Chapter 25
On the bare ground pockmarked with bomb holes under a dark cloudy sky lit mostly by the red flashes of explosions, Claire stood frozen in place as she watched the two tanks charge the line. She was helpless as a shell hit the side of Cameron's tank. Cameron flew out. Upon hitting the ground she stood up showing a glowing red eye. Bombs were exploding all around her. Like a movie hero, Cameron suddenly had a big machine gun in her hands. She fired at the line of men who were shooting her, ripping off chunks of flesh from her body. A bomb hit so close it blew Cameron in the air. Cameron fell flat and got up again. A rocket hit her, blowing her backwards. One of her arms flew off. Cameron had a pistol now when she got up, still shooting at the men. She was mostly skeleton. Claire wanted to scream for her to lay down and hug the ground, or better yet, just run away.
Cameron looked at her and said, "Mother, this is what I am."
Another rocket hit Cameron, blowing her apart.
"Noooo!" Claire screamed as she came awake and sat up.
"Claire?" Daniel asked as he appeared beside her.
Claire hugged him and wept. She wasn't on some battlefield, she was in the dinning room of the mansion on a couch. Over at the table, all the people eating looked over at her. Beside John, Cameron sat in a her purple and red robe with a scarf over her head, both babies on her other side in their bassinets.
"Claire, it's OK," Daniel said as he petted her hair.
Terrified by the nightmare, Claire hugged her husband tight. She heard Allison cry. Cameron tended to her gently as any mother would. From the back, Cameron looked almost normal. Have a baby, go into combat that many would not survive, then come home with horrid wounds and be a mother. Screw Sylvester Stallone and the actor-pretenders, Cameron was the real life bad ass. Would big ole Arnold have a baby, then leave the hospital for the front line the very same day? Claire looked at Delilah on John's other side in her robe. Cameron's sister was a bad ass too. Claire wondered if that meant she was going to have another girl?
Sarah got up and came over to sit by Claire. She offered Claire a tiny smile and said, "It takes some getting used to."
"Some?" Claire asked in disbelief. "I saw her, she's torn up down to … bone! It's amazing she's still alive!" she cried.
Sarah nodded slowly and said, "It's happened before, and I'm sure it will happen again. Claire, Cameron and Delilah are terminators. They kill the enemy, no matter what. That is what they do. You can't stop them, you can't bargain with them, they don't sleep and they will never stop until whoever it is they are after, is dead."
"I'm sorry, Claire," Cameron said, turning so only the fleshed portion of her face was showing. "We should have never gotten you involved. That's my fault. I'm sorry."
"That's not right!" Claire told her firmly. "Yes, I'm having a hard time with this. I just had the … nightmare from hell! That does not mean you do not deserve our support. Even if I knew when I first saw you, what I would learn, we would still be here to do whatever we can for you, Cameron!" Getting louder as she found courage to defend her daughter, she said, "It is a good thing you are very tough. You may be a terminator, but you are also a good person and a loving mother. It's me who is sorry that you are forced to do terrible things. You have nothing to be sorry for, you're a god-damned hero! As is John, Delilah and the rest of you! You do what you have to do, I'll be here to help however I can. No. Matter. What!"
Cameron smiled at her and meekly replied, "Thank you for that."
.
Leon Rains was not happy. With payoffs, bribes and some blackmailing, he had information into what happened in Mexico. Pedro hadn't been dumb. He'd made his research center, and protected it well, worked with the locals who had no idea what he was doing, and had a good system in place to get drugs to America and stolen equipment back. He had performed well, then with a sudden strike from nowhere, his operation turned to ashes and everything he was working on had disappeared.
It was not a total loss, however. He learned a lesson here. Whoever this was blowing up their facilities was land based. They used fast, home made tanks to help hide their origins. By the escape route they took to the north, he knew they were based in America. If he could not destroy them, then he had to move off the continent and build up until he had the power to take them down.
One place in the world that absolutely hated America was Iran. They also had more resources, namely insane terrorists that were willing to blow themselves up, and were eager to do serious damage to anyone in the US.
