Kelly slept during most of the flight home. The private jet stopped in Maryland to refuel and she got out long enough to stretch her legs and then reboarded. She dozed on and off the rest of the way to San Francisco. When they landed and taxied to the front of a private hanger she looked out the window.
On the tarmac were three hearses and a limo. She watched in silence as they flight crew unloaded the three caskets and loaded one into each of the awaiting hearses and she watched them pull away. When they were but specks in the distance, Robert Woods, who had been near the door of the jet talking to the flight attendant, came up to Kelly and leaned forward.
"Come on, kiddo," he said softly. "It's time to go."
As if on auto pilot, Kelly unfastened her seat belt, rose from her seat and stepped into the aisle. She followed her boss silently to the door of the plane where he stepped aside to allow her to exit first. She stepped out into the bright sunlight and squinted. She looked down at the bottom of the stairs and saw there were several men dressed in either suits and ties or sports jackets waiting between the bottom of the steps and the limousine. They all looked up at her with smiles of sympathy.
Woods stepped out onto the landing slightly behind Kelly and gently placed his hand at the small of her back applying just enough pressure to indicate it was time to move. Like a robot she slowly descended the stairs.
At the bottom a few of the men approached her and either took her hand and gently shook it or placed their hands on her shoulder, all expressing their condolences and welcoming her home. She managed to smile politely but never made eye contact with any of them as she blindly walked toward the limo.
When she was almost within reach of the long black Lincoln three of the men came up to her and began speaking. She only heard a few of the words, just enough to gather that they were giving her itinerary and press release instructions and one young man was shuffling through a stack of pink pieces of paper that looked like phone messages. Most of what was being said sounded like a foreign language to Kelly and by the time the chauffer had opened the back door of the limo she felt as if her head was going to explode. It didn't, but her temper did.
She froze in her tracks and held one hand in the air as a crossing guard might to stop traffic and the other one she used to cover one ear.
"Enough!" She shouted to be heard over their babbling. A couple of them tried to ignore her and she whirled around and glared directly into their eyes. "Shut up!" She commanded loudly. Suddenly there was silence among the group of men.
Woods had been going over some details with one of the men about five feet away. When he heard Kelly he turned and looked in her direction. When he heard her second command he excused himself from his conversation and began making his way through the group.
Kelly closed her eyes for a second and got control of herself, then looked at each of the men's faces. She recognized each man and knew each one's name and a memory echoed in her mind that said she had worked closely with each of them, but at that moment she felt detached from them as if she had only met them recently. She saw what looked like concern on each face and realized she over reacted so she tried to smile apologetically raising her hands in surrender.
"Look...guys," she began softly. "I appreciate what you're all trying to do, but I'm feeling more than a little overwhelmed right now. I know some of this is important and I know some of it can wait...but right now? The way that I'm feeling? It's ALL going to have to wait. Really. Thank you for your help and all, but I really need to be alone right now. Can you understand that?" The men all nodded and some gave affirmative answers quietly. Kelly looked at each one's face again. "Can you give me some time to myself? Please?"
Woods stepped up to the front of the group. "Mrs. McKenney," he started speaking softly, but firmly, "you really need..."
"No, Mr. Woods!" Kelly said with equal firmness and a little louder than he had spoken. "I need to be alone."
"Why don't you get into the car and..." Woods began as he stepped forward and put his hand under her elbow to guide her to the limo.
Kelly pulled away, politely and looked at him, her gaze, steady and somewhat cold. "I'll tell YOU what I'm going to do, Mr. Woods. I'm going to go into that terminal and rent myself a car and drive home...ALONE." She glanced at each of the other men. "No one is to follow me." She looked back at Woods. "I will call you," she glanced at the younger man with the phone messages who she knew was her personal assistant, "and you," she looked back at Woods, "in the morning." When Woods opened his mouth to protest she raised her hand to stop him. "This is not up for discussion and there are no other options. And...to be perfectly honest, Mr. Woods...if you want to fire me over this...I could care less. I've been fired from better jobs than this." She looked around at the men again and then back to Woods, who looked surprised. "Have I made myself perfectly clear?" When no one spoke she said as she turned and started to walk towards the airport terminal, "Good." With her head held high and her shoulders squared, Kelly McKenney strode to the terminal door and disappeared inside.
Kelly rented a car and headed across the bay to Sausalito. She drove without purpose and with no planned destination. About a mile after crossing the Golden Gate Bridge she came to a small group of shops set up for the tourists and she felt compelled to stop. She parked her car and wandered along the short boardwalk looking into the windows of the shops.
