Chapter Twenty-Three
Washington D.C.

Lunchtime found Sarah Manning at a small Italian restaurant in the Georgetown district of the nation's capital. She'd reconnoitered earlier and made certain that the location was innocuous and safe. She hadn't lived so long by just accepting people at face value… and she worried that Daryl Miller might have a hidden agenda. But there was no sign in the area of anything untoward.

She'd agreed to meet him for lunch after returning his call this morning. His finding her PCP was a relief to her, as she'd not have to completely reconstruct her database… unless he'd fooled with it. Even then… she might be able to reconstruct some of it more easily than re-building it from scratch. At any rate… not having to buy another one and start over again was a relief. Some of those links were devilishly hard to get access to without government clearance… a government clearance she no longer had. Besides… she likely had time for a little recreation.

She gave him a bright smile and a little wave as he entered and crossed to the table, sitting opposite her. She fingered her wine as she crossed her legs and hidden from sight beneath the white linen tablecloth… inserted her foot into his crotch and began pushing.

He blushed and shifted. Perspiration beaded on his forehead. "And good day to you to. This isn't fair. I can't do a thing for you."

"My meeting. My rules," she said huskily. "Besides, just watching you try to stay calm while you're hard as a rock and ready to explode is very entertaining."

"We could go somewhere… a hotel."

Sarah shook her head. "I'm not interested. That smacks too much of an affair."

"And this isn't an affair."

She laughed. "No… it's sex only. Dangerous… illicit… thrilling… " She punctuated each word with a nudge and chuckled as he tried to read the menu. She shut up when the waitress approached, but kept up her massage as she ordered and then smirked while he nervously placed an order. When the waitress left, he gulped down the water in his glass.

"Damn but you're good," he muttered. He sucked at the ice.

Sarah lifted her foot and grinned. "You have no idea."

"Well then… up against another wall after we eat?"

Sarah tapped the table; her long lacquered nails beating a staccato beat on the tablecloth. "My PCP?" she said and then smiled when he laid it down and pushed it toward her. She booted it up… entered her password and checked her files. "Nice. You didn't fool with anything," she said a bit surprised. She'd fully expected to find that everything was a mess… that in an attempt to find out who she was, that Miller would have tripped the alarm and that the files would have begun deleting.

"No… I just turned it on in hopes of getting a phone number, address, your name." The phone number was all I found."

"Well anything else is on a need to know basis. And you… Daryl… don't need to know." She crossed her other leg and pushed in on him again, reveling as he closed his eyes and shuddered slightly. Suddenly she took pity on him and stopped. He was fun to play with… but maybe it was time to throw him a bone. "Maybe we'll find that wall later."

"If I can walk out of here."

She laughed at that. "Did your wife like your neck?"

He shot her a glance and then rubbed the bruises he'd covered with a little make-up. "Not married."

"Girlfriend?"

Daryl shook his head. "We're not exclusive."

"Pity." Sarah smiled as she shut the PCP down re-encrypting her files with the floating password and shoved it into the purse at her feet. "I would love to have seen her face when she saw them."

"I note yours are covered up too."

"Mine? Oh… I'm a fast healer. I don't keep a bruise long." She quickly changed the subject as the salads arrived. For the remainder of the meal… she discussed the weather… the monuments… the latest films… anything that had absolutely nothing to do with their previous conversation. After all… she didn't want one of the waiters to overhear something he shouldn't.

Once lunch was finished, she let him take her arm as they exited the restaurant. She was in a hurry to get back to her room and work on her little project. She wanted to discover just exactly what and where that island was.

"Where to?" he said, his arm about her waist and his fingers already seeking skin. He whispered in her ear, his tongue already licking her earlobe.

Despite her plans, Sarah motioned up the street about half a block to a filthy alley. She might as well have a little fun and thoroughly degrade Miller's interest in her. "Down and dirty," she laughed as she turned and leaned provocatively against the brick wall of one building, raising a leg to pull him close while practically devouring his mouth and ramming her tongue down his throat. She threw one hand over her head and with the other… began to pull at his clothes.