Leon read their holy book and memorized important passages so he was able to talk with them as a 'fellow Islamic'. He would use their religious fanaticism to whip them up into frenzy, giving them true hope of destroying the 'Great Satan'.
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Claire grimaced on the inside at how Cameron looked. Cameron did her best to hide all her bare metal, but it was hard to hide her face. Claire pretended not to see it, and insisted they keep up their Sunday gatherings. The last thing she wanted was for Cameron to feel self-conscious.
Truthfully, the hardest thing for Claire was to not shout out to the world how great Cameron was. Besides an ultimate warrior, she was also the ultimate mother tending to Joan and Allison with care when they were around. Claire also found something she could do for the Connors. John and Cameron hadn't been able to complete high school due to their life. John groaned some, but Claire talked to Sarah and got them into a 'home schooling' program and tutored them.
Selecting a room in the mansion, Claire set up a classroom where babies were welcome. Finding out Delilah had never gone to school, she had Delilah attend also. It didn't take long for her to find out none of them were dumb. John's main problem with school was that the pace was too slow. Being more patient, Cameron had put up with the 'slogging' pace of high school to be beside John. With only three students who had quick minds, Claire was able to cover months of classes in weeks. John was a little slow on math, but that was only a challenge for Claire to discover how to present formulas in a way for John to understand.
Summertime came so instead of only spending a few hours a day in class, Claire was able to give them a full class every day. Daniel wasn't the happiest that she was giving up her vacation time, but he understood Claire's motivation.
A week into the full classes, Cameron was up and cooking, so when everyone else was rousted, they would come down to a hot breakfast. Joan was in her seat on the counter, playing with a rattle and watching her mother when Claire came in.
Seeing Cameron in her robe an wearing a scarf on her head, Claire came over and asked, "Still healing well?"
"I am," Cameron said and offered her a smile with a whole mouth.
"Your eye is getting cloudy, can you see all right?" Claire asked. It was no longer red and it was eye-shaped, but with a cloudy eyeball. The skin around it had also grown back. Cameron was still missing part of her cheek and jaw flesh, but she was looking better every day.
"I can see fine, thank you for asking." Cameron replied.
"Good, I wouldn't want you to not be able to see in class," Claire told her. A timer dinged and Cameron pulled a pan out of the oven with a log of bacon on it that had to be a foot long and four inches around. "Cameron, that is a lot of bacon," she noted.
"It has two pounds of bacon in it. It's called a bacon explosion," Cameron explained. "It has sausage in it as well as bacon. All the cholesterol you can handle for the next three years in one place," she said with a grin. "Everyone except myself and Delilah get only a small slice. We will eat the rest of it. It's for me to help speed up my healing process. Delilah needs some also, she is growing the proper organs inside her so eventually, she is able to have a baby also."
Claire was about to ask who the father was going to be. Right, John, he'd married both of them. "Cameron, you are really comfortable with being one of two wives?" she asked.
"Yes. I know it is not normal human procedure. It is right for us," Cameron told her.
"That is hard to imagine," Claire said cautiously. "Usually a woman would be furious if her husband was even flirting with another woman."
"Delilah is a special case," Cameron told her as she got the eggs on to cook. "Delilah is not like Riley who wanted to take John away from me. If Delilah did not have us, she would have no one. She asked and begged me to be with us. I had to convince John it was all right to show her affection also. I know what is it to be alone. I did not want that to happen to Delilah. There's only two things most men do when they fine out what she is."
"Scream and run?" Claire guessed.
"Yes. Or try to shoot her, which would get them terminated."
"Let me put Allison down and give you a hand," Claire said and placed Allison near Joan, but not within baby-arm reach. Seeing Claire, Joan ge-ga'd and waved her arms as her eyes flashed blue.
"Oh you're such a cutie," Clair cooed at her.
"Morning," Sarah said as she came in with Mark. "Hi Claire. We're going shopping later. Is there anything you want?"
"We're fine, thanks for asking," Claire replied.
