Sleepless In Boston

Chapter Ten

Kenna woke up with her head pounding and her body aching. It had been a whole lot of years since she had been sick. Maybe the long walk in the cold air last night wasn't the best idea. She knew she needed to get up but she had no energy. Eliot would check on her soon. He wouldn't go very long without checking on her. Something wasn't right. She was cold and her mouth felt like she had a bag full of cotton in it.

"Drink." The voice in the darkness startled her. She felt a hand on her head and a cup to her lips. It wasn't Eliot, Hardison, or Jimmy. She knew that much. The voice was familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it. "I've missed you." Kenna tried to pull away, open her eyes or at least push the person breathing against her cheek away but she couldn't. Her arms were restrained and it felt like her body was being weighed down.

"Eliot!" The scream broke the fog that was filling up her mind. Somehow Costello got to her. What had he done to Eliot and Hardison? Thrashing against whatever was holding her down in the dark room she screamed again and again hoping someone, anyone would hear her.

"Kenna! Wake up honey." Eliot's voice echoed in her head. Had she been wearing an ear bud? "Kenna, you need to wake up." She felt his hands on her shaking her. "Wake up Kenna!." Her eyes shot open and the darkness faded away.

"Eliot?" Blinking a few times to get accustom to the light she looked at him.

"Yeah darlin', who were you expecting?" Kenna sat up hand wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him for dear life. "Hey it's all good." He pulled her against him and ran his hand down her hair. She hadn't had the nightmares since Faith had been born and Eliot had hoped she had put them behind her.

"I couldn't move." She whispered.

"You were tangled in the sheets. You've been pretty restless all night."

"What time is it?"

"About six. Was it Costello?"

"Yeah, he had me in a dark room. I never saw his face when he attacked me so when I dream about it his face is just a blur." Eliot felt Kenna relax a little.

"I have something you'll want to see." He reached for his phone from the bedside table. Hitting the screen a few times he held it in front of her. It was Faith and Parker. The thief was making the baby's hand wave.

"Say 'hi' to mama and daddy Faith. Tell them Uncle Nate and Aunt Sophie are being sticks in the mud and not letting us go sledding." Kenna laughed. "Tell them, 'come home soon'." Parker said and the little girl smiled. The video ended and Eliot put his phone back on the table.

"No sad thoughts after that Kenna." He held her face in his hands. "Costello is going to be gone soon and you won't have to ever worry about him again."

"I know. The dream was just so real. I've had nightmares before but I could almost feel his breath on my skin." Eliot pulled her close again and he could feel her shaking. Kenna was scared of very little but he knew that Costello had shaken her to the core. The fact that she wouldn't let him touch the scare on her hip till recently was proof of that.

"I ran to the store earlier and got some stuff for omelets."

"They have twenty-four hour grocery stores in Alaska?"

"It's not Siberia." Eliot smiled and helped her up out of bed. She was still in the clothes she had on last night but he knew she didn't care what Hardison thought. They went into the kitchen.

"Feeling better?" Hardison looked up from his lap top.

"Not a whole lot but I'm getting there." Eliot handed her a cup of coffee and she sat on the bar stool closes to him. The uneasy feeling hadn't left her. She knew Eliot could feel her tension. He always could sense when she wasn't quite as relaxed as she let on. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he made breakfast. Her hands shook when she brought her cup to her lips.

"Are you sure your up for this Kenna?" Hardison asked what Eliot was afraid to.

"I'm fine." She said setting down her mug. Eliot clenched his jaw. She wasn't fine. Not even close.

"Jimmy called McGarret. The base is on lock down till we catch Costello. No one goes in or out for the next forty-eight hours."

"How did he pull that one off?" Kenna said.

"I guess when one of your own is in the cross hairs; you pull out all the stops." Eliot flipped an omelet on a plate and handed it to her. He looked at her. "Eat, you need to keep up your strength."

"Yeah." She took the fork he set on the plate and started eating. Eliot continued to make breakfast for him and Hardison but he kept an eye on her. Even after she'd eaten some the color hadn't yet come back to her cheeks. He set a plate in front of Hardison and sat down across from Kenna.

"We're going to get him Kenna. I don't care what it takes." She looked at him.

"I'm the one that got away Eliot. He'll stop at nothing to finish the job."

"You know he won't get within spitting distance if I can help it Kenna."

"If we can help it." Hardison looked at his two friends. "I'm working on tracking this bastard on traffic and security cams but it's not like this town is in the twenty-first century or anything."

"You'll find him Alec." Kenna said softly. She finished her omelet and coffee. "I'm going to take a shower and we can figure out how we're going to draw this bastard out." She pushed her plate away and headed to the bathroom.

"Is she okay?" Hardison looked at his friend who looked anything but all right.

"If we don't find this bastard soon I don't know if I can pull her back from the edge. Not even seeing that video of Faith cheered her up."

