Chapter 108
Mexico
Jeremy crouched momentarily among the saguaro. He wiped one hand over his perspiring brow and wished for the cool of some shade. The late afternoon heat made everything in the desolate landscape shimmer.
"How much longer until we meet up with these friends of yours?" Walter asked. He'd flung himself into the minor shade of a cactus… and was examining his torn and bloody bare feet. He pulled out a thorn with a grimace.
Jeremy shook his head. "Not until I'm certain no one is watching us. They left you alive for a reason. I won't risk leading them back to my friends."
Walter nodded and tossed the thorn away. He rubbed his healing foot. "Just wish I'd found some shoes back there." His face was florid in the heat. He lifted the surgical bone saw he'd grabbed as they left and grinned at the con man. "You may depend on me young Jeremy. I am a true master of the blade… all blades… even something as unwieldy as this. Why I once…"
Jeremy shook his head. "Give it a rest Walter! I'm too hot and too tired for all this posturing!"
"I'll have you know… I never posture!" Walter said as he struck a theatrical pose.
For about the tenth time since reviving the actor, Jeremy Dexter seriously considered just taking the man's head and leaving. But he'd think better of it each time. He and the others were attempting to save their fellow immortals from these Watchers… and while, in time to come, the game might force them to kill one another… it wouldn't… shouldn't… be now.
"Just settle back and let's get a little rest before we move on." Accordingly, Jeremy stretched out on the rocky sand and closed his eyes, his ears still straining for the sounds of anything.
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Mexico City
Matt thanked the driver and slowly approached the gates of the embassy to talk to the Marines standing guard. Once he'd shown his FBI identification… he was swiftly buzzed into the compound and led to the consulate offices.
Once there, he settled to wait in the lavishly decorated outer offices. He closed his eyes, weary beyond belief, worried about exposing himself… and more worried about those he'd left behind. He rubbed one hand across his eyes.
"Agent McCormick?"
Matt looked wearily up into the face of Donald Tremain, assistant adjutant to the ambassador. The man was lean… and looked every inch the warrior and Marine he'd once been.
Matt nodded and rose to shake his hand… grasping Tremain's left wrist and surreptitiously turning it over… looking for a tattoo. He saw none.
"My secretary says you've been under deep cover and have a report to make concerning some illegal activities." If Tremain was either confused by Matt's observation of his wrist… or surprised at his arrival here… he showed nothing. His flint gray eyes regarded the agent flatly.
"Yes sir," Matt said, giving it his best deep-south accent, and letting the words drip like molasses from his tongue. "I've been tracking some serial killers… killers of Americans… and I've found what I suspect is their stronghold in northern Mexico. I need your assistance to mount attack on it. I doubt the local authorities would listen to me."
"Why the necessity of attacking them here?"
"I believe they are holding a number of Americans prisoner within their fortified hacienda. I believe they will kill them before the day is out."
Tremain's eyes widened. "You're certain of this?"
Matt grimaced slightly. "As certain as I can be. While alone I could follow them… I couldn't get inside the hacienda without being captured. I did see armed men… and I have been in other places these people have used in the past… and seen what they have left behind." Keep it vivid enough to convince him… vague enough to intrigue him, Matt thought. "Our people are being tortured and butchered."
"You think it may be terrorists?"
Matt nodded curtly. "It certainly is one possibility."
Tremain looked into the distance and sighed. His military background screamed for an immediate attack before anything happened… but his diplomatic training urged caution. "I'll need additional specifics so that I can make my report to the ambassador. He's the one who has to approach the Mexican authorities about any operation we need to be involved in."
Matt swallowed and nodded. "Of course. But time is of the essence. These people have led me a merry chase. They apparently have vast resources… and many properties both here and throughout the world."
Tremain gestured for Matt to follow him into his office. "Then it is time, Agent, to make your report. I want to hear everything you have learned."
Matt followed… he had to… or more would die.
