A
great bolt of lightning illuminated the night sky. Seconds later, thunder boomed, sending the
nocturnal critters of the
Cool
and dry, herself, beneath the roof of a large storage hangar, Summer O’Riley,
who was never called by her given name, watched the downpour through the raised
door and sighed in contentment. “I love
thunderstorms,” she mused, wrapping her muscled arms around her body. “Didn’t you just love to play in the rain
when you were a kid?”
Her
companion chuckled. “Nah, not really,” his
voice rumbled, as gravelly as the thunder itself. “My grandma always told me I’d catch cold.”
“Psh,”
she scoffed. “That’s an urban
legend. It takes a virus to get a cold;
a little rain’ll never hurt anybody. Not
that I had anybody looking out for me anyway.
I coulda got myself struck by lightning, and no one would have
noticed.” This she said
matter-of-factly, not miserably. Then she
paused in consideration. “Didja ever
wonder what that’d feel like? To get
struck by lightning?”
“Honestly,
Em?” Jay chuckled. “I hope I never find
out.”
“Meh.” Emerald gazed upward, listening to the rain
batter against the metal roof over their heads.
She had the sudden urge to grab his hand and pull him out into the
storm, rip off his wifebeater and her own, and screw his brains out beneath the
electric fury of the sky. Storms like
this, with thunder and lightening, just made her feel so wild and free, and it
was the kind of thing she might have really done ten years ago, when she was
chasing rock stars and roadies across the country. Wouldn’t be the first time she’d done it with
Jay either. But he was technically her
boss now, and even if he was as horny as she suddenly was, it wouldn’t really
be appropriate.
Then
again, she’d never really been the type to base her decisions on what was
appropriate. Emerald Ecstasy tended to
do whatever the hell she felt like. She
didn’t play by the rules; she made up her own.
It was only because she kicked ass as an agent that Himitsu Takana put
up with her. That, and the fact that Jay
found her irresistible. He was the one
who had recruited her in the first place, saving her from the alcoholic,
sex-crazed road she’d been heading down as a rock groupie and training her to
be the fierce crime-fighter she’d become.
She was
significantly more disciplined than she had been when she’d first come to
HimTak, but even so, a romp in the rain sounded seriously tempting to her right
then. But before she could act on that
urge, a bright light flared before her eyes.
At first, she thought it was just another bolt of lightning, but then
she heard Jay mutter, “What the hell?”
She
looked over to find him squinting out of the hangar, at what she now recognized
as a pair of headlights, their beams cutting through the sheets of torrential
rain. The vehicle – she couldn’t tell
what kind beyond the brights – was racing up the narrow road that led to the
Himitsu Takana complex. That in itself
was a rare sight, for few cars not belonging to the agency itself or the
government made it this far. Their
headquarters were located in the middle of nowhere and unplotted on civilian
maps. The nearby Area 51 attracted its
fair share of tourists, who wasted gas and time to come and gawk at its heavily
guarded gates, for no reason other than to say they’d been there. But not HimTak. No one knew it was even there.
There
was a gate there, too, of course, not so heavily guarded, but surrounded by
barbed wire and signs warning of the penalties that awaited trespassers. They’d never had an issue with the latter,
not in the few years this compound had been the main headquarters of the
organization.
But
now, the rogue vehicle raced toward the gate with no sign of slowing its
speed. Beside her, Jay uttered an
expletive, seconds before the SUV crashed through the gate, bending it all to
hell as it was rammed open, and smashing the front fender and hood to boot.
And
it didn’t stop there.
The
vehicle kept driving, barely even braking, heading straight for the light
spilling out of the open hangar in which they stood. Instinctively, Emerald drew the handgun she
kept holstered at her hip and looked to Jay.
He, too, had pulled out his weapon and stood still, his narrowed eyes trained
on the incoming SUV. AJ McLean, for all
the tattoos on his rough exterior, was a big softie inside, but when he was in
agent mode, he was tough as nails.
Emerald could see the intensity in his eyes and knew he wasn’t going to
let this guy, whoever he was, get past them any more than she was.
The
pair of agents raised their guns at the same time, pointing them straight at
the windshield. They could see nothing
for all the rain and the headlights shining in their eyes, but Emerald put on
her bitch face and glared the SUV down anyway.
And,
to both her relief and her unease, it slowed.
The
vehicle came to an abrupt stop just a few yards from the hangar, its tires
squelching in the sodden sand, leaving deep ruts. Before Emerald or Jay could approach it, the
driver’s side door flew open, and the shape of a man jumped out.
“Help!”
he bellowed above the roar of the rain, running toward them, waving his arms
wildly above his head. “Please, I need
help!”