Everyone trickled in, Claire set the table and helped Cameron shuttle food. John and Delilah came out. They each gave Cameron a kiss before sitting down. Joan waved her arms at Cameron and whimpered, flashing red eyes. Cameron picked Joan up and the baby disappeared into her robe, now only a large bulge on the left side of Cameron's chest. Seeing this, Allison whimpered and waved her hands at Cameron.
Cameron looked at Claire.
"You need to eat too, Cameron, I'll feed Allison," Clair told her. Claire got a bottle and warmed it. Allison wasn't the happiest but accepted the bottle.
Seeing the thin slice of that large log of bacon Cameron put on John's plate, he frowned at her.
"It's too much cholesterol for you, John," Cameron explained.
He frowned deepened as she gave a quarter of it to Delilah and took nearly half for herself before returning it to the table for consumption.
"Only a small slice," Jesse said, looking at Derek. "You need to watch what you eat also."
Derek only let out a huff and took a half inch slice.
Seeing the English muffins and eggs, Mark said, "Hey, guys I got it!" He took an English muffin and split it, added an egg then a slice of the bacon log that fit perfectly on the muffin. Holding it up he said, We got Mc-Cameron's breakfast sandwiches!" He got a few chuckles, then Derek did the same thing. John followed suit.
Grinning at Cameron, John asked, "Cam, are you going to open a silver-arches?"
Sarah shook her head and said, "Please, no."
While they ate they made up the shopping party and got a list together. Delilah, Sarah, and Jesse were going to make the trip faster. Jesse and Sarah were going to do groceries, Delilah had the hardware store, then come back to the groceries store to help load up. The men had work to do on the EV 2 to fix the track guard and repaint it. Cameron had kitchen duty, which Claire was going to help with until it came time for class.
Heading out to the store, Delilah drove Sarah and Jesse to the grocery store. She dropped them off, then headed to the hardware store.
Seeing some men hanging around outside the store, Delilah only glanced at them and parked. They eyed her when she went in, of course most men did, so she didn't mark them as a threat.
Delilah got the five feet of Kendorf C-channel strut, the bolts, nuts and washers John wanted. Not finding the welding rod, she asked if they had it and a man showed her to the welding supplies. She paid for the purchases and one of the men kindly held the door for her since her arms were full of the container of welding rod and the Kendorf.
Going back out to the jeep, Delilah noticed one man was trying to hide behind it. She also noted two men following her. She grew a smirk.
Coming to the front fender, she saw the man step from behind the Jeep holding a knife low. He opened his mouth to demand something and Delilah rammed the strut into his groin. He bent over in pain and shock. She kicked him in the face. He flew back to fall prone and didn't move.
Turning her head to the to men who'd followed her, she asked, "Balls or brain?"
The men stopped and gaped at her. "What?" one asked.
"I am going to ram this piece of C-channel into you. So, where do you want it, balls or brain?"
One man pulled a gun. "Look Lady … Offf!" he ended as she thrust it back into his groin. He bent over and dropped the gun, she struck out with a mule type back kick to the head and catapulted him into the driving lane. He landed sprawled out, the look of shock was still on his face. She turned to the last man. He ran away at track-star speed.
She unlocked the Jeep and stepped over them man lying between the cars to put her things in the back. She got in and drove away, careful not to run over the other man lying in the road.
By the time she got the groceries, Sarah and Jesse loaded in, and was headed home, her encounter recorded on the store security video was on you tube, titled ; Thing 2, three fools attack her.
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In San Pueblo, Emilo was in the bar, buying drinks for the survivors of the tank attack. On the TV, the new showed the altercation that left one man dead and one hospitalized.
One of the men stood up and pointed. "Hey, I seen her! She was on that fast tank with the turret, she killed Mucho muchachos!"
"You sure?" Emilio asked.
"As sure as I see you in front of me! Busty blond, that's her!"
"They said this was in Palmdale, up in California," another man said.
"Let's go rip that Punta apart, give her a Mexican necktie!" another half drunk man stated.
"Shoot her first! Both knees, then teach her what a Punta like her is good for!" another announced.
