-- I am going to note really fast that I have no clue if Noin really has a sister…
Chapter 16

Day Two

12:35 a.m.

Heero was on his way to Shea's bar when he got the call from Wufei.

"Duo is leaving New Orleans. I thought you should know."

"Nani?"

"He's in the bedroom, packing. He's going to Johns Hopkins. The kid is being operated on tomorrow morning."

Murphy's Law. He should have known the one event that would draw Duo into the open would happen when he was hundreds of miles away. "You're going with him?"

"I seem to be. Since I was rash enough to make you a promise. But protecting him is escalating in difficulty. One good thing is that we may have zeroed in on Odin."

"How?"

Wufei explained. "Relena's ordered him picked up for questioning."

"Does she know you're leaving town?"

"Not yet. Should I tell her?"

"After the fact. So she won't be able to do anything about it except make sure he's protected at the hospital."

"That's my reading too."

"Take him down the courtyard staircase and out the back way. Do you have a car?"

"It's parked on Canal Street. And how am I supposed to get past Relena's guard in the courtyard?"

"How in the hell should I know? Improvise. You usually don't have any trouble."

"Thanks a lot."

"Buy a ticket to Milwaukee by way of Chicago. When you get to Chicago, make sure you're not followed and then take a flight to Baltimore."

"Any other orders?"

"Gomen." Wufei had a perfect right to be sarcastic. Heero was trying to control the situation long distance. He just felt so damn helpless. He wanted to be there. And he was so scared, he was sick to his stomach.

"No problem." Wufei paused. "Did you find Morrisey?"

"Dead."

"Shit."

"Yes, but I may have a lead. I'll fill you in later. Call me when you get to the hospital."

"When I can do it discreetly. Duo wouldn't like seeing me report to you. He may toss me out on my ear and you wouldn't like that."

"As soon as you can then." He hung up the phone. Just try to locate Trey Catalonia, he told himself. Don't think about Duo. There was nothing else he could do. Wufei was smart and careful. He would take care of him.

Just don't think about Duo.

****************

Wufei was talking on the phone. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I just knew who was on the other end of the line. I didn't give a damn that Heero knew where I was going, but I didn't like the fact that Wufei had waited until I was in my bedroom to call him.

I put on my jacket, looped the strap of my camera around my neck, and strode back into the living room. "I'm ready to go. I hope Heero gave you a good suggestion as to how we should get out of here."

"Oops." Wufei stood up and grabbed my suitcase and his own. "I was only trying to be discreet."

"I'd rather you be honest than discreet. Which way are we leaving?"

"The courtyard." He moved down the hallway and unlocked the door. "You stay here at the head of the stairs and I'll go down and talk to Relena's man, see what I can do about getting him out of there."

"What if you can't?"

"I guess I knock him very gently and carefully on the head."

"I don't think you can knock anyone gently on the head, Wu. Won't Relena be upset with you?"

"Why should I be any different?" Wufei started down the stone steps. "Stay here."

The courtyard had no lights and Wufei seemed to disappear into a black hole. I strained to see, but I couldn't make out either Wufei or the guard.

I was suddenly uneasy. I should be hearing footsteps. Wufei's voice. Something…

Silence.

"Duo," Wufei called out.

I jumped.

"Come on. Hurry."

I ran down the stairs and Wufei led me across the courtyard.

"How did you get rid of him?"

"I didn't," he muttered. "He wasn't there."

"Nani?"

"He wasn't there." I could sense his tension. "And I don't like it, dammit. Relena wouldn't have called him off the job."

"The other guard, Walker..." Walker had died. Walker had been murdered.

Wufei didn't answer, but his grasp tightened on my arm.

The walkway leading to the street loomed dark and ominous.

"Stay a few paces behind. I'm going on ahead." Wufei disappeared into the darkness.

Alone. Fear iced through me. Someone was watching. I could feel it.

Not on the walk where Wufei had gone. Behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw only gargoyles. Shadows on shadows. Then movement.

Oh, God.

I raced down the long walkway after Wufei. I could see the lights of the street and Wufei's silhouette. "Wufei!"

"Duo, what's-"

A hand closed on my braid, jerking me to a stop.

I looked over my shoulder. A white-painted face gleaming in the darkness. A skull. It looked like a skull. Something else was gleaming, the blade in his hand.

"Run, Duo." Wufei tore me from Odin Lowe with a force that threw me against the brick wall.

I couldn't run away. I couldn't leave Wufei. Where was he? I could barely see the two figures struggling in the darkness. It lasted only a moment, and then one of them was getting to his feet, coming toward me.

Wufei?

Odin Lowe?

I turned and ran.

He was right behind me.

He grabbed my arm. "Duo!"

