A/N: Once again, thank you to everyone who reviewed. I would list all your names except the list's getting too long! A special thanks goes out to 'mjag' who told me how to accept anonymous reviews (hint hint) and anyone else who continues to read 'Encrypted Legacy'.
As promised, here's your first action-filled chapter . . . (and it won't be the last)
Ciaro Café: part one
Riley's left. It's almost six o'clock. I'm practically alone here at NCIS. I have no idea who's tailing Riley. I don't even know if anyone is telling Riley, and tonight may be the only chance we'll get to nab the Phantom. And I'm the only one who knows.
I stare at my computer screen, reduced to slapping the keys at any odd moment. I won't deny it, I'm looking for an email from Harm that'll put me at ease. If he knows who's going to tail Riley, fine. But tell me.
"Ma'am, if it's all right, I'm going to be off," Ms. Lindsey said, coming out of nowhere and making me jump out of my skin.
"Yeah, sure," I said slowly, trying to stop my hammering heart.
Ms. Lindsey turns around and is about one foot out the door when I suddenly stand up and call her back. She turns around and looks at me quizzically, but obeys.
"Um, do you know this place?" I ask kind of nervously. For all I know, the four-foot-something doe-eyed woman could be the Phantom. Yeah right, but I still don't know for sure. "My friend asked me to meet her there. "Uh . . . Ciaro Café?"
"Oh, yes!" Ms. Lindsey exclaims good naturedly. "It's really a very popular place. A little ways out of town but the food is good and not too expensive.
"Of course," she says catching my eye, "it'll be very busy tonight. Fridays are usually the worst at the Ciaro Café. But then again, if you want to go public–" she smirks –"then you've got the right place."
She seems to know a lot . . . even for a secretary.
"Any chance you could give me directions there?" I asked, now starting to feel tense at the look of this woman. She's smiling largely, her teeth are pearly white (I've never noticed that before) and she seems to be drooling slightly, making her look like some sort of rabid animal.
"Sure," she replied. "You'd be coming from the Santa Monica Hotel, right?"
I nod. Okay, she's definitely not supposed to know that.
"Well, you go down to the end of the road, turn left and . . ." she droned off while she wrote the directions on a piece of paper.
If she were the Phantom, I thought grimly to myself, then she'd be directing me to her lair. I shiver at the thought. Cut it out, Mackenzie, only dragons and villains of lairs.
I stare at the poster board that's plastered to the wall a few feet away. It has a picture of every victim the Phantom's ever killed. Alright, villain's lairs are not quite out of the picture yet . . .
". . . and after turning there you'll be at the café," Ms. Lindsey said, dotting the page quickly with her pen. "There you go. Let me know if you have any trouble with the directions."
"No problem," I replied, once again tense. "Thanks."
I watch her leave in her car, making sure she was well out of the way before I surrendered myself to the parking lot, looking for my Corvette.
I'm sorry, Harm, I thought to myself as I left the Santa Monica hotel is a very long dark red skirt, my hair tucked under a fashionable black beret and my face made up so I was barely recognizable. It's not too dangerous . . .
"6:54," Beth O'Neil barked into her two-way radio watch. "I got your six, Roadrunner."
Catherine Gayle paused slightly to readjust her wire . . . or shall we say, earring "What was that?" she whispered into her watch.
"I've got your six," Beth repeated more firmly. "Pay attention. Elvis has entered the building."
Catherine looked over her shoulder, flinging a long wave of hair out of the way. Beth had insisted that she wear her hair out and she had died it a very low-key red color as a quick hopeful disguise incase Riley or someone did recognize her.
Fat chance of that, though, Beth thought. I'll be damned if Cat ever dons red again
She had worn a much better outfit though. Beth laughed; I barely even recognize it's me. Beth wore very baggy overalls under which she had stuffed a pillow to create the overly large stomach impact. She had pinned her hair up underneath a Blue Jays baseball cap and wore white whiskers. All in all she looked like she was in the midst of the vital healthy age of 65.
"My, my, he's fine," Beth heard Catherine laugh into the watch. "Are you sure it's him?"
Beth laughed. "Would you forget that face if you saw it?"
Riley shuffled away into the crowd that had gathered outside the Ciaro Café. The café itself was small, but they had a large outdoor serving area with rows and rows of little round tables topped with umbrellas, making the whole scene look very Venetian. Though it was only five 'til seven, the sky was already a deep shade of blue and the orange lights of the café danced through the air.