Emilo stood up and said, "No! Did you not see? She handles herself well. You have already lost, let it be. We need to work and rebuild, not go off on a vengeance that will get you killed!"
"She surprised us. We get her, we can torture her to find the others."
"I know of a drug tunnel still in use, we can bring weapons!" a man stated.
The men cheered. Emilio tried to calm them down, but it was useless. They wanted blood. He only hoped they would see the folly of what they were talking about when their Tequila courage faded away.
.
By their last class at the end of summer, the tutoring had produced good results, and Cameron had a whole face again. Cameron and Delilah were ready to take their GED, and John missed only by a couple questions. Claire started the new year of school feeling good about her work with them. The day she went to school, she ordered three exams, sure that John was going to pass his also.
.
"Hi Claire, how was your summer?" Tamara Jones asked as she looked at the papers Claire had. "Tutoring?"
"It was a good summer, And I had smart students," Claire said with a smile.
Tamara frowned slightly. "Was it worth giving up your vacation time?"
"Totally. Besides seeing some amazing things, we got a new car, and 20,000 leftover," Claire said with a big grin.
Tamara's jaw dropped. "Holy shit! Who were you tutoring, the Trump kids?"
Claire laughed and said, "No one famous, but they are … shall we say set as far as money goes."
Tamara remembered not seeing the Claire's little Chevy in the parking lot. "What kind of car did you get?"
"I don't know the model," Claire said with a shrug, "It's a four door Mercedes."
Tamara's eyes went wide. "I want to tutor these kids too!" she cried.
Holding up the requests for the GED tests, Claire told her, "They are older teenagers that never went to school. After they pass their GED's, I'm going to prod them into college work."
"Hell yeah! I'll help teach!" Tamara agreed with a big smile. "Damn, Claire, you hit the Jackpot!" Wearing a teasing grin, she waggled her finger at Clarie and said, "You know your babysitter is going to want a cut of that," she warned. "She sees that Mercedes and the price is going to take a big jump."
"I got another babysitter. She's family," Claire said with a wink. "Little Allison is as safe as if she was surrounded by tanks inside a fort."
"Yeah, so who is it? Anyone I know?"
"I don't think so," Claire told her. "These are pretty private people."
Todd came over with his I-pad. "Hey Ladies, you gotta see this vid of what this woman did to three car-jackers."
Claire watched Delilah take out two men in the parking lot, the third ran away. She winced. "Delilah got on a security camera, huh?"
Todd and Tamara looked at her. "You know her?" Tamara asked.
Quickly realizing her mistake, Claire said, "She's been on a few videos. That's Thing 2."
"Not every one knows her name," Todd said, eyeing Claire.
"They don't?" Claire asked innocently.
"Don't even tell me that amazon is who's watching Allison," Tamara said.
"She's not, but what's wrong with Delilah? So, she knows how to handle herself," Claire said defensively.
"She killed two of those guys," Todd stated.
"Their fault for attacking her," Claire replied.
"Yeah, but … she killed them!" Todd stressed.
"Scum shouldn't take on a Wolverine," Claire said simply.
"She's dangerous!" Todd insisted.
"Point a knife or a gun at her, and yes, she is," Claire agreed. She badly wanted to tell him that that video only showed a small bit of what Delilah and Cameron could do. Todd was a pacifist. He'd probably be running for the hills of he saw either one of them. Instead, she said, "I have to get ready for classes." and left him staring at her.
Tamara followed Claire. Quietly she said, "You do know Thing 2."
"I've met her, yes. She's a wonderful person, just not someone you want to anger," Claire admitted.
"She was right kicking those guy's asses," Tamara said. "If you see her again, tell her I said so."
.
Todd couldn't believe a fellow teacher here was all right with brutally killing someone. That one guy hadn't shot, and he'd dropped his gun. She didn't have to kill him. He'd heard the police were investigating, but had never heard anything beyond that. That woman was a murderer! She needed to be locked up! So what if those guys were gang members, they were people too.
After school, Todd went to his volunteer work down at the homeless center. He checked in to be sure he could claim his time here as a 'charity donation', then unpacked a few clothes and hung them up in the right sections by side.