I went limp with relief. "Wu. I thought- I wasn't sure-"

"I wasn't either for a minute." He was breathing hard. "He was very good."

"Odin Lowe?"

"I assume. I don't know anyone else with green hair, do you?"
"What did you do to him?"

"He won't bother you again."

"He's dead?"

"Exceptionally. I'm very good too."

We were out of the walkway, on the street. Lights. Beautiful lights.

"What are you going to do about him?" I asked.

"Unless you've changed your mind about going to Baltimore, we'll leave him for Relena. I doubt if he'd be entertaining company on our trip."

"I haven't changed my mind."

"I didn't think you would." He urged me down the street. "Then let's see if we can get out of the Quarter without running into Relena or one of her men."

***************

Cheyenne

1:40 a.m.

The lighting in the demolition derby stadium office was soft and diffused, and Heero had to step closer to study the group photo on the desk.

"This is Catalonia. Second row, third from the left." Dunston pointed at a man in a cowboy hat. "I told him not to wear it, but he put it on anyway."

Catalonia was in his early twenties with a wide face and deep-set, light eyes. "Is he good?"

"Not bad but not as good as he thinks he is."

The cowboy hat almost entirely hid Catalona's hair. "What color is his hair?"

"Light brown, sort of sandy."

"Short?"

Dunston nodded.

"I can't tell what color his eyes are."

"Blue."

"Do you have a personnel record on Catalonia?"

"Sure. Do you think the IRS would let me run a business without records out the wazoo?" Dunston went to the file cabinet and riffled through the folders. "Catalonia." He handed the file to Heero. "You know, this doesn't surprise me. I always knew Trey would end up in trouble."
He opened the folder. "Why?"

Dunston shrugged. "Nothing I can point a finger at. Bad things happen when he's around. Most of the time to people Trey doesn't like."

Catalonia's mother was divorced and lived in Aurora, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City. No other relatives listed. Northern Lights, the clerk at the hotel had said. Aurora Borealis? "Do you know anything about Catalonia's mother?"

"I know he visited her pretty frequently. She came here last month and I gave her a complimentary ticket to the show. He was preening and showing her off like a peacock." He made a face. "She was a real pushy bitch. She had the nerve to ask me why I wasn't starring sonny boy. I almost felt sorry for him. It was pretty clear Trey couldn't measure up in her eyes unless he was top of the heap."

"Did he ask for a leave of absence when he took off?"

Dunston shook his head. "One night he was here, the next he no-showed."

"May I have this folder and the picture?"

"As long as I get the folder back. I don't want the IRS saying I claimed an employee who doesn't exist."

He took a marker and drew a circle around Catalonia's face on the photo. "You'll get it back."

"Can I lock up and go back to the bar now?" Dunston asked. "This isn't how I planned to spend my evening you know."

Heero nodded. "Thanks for your time. Call me at that number I gave you if you hear from Catalonia."

"It's not likely is it? You wouldn't be here if he hadn't done something pretty bad."

"You can never tell." Heero left the office and headed for the exit. He doubted that Dunston would hear from Catalonia ever again. Dekim had plucked the young man from this world for his own purpose, and he would make sure Catalonia remained cut off.

But Heero might have gotten a break. It was hard to cut off a man from his mother, particularly a dominant woman like the one Dunston had described. He would fax the picture and file to Relena and then catch the next flight to Kansas City.

Heero was becoming more uneasy the more he learned. Catalonia sounded reckless, volatile, and vain. He would be a piece of cake for Dekim to manipulate.

Bad things happen when he's around.

He hoped to hell Dunston's words weren't prophetic.

***************

Des Moines, Iowa

6:30 a.m.

Trey checked his wristwatch. Time to make the run to Waterloo. Dekim liked everything to go like clockwork and precisely to his orders. Well, he was forking out the money.

Trey would give them what he wanted.

****************

8:30 a.m.

Odin Lowe was dead.

Dekim hung up the phone. Inconvenient.

Or maybe not. He would have had to dispose of Odin eventually anyway, and Odin hadn't proved efficient where the boy was concerned. Not that Dekim could worry about the boy just then.

He was coming so close. Trey Catalonia should be in Waterloo already.

After all this time, after all his planning, the countdown was about to start.

***************

Waterloo, Iowa

10:05 a.m.

Trey yawned as he leaned against the truck's front fender.

This waiting around was boring. But it looked like they were almost done.

He climbed back into the driver's seat. It was all too easy. No excitement. Even the extra little job Dekim had given him had gone off without a hitch.

He watched as Dekim's men swarmed over the truck. If this was his truck wouldn't be letting those foreigners touch it. You couldn't trust anybody. Everybody knew that.

They were through now, waving him imperiously out of the barn. Arrogant sons of bitches. Just like in the John Wayne movies.