-----
Mexico
Jade impatiently rose. "It's taking too long for Jeremy to get back!" she snapped. She grabbed one of the automatic rifles and a canteen. "I'm going down there."
Katya grabbed her arm, only to be shrugged off. "He'll be here!"
"He's likely just bein' careful." Amber looked up from where she sat and gave Jade a weak smile. "Ya know how men are. They want to protect us."
Jade snorted. "I can protect myself!" She narrowed her eyes as she regarded Katya. "Can you?"
"I promised, we'd wait."
Jade stared off into the distance. "Matt may be dead. He may be days away from getting back to us. He may be captured. Has he called? No!" She rammed the bolt of the automatic and held it up with a grin. "I say we go down there. We look for information… and we…" she laughed. "protect the men. We draw the attention to us."
Katya bit her lip. She liked Jade's plan. She was weary of this waiting. She also knew that she and Jade were older and far more capable of fighting than Jeremy Dexter appeared to be. And… Katya fingered her own automatic… she desperately wanted to kill something… or someone.
Slowly she nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"No!" cried Amber. "Ya saw how many of them left here. We have no chance if they return!"
Katya sighed as she tried to think this through. "They left. They left for a reason. Did they know we were here?" She met the gaze of the others and shrugged. "I don't know. Do they know Matt has gone for help?" She smiled. "Unless they captured him… and I doubt that… they don't know."
Glancing at Jade, Katya smiled. "Let's give it another hour. I want to check my messages and try to reach Matt before we go down there."
"He'll just tell us to wait!" Jade snapped.
"Maybe… but he needs to know what we plan."
Jade collapsed back onto the sandy soil and dejectedly lowered her head into her hands. Katya patted the thief lightly on her back. "I know this is hard. I understand. But we are too few to make a difference right now." Katya handed Amber the binoculars and then scuttled down the slope to pull Matt's PPC out. She flicked it on and pulled up her email.
A few moments later, she grinned, whistled and motioned the others down the slope.
"I've heard from MacLeod," she said as they gathered about her. "He's met with one of these Watchers… Evidently this group," she gestured toward the slope, "is an aberrant faction of their organization. He suggests caution."
"Argghh!" Jade groaned. "Who's going to tell these people? Besides… no one has the right to interfere in the game… and that is precisely what these people are doing!"
"Anything from Matt?" asked Amber quietly.
Katya shook her head. She fingered the cell phone and considered calling him. Just then it vibrated. Nearly dropping it in her urgency to answer, she breathed a greeting into the phone.
"How goes it?" Matt's strong voice made Katya smile. Swiftly she explained what had happened so far… about the Watchers leaving, Jeremy's trip to the hacienda, his finding of Graham… and the dead bodies.
"He and Walter headed off to the south almost two hours ago. We've heard nothing else." Then she mentioned hearing from MacLeod.
"Then what I'm doing should work with his plans," Matt continued and explained that with luck… a combined US and Mexican force would approach the hacienda before dawn. "Stay out of there," Matt warned them. Let them find what's there. The bodies alone should be enough to substantiate my claims of this menace."
Jade grabbed the phone. "What about Jeremy? He's out there alone!"
Matt was silent. "Watch the horizon. It's all you can do."
"Watch the…?" Then Jade blanched and she shut her eyes. She handed the phone back to Katya.
"There are some additional coordinates in MacLeod's message." Swiftly she gave Matt the others in the US, Canada and Mexico.
"Thanks! After they see what's in the hacienda, I have a feelin' I'll have support for additional raids. Keep Jade and Amber safe, Katya. I'll meet up with you later… Once it's safe."
After making their farewells, Katya closed the cell phone. "Batteries getting low," she said quietly as she slipped it into her pants pocket.
The three women continued to crouch nervously in the late afternoon sun… each consumed by their worry… and their different memories.
-----
Paris, Spring 2000
Jade should have been furious. This cheeky immortal had interrupted her carefully laid plans to abscond with the Da Vinci!
Instead… against her better judgment… she found herself amused.