The
agents were on guard, but the man seemed genuinely distraught and appeared to
be unarmed. Emerald lowered her gun, but
kept it clutched tightly in her hand, as the man grew near. When he staggered into the light, they got a
better look at him: white guy, early
thirties, dressed in a rain-soaked t-shirt and shorts, his hair plastered to
his scalp, his face twisted in panic.
“You’ve
just trespassed and destroyed private property, sir,” Jay said through his
teeth, his voice a growl. “What do you
think you’re doing?”
“Please,”
the man panted, lifting his hands in defense before doubling over, resting them
on his knees while he tried to catch his breath. “I’m sorry, but… my wife… she’s in
labor. We’re not gonna make it to the
hospital in time, and I think she’s… she’s dying. Please… I know you guys are some kind of
government facility; you’ve got to have someone here who knows something about
medicine. Don’t you?” He looked from Jay to Emerald, his eyes
desperate and pleading.
Emerald
thought of Red Jewel, and of the gleaming, high-tech infirmary within their
quarters, and looked to Jay. But before
she could say anything, he spoke up.
“Let me take a look at her.”
Nodding,
the man lead him back out into the rain.
Emerald followed as they jogged back to the SUV, the rain saturating her
hair and clothes within seconds. Wiping
the cold droplets from her eyes, she peered into the vehicle as the man opened
the back door, allowing light to flood the interior. A woman, obviously pregnant and about to pop,
was sprawled across the back seat, both hands clutching her belly, breathing
with a series of short, gasping whimpers that made it obvious she was in
unbearable pain. Her nightgown was
drenched, and there appeared to be a dark stain on the upholstery beneath her
bent knees.
That
was enough for Emerald. “We can’t turn
them away,” she muttered to Jay out of the side of her mouth, hoping, for the
love of God, he wouldn’t take any more convincing than that. She was no doctor, but instinct told her this
woman didn’t have time for them to argue about it.
Jay
closed his eyes for a moment, but made a quick decision. “Fine,” he replied with a nod. “You grab her legs; we’ll get the rest of
her.”
As
quickly and as carefully as they could, the three of them slid the woman out of
the backseat and whisked her out of the storm and into the cave-like hangar,
Emerald bearing the dead weight of her legs, while the two men cradled her on
either side. They yanked the cover off
one of the HimTak cars and spread it out over the poured concrete to provide
her with some minimal cushion while they lay her down to wait for back-up.
When
the husband’s attention was on his wife, Emerald turned away from them, reached
beneath her tank top, and pulled the black strap of her bra toward her
mouth. Pressing a tiny button in the
center of the strap’s buckle, she spoke quickly. “Send Red to the North hangar, A-sap.”
± ± ±
Red
Jewel came racing into the hangar minutes later with a gurney at her side, her
medical bag perched on top.
She
had shed her white lab coat for the night and was dressed in a pair of satiny
pajama bottoms and a camisole, her ruby cross swinging above the swell of her
breasts. But when she knelt down beside
the panting woman, she showed the quick-thinking, cool-headed demeanor of a
professional.
Emerald
and Jay stepped back to watch her work, as she asked the woman her name –
“Bree,” came the breathless reply – and took her vital signs.
“We’re
going to have to get her inside so I can deliver this baby,” she decided within
minutes.
As a
rule, civilians were not allowed inside the headquarters, unless they were somehow
connected to a case. But all three of
them knew, as Emerald had told Jay earlier, that they couldn’t turn their backs
on this woman and her frantic husband.
“Good
thing
± ± ±
Dr.
Julianne Llewellyn had delivered a number of babies during her semesters at the
teaching hospital, but since starting her practice within the walls of Himitsu
Takana, Red Jewel had delivered none. To
those watching, she appeared calm and collected, but the inside of her latex
gloves were slimy with sweat.
Birthing
babies was largely an instinctual task… unless there were complications. And everything about her examination of the
woman writhing on her infirmary table suggested complications. Her heart rate was unusually high, her color
was off, her amniotic fluid appeared bloody, and her pain was severe.
Red
had started an IV with a painkiller, but it was not enough to deaden the pain
without sedating the newborn as well.
She knew her best shot was to get the baby out as quickly as possible.
Though
she spent more time bent over the microscope in her lab than an actual patient
these days, Red Jewel had been praised during her internship for a bedside
manner that was patient and soothing, and she summoned these traits now, as she
looked over the woman’s knees, into her eyes, and told her it was time for her
baby to be born.
“The
next time you feel a contraction, I’m going to have you push, Bree,” she
instructed the obviously scared woman.