"Cover me," Catherine said quietly, also pushing her way through the crowd, "I'm going in."
"Whatever," Beth said lazily. "Just do it where I can see you–" and then Beth cut off. She was facing something very small, very black, and very lethal. Something otherwise known as a gun.
Wow, Lindsey wasn't kidding when she said this place was packed, I thought as I squeezed my way through the crowd. This is a spying nightmare.
I couldn't help that feeling of foreboding that crept over me. Riley was supposed to be here. Supposedly the Phantom was supposed to be here too. And technically I wasn't. And Riley would most certainly recognize me if we bumped heads.
Which really could be taken very literally seeing as I'll probably bump into a hundred people just trying to get to the bathroom and back.
I shiver. Harm would kill me if he knew I was here . . . alone. Just like I would kill him if he was in the same position. I couldn't help but gulp back that feeling of attraction. The last thing I needed to be thinking about when I went madly chasing after a serial killer was the guy that would jump in front of a bullet to save me.
I strain my eyes against the thickness of the crowd. Everyone and their mother are here today.
I made my way through the body of people. No Riley. I managed to reach the bar without having to deck a guy in the face (which really does say something when these drunken guys pass you, flailing their hands in unwanted places) and no Riley. I can't say I didn't deck anyone while making my way to the back of the restaurant (unless a flat-palmed slap doesn't count as a deck) and I couldn't catch sight of Riley.
He truly picked a very good place for his "meeting". You can't hear anyone's private conversation over the noise that the crowd is making, let alone find the people you want to be listening to.
I shove a few people out of the way as I try and reach the bathroom. I know Riley won't be in the girls' bathroom, but there's no way I can think in this din.
"Ugh," I grunt, letting slip a disgusting swearword as I push the door to the bathroom closed, successfully blocking out the sound of the crowd.
I turn around. The bathroom's uncommonly clean. The walls are pearly white, just like the rest of the bathroom including color of tiles and the stalls. The room's empty as far as I can tell (which is surprising because you'd think with all the drinking they were doing out there, they might have to go sometime).
I exhale a breath and rubbing my eyes with my palm, I push open the stall door to find someone already there.
"They've got Beth," she whispers.
"What?" I ask, my numb shock steadily being replaced by growing fear. "Who's Beth and . . . what are you doing here?"
Catherine looked taken back for a moment. "Didn't Harm tell you?"
"Was Harm supposed to tell me anything?"
"I'm his girlfriend."
To say I feel like a ton of bricks just catapulted into my stomach is an understatement. The understatement of the century.
"You're his girlfriend?" I ask dryly. "I didn't know he had one."
"Of course he does," Catherine says briskly. "It was crucial that he had one."
"Crucial?" I echo. "To have a girlfriend?"
"Yes," Catherine replied impatiently. "Did you think he would be alone?"
"Well, no," I replied, feeling sick to my stomach, "but not to be rude or anything but . . . when . . . when did this happen?"
"This morning," she replied quickly.
This morning . . . after I sleeping with me? . . . I didn't mean it that way!
"Yes, but now he's out on the carrier and I'm here and so was Beth but now she's not," Catherine whimpered. "And I don't now what to do, I don't even know where she is and then you came in and . . . you haven't seen her, have you?"
"What are you talking about?" I ask groggily. Catherine Gayle is Harm's girlfriend. Harm is Catherine's boyfriend. Is this some sort of sick joke? Hasn't Harm learned from my spook experience! "Who's Beth?"
"Beth!" echoes Catherine rolling her eyes. "Harm's mother!"
What?
"And she was radioing me but then she stopped and when I spoke, she didn't pick up. And now I don't know where she is because I don't even know where she was before she stopped communication."
"Wait a minute," I say bringing my hands up to stop her. "Harm's mother's here and . . . you were radioing each other?"
"Well, yeah," Catherine said persistently. "How else were we supposed to talk to each other and then Riley came in and . . ."
"Wait!" I cry. "Riley came in and . . . how do you know about him?"
"Harm and Clay filled me in," Catherine snapped. "Anyways, I went off after Riley and that's when Beth stopped communicating."
"Who the hell is Beth?" I explode. "Harm's mother is named Trish!"