"Now if Parker and Faith can't cheer a person up we got big trouble." Hardison's computer beeped. "We have facial recognition on Costello." He turned the screen so Eliot could see. "At the grocery store down the block. He was there right before you were this morning."

"And you're now just getting the hit?"

"Like I said, so not the age of the geek up here in bumfuck." Hardison followed the cameras from the grocery store to the base. "It looks like he might just be randomly walking around hoping to find her again. I think he stumbled across her last night when she went out walking."

"Men like Costello don't stumble into things. He's a stalker."

"I guess you're right." Hardison looked back over the footage. "The base has got the most video surveillance but he didn't go on the base."

"He couldn't because they're on lockdown. If he snuck in there he might not be able to get out."

"So then he's gonna start looking for her off base."

"Yeah. He's gonna come looking for her." Eliot knew that Jimmy was out there tracking this guy but he would be one step ahead of the Marshal unless Eliot turned the table on him. "We need a way to let Costello know where to find Kenna without putting her in danger."

"Short of hanging her picture on the front door with sign saying 'Here I Am' we need an idea."

"I walk the block again." Eliot looked up. Kenna's hair was wet from the shower and she looked even more exhausted then she did earlier.

"Not an option."

"This guy is fucking with my life Eliot. I can do this. I bait him and you and Jimmy beat the ever loving shit out of him." Kenna's voice was shaking.

"I'm not letting you prance around the neighborhood in the open. He may have liked the face to face in the past but things change Kenna. He could be out there with a sniper rifle."

"I chased this bastard for almost two years. He wants to see my face when he finishes me off." Kenna sat down and looked at Eliot and Hardison. "We get Jimmy back here and the three of you wait here for him to follow me."

"I will not put you out there like that Kenna."

"You have no say in it." She turned off the chair and headed to the bedroom.

"Eliot, think this through before you go after her. She's not thinking to clearly."

"Mind your own business Hardison." Eliot followed Kenna. "You think I have no say in you putting your life on the line to catch a serial killer? Who the hell do you think you're talking to Kenna Shane?"

"Last time I checked it was a free country. I'm pretty sure it's safe to say I'm the only person I have to answer to."

"You're pretty much wrong. You have a child who I'm pretty sure would be lost without her mother."

"I grew up without a mother and you seem to like how I turned out."

"I can't believe you're actually bringing this up. Damn it Kenna, do really think that you can make this kind of decision without thinking about how it affects the people around you?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you Eliot. This man raped and killed innocent woman. Woman who never got a chance to have a family or any kind of real life and pretty much got away with it."

"You have a little girl and a life to go home to Kenna; don't let your pride or whatever it is getting in the way of your common sense."

"Mark Costello is a monster Eliot."

"A monster who wants you to be his next victim." Eliot growled out. "You really don't think that I have a say in you putting your life on the line like this?"

"You can say whatever you want Eliot but I am going to do whatever it takes to catch Costello." Kenna took her jacket from the chair and turned toward the door. Eliot grabbed her arm.

"We're not done talkin'."

"You may not be but I am. I'm going to get Costello if it's the last thing I do." She reached for the door and hand it open and few inches before Eliot pushed close.

"It damn well might be the last thing you do Kenna." She looked at him. "You're pissed and I get that. You want this guy gone and I get that too but I'll tell you what I told Godfrey. When you're angry you don't use your head. Not thinking three steps ahead gets you dead Kenna."

"I lived this long haven't I?" She said her voice cold as ice and her eyes just as dead.

"You really want to play it this way Kenna?" Eliot crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's the way I'm going to do it Eliot."

"Then if Costello doesn't kill you don't bother coming back to Boston. Faith doesn't need a woman with a death wish in her life." He opened the door and left slamming it behind him.

"Eliot…"

"No, don't tell me I was hard on her or that she doesn't deserve to be treated like this. She's acting like a child Hardison."

"But she's just protecting herself, you know that right? If she thinks you're pissed at her then if she dies she thinks it won't hurt as much." Eliot looked at his friend.

"She just played me?"

"Kinda." Eliot shook his head.

"I didn't even see that coming." He turned around and went back in the bedroom. Kenna wasn't there. The widow alarm wires were cut and she was long gone. "Son of a bitch." Eliot turned and looked at Hardison. "She's gone. Find Jimmy and make sure he's here ASAP."

"I'm on it." Eliot should have read the signs, knew that Kenna would want to protect him from the hurt.

"What have you done Kenna Shane?" Eliot whispered to himself. "Three steps ahead." Damn it. She had been thinking clearly. She wasn't the one pissed, it was him. Kenna pissed him off so he was dangerous. She knew he would never let her die. And if he was pissed to the point of being dangerous there was no chance Mark Costello would live if he laid a hand on her. If they made it out of this in one piece he just might kill the little witch.