But John Wayne had shown them.

Just as Trey Catalonia would show them.

***************

Johns Hopkins

11:20 a.m.

"Why is she still in the operating room?" I said worriedly. "It shouldn't be taking this long."

"Oh?" Wufei said. "I didn't know you were a surgeon. Maybe you should go in and take over for Sally Po."
"Shut up, Wu. I'm scared to death. She's so little..."

"I know," Wufei said gently. "That's probably why it takes so long. It must be a very delicate operation."

He was right, I realized with relief. Maybe nothing had gone wrong. It was good that Wufei was here with me and not Heero. "I suppose you called Heero when we got here."

He nodded. "While you were talking to Sally before the operation." He let a couple of seconds go by, then said, "I also called Relena."

I stiffened.

"I had to do it. You couldn't stay here without a lot more protection."

"Just so she doesn't try to make me leave Iris."

"She probably will, but we'll stave her off for a while."

"Did you find out what happened to the guard in the courtyard?"

Wufei grimaced.

"Dead?"

"They found him underneath the courtyard staircase. Odin was evidently trying to get into the apartment."

I smiled with effort. "A mamba in the drain?"

"I doubt if Odin Lowe was clever enough to appreciate James Bond. Don't worry about it now. You're here and safe."

"You shouldn't have told Relena that I was here. I'd bet it was Heero's idea."

"Well, I agreed with him. I knew he had Iris's and your welfare at heart."

"Bullshit. He doesn't care about us."

"You know better than that. He cares. He just couldn't let it get in the way. He waited a long time to get this close."

"He was wrong. I can imagine how upset he was about his colleagues dying on Nakoa, but that doesn't excuse-"

"His colleagues?" Wufei asked. "Is that what he told you?"

"Yeah." His reaction puzzled me.

"His mother and father were scientists and they were both on Nakoa. His mother headed up the project. They were the ones who brought Heero into the project. His sister was a lab assistant, and it also seems to me that he had a new-born son there as well."

Shock jolted through me. "And they all died on Nakoa?"

Wufei nodded. "I'd say that's enough to make someone a little obsessive."

"He didn't tell me."

"He didn't tell me either. I had to find out for myself."

"Why?" I murmured. "Why did he keep it a secret from me?"

"I couldn't tell you. I'm not Heero."

Who was Heero Yuy? He had recounted the story of Nakoa with all the emotion of a robot. He had said he was no longer the person who had lived through that horror. But his pain was evidently still so intense he still couldn't talk about it even after these past few years.

"It doesn't make what he did any more forgivable."

"I'm not defending, merely explaining." He smiled. "And perhaps I wanted to distract you a little. I don't like to see you this-"

"Here they come." I jumped up as the operating room doors opened and a wave of nurses and doctors flowed out. In their midst was a gurney with Iris on it.

Sally pulled down her mask and smiled at me. "Iris's doing very well. She's stable."

"Is that all?"

"That's pretty good for an operation of that length. You'll be glad to know I did a brilliant job."

"I am glad. But I'd be happier if you told me Iris's prospects are just as brilliant."

She shook her head. "I can't say that. I wish I could. She's doing well now. We won't know more until later."

Disappointment flooded me. That's what she had told me before, but I had hoped-

"I promise you'll know as soon as I do." Sally moved down the hall.

Wufei's hand comfortingly grasped my shoulder. "She survived the operation. Five minutes ago you would have been happy with just that."

"I know I only wish-" I wanted desperately to know Iris was going to completely recover and it was hard to wait. "I'm going to find someone to take a blood sample for you to send to Atlanta. Then I'm going to Recovery to wait for Iris to wake up."

"I'll go with you." Wufei fell into step with me as I hurried in the direction they'd taken Iris.

***************

Aurora, Kansas

3:50 p.m.

The Catalonia home was a small, neat clapboard house like a half dozen others on the same block.

The woman who opened the door was slipping into a brown coat. "Yes?" She said impatiently.

"Miss. Catalonia?" Heero asked.

"Are you a salesman? For God's sake, I was just walking out the door." Dorothy Catalonia probably looked younger than she was. Her blonde hair was long, her makeup perfect. "And I'm late for an appointment."

"I'm not a salesman. I'm looking for your son, Trey."

Her lips thinned and she looked him up and down. "Why? Are you a bill collector?"

He shook his head. "I'm thinking of opening a demolition track in town and I'd like to offer him a job."

"Trey has a job."

"Perhaps I can up the ante for him. Can you tell me where I can find him?"

"Trey doesn't live here anymore."

"But you must be in contact with him."

"Why must I? We've been estranged for some time." She checked her watched. "And I have thirty-minutes to get to the other side of town to show a house."

"You're a real estate agent?"

