Forty eight
Gone, Gone, Gone
A/N Happy New Year Everyone
Carlotta knocked and the door flew open. Legs pumping, Cole barreled into the Agent knocking her back a step.
"Whoa, scooter," Alan picked him up, readjusting his hold as the boy tried to wiggle from his grip.
"Lemme go, Alannnn. I gotta show Carlotta something!"
Alan stood Cole in a chair, hands on his waist. Carlotta leaned over and wiped the boy's face with a tissue, her accent deepened, "What do you need to show me, little man?"
"My movies," Cole said behind his hand, dodging the busy tissue.
"Ok, show me," Carlotta tweaked his nose. Alan set him on the floor. Looking up the child scowled at him. Cole immediately grasped her hand. Impatiently, he pulled her toward the kitchen end of the tunnel.
Carlotta looked back at a smirking Alan and shrugged.
The damaged kitchen was just outside the double doors. Carlotta caught her breath, she could barely see a mangled refrigerator lying where she last saw the Vandykes.
Cole stopped before the kitchen entrance, pointing a chubby finger to a home made shelf. Carlotta raised an eyebrow, the shelf was hanging precariously on the wall. The blast should have completely dislodged it.
Procuring a knife from her bag, she pried the shelf completely free. Taped to the back was a colorful dinosaur binder. Carlotta tore it away.
"It is a secret only for you, Carlotta."
"Secret?"
"Yeah, Mommy and Daddy said that…that…I would know who to give this to."
Carlotta opened it up to find four DVD dinosaur movies.
"There is a player in the truck, you can watch them when we leave," Carlotta rubbed his head, wearily. The last couple of days had been hard on her healing body.
Tip-toeing, Cole curled his finger to Carlotta, and she stiffly leaned over, "Mommy said the real movie was on the back."
Carlotta narrowed her eyes and surveyed the movies. This was different, the pictures were on the backs of the DVDs. Carlotta looked down into big blue eyes and whispered, "Our secret, Ok."
Erik hurried down the stairs, "She's gone! Nadir, Shade, start outside. Darius come with me," Darius opened a sideboard drawer. Grabbing a set of keys he followed him out.
Christine brushed the hay from her clothing and hair. Smiling, she thanked the elderly farmer and his wife. She had hidden between two large bales on their hay wagon.
The kindly couple refused her offer of gas money. Thoughtfully, she watched them drive away until they were out of sight.
Thinking of Erik, she grimaced. At least two people were kind to her for kindness' sake. Lately most wanted the benefits of her gift.
She gazed around to stabilize her bearings. Christine's stomach sank. It was going to be hard to leave this small town unnoticed. The only item she had with her was a small plastic bag. Habit ensured she never went anywhere without some kind of plastic baggie to store identification in.
She knew Reyer told her not to use the older cards, but she needed a place to stay. Her father had always taken care of that detail.
Slipping into a small alleyway reeking of garbage, she donned a pair of sunglasses. Christine was glad she had the foresight to change her clothing before she left. Tucking her hair in a woven hat, she entered the nearest drug store.
Hawke didn't think of himself as a chauvinist, but he sure had his eyes opened the past three days. His middle school teacher used to quote an old adage that 'behind every good man there was a good woman'. He saw the reasoning in that.
But throughout history, there had always been strong, intelligent women disguised as secretaries, assistants and royal consorts. Three different women, three rooms free of suspicious items. Three premonitions of impending murder.
Hawke knocked on the door, bottle of chilled wine in hand. 'What the hell,' Hawke weakly leaned against the door, trying not to stare. A midget! He was to woo a midget! Sorelli should have warned him about this one!
He didn't want to accidentlly insult her, "Betty Watts," he asked, mouth dry.
"Come inside," she opened the door wider. Hawke stepped in, heading for the living room. His glance fell on the bedroom door. He did a double take. It was cracked open and…. a shadow was moving inside.