As he worked, a thickly muscled Latino with tattoos came up to him. He wore a loose, un-tucked shirt, looking like one of their customers.
"Hey amigo, I want to thank you for your hard work here," he said cheerfully.
"Thank you," Todd said with a smile. "Is there anything you need?"
"Si, indeed there is. I was looking for a woman who's known as Thing Two. Saw her on the web," the man said.
"Yes, I've seen her also, but I don't know anything about her," Todd replied.
The man pulled out a hundred dollars, "No? Are you sure?" he asked.
"I've never seen them in person, no," Todd said. He then asked, "Why are you looking for her?"
Coming closer he said, "I'm under cover, Mexican police. Her, maybe her sister too, killed some men in Mexico, but the cops here won't move a finger unless I can show them where these killers are."
The word 'killer' sparked Todd's memory. "Yes, Thing 2 killed two men not long ago, right in the middle of the day in a parking lot not too far from here," he said eagerly.
"I heard, sure you don't know where I could find them?" the man asked and dug out another hundred dollar bill.
"I can't …" he then remembered this morning. "Wait! Claire Young, one of our teachers seems to know them," he said, glad he could be helpful.
"Ahhh," the man said and pulled out another hundred. 'I'd really appreciate your help, can you point this Claire Young out for me? We want to put the guilty ones away for a long time."
"They deserve it!" Todd agreed. "Sure, I'll help. Follow me, I can take you to Claire's house."
The man smiled and put the bills in Todd's pocket. "I thank you. Please, take me there. I'll ride with you."
Happy to be helping the Mexican police when their own police force could not stop these killers, Todd drove him the Young's house. On the way, Todd told the man, "I'm really glad you came to collect them. Our police are idiots!"
"True. Why do you think drug runners come here? To get away from us," the man said firmly. "Here, they can get away with much more."
"You're right!" Todd said, now knowing why there was such a drug problem with immigrants. They were being chased out of Mexico. "I wish our country would allow more men like you in."
"Me too," the man agreed.
Todd found the street and the house. A Mercedes was in the driveway. He pulled up in the driveway behind the car. Going to the door, Todd looked back at the expensive car Claire had. "How can she afford that?" he wondered.
"Dirty money," the man said.
"That's a shame," Todd said. All this time he'd thought Claire was a good woman. It made him sad that she might be into hiding criminal activities.
The man motioned for Todd to go first to the door. Todd did and knocked. After a moment, Claire came to the door.
"Todd? Daniel isn't home right…"
Her greeting was interrupted by the man stepping close and punching her in the face. Todd gaped at this, and was shoved inside to trip over her. "What the hell?" he asked. He stumbled up to see the man was holding a gun on him. The barrel had one of those silencer things on the end.
The man shut the door. "Now, amigo," he said in a heavy tone, "Get her up and in a chair."
Shocked, Todd cried, "You're no policeman!"
"In a chair now if you want to live," the man said, pointing the gun at his face.
Todd helped Claire, who was stunned and growing a bruise on her cheek into the nearest chair.
From another room, a baby cried.
Claire blinked and stared at the man. "What do you want?' she asked weakly as she tried to regain her senses.
"These things, One and Two, where do they live?" the man asked in a hard tone.
"I don't know," Claire stated.
The man shot the arm of the chair, grazing Claire's arm, making Claire jump and yelp out in pain. She clapped her other hand to the wound.
"Hey! You almost shot her!" Todd yelled.
Pointing his gun at Todd, the man said, "Open your mouth again, I shoot you!" he returned his aim on Claire and said, "Speak or die."
Claire met the Mexican's eyes with an unflinching scowl of hate. "You have no idea the hell you're bringing down on yourself. You want Cameron? Fine, I'll call her and tell her to come."
"And warn her I'm waiting for her, eh?"
"No, just that she's needed here." Claire stated and pulled her phone out. She punched the speed dial and stared at the man.
Todd eyed Claire, "You know her phone number?" he asked. Claire ignored him.
"Claire?" Cameron asked.
