Nowhere To Run
Chapter Two
Disclaimers: See chapter one
*God, I don't think I've ever felt this tired* Katherine was sitting at a traffic light in downtown Boise staring lifelessly at the cross traffic. She'd been on the run for longer than she cared to remember. New cities. New faces. New places to sleep, but only for a day or two at the most, because then it was always time to move on.
As the traffic went whizzing by, she took a moment to look at herself in the rear view mirror. He blond hair was unkempt and in bad need of a cut. Her once sparkling green eyes were as lifeless as she felt with dark circles under each. *I look like shit* she thought to herself. She moved the mirror back into position and started to daydream of what she wished her life was like. A life she knew she'd never have. In her line of work, dreams seldom came true. But nonetheless……………
Trees. She wanted to be around a great many trees. Mountains would be nice too, but not a necessity. But wherever it was, it definitely needed to be wide open with lots of land and lots of privacy. No neighbors peeking over the fences striking up conversations about barbecue grills or their latest home additions. She most certainly was not the gab with the neighbors type of gal. Even when she had been able to lead a semblance of a normal life, she was always the one in her apartment building that no one knew anything about. She'd just nod her head at them and be on her merry way, leaving them to gossip about god only knew what.
On second thought………….mountains. She would certainly love to able to gaze out at the mountains every morning. Dwarfed by their immense size and grandeur, somehow her own problems would be put into perspective. A cabin of some sort would be all the shelter she would need. Nothing fancy or ornate. Just good simple clean living out in the middle of………..
"Hey lady!!!! Move it!!! I'd like to get to work sometime before Christmas!!"
Katie was startled and immediately began to move. She couldn't believe she'd been caught off guard like that. Stupid daydreams! She really had to pay more attention to what was going on around her. In her line of work, getting caught daydreaming could get you killed. *I really must be tired*
A few minutes later she pulled into a rather non-descript motel just outside of town. A perfect place to hide out for the night. For the past month, she'd had the feeling that someone was following close behind her. She had a few contacts left that she still trusted, and they had informed her that a couple of people had been showing her picture here and there trying to dig up whatever info they could on her. Cops. They had to be. Actually Feds, more than likely. She'd been in 8 different states in the past 6 weeks and it was always the same people in pursuit. Definitely Feds.
She got out of her car (stolen car in actuality) and removed the packages inside. Some food for the next couple of days as well as some other essentials. A pair of scissors and some hair dye. Time for a makeover. Goodbye blonde, hello mousy brown. Anything to make her fade into the background some more.
She had come to a decision late last night as she lay awake staring at another hotel ceiling. She was tired of running. She could run for the rest of her life and never feel safe. Part of her even wanted to be caught at this point, but the other part of her wasn't ready to lay down and die just yet, And that's exactly what would happen to her if she got caught. She'd be dead. You don't cross the people she'd crossed and keep breathing. They'd make sure of that. And she was sure that was why she was being pursued as closely as she was. These people would never give up. They held all the cards.
So a change in tactics was called for. No more running. She intended to do something they wouldn't anticipate. She'd hide in plain sight. Find a nice big city and stay put. Take on a new identity and just blend in with the rest of the world going about their normal day.
Normal. She'd never known a so-called normal life. Her father had been a captain in the Army and all-in-all been stationed more places around the world by the time she was 15 than most people see in a life time. She never really made friends. No attachments meant it was easier when it came time to move on. Maybe that was why she had been so good at her job. She'd take on an assignment with no emotional involvement. Get in. Get the job done and get out. But somewhere along the way, it all went wrong. She'd trusted people she should never have trusted. A vital mistake in her line of work. Trust the wrong people, and you get dead. End of story. Well, she wasn't dead yet. Not yet.
Katie took out the hair dye and scissors and took one last long look in the mirror.
Yep, a change in tactics was called for. Hide in plain sight. These were her thoughts as she grabbed a fist full of hair and started to cut.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Chicago - 2 days later
Alex and Jake sat around the conference table waiting for everyone else.
"You know you'd better put that out before he gets here," Jake said motioning to Alex's cigarette.
"I know, I know. It's just that ever since this case began I've had this really bad feeling and the only thing that calms me down is this."
"I thought I was the only one who thought something was odd about this case, " Cody said joining them at the table. "And Jake's right, you really need to put that out now. You know Frank. He'll ban you from smoking anyplace…….any time. And he'll find you too if you try it. The man can retask a satellite for Christ's sake!"
"Let's get started," Frank said as he walked down the steps from his office followed closely by Monica. Alex quickly ducked under the table and put out the cigarette she was smoking.
"Monica and I have been going over all of the available information that we have one more time. We're in agreement. We haven't missed anything." Frank took a second to look over at Jake who looked away sheepishly.
