Staying Silent, part seven – July
The air was cold, but it couldn't penetrate the thick layers of blankets Kate kept on her bed. Mike smiled to himself, feeling her warm heartbeat pounding against his right ear. Blinking, he realised what had awoken him.
His mobile phone, still in his pocket, was vibrating angrily against his leg. Careful not to wake Kate, he pulled it out, sitting upright.
"Mike Flynn," he said.
"Hey, boss, it's ET."
"What's up?"
"Yeah, us boys made plans to go to the pub later tonight, but then Nav found out and she's inviting herself, Bomber, and the X. Anyway, you in?"
"Yeah, sure," Mike replied. This would be great for getting Kate out of the house. "You want me to, uh, call Kate?"
"No, I was just talking... on the phone with Nav. She said she'd call her. They're probably giggling already, right?"
Mike laughed, and then his eyes fell on Kate's phone, sitting harmlessly on the dresser.
"Wait, what did you say?"
"I said Nav's going to call the X..."
"Uh, sorry mate, you breaking up. I'll call you back later."
With that, Mike hurriedly hung up – and not a second too soon. At that moment, Kate's phone lit up, and started ringing. And in response, Kate mumbled something.
"Kate? Phone," Mike told her. Wrong word choice. She bolted upright, looking around wildly. The room was dark, and he hastily handed her the mobile.
"It's Nav!" he hissed.
"How do you know?" she asked, checking the display. Sure enough, it was Nikki's number on the screen.
"I'll explain later, just..." He pushed the phone towards her ear, and grumbling, she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kate, it's Nikki!"
"Hi. What time is it?"
"Half past ten. Sorry, did I wake you?"
"About time someone did," Kate muttered, shooting a glance first at the digital clock next to her, and then at Mike. He made a face at her, which she took to mean, Don't let Nikki know I'm here. Probably a good idea, she conceded, and tried to listen to what the other woman was saying about ET's plan to get drunk, and how they should be there to pick up the pieces.
The idea was not appealing. Mike glared at her, seeing how she was searching for an excuse to get out of it. She mouthed something at him, but he wasn't sure what. He stabbed one finger emphatically. She shook her head.
Realising Nikki was waiting patiently, if confusedly, for an answer, Kate quickly said, "I need to check my diary. I'll call you back," and hung up.
"You're not spending the next week hiding behind cardboard!" Mike growled.
"So what would you suggest?"
"I'm going," he stated. "You can either come, or stay here. Alone."
Kate narrowed her eyes at him. She was prepared to make a dig about him going back on his promise to stay, but then realised she'd actually told him she didn't want him to, and it would really be much easier to just go...
"Fine," she growled. She stood up, grabbing her bath robe.
"I'm having a shower," she said. "Do something useful. Make breakfast." She started to walk out of the room, but paused, and looked back at him. He was giving her that sad, soft smile again, still sitting on the side of her bed. She smiled back.
"Thanks," she whispered. "For staying."
He nodded, then broke into a grin. "Do you realise how close we were to having ET and Nav realise we were in the same room?" he asked. She snorted.
"Why was I getting the impression they were in the same room?"
He shook his head. "I don't even want to know."
***
"So, what's the plan?" Mike asked. Kate shrugged.
"Get bloody drunk?" she suggested. He frowned.
"We need to find a solution to our problem."
"Not tonight. You wanted me to come. Here I am. Now shut up and buy me a vodka."
They entered the pub, and Nav quickly spotted them, waving them over to the table the boys had commandeered. Bomber had already gotten into a drinking competition with Spider, Buffer, and ET. Spider was swaying unsteadily, ET looked grim, but Buff and Bomber both looked determined not to be the first to give in.
"Well, I guess it's just going to be you and me keeping an eye on them," Nav remarked. Kate smirked, and then shook her head.
"Sorry, Nikki. I'm here to find out how many standard drinks are needed to get alcohol poisoning," she said. Nav sighed, and glanced hopefully at Mike. He shrugged.
"I'm just going with the flow," he said, and ordered a drink.
***
He fired off three rapid shots, loving the click sound beneath his finger as he did so. A second later, the images were burned onto the tape, and he felt something within him begin to close. There were holes all through his body, gaping gashes where he'd been hurt and rejected, but something about her, Kate, made him start to feel whole again.
He lowered the camera, watching as her blonde hair disappeared inside the pub. Mike, the bastard, was walking so close to her... close enough to touch, to hold, to kiss. All the luxuries that he'd never have.
Once she was out of sight, the rage that he usually buried deep within came out, and in frustration, he thumped one hand against the steering wheel of his car.
So Kate and Mike are going to have a night out? he hissed to himself. Well, let them. I've got better things to do than watch some blonde bitch.
He started the engine, and sped down the road. Blood pounded wildly through his head, and everything was suddenly rose tinted, as if he was looking at the world through a dark red lens. He wanted to call her, hear her voice. Hear her fear.
He wanted to be back in that side street, holding her wrists, pressing up against her, hearing the way she begged...
It killed him whenever she went to sea, and he had to survive weeks without her... he'd never really noticed the Navy, until she had stumbled into his life, into a bloody scene that should never have been witnessed. She had been so sweet, her face so brilliantly carved, shining pale and white in the moonlight... and he hadn't been able to kill her.
"Kate," he whispered, his thick voice absorbed by the interior lining.
"Kate," he said again. One syllable... such a common name, but there was nothing common about her. And he didn't know any other Kates, so it didn't really matter... "Kate, Kate, Kate!"
So he could have given her the warning and left it where it was. He knew how smart she was – it was one of the things that made her so special – and he knew that if he'd never spoken to her or thought about her again, she would have kept her promise and stayed silent about what she had seen.
But he couldn't. She had been scared! Of him, of all people... and he was just a guy, doing a job. And she had begged for her life, and maybe that was the moment he had fallen in love with her. And it was probably the only reason he'd convinced the other two hired thugs to let her live.
They were long gone, of course, and had told him that if the girl talked, it was his problem. He had to struggle through each day with thoughts of her constantly in his head, wishing he could talk to her again. She had been his – until he realised that Mike was on the scene. He just knew that Mike would be a problem.
So what do I do?
Take Mike out of the picture...
How? I can't do it alone, without backup... I'd never get close to him, anyway.
Photos... use the photos. You're a details person, you can get in...
Whenever I want.
He grinned. It was a plan. And then he could hear Kate's voice again, and maybe one day, he could see her again... watch her plead with him.
How he longed for that day.