"Jeremy Dexter," the immortal said with a gracious bow and a flourish.
Jade had shaken her head and smirked at him. "You do realize that I was hoping to steal that Da Vinci from the exhibition… I had a buyer all lined up!"
"Ahh…" said Jeremy as he brought out from a pocket the ruby and pearl necklace of Catherine the Great. "I fear I was using your attempt to cover mine for this. May I make it up to you… say… fifty-fifty?"
Jade's eyes had widened and she stared at the rubies sparkling by the light of the street lamps. She licked her lips. It was worth far more than the Da Vinci. "Fifty-fifty?"
Jeremy had shrugged. "I always share with beautiful ladies."
She'd gazed then into his laughing eyes… and thought to herself… This could be fun!
-----
Calais, 1388
Katya raced into the small courtyard, flinging off her pack and drawing her small broadsword at the same time.
"You must be fluid in your motions," Benedict, her teacher had told her. "Always know what you will do in any situation… and be ready to adjust."
She rested her weight easily on the balls of her feet… hoping her skirts hid her steps and her intentions.
He entered… a big man… as so many of them were. A laughing sneer crossed his face. "A woman? You must be very young! Has no one taught you your place in the game, yet? You live to service me!"
Katya said nothing. This man did not need to know her true age… instead she focused on his movements and kept fearfully backing up… watching for the opening. He was overconfident… it would be his undoing.
"Female immortals are rare, Katya," the old one had said. "If only because too many awaken and unable to deal with the game… fall victim to the first immortal they meet. Your head would have been mine… if I'd so chosen." Benedict had circled around her… his blade at her throat as if to emphasize her peril. "You must never trust any of us."
"Even you?" she'd asked. He was a Franciscan Friar… and had found her half-mad and haunting the villagers who'd stoned her. She kept re-awakening whenever they'd kill her… and unable to understand what had happened… kept returning to her village… thinking that perhaps she was a ghost and destined to haunt them for all time.
She'd lost track of how long it had been happening. She'd awaken. Pull her bloodied rags about her and drift back into the village… where she'd stare and point fingers at her murderers. She'd steal food and drink… frighten the children... until they'd kill her again. Sometimes they'd hang her… sometimes drown her. The children grew and became her tormentors… casting stones at her as their parents once had.
Then one day… even as she'd circled the village green… hissing and screaming… the Franciscan had appeared. Her head had seemed to explode in a wild torrent of angry hornets… and she'd collapsed holding it.
"He is a holy man!" she heard whispered as the Friar had knelt at her side. "Look… he does not fear the demon." Gently he'd laid hands on her.
"She is one of God's children… not a demon. There is great potential here."
Cowering and whimpering on the ground, Katya had said nothing. When he'd offered his hand to help her rise… she'd taken it.
"Go!" he'd told the villagers. "I will take her with me. She will haunt you no more."
Katya had followed him meekly. At his fireside that night… he'd begun to explain. By the next morning… he'd begun her training.
Benedict had smiled as he backed away. "Any of us. Now then… pick up your sword… and let's try it again."
Katya brushed the remnants of her teacher away… focusing instead on the immortal before her. Once she'd finished her training, Benedict had recommended she move on to another land… another life.
"Others will find you Katya. Never trust them… ever. Be always ready… ever vigilant."
She'd had so little time since her recent crossing from England. Already… one had found her. Katya focused on him. She was at a disadvantage in size and reach… as Benedict had warned her she would be.
He spread his arms and made a kissing movement with his lips within his neatly trimmed dark beard. "Shall we get to know one another properly?" One of his hands dropped to his crotch as he made an obscene gesture. "Which sword of mine do you want?"
Katya drew a deep breath, pulled back her arms… then ran and leaped at him… thrusting her blade into his chest… grinning at the look of surprise on his face. Pulling back once more… she waited until he was on his knees. Then she sliced… seeing in this man… all the men who had ever wronged her.