“Push as hard as you can, for as long as I tell you to, and we’ll get
your baby out. It would help if your husband
could hold your hand on one side…” She
gestured to the drenched man who had come in with them, looking like he’d just
climbed out of a lake.
“Jim,”
Bree choked out his name.
“Jim,”
Red repeated, giving the husband a nod of acknowledgment as he took his place
next to his wife and gripped her hand.
“And Emerald… I think it would help if you were on the other side.” She gave Emerald a meaningful look. The dark-haired woman who exuded such
confidence and attitude actually looked nervous, but she didn’t protest. She let Bree’s free hand grip hers and braced
herself for the squeezing.
Bree
wailed as the next contraction came. Red
urged, “Push!” and looked between her legs as the crown of a head
appeared. She was thankful it wasn’t
breach. The fetus slid out a little at a
time, its smooth scalp coated with blood and vernix. The skin beneath appeared bluish-gray, and
Red felt a rush of concern that it was suffocating. “One more big push, Bree,” she coached.
The
mother screamed as she put the last of her strength into expelling the fetus,
and her offspring slid out into Red Jewel’s gloved hands. When the red-haired doctor looked down at
what she was holding, her mouth fell open.
Then
she, too, began to scream.
± ± ±
Agent
Jay could still hear the rumble of distant thunder, though he was seated in an interior
room, deep in the central hub of the Himitsu Takana complex. He couldn’t recall ever having a fear of
storms, but tonight, the thunder and lightning outside only made things seem
eerier inside the headquarters.
The
interrogation room in which he sat was dimly lit by a single, fluorescent
utility light hanging above the metal table.
Emerald sat at the table next to him, unusually quiet and pale. He saw her green eyes flicker across the
table to the man, Jim, who was slumped upon it, his face buried in his
arms. His drying hair stuck out from
his scalp in all directions, and his shoulders shook as he wept shamelessly.
In
her office in the medical ward, Jay knew that Red was every bit as
distraught. She’d kept her composure
long enough to pronounce the death, then fled to the office and locked the
door. He’d heard her muffled sobs
through the walls as she’d broken down, but there had been no time to see that
she was okay. She would be, in time, he
knew.
In
the meantime, he and Emerald had been forced to bury their own feelings, to
delay the reaction that was imminent, after what they had just witnessed. They were faced with the task of seeking
answers, of finding an explanation for the traumatic scene that had just played
out before them in the infirmary. They
had a job to do, and it started with questioning Jim Kimble.
Jay
cleared his throat awkwardly, not sure how to continue the interview without
seeming insensitive. He felt for the
man, having lost his wife less than an hour ago in a way that was both shocking
and disturbing. He, himself, was still
shaken from what he’d seen, and he knew it would only get worse once he came
down from the rush of adrenaline that was keeping him focused now. In a way, he welcomed the mission that had
been thrust upon him, welcomed it because it gave him something to do,
something to keep his mind from simply replaying the scene over and over again
until he went crazy from it. He wondered
if that was what was going on in Jim’s head now.
“Jim?”
he spoke quietly. “I know this is hard,
but we have a few more questions, and it would really help give us a starting
point for our investigation if you could answer them for us.”
The
man lifted his disheveled head just slightly, only enough for his bloodshot
eyes to peer at them over his elbow.
Then his head fell back to his arms, as if he’d lost the strength to
hold it up any longer.
Jay
tried not to sigh, releasing his breath slowly instead. Patience was the key, he knew. Patience and understanding. Two qualities that didn’t come easy to him,
nor Emerald. They weren’t the best pair
of agents to be doing this part of the job, but they were the only ones who had
seen it, and so it was theirs.
Emerald
opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by the click of the door
opening. Both agents turned to look as
Agent K slid in, walking silently across the tiled floor. “Sorry to interrupt,” he apologized. Then, resting his hand on Jay’s shoulder, he
bent down, so that his mouth was close to Jay’s ear. “It’s in containment,” he murmured in a low
voice, “and the feds have been called.
I’ve got this from
Underneath
the table, he passed Jay what appeared to be an ordinary pen light. Jay turned the pen over in his hand a few
times before pocketing it. Catching his
eye, Emerald offered a grim nod of approval.
“I’ll
be in my office,” said K in a meaningful tone that told Jay he should go
straight there once the interview was over.
K, of course, had been debriefed on the incident, but there was still
much to talk about.
Jay
nodded, and K left. When the door
latched tightly behind him, Jim looked up.
He took a rattling breath, swiped at his red-rimmed eyes, and asked
miserably, “What do you want to know? I don’t
know any more than you do.”