"I've contacted the Bureau and asked them for any additional data that we may not have received from them originally. I don't think there will be anything, but it's a shot. So in the meantime, we start over." Frank waited until the grumbling subsided. "I know what this means to all of you. More long hours of pounding the pavement, but we really have little choice at this point. I'm not willing to go to the powers that be and tell them that we can't get the job done."
He waited for that to sink in and then continued. "We know Katherine Dawson is out there, we've seen the evidence that she left behind on the trail we were able to follow. People don't just fall off of the face of the earth. We'll find her. We have to. She's a cold blooded killer, and it's our job to bring her to justice."
"So here's the game plan. We follow the illogical."
Alex and Jake just stared at Frank like he'd just grown a second head.
"Follow the illogical, " Jake repeated incredulously. "Exactly what the hell does that mean?"
"Cody," Frank said, "why don't you fill them in on your idea."
Cody sat there with his mouth hanging open staring like a deer caught in headlights at his boss. "Me?" he managed to squeak. Frank merely nodded.
*OK hotshot, you wanted a bigger role in this team. Here goes.* Cody thought to himself.
"Everything we've done up to this point is exactly text book. We've done exactly what we're supposed to do when we're supposed to do it. If this woman knows anything about law enforcement, she would have been able to anticipate our moves long before we even made them. And more than likely most of what we had found along the way had been planted evidence. I mean, she never showed up on any of our video surveillance feeds. At least we didn't recognize her if she did. So maybe we've just spent the last 2 months chasing our own tails.
"I say we stop thinking like cops and follow an illogical path. Given what we know about this woman, what would be the least likely course of action she would follow?
And see where that takes us." With that Cody sat down and stared around the table at the faces of his fellow team members. Alex and Jake just looked sort of stunned. Monica was just nodding her head and busily writing on the paper in front of her and Frank…..well Frank almost looked……proud.
Again Frank stood and faced the team. "So there you have it. What do you think?"
Jake, still looking subdued said, "It just might work." Alex just nodded in agreement.
"All right. We start phase 2 of this search on Monday," Frank said and then turned towards his office.
"Monday??", Alex asked. "That's five days away!"
"Exactly," Frank replied. "You all need some time off and this may be your last chance for awhile. Take advantage of it. Relax. Enjoy yourselves. Just be back her refreshed and ready to take this case on full force some Monday."
Frank again headed for the stairs and stopped. "And Alex, if I catch you smoking in here again, you won't be safe anywhere. Get it?"
Alex looked wide-eyed at Frank and nodded quickly.
"Told you!" Jake laughed.
Chapter Two
Disclaimers: See chapter one
*God, I don't think I've ever felt this tired* Katherine was sitting at a traffic light in downtown Boise staring lifelessly at the cross traffic. She'd been on the run for longer than she cared to remember. New cities. New faces. New places to sleep, but only for a day or two at the most, because then it was always time to move on.
As the traffic went whizzing by, she took a moment to look at herself in the rear view mirror. He blond hair was unkempt and in bad need of a cut. Her once sparkling green eyes were as lifeless as she felt with dark circles under each. *I look like shit* she thought to herself. She moved the mirror back into position and started to daydream of what she wished her life was like. A life she knew she'd never have. In her line of work, dreams seldom came true. But nonetheless……………
Trees. She wanted to be around a great many trees. Mountains would be nice too, but not a necessity. But wherever it was, it definitely needed to be wide open with lots of land and lots of privacy. No neighbors peeking over the fences striking up conversations about barbecue grills or their latest home additions. She most certainly was not the gab with the neighbors type of gal. Even when she had been able to lead a semblance of a normal life, she was always the one in her apartment building that no one knew anything about. She'd just nod her head at them and be on her merry way, leaving them to gossip about god only knew what.
On second thought………….mountains. She would certainly love to able to gaze out at the mountains every morning. Dwarfed by their immense size and grandeur, somehow her own problems would be put into perspective. A cabin of some sort would be all the shelter she would need. Nothing fancy or ornate. Just good simple clean living out in the middle of………..
"Hey lady!!!! Move it!!! I'd like to get to work sometime before Christmas!!"
Katie was startled and immediately began to move. She couldn't believe she'd been caught off guard like that. Stupid daydreams! She really had to pay more attention to what was going on around her. In her line of work, getting caught daydreaming could get you killed. *I really must be tired*
A few minutes later she pulled into a rather non-descript motel just outside of town. A perfect place to hide out for the night. For the past month, she'd had the feeling that someone was following close behind her. She had a few contacts left that she still trusted, and they had informed her that a couple of people had been showing her picture here and there trying to dig up whatever info they could on her. Cops. They had to be. Actually Feds, more than likely. She'd been in 8 different states in the past 6 weeks and it was always the same people in pursuit. Definitely Feds.
She got out of her car (stolen car in actuality) and removed the packages inside. Some food for the next couple of days as well as some other essentials. A pair of scissors and some hair dye. Time for a makeover. Goodbye blonde, hello mousy brown. Anything to make her fade into the background some more.