"Well, actually, according to recently updated files it's Gloria," Catherine rattled off. "But then again, I'm suppose according to recent files my names is Moira but of course that's beside the point–"
"What the hell, Catherine?" I cried. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Who's Beth or Gloria or whoever and I still don't understand why you're here!"
"Didn't Harm tell you?" she asked wide-eyed.
"Obviously not," I growl.
"Beth O'Neil and I are undercover, covering Harm's six," Catherine ran through quickly. "Harm emailed us saying that you said that Riley was here with the Phantom so I went in while Beth covered me but now she's missing, Riley's nowhere in sight, and I'm sitting in a bathroom stall talking to you."
A moment of silence filled the cubicle. "So . . . you're . . . not really dating Harm?"
Right, Mackenzie. A CIA agent just dropped off the face of the earth, the prime suspect in your investigation has vanished with a possible serial killer and the more you stand here you're in danger, and you're worried about who's dating Harm . . . I haven't changed at all in the past nine years.
"No," whispered Catherine hurriedly. "Did you think he would just replace you or something?"
"We're not together–" I begin but Catherine cuts us off.
"Oh, save it. I probably know more about your and Harm's past than you do," she said. "And besides that, what the hell are we going to do?"
And that's when we hear the screams coming from outside. Catherine and I stare at each other before we run through the door.
The crowd's even more massive than before, and I can hear a woman shrieking in terror. I push my way through, shoving everyone out of the way. A crack like a whip sounds in the air, and now that godforsaken woman is not the only one screaming.
"What's going on!" Catherine cries over the noise of the crowd.
"Gun!" I mouth. There's no point in screaming. I won't be heard.
"Where?" she mouths.
I try and tell her I have no clue but I can't be heard. Screaming in frustration (and not even making a sound) I storm my way into the center of the crowd.
There, in the middle of the café, is a man, not old by the looks of him, with blood fountainining out of his stomach, his head cocked to the side and his eyes rolling. All around him women were screaming and children were crying. I run over to his side.
"Sir!" I holler. "Sir, where did the shooter go?"
He opens his mouth, blood dripping slowly out of his jaws and pointed at the rooftop of the café.
Oh shit . . .
I clamber up the ladder quickly, my feet slipping on the soaked bars of the ladder. Behind me Catherine struggles to make it up the ladder too. I can already tell the shingled roof is going to be slippery too.
"Ugh!" I grunt as I haul myself onto the slanted roof and drop down to pull Catherine up. I grasp her arm and swing her by my side, my bare knee grazing the tough brick. Today was NOT the day to wear a skirt.
I hear something crash. I whirl around and through the darkness only slightly illuminated by the café lights below, I can see a figure making their way over the roof.
Catherine laid crumpled on the roof top, unable to catch her breath. She moved her arm swinging it away. "Go," she mouthed to me. "Hurry."
I turned to look at her once, as if to say something, and then realized there wasn't anything I could. I jumped up (hard to do on a slanted roof) and ran forward, realizing at every perilous moment that if I slipped I would most likely break my neck. I could hear footsteps pounding in front of me, and I quickened into a full fledged sprint across the roof.
And then it came, the edge. The edge of the roof loomed forward and I collapsed myself onto the side, clinging to the shingles, afraid my own momentum combined with the angle of the roof side would throw me over.
I strained my eyes against the blackness of night. I couldn't see anyone, and yet I was positive I heard the footsteps . . .
I let my breathing regulate and then slowly got to my feet, my legs wobbling. I took a step backwards, to make for the other side of the roof when two hands grabbed me. I didn't even have time to draw a breath to scream before I was pitched over the edge.
Preview of Ciaro Café: part two:
"The Phantom will strike in two days . . . and systematically the next target should be Commander Evan Hart," Webb explained. "Be on your watch, Rabb."
"Beth's still missing?" Catherine cried. "You've got to find her or dammit I will!"
"Webb," Mac said, voice trembling. "I've received a letter from the Phantom."
"Harm!" I cried
"Mac!" he screamed back, before he was swallowed by darkness . . .
A/N: Sorry, I couldn't resist with the chapter preview to grasp your attention. Sorry it took me so long to update . . . I've been busy. Anyways, I just have a question for you all. What do you think of that blond Jordan-remake that Harm made off with at the end of 'Fit for Duty'? Was it just me or does this scream 'Renee-all-over-again'? Anyways, please review because I now officially accept ANONYMOUS REVIEWS.