“I
know,” said Jay patiently, believing him.
“But even so, what you tell us tonight might point us in the right
direction, so that we can all understand what happened here.”
Jim
shook his head. “I’ll never understand… never…”
he mumbled, speaking more to himself than to the inquisitors.
He
was still in a terrible state, but at least he was talking again. Jay took the opportunity to press
forward. “Tell us about the pregnancy,
Jim. You said Bree was only seven months
along. Other than the premature labor,
was there anything else unusual about her pregnancy? Any complications or… oddities?”
It
seemed a silly question now, but Jim shook his head slowly. “No… nothing.
E-everything was perfect. It was
like a… a miracle.”
“What
made it like a miracle?” Jay probed.
Jim
took his time in answering. When he did,
his voice wavered. “Well… see, we’d been
trying to conceive for a long time… two years, at least. No baby.
We went to the doctor and got tested, both of us. Turns out I was the problem.” He paused to swallow hard. “Low sperm count; that’s what the doctor
said.”
“And
how long ago was this?”
“’Bout
a year. Everything seemed to fall apart
after that. Bree tried to be
understanding; she said she didn’t blame me, but I knew how disappointed she
was. And I blamed myself. It was my fault she couldn’t get
pregnant.” He sighed, drawing his hand over
his eyes. “We wanted to try in vitro fertilization, but it’s
expensive, and our insurance wouldn’t cover it.
We didn’t have the money.”
“What
did you do?”
“So
one weekend, I got desperate just thinking about it, and I decided to go to
Vegas… you know, see if I could win anything to help pay for it. It was a long shot, but I took it. I… I guess I just sort of needed to get away
for a weekend, you know? So I went to
Vegas and got wasted the first night. I
mean, completely trashed. I met a girl in
one of the casinos – real beautiful woman – exotic, you know? She’d actually posed for Playboy, showed me her spread and everything. Next thing I knew, I was waking up next to
her in her hotel room.” He sighed again
and shook his head, refusing to meet Jay’s eye.
“One night stand. First and only
one of my life. I’m not proud of it,
but… it happened.”
Jay
nodded, keeping all signs of judgment off his face. “Did you tell your wife?”
Jim
hesitated, then shook his head. “No; I
couldn’t. I thought about it… but in the
end, I thought it would just hurt our marriage more. We were already struggling. But then…”
Suddenly, fresh tears sprung into his eyes, and his voice sounded choked
as he squeezed out the rest of his sentence.
“Then Bree got pregnant.”
“Right
after this Vegas trip?”
“We
found out about a month later, yeah.”
Jay
nodded again. “Did Bree take any trips
herself around the time of conception?
Or… pardon my asking, but… do you know if she was involved with anyone
else herself?”
Jim
didn’t seem to take offense at the question, but he shook his head
vigorously. “No, not my Bree. I know she didn’t. She wouldn’t.
She was always faithful. I was
the cheater.”
“No
trips?”
“No…
nowhere.”
“And
you can’t remember anything unusual that happened around that time?”
Jim
racked his brain, but ended up shaking his head again. “Nothing that stands out.”
“Okay.” Jay watched Emerald make some notes on the
tablet in front of her, and he eyed the tape recorder that was recording their
conversation. “Jim, I know this hasn’t
been easy for you, but we appreciate you answering our questions. I just have one more for you right now. The girl you were with in Vegas… you said
she’d been in Playboy?”
Jim
nodded slowly.
“Do
you remember her name?”
Jay
felt Emerald kick him beneath the table, but he ignored her, waiting for the
man to answer. When he did, he hissed,
“Write that down,” to Emerald. He caught
the exasperated roll of her green eyes, but she scrawled the name below her
notes anyway.
“Thank
you, Jim,” Jay went on. “Just one last
thing…”
Taking
a deep breath, he pulled the pen light out of his pocket and held it up. Pushing a button on its top, he shone it
directly into Jim’s eyes. He watched as
the man’s pupils dilated, fixed upon the light.
“We’re
going to send you to a motel for the night, Jim. When you wake up in the morning, you won’t
have any memory of what happened tonight.
This is what you will remember:
You were involved in a car accident in the storm. You sought shelter in the motel while your
car was being towed. You were
alone. You’ve always been alone. You never had a wife, or a child. But when you go back home, you’ll get back on
the dating scene. You’ll find a new mate
and live a happy life, free from the burden of what you witnessed tonight.”
Jay
released the button, and the pen light went off with a click. As soon as it did, Jim’s wide, blank eyes
drooped shut, and he slumped forward onto the table again, blissfully
unconscious.
± ± ±