"Yes, dear. I need your help to take out the trash. Could you come over?"
"Yes, I'll be right there after I tell Daniel not to go home yet."
"Thank you," Claire said and hung up. She pocketed her phone and told the man, "She'll be here shortly."
"Claire, you know their hone number?" Todd cried.
"Todd! Shut up if you want to live!" Claire snapped.
The Mexican laughed and said, "Si, she gives good advice. Have a seat and keep your trap shut." He motioned towards the couch with the pistol.
Todd sat down, eyeing Claire. He wanted to know why she was in close contact with killers, but was afraid to open his mouth.
The Mexican eyed Claire and said, "You have cohones, Seniora. Yet you gave in easily. It makes me wonder why."
Claire shook her head and told him, "The moment you shot me, you sealed your fate. Cameron is going to kill you. Even if you decided to run, it won't save you. It will only delay your execution. You can't hide from her, you can't bargain with her. She doesn't sleep and will come after you day and night until you are dead."
The Mexican's face took on a hard look. "We shall see. This Cameron has men that will come with her?"
"Cameron doesn't need any help," Claire stated. "If you're religious, you should probably pray while you can.."
He laughed again. "You are thinking to scare me? You may be brave, but you are loco. I have hostages." Grinning he said, "I think I'll make her strip down before I kill her. Maybe have some fun with you too."
Claire shifted her gaze to look at the driveway. "It will be the last fun you will ever have," She said flatly.
.
Cameron rode with Daniel back to his house. She had him pull over and stop a few houses down, out of sight. "I'll come get you when it's safe," she said and got out. By the tone of Claire's voice, she knew something was very wrong. She was expecting the worst.
Walking through back yards, Cameron came to the Young's house and slipped in the back door. Allison was crying, which helped her be unheard as she checked each room. Coming to the living room, she saw a man on the couch, Claire sitting in a chair in a stiff pose, tensed up. Another man standing beside Claire with a gun pointed at her. The gunman was glancing between Claire and the windows.
"She better come soon!" the gunman warned.
Silently, Cameron approached him. The man on the couch noticed her and stared. The gunman saw this and turned around. The time for stealth was over.
"Drop the gun or die," Cameron stated as she approached.
The man grinned and pointed the gun right at her shoulder and shot. She didn't even flinch and kept coming.
Cameron rushed the last eight feet to him, grabbed his gun and crushed it and his hand, Her other hand slammed into his throat, squeezed and lifted him in the air.
Bug eyed from surprise and pain, the gunman's face turned dark red. His gun hand caught in Cameron's crushing grip dripped blood as she glared at him. Ignoring his flailing feet, and his other hand trying to break her hold on him, Cameron threw him to the floor.
"Who sent you?" Cameron asked as her eyes glowed red.
The man's face went wide. "La Diablo!" he cried.
Cameron knelt down with a knee to his stomach and grabbed him by the throat again making him grunt in pain. Staring at him blankly, her eyes glowing red, she stated, "You can die fast, or slowly. I ask. No answer and I break a bone. Who sent you?"
"God help me!" the man cried.
Cameron grabbed the wrist of his broken hand and twisted in a fast motion. The snap was audible. The man let out a howl of pain. "Who sent you?" she asked again and grabbed his forearm.
"My hombres will kill you!' he wailed.
SNAP. She broke his forearm and bend his broken hand back to his elbow. "Who sent you?" she asked again.
He swung a desperate punch with the other arm. Cameron caught it, twisted and pulled, popping his shoulder out of joint. This time she waited out his howl before asking, "Who sent you?"
"My boys … kill you!" he grated.
"Cameron, I need to tent to my arm and Allison," Claire said.
Cameron looked over a her, then punched the man in the head, making a loud crack like an axe hitting wood. Her eyes faded back to brown. Standing up, she pointed to Todd and said, "You, help Claire bandage that arm. I'll tend to Allison." She helped Claire to her feet.
Todd gaped at her, not moving. "You killed him," he said weakly.
Maybe," Cameron stated. She tipped her head slightly to the side and asked, "Do you need help moving?"