"Does that interest you?" She moved past him toward an Oldsmobile parked in the driveway. "Maybe you want to offer me a job too."

"I'd really appreciate your help if-"

"I can't help you Mr....?"

"Gardiner. David Gardiner."

"You'll have to find Trey on your own, Mr. Gardiner. I've no idea where he is. We've lost touch over the years."

Heero watched her back out of the driveway before he strode toward his rental car at the curb.

He'd done his job. He's disturbed Dorothy Catalonia and made her suspicious. All he could do now was wait and see if Relena had done hers in tapping Dorothy's home and car phones.

If she knew where her son could be reached, he doubted that she could resist contacting him. The big if.

He drove four blocks and pulled into a supermarket parking lot to wait for the call from Relena.

***************

8:15 p.m.

Sally was coming down the corridor toward me.

I tensed. She wasn't smiling. She just looked… abstracted.

She stopped beside me. And she smiled.

"She's going to be fine," she said. "She still has a long haul, but there should be a full recovery."

"Thank God."

Sally frowned sternly. "Now will you go get some sleep? Your friend here has arranged a bed in the room next to Iris's. How, I don't know. This floor was supposed to be full."

Bless Wufei. Bless Sally Po. Bless everyone in the whole damn world. "Soon I want to go and sit with Iris for a while."

"She's still under sedation."

"I don't care."

Sally grinned. "I did good, huh?"

"Dynamite." I headed down the hall toward Iris's room. "You're right, you're totally brilliant."

***************

9:30 a.m.

"Des Moines," Relena said when Heero picked up the phone. "1523 Jasper Street."

"She called him?"

"He called her. She evidently doesn't have his number because she tried to get it when he called. He put her off and she didn't like it. He didn't like your visit to his mother either. I'm arranging transport for you, but I'm also sending men in from St. Louis in case you don't move fast enough."

"Do you expect me to argue? I'd tell you to have the local police pick him up if I wasn't afraid they'd blow it. I'm on my way to the airport." He pulled out of the supermarket parking lot.

There was a chance Catalonia might already be gone before anyone got there. Making him uneasy was a risk Heero had to take when he'd contacted mother. Uneasy enough to contact Dekim or make a move himself?
He hoped not. He had an idea time was running out.

***************

11:10 p.m.

"Will you please go to bed? It's almost midnight." Wufei was squatting beside my chair. "This isn't doing Iris any good."

"I know." I leaned back in the rocking chair, my gaze fixed on Iris's face. "I guess I'm afraid to leave her." I smiled. "She opened her eyes about five minutes ago. I think she recognized me."

"That's good."

"This is a nice room, isn't it? All children's rooms should have rocking chairs. They're very comfortable."

"I suppose they put it here for rocking sick babies."
"I wish I could rock Iris. Look at her. She's in a straitjacket."

"I believe the correct term is body cast. I guess they have to keep her from moving."

"Did you call Heero and tell him she's going to be all right?"

"You think he'd be interested? A cold, cruel, man like Heero?"
"Shut up, Wufei. He's all those things but he liked Iris. Who couldn't help but like Iris?" Sitting there, I'd been remembering that night on the Montana when Heero had stayed with me until we'd known Iris would live. He hadn't been pretending that night. He'd been genuinely concerned about Iris.

Wufei nodded, his gaze on the baby's face. "Can I talk you into going to bed now?"

I shook my head. "I'm comfortable. I want to be here in case she wakes up again."

"You really should go to-" He stopped. "I can't convince you can I?"
"Nope, you use the bed."

"I wouldn't be so dishonorable." He sat down on an upright chair across the room. "I'll stay here in case you change your mind."

There was a comfortable silence in the room.

"Wu, call Heero and tell him about Iris."

"He already knows. He called me."

"He did?"
"He was on his way to the airport in Kansas City. He was very relieved about Iris."

"Kansas City?"

"He's been tracking down a man who might lead him to Dekim."

Dekim. I had been on such an emotional roller-coaster ride about Iris that I hadn't time to dwell on Dekim. But Heero had not forgotten him. He was as driven as he'd always been. Could I really blame him? When Quatre had died, I had almost gone crazy. How would I have reacted if my entire family had been killed?

My god, I was making excuses for him when there was no excuse. Heero couldn't have been more wrong. He had used me and manipulated the situation to suit-

Just as I had done after Quatre's funeral. I had no second thoughts about using Heero. I would have used anyone to get Dekim. Monsters should not be allowed to live.

Show them the monsters.

No, not now. The hatred and the passion for revenge would come again, but tonight I didn't want to think of Dekim or Heero or anything disturbing. I just wanted to relax and enjoy this moment of thanksgiving. Iris was alive and someday she was going to run and play like other children.

Surely it was safe to forget about monsters for a little while longer.