Daryl groaned as he pushed her firmly against the wall, barely noticing whatever it was he was stepping in that made his feet stick to the pavement. He pulled back and bit her neck as hard as he could, sucking with all his might while she wriggled against him and moaned. "Fast healer?" he hissed. "We'll see about that." He pulled at her top and began to suckle her… again biting her harshly enough to taste blood, all the while feeling her cool hands undo his trousers and begin to massage him roughly. He let out a long breath as he stepped back and suddenly turned her roughly to face the wall… determined to have her his way this time. She laughed in invitation and wriggled her hips. He glanced around to be certain no one was watching as he pushed her skirt up to thrust into her. She continued to laugh and pushed against the wall for leverage while he took her. Even as he did so… he remembered why he was really here… and pulled the small syringe from his jacket pocket to ram into her neck.

She lurched suddenly with a cry that excited him even further. He hit the plunger to deliver the sedative. She was unconscious by the time he finished. He pulled free to do up his trousers and straightened her clothes to recover her as she slumped to the ground. Then he placed the call. "Got her. We're ready for pick-up." He pulled her into his arms and lifted her slightly as he dragged her back to the street. Carl's van pulled up and he loaded her into it with only a cursory glance at a couple of kids watching him curiously. Daryl made a sign as if she'd had too much to drink. The kids nodded as they high-fived one another in amusement and walked on… laughing.

Daryl climbed in and exhaled heavily in relief as he settled into the front seat and he re-adjusted his clothes into a better semblance of order. "My God… she's a tigress… completely uninhibited." He shivered in delight. "I can't wait to have her again. The boss should get some really good footage out of her."

He laughed as they drove away. Behind in the alley… Sarah Manning's purse lay discarded in the refuse littering the ground.

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The Northern Pacific:

The ship rocked gently as Amber awakened, aware that sunlight streamed through the porthole. From the feel of the ship on the waves… Amber knew they were once more streaking along before the wind. Feeling an immortal presence close by… she lifted her head with a start. It was Derrick. He sat on the floor with his legs drawn up… reading.

Hearing her intake of breath, he looked up at her with a smile, closed his book and rose to settle in beside her. "I didn't want to wake you," he said kissing her brow and letting his lips rest against it for several moments.

Amber pulled him into the bed beside her. "I've missed ya bein' here."

A sob broke Derrick's voice as he slid down beside her and pulled her close. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Never," she whispered as she cuddled into his embrace. Despite it all… she wanted him in her life… in her arms… and in her bed. She had missed him… and if someday he took her head… then that was the price of caring.

The ship's motion soon put her to sleep again. A far better and more relaxing sleep than she'd had for some time.

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Niebos:

Kenny saw her again… the little girl with black hair and green eyes who tilted her head as she stared at him curiously. She was barefoot, and the fingers of one grubby hand played with her hair as she regarded him.

"Are you dumb!" he'd yelled in exasperation the first time he'd seen her and she'd ignored his questions. He'd risen from his feet and closed in on her when she hadn't answered him. She'd flickered and vanished, leaving him once more alone in the deep well. He'd seen her several times since. She looked at him… but didn't seem to hear what he said.

This time he met her quizzical gaze with a sigh of regret. She wasn't real. She couldn't be real. She was just part of the nightmare… some new twist that his mind was creating.

She turned slightly as if she heard someone. Her mouth moved as if she talked… but he heard nothing. She pointed at him. Then she flickered away like a scene from an old movie on a reel-to-reel projector. The film broke… Kenny could almost here it snap against the gears. He closed his eyes and tried to dream… but the dream was always the same.

He watched figures move up and down a hospital ward… only occasionally glancing at him. He could sense immortals… on the fringes of his vision… but couldn't determine who was immortal and who wasn't. Then the dream faded… and only the well remained.

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"What are you doing here Marianna?" Greg Powers knelt down beside the little girl.

"Denara was looking for Grace."

Greg smiled warmly and looked around. "I think Grace is taking a break right now. Why are you in the ward?"

Marianna shrugged. "Visiting the boy." She pointed at Kenny. "He's not very happy. He wants out."

Greg narrowed his gaze as he glanced up at Kenny. The boy laid unmoving… eyes shut… as always. "Wait here," he said gently to the little girl and rose to check the readouts on Kenny's monitors. There had been a slight spike just moments ago. But the readings were now as they usually were. Greg marked the spike and the time along with a notation about Marianna's presence. He'd need to talk to Eleanor and Grace about this.

Finished, he clasped Marianna's hand. "Let's go find Denara and Grace. You shouldn't be alone little one."

Marianna gave him her hand, but looked back over her shoulder at the boy in the well. She waved to him as she left.

