “going to land in NY soon.”

  “That was fast.”

  “Yeah, Wally and the others are packing up. Stewart wanted me back.”

  “Are you in trouble?”

  “No, you are not a suspect; you can go wherever you want. Are you okay?”

  “Yes, I am staying at my friend Jun Shen’s place for a while.”

  “Okay, I sent your box of stuff to my apartment.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I miss you.”

  “I love you, Jordan.”

  “I love you too.”

  Jordan stared at the screen for a long minute until it was clear no further messages were being sent before she closed the app. She placed her phone on the fold down table in front of her and stretched her long legs painfully in the cramped airplane seat.

  She stared down at the small icon; the dark blue lighthouse, faintly backlit by its beacon of white light sat atop a dark ocean, the waves outlined by a lighter blue. The icon itself sat tucked innocently among the other other icons on her phone’s screen and she noted the time before it darkened. It had only been a matter of hours but it felt like days since she sat on her bed in the head keeper’s house, staring numbly at Catherine’s messages. In hindsight, it felt as though she sat there for hours until she had sufficiently composed herself before getting up. She padded in her bare feet across the hall and stood in the doorway of Catherine’s bedroom; flicking on the light she stared at the box left on the bureau and the open empty closet. The sun was coming up when she showered and dressed and packed her things, taking them and Catherine’s box downstairs and left them by the door. She went into the kitchen to make some tea and sitting at the table, booked a flight on her tablet while she called Stewart. She told him only that Catherine chose to leave but promised to stay in touch. When she heard him sigh heavily, she added, “So I’m headed back.”

  “Okay,” he had replied, “we’ll talk when you get here.”

  Grateful for the empty seat behind her, Jordan reclined the backrest as far as it would go and closed her eyes,

  All we need is one little break… that’s all, just one. Just one little bit of online activity from Alex that either Catherine or Cyber Division could recognize so we can find them…

  San Francisco, CA

  As they walked to Shen’s favorite neighborhood restaurant, he playfully reminded her how he had been the first to introduce her to authentic Chinese food and Catherine shook her head in amusement, reminding him of several dishes she could have done without,

  “I distinctly remember you trying to make me try a soup filled with whole rubbery baby octopuses…”

  “Ah, yes, well…” he shrugged and held the door for her, grinning unrepentantly, “some people just don’t know what’s good.”

  He asked the host for a private booth, away from curious eyes so Catherine could trace on her palm in privacy. Occasionally using her phone to clarify certain points, she described her journey from New Jersey and New York to Point Sur, although she omitted, for the moment, her budding relationship with Jordan.

  Shen sighed, wiping his mouth with the paper napkin, “I’m so sorry, Catherine…” he kept his voice low, “and I’m sorry I keep saying that but, my god…” He leaned forward, “How did Alex get involved with these people in the first place?”

  Catherine shrugged, “I don’t know… and neither does the FBI, all I can do is guess one of our customers had some distant relationship with Rossi, or they knew someone who knew Rossi and he found her by word of mouth. They’re still trying to figure it out, but Alex scrubbed her hard drives clean and they weren’t able to recover any of the data.”

  “So when you find her, will you all have to go back into,” his voice dropped even further and he mouthed, “Witness Protection?”

  Catherine sighed heavily and a long moment passed until she raised her hands again, “Our marriage was not without its ups and downs…” Their waiter approached and she quickly folded her hands on the tabletop. Shen ordered dragon fruit for dessert and when the young man nodded and left she continued. She described Alex�
�s behavior after the shootings and her threats to take Cameron away and disappear if Catherine insisted on testifying. Shen looked shocked and she shrugged, “The irony was that I didn’t have much to testify to, but it was the only proactive thing I could do at the time to feel like I was contributing to bringing the murderers of my child to justice…” She folded her hands again when the waiter brought the cubed dragon fruit piled in two shelled halves to their table. “I didn’t want to believe she was working for them… maybe she was an unwilling employee in the beginning, but she rejected any help from the FBI… or me…”

  Shen nibbled on the smooth-tasting fruit and Catherine described Alex’s growing erratic behavior while Jordan made plans to take her, Alex and Cameron into the Witness Protection Program, hiding them in Point Sur while the FBI rounded up the Rossi family. She described how they faked her death, and how she waited in a safe house for Cameron to be brought to her when Jordan told her the news that Rossi had attacked, killing five agents and abducting Alex and Cameron,

  “I found a flash drive Alex gave me the night Chelsea and I were shot, it had some of her current work files on it… We were hoping to find something that would tell us where to find them… but I couldn’t find anything of any use.” She shrugged, “As time passed… I felt like I needed some distance to figure out for myself where Alex is. So I hacked the FBI servers and disabled their motion detectors for thirty minutes and looped in copies of their security videos so I could drive off without alerting them.”

  Shen grinned, “I’ll bet it took you all of twenty minutes to make those programs…”

  She shrugged one-sidedly, “Pretty much.” She finally bit into a cube of the dragon fruit and munched appreciatively, enjoying the flavor and remembering the dark drive up the coast, and how many times she almost turned around to go back to Jordan.