"No!" he cried and shot up to ask, "Where's the bathroom?"
"Follow me," Claire said. Todd did. He didn't want to end up mutilated on the floor like that man was.
Cameron left to tend to Allison. Shortly after, as they reached the bathroom, Todd noticed Allison stopped crying.
In a quaking voice, Todd looked back out the door and asked "She … didn't kill your baby, did she?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Claire said with a snort. "The gauze and pads are under the sink,"
Todd got them, asking, "What the hell is she? She can't be human!"
"Focus on the task at hand," Claire told him.
Todd tried to wrap her arm with trembling hands.
Seeing his hands shaking, Claire took the gauze. "I'll do it," Claire told him in a grumble. She glared at Todd and asked in a low voice, "Why did you bring that man here?"
"H...h...he said he was Mexican police... He was here to arrest Delilah," Todd stuttered out.
"And you believed him?" Claire asked unhappily. "You are a fucking idiot!"
Cameron came into the doorway an arm and a bulge under her shirt. A baby leg stuck out enough to show she was breast feeding. "Allison was hungry. I will go get Daniel and move the garbage out of your living room," she said, then left and went outside.
Claire noted the brief blank stare Cameron had given Todd. "You better go before she gets back," she said.
"But ... we have to call the police!" Todd cried, "A man's been murdered!"
Claire looked at him, then shook her head sadly. "Todd, you are your own worst enemy," she said with a sigh. She grabbed the tape and tapped the bandage in place.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Claire stared at him and said, "Think! You brought a dangerous man here, he shot me and threatened us and was going to try and kill Cameron. You got me shot. You saw what Cameron did to that guy. Just what do you think she's going to do to you for bringing him here?"
"I didn't hurt anyone," Todd said defensively. "The police need to be here!"
Glaring at him, Claire said, "You call the police, what are you going to tell them? A small woman lifted a two hundred pound plus man off his feet and crushed his hand, then broke his arm all up? You're going to tell them he was holding a gun and shot her before she even touched him? Not to mention said man is probably in your car right now, dead. Cameron and her sister are in some sort of secret government agency, so if you raise a fuss about them, guess who's going to disappear? Don't forget, you brought that man here. Cameron is going to see you as a threat. You saw what she does to threats, didn't you? Your best bet for survival is to get in your car, go dump that body off someplace and let me try to convince Cameron NOT to hunt you down and kill you."
"But..." Todd said weakly.
"Go now, before she comes back. Get rid of the body and forget you saw anything, GO!" Claire snapped.
Dazed, Todd scrambled for the door. Out in the living room, the man was gone. Todd ran to his car to find the man was crumpled in the back seat. Afraid Cameron was going to come after him, he got in and took off, wondering what he was going to do with the body.
.
Right after Todd pulled out of the driveway and sped away, Daniel pulled in.
Although Daniel wanted to take Claire to the hospital immediately, Cameron assured him she would heal Claire. Once little Allison was fed / burped and changed, Cameron drew some nanite rich milk from her breast and had Claire drink it.
Confused, Daniel asked, "How is drinking milk going to heal my wife's arm?"
Claire was now on the couch, feet up on the coffee table. Sitting in the table and putting a proper wrap on Claire's arm, Cameron explained, "I gave Claire nanite rich milk. The nanites will repair the damage to her arm internally."
Daniel frowned and asked, "Where did you get this nanite rich milk, whatever those are?"
"My breast," Cameron said and eyed him. "Where else would I get it?" Finishing the wrap on Claire's arm, she got up and said, "Stay here and don't use that arm for a few hours. I'll return in a couple hours to make dinner for you."
"Cameron, where are you going?" Claire asked.
"The man with the gun is dead, the one who brought him is still alive," Cameron replied flatly.
"Please, don't kill him!" Claire pleaded. "Todd's an idiot, he didn't know who that was."
Cameron regarded Claire for a moment, then said, "I won't kill him. I'm borrowing your car." She turned and left.
.