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Washington, DC:

Cecile Marshall shifted in her seat as her supervisor John Parker glanced over her notes and the accompanying purse with the PPC tucked neatly into a pocket. As an experienced Watcher, Cecile, while not the Watcher currently assigned to Sarah Manning, had recognized the elusive immortal emerging from Giorgio's in Georgetown, while she was on a break from her current assignment… and had swiftly made the most of the happenstance.

"And you got the license plate?" Parker was asking as he handled the PPC gingerly and then set it to one side to let the experts deal with it.

"Yes sir. Our contact in licensing gave me the name and address of the owner of the vehicle. The description matched that of the dark van which the gentleman shoved our immortal into."

"What do we know about the owner?"

"Research is still on it. I also contacted Manning's regular Watcher. He lost her three weeks ago outside of Nashville. He'll be in on a flight later today. From what he told me, Manning has a tendency to be involved in risky and dangerous sex. This time, it looks like she may have gotten more than what she bargained for."

Parker nodded. "I'd say her kidnapper likely has no idea what he has on his hands. She's not gonna be happy when she awakens." Parker sat back in his chair… rocking slightly. "Here's the plan. You coordinate all you can learn about the man she met and the owner of the van to have ready for Manning's Watcher… what's his name… Ryan Coltraine?" Cecile nodded, so Parker continued. "Meet him when he gets in and work with him. Your assignment is as regular as clockwork, right?" Again Cecile nodded. "Then I'm gonna shift you off of him temporarily… let the back-up and the trainee watch for a few days while we figure out what Manning's been up to and what brought her to DC. Dismissed!"

With a slight smile, Cecile rose to leave. She paused as she was leaving. "What if whoever took Manning is planning to kill her? Should we intervene?"

"Unless he's an immortal… I rather doubt she's in any danger… and if he is… well… you know the rules. We don't interfere in challenges or the game."

Cecile started to say something… then thought better of it. "Yes sir." She bowed her head in deference and made her way back to the outer office. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She'd just moved from a quiet unassuming assignment with little room for advancement into the big leagues. She was certain of it! Now was her chance to prove that her abilities as a Watcher were highly underrated. Already her mind was sifting through the protocols and the databases she might use to discover more about the owner of the van. She'd get everything organized and when Coltraine arrived on the evening flight from Houston… she'd be ready.

Cecile positively hummed with excitement as she settled at her desk and began pulling up records to begin her database searches. By the time she was ready to leave for the airport to meet Ryan Coltraine… she felt that she had a good handle on Sarah Manning and her abductors. One thing she was certain of was that Daryl Miller and his associates in the porn film business were likely to have discovered that they'd bitten off more than they could chew… figuratively speaking.

She took a taxi to Reagan as Coltraine was flying in on a small commuter flight so that she could meet him inside the terminal. While she couldn't meet him as he got off the flight… she'd messaged him earlier that she would be at the baggage pick-up. She'd checked his photo ID before she'd left the office and raised her hand in a small welcoming wave as she saw him descend the escalator. He waved back and after introductions indicated he'd looked up her ID as well. "Can't be too careful," he'd laughed as he snatched a bag from the carousel and the two made their way to the tram heading toward the rental car lot where they picked up the car the organization had arranged for his use while he was in town.

After settling him in his hotel room… the two ordered room service as Cecile spread out the information she'd gathered earlier in the day and began to give it to Coltraine. He added in his in-depth knowledge of her file… including her mysterious and rather sudden departure from her plans a few weeks ago that had left him at a loss.

"I wondered if she'd made me? She supposedly is one that doesn't know about us… but I thought I'd screwed things up and that her change of plans had more to do with my bumbling than anything she was in to."

"You slept with her?" Cecile asked a bit surprised.

Ryan shrugged. "Well… sleep is not what I'd call it. She managed to waylay me outside her hotel in Nashville and ask me about why I was following her. I had to come up with something. Minutes later… she'd pulled me into an alley and had me on my knees. By the time I recovered… she'd driven off. Since she was due in Nashville… I headed there. She never came."

"Did you report your… uh… encounter."

Coltraine blushed. His fair skin showed embarrassment easily. "Not yet. They'd have pulled me off her case."

Cecile leaned forward, her chin on her hands. "So what's it like? You know… are they different?"