She had come to a decision late last night as she lay awake staring at another hotel ceiling. She was tired of running. She could run for the rest of her life and never feel safe. Part of her even wanted to be caught at this point, but the other part of her wasn't ready to lay down and die just yet, And that's exactly what would happen to her if she got caught. She'd be dead. You don't cross the people she'd crossed and keep breathing. They'd make sure of that. And she was sure that was why she was being pursued as closely as she was. These people would never give up. They held all the cards.
So a change in tactics was called for. No more running. She intended to do something they wouldn't anticipate. She'd hide in plain sight. Find a nice big city and stay put. Take on a new identity and just blend in with the rest of the world going about their normal day.
Normal. She'd never known a so-called normal life. Her father had been a captain in the Army and all-in-all been stationed more places around the world by the time she was 15 than most people see in a life time. She never really made friends. No attachments meant it was easier when it came time to move on. Maybe that was why she had been so good at her job. She'd take on an assignment with no emotional involvement. Get in. Get the job done and get out. But somewhere along the way, it all went wrong. She'd trusted people she should never have trusted. A vital mistake in her line of work. Trust the wrong people, and you get dead. End of story. Well, she wasn't dead yet. Not yet.
Katie took out the hair dye and scissors and took one last long look in the mirror.
Yep, a change in tactics was called for. Hide in plain sight. These were her thoughts as she grabbed a fist full of hair and started to cut.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Chicago - 2 days later
Alex and Jake sat around the conference table waiting for everyone else.
"You know you'd better put that out before he gets here," Jake said motioning to Alex's cigarette.
"I know, I know. It's just that ever since this case began I've had this really bad feeling and the only thing that calms me down is this."
"I thought I was the only one who thought something was odd about this case, " Cody said joining them at the table. "And Jake's right, you really need to put that out now. You know Frank. He'll ban you from smoking anyplace…….any time. And he'll find you too if you try it. The man can retask a satellite for Christ's sake!"
"Let's get started," Frank said as he walked down the steps from his office followed closely by Monica. Alex quickly ducked under the table and put out the cigarette she was smoking.
"Monica and I have been going over all of the available information that we have one more time. We're in agreement. We haven't missed anything." Frank took a second to look over at Jake who looked away sheepishly.
"I've contacted the Bureau and asked them for any additional data that we may not have received from them originally. I don't think there will be anything, but it's a shot. So in the meantime, we start over." Frank waited until the grumbling subsided. "I know what this means to all of you. More long hours of pounding the pavement, but we really have little choice at this point. I'm not willing to go to the powers that be and tell them that we can't get the job done."
He waited for that to sink in and then continued. "We know Katherine Dawson is out there, we've seen the evidence that she left behind on the trail we were able to follow. People don't just fall off of the face of the earth. We'll find her. We have to. She's a cold blooded killer, and it's our job to bring her to justice."
"So here's the game plan. We follow the illogical."
Alex and Jake just stared at Frank like he'd just grown a second head.
"Follow the illogical, " Jake repeated incredulously. "Exactly what the hell does that mean?"
"Cody," Frank said, "why don't you fill them in on your idea."
Cody sat there with his mouth hanging open staring like a deer caught in headlights at his boss. "Me?" he managed to squeak. Frank merely nodded.
*OK hotshot, you wanted a bigger role in this team. Here goes.* Cody thought to himself.
"Everything we've done up to this point is exactly text book. We've done exactly what we're supposed to do when we're supposed to do it. If this woman knows anything about law enforcement, she would have been able to anticipate our moves long before we even made them. And more than likely most of what we had found along the way had been planted evidence. I mean, she never showed up on any of our video surveillance feeds. At least we didn't recognize her if she did. So maybe we've just spent the last 2 months chasing our own tails.
"I say we stop thinking like cops and follow an illogical path. Given what we know about this woman, what would be the least likely course of action she would follow?
And see where that takes us." With that Cody sat down and stared around the table at the faces of his fellow team members. Alex and Jake just looked sort of stunned. Monica was just nodding her head and busily writing on the paper in front of her and Frank…..well Frank almost looked……proud.
Again Frank stood and faced the team. "So there you have it. What do you think?"
Jake, still looking subdued said, "It just might work." Alex just nodded in agreement.
"All right. We start phase 2 of this search on Monday," Frank said and then turned towards his office.
"Monday??", Alex asked. "That's five days away!"
"Exactly," Frank replied. "You all need some time off and this may be your last chance for awhile. Take advantage of it. Relax. Enjoy yourselves. Just be back her refreshed and ready to take this case on full force some Monday."
Frank again headed for the stairs and stopped. "And Alex, if I catch you smoking in here again, you won't be safe anywhere. Get it?"
Alex looked wide-eyed at Frank and nodded quickly.
"Told you!" Jake laughed.