Todd was sweating bullets. He was driving around with a dead man in his car. What if he got pulled over? The police would think he did that. "Oh God," he moaned. He had no idea what to do. He couldn't go home until he got rid of that body.
Todd pulled into an empty parking lot to sit and take a few breaths to calm himself. Head on the steering wheel, he was oin the verge of crying from the horror he'd witnessed. First that man had lied to him, then super-woman with the glowing red eyes took a shot to the shoulder then promptly beat and tortured him to death.
He then heard the short 'whoop' of a siren. He looked up to see a police car behind him.
"Oh no," he cried weakly. His mind raced. Should he run and be one of those people on the police-chase videos? No, that never turned out well. Would he be cuffed and taken to jail for killing that man?
As the cop got out of his car, Todd peed his pants. He was gong to jail for murder, he knew it! Another innocent man in jail for a crime he didn't commit.
An authoritative voice said, "Sir, I need you to step out of the car, hands where I can see them."
Todd started crying.
Cameron arrived as Todd was getting out of the car, an officer holding his gun on him. She pulled around to the front of Todd's car, got out and showed her badge. "Officer!" she called. "I am Cameron Connor, special agent, Homeland Security. Thank you for stopping that man."
The cop nodded and said, "He's got a dead guy in the back seat."
"He does," Cameron agreed. "Back at the scene we are working, another man stuffed him in the back of this car and made him drive away. I already called for a discrete pickup of the body. I need to talk to the driver."
The cop checked her badge then nodded. "All right Ma'am, he's yours. I need to report this."
"As you should do. Thank you again for stopping him," Cameron said.
The cop returned to his car to make his report. Cameron took Todd by the arm and led him over to the Mercedes. She stood him by the back and said, "Claire is correct. You are an idiot."
"You're Homeland Security?" Todd asked weakly.
"Yes, Special Agent," Cameron said firmly. "I know that man in the back seat of your car. Drug runner and hired muscle for a dead drug lord. He came to get revenge on me. You took him right to Claire's house so he could get hostages to draw me out. Did he say who else was with him?"
"No," Todd said, very glad the policeman hadn't left yet. He was sure she wasn't going to kill him as long as the police were here.
"Who did he say he was?"
"Mexican police, undercover."
"Did he show you a badge?"
"No."
"Did he tell you his name?"
"No," Todd said weakly. It was then Todd realized what a fool he'd been.
The Officer got out of his car and came over. "Ma'am, I verified your name and status. Is there anything I can do to assist?"
"There is, Officer. If you could stay until the tow truck comes to ensure no one touches that car, I would greatly appreciate it. We need to do forensics on it and the body," Cameron told him.
"What about this guy?"
"He's a victim in that he was forced to transport the body. I'm going to take him home."
"What about my car?" Todd asked.
"As soon as we're done with it, it will be returned," Cameron assured him. "Come on, let's get you home." She motioned to the passenger side. She even opened the door for him. She got in the driver's side and drove away.
Cameron left the lot and asked, "What's you address?"
Todd told her, then asked, "What are you?"
"Classified," Cameron stated. She glanced at him and added, "You are very lucky. If that man would have seriously hurt or killed Claire, I would have killed you right after I killed that other guy. Learn from this. It may save your life one day."
"Doesn't it bother you that you kill people?" Todd asked, looking for a shred of humanity in this woman.
"The ones I kill are themselves looking to kill not just one person, but many. In a few cases they are working to kill millions. No, it does not bother me. It's my job to take out the trash." Casting another glance at him, she added, "And I'm good at it."
Todd remembered What Claire had said when she'd called Cameron. "Claire called you to come take out the trash. Is she part of Homeland Security too?"
"No," Cameron stated. "By the way, everything that happened today is classified. You cannot speak to anyone about it. If you do, I'll be coming to visit you. You don't want me coming to visit you."
"No, I don't," Todd agreed. "Umm, what about your wound?"
"Not your concern, Forget about it."
Todd swallowed again. He'd always heard about government conspiracies and people made to stay silent. Now, he was one. He fully understood why these people didn't talk. They didn't want human shaped monsters like Cameron coming after them.
.