The power she received had wracked her as death seldom had… except that first time. In its aftermath… Katya found Louis of Cologne's crossbow. Benedict was right! She needed an advantage.
-----
Cheyenne, WY, 1872
Amber-Kate Connor… as she called herself in this life, glanced up from behind the bar. It was late… and she was tired… and in no mood for dealing with another immortal.
He'd entered and was slouched down in the shadows at the edge of the room… a dark soft hat pulled low over his face.
Rose bent to speak with him and then sauntered back to the bar.
"Kate… love… that one says he knows you," she said as she placed his order… "Scotch if we have it… neat. He wants the bottle."
Amber-Kate raked her eyes over the shadowy figure. "If'n he knows me… then he can come to the bar." She pulled out a bottle of Scots whiskey and blew the dust off. There was little call for good whiskey here. Most wanted it cheap and fast. She set the bottle on the bar and reached for a shot-glass, carefully wiping it with the corner of her apron.
Unlike the girls who worked the floor… taking orders… for whiskey or pleasure upstairs, Amber-Kate was dressed as a man… dark wool pants and a pale linen shirt covered her trim form. Her long dark blonde hair was pulled loosely back and braided down her back. The regulars had learned long ago not to make advances on her. Too many of them ended up flat on the floor… with their faces smushed into the spittoon if they tried.
There was a twitter of laughter as a few overheard her comments. They turned and leaned back… sipping their beer and spirits and ready for a show.
Rose took the immortal his drink. He poured a shot… lifted it in Amber-Kate's direction in a toast… and then drank it down swiftly.
She had a glimpse of his face under that hat when he'd tossed the whiskey back. And even if she hadn't… she knew him. Chuckling… she returned to her bar duties. It was Saturday night… and busy.
Several hours later… as she tossed the final few patrons out the door… and locked it, she grabbed another bottle from under the bar and settled down beside Connor MacLeod.
"So… me boyo… what brings ya to this place?"
Connor laughed. "Can't a teacher check up on a student… occasionally?" He poured another shot and swiftly downed it.
"To be certain. But I rather think I'm not the reason ya came to Cheyenne."
Connor laughed that distinctive laugh of his. "True… you always did read me like a book."
"Then who? I've been here six months and not seen another."
"Just passing through. Another of my students is further west. I've not seen him in some time… I've mentioned him… my kinsman Duncan MacLeod."
Amber-Kate had lit one of the small black cigarettes she'd recently discovered she had a taste for and casually shuffled a deck of playing cards… laying them out in a pattern for solitaire. "Oh…" she said without commitment.
"How about you lass? How goes your life?"
Amber-Kate downed a shot of whiskey. "It goes."
"Any love on the horizon?"
Amber-Kate sat back and sighed. "Ya say we should never love one another… because of the game. But how can I love a mortal knowin' what I know?"
"Tell me about him," her teacher said gently.
"He's a cattle rancher with a big place north of here. He seems sweet on me for some reason. And he's a nice enough man… it's just…" her voice drifted away.
"You ought to seize love while you can girl!" Connor had offered. "It doesn't find us that often… and when it does… it can be glorious."
"But he wants children. He's building up his ranch with an eye for the future. Knowin' we can't… I can't… not ever… how can I ruin it for him."
Connor sighed and fingered the bottle… so that the dark amber-gold whiskey sloshed about within it. He poured another shot for each of them. "Ya've heard me speak of Heather… my wife."
"Aye."
"I miss her still. The years since her death have not dimmed the love I bore her. And… I wouldna trade one day with her for anything. I wept when she died… but I wouldna have wanted it never to have been. Don't be afraid to love… Katie. Your life will be the richer for it." He lifted his glass in a toast. She clinked her glass with his… and smiled.
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NOTE: Walter Graham is a canon immortal from the episode Timeless. Benedict is listed on The New Watcher Chronicles CD-rom as Katya's teacher. In 1872, Connor did visit Duncan. It was at that time that Duncan's Indian family was killed.