Ryan's blush under his black hair had spread across his entire face. "Oh… you know… Manning is a pro… or used to be. She can do things to a man to make him lose perspective. It's her stock in trade."

"So?" prompted Cecile.

"She's good… but then she's had over a century of experience." He reached for a drink of water… the ice clinking in the glass as he raised it to his lips.

Cecile smiled as she drank her own water. She'd often contemplated arranging an encounter with her immortal… just to see what he was like. But her immortal knew about Watchers and so it was not an option. In fact, she had to keep quite a distance between herself and Matthew McCormick. He'd never forgiven them for killing his Watcher and her family twelve years ago for helping him uncover the plots of Henry Rawlins. He'd made it clear that if a Watcher approached him or was found in his immediate vicinity… he'd strike back.

He knew who she was. Sometimes when he left the D.C. police office where he worked now, he'd shoot her a dark glance across the square… as if to be certain that she was where she was supposed to be. Cecile sighed. It must have been so much easier to get to know the immortals before so many had learned of the Watchers. Rawlins hadn't done any of them any favors with his machinations. While some immortals had welcomed Watchers into their families and lives and given them access to their thoughts in the aftermath of what had happened… Cecile's immortal hadn't. He wanted to know who was on him… once he knew, he wouldn't approach them… nor did he wish them to approach him. He'd made that very clear.

So Cecile kept her distance and watched the regular routine and rather boring life of Matthew McCormick or Eric Matthews as he called himself these days. Even when he married again last spring, she'd kept her distance, observing the wedding party emerge from the cathedral. She did wonder if Matthew's bride had any idea of what he was.

Since McCormick was a fairly quiet and regular immortal, she'd been training a new Watcher in the last month. Directives from higher up had decided to pair trainees fresh from the academy and finally ready for field duty, with older Watchers on fairly stable immortals.

McCormick hadn't faced a challenge in several years, so Cecile had been tapped to do the training. Now her trainee would be alone in watching McCormick, although the back-up Watcher would likely be on some of the time. Substitute Watchers worked for a pool of Watchers in an area so that the primary Watcher could take some time off if need be.

Cecile made up her mind not to miss McCormick even if she were never reassigned to him. In fact, she was hoping for someone as unpredictable as Sarah Manning. The woman moved periodically… totally re-inventing herself… but she also had a penchant for danger. Trained by Cassandra, she was fairly competent with a sword and had faced two challenges in the past year. She tended to hangout at after-hours clubs and had been seen involved with swingers groups.

Cecile wondered what it would be like to live a day in Sarah Manning's shoes.

Clearing her throat, she returned to the subject of Coltraine's encounter with Sarah Manning. "So… did she see the tat?"

Coltraine shrugged. "Honestly… I don't know. She has a few interesting ones, though. She periodically checks out artists and has new ones applied when the older ones fade."

"So you had time to notice the tats?" Cecile again felt like laughing.

"A few… yeah," he said ruefully, his embarrassment growing. "When she was done with me… Man she adjusted her clothes and left. I was still trying to figure out what exactly had happened. That's why I missed the direction she headed."

"Do you think she might have known who and what you were and went through this little routine just to put you off of her trail?"

"Maybe. But there's nothing in her file that suggests that she knows about us. When Rawlins was doing his thing back in 2011… she was in CIA special ops and not one they could easily get hold of. Her life then was very proper."

"What about her last challenge?" Cecile shifted through the cold fries and then lifted one to bite.

"Erika Huston… Columbia, South Carolina just before last Christmas." Coltraine's answer popped out as if it were something he was proud to relate. "She watched and hunted her for three days. Then on Dec 15 she accosted her outside a shopping mall. The local authorities never did figure out what the freak lightning that set off car alarms was about. I called it in and the Watcher clean-up squad disposed of the body before it went public. Huston's Watcher and I compared notes afterwards. Neither of us had a reason for the challenge like an old grudge or something. They just saw one another and came out swinging."

"Well… some of them are that way. Some kill all they meet… others seem to merely acknowledge one another's existence and unless one's activities impinge on the other's… there is never a challenge."

"And we watch," Cecile replied thoughtfully. She shivered suddenly… as if someone or something had set its sights on her. "How horrible it must be to live always in the knowledge that at any time… someone might come for your head," she murmured softly.

They had work to do. Their job now was to discover where Daryl Miller had taken Sarah… and be ready with a clean-up squad if need be.

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