She stopped in front of a gem shop and for some reason she couldn't explain decided to go inside. She stepped up to the first display case and looked inside. Her eyes were drawn to a unique cabochon which she became almost entranced with. The sales girl came over and asked if she could help her with anything. Kelly looked up at the girl.
"That one," she pointed to the cabochon which was a cameo carved into a shiny black stone which was encircled by a ring of something very shiny and deep grey and then set on a sterling silver disk. "What is that made of?"
The girl opened the case and took the cabochon out and set it on a piece of red velvet. "The cameo is carved out of Obsidian and this," she pointed to the ring, "is Hematite. It's very unique."
Kelly nodded. The word "obsidian" bounced around in her mind hinting at some distant familiarity.
"The Native Americans believe that Hematite and Obsidian are very powerful healers," the girl went on to explain.
"Really," Kelly said absentmindedly. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the piece.
Sensing that her potential customer wasn't interested in the spiritual background of the stone, the girl reached into the case and brought out a 1/8" wide flat silver chain and laid it above the cabochon as if it were attached.
"I think it would look stunning on this chain." The sales girl said. "Worn either short, as a choker, or mid chest on a high neck ivory blouse or turtleneck sweater."
Kelly reached out and tentatively picked the cabochon up and examined it closer. Still the name of the shiny black stone haunted her, but she didn't know why.
"How much? Kelly asked, not taking her eyes off of the piece.
"For just the cameo?" The girl asked.
"And the chain."
"The cameo is $45 and the chain is $65...$110 plus tax," the girl answered.
Without hesitation Kelly opened her purse. "Do you take Master Card?"
Surprised that this customer wasn't going to try and haggle, the girl didn't answer at first. Kelly looked up at her and a distant fear that the girl wouldn't sell it to her crept into her thoughts. Finally the girl spoke.
"Yes," she nodded. "Of course. Would you like a box for it?"
Kelly shook her head, handed the girl her credit card and began to attach the cabochon to the chain. She put it on as the girl rang up the sale. The cabochon felt cool and comforting against her skin.
The girl handed Kelly her receipt, Kelly signed the store's copy and turned and exited without a word. She got into her car and continued driving in the direction she was headed before stopping.
A couple of miles down the road and she saw a sign that announced, "Golden Gate National Recreation Area...Scenic Hiking Trails - Turn out ahead." For the second time today she had the irresistible urge to stop, so she pulled into the parking area.
She was still dressed in high heels, nylons, skirt and blouse so she took her shoes off and removed her pantyhose and left them in the car. Barefoot, she walked to the entrance of the hiking area and began to follow one of the trails. She wandered through the forest of redwoods breathing in the scent of the pines and she felt a strange comfort.
After awhile the trail became a bridge that crossed a stream. Instead of crossing the bridge she stepped off the trail and made her way up stream and out of sight of anyone on the trail. She found a boulder that sat on the bank of the stream and sat on it, dangling her feet in the cool water.
She watched the water cascade across the rocks and swirl into small pools that filled and pushed more water on down stream, eventually emptying into San Francisco Bay. The sound of the stream, the warmth of the rock she chose to sit on, the breeze that whispered around her all seemed to give her a strange and yet familiar comfort. She leaned back against a small sapling and closed her eyes and just listened.
Her repose was interrupted by a mother on the trail calling her "runaway" child.
"Amanda?" the mother called. "Amanda Samuels, you get back here this instant. Amanda?" The mother's voice trailed off as she chased the little girl on down the trail.
Suddenly a face appeared in Kelly's mind. It was of a young woman, looking to be near her age, with short cropped platinum blond hair, brown eyes and a dazzling smile. Although she didn't recognize the image, she felt no threat, in fact, quite the opposite. The image seemed to give her a warm, safe and loved feeling. Kelly opened her eyes and stared at a water spider swimming in one of the little pools of the stream and tried to recollect who that person was. The only thing that came to mind was the name the mother had called her daughter. "Amanda". And that meant nothing to her. She closed her eyes again.
"Miss?" A voice made her jump and she looked up at a park Ranger standing a couple of feet above her. "Miss, you're not supposed to be off the trail."
Sheepishly, Kelly got to her feet. "I'm sorry. It was just so inviting."
"I know...but it's for your own safety, ma'am."
"I'm really sorry, Ranger."
"No harm done," he said and gave her a hand up the rock embankment, then followed her back to the marked trail. "You are OK, right?"
"Yes...fine. Just enjoying nature," she answered.
"You have a nice day, miss. And please stay on the marked trails."
"Thank you," she smiled. She turned and headed back to her car.
Kelly drove as if on auto pilot a few miles past the parking area, turned on a road that went into a small tract of upper middle class houses and pulled into the drive of one. She shut off the car and got out, walked up to the door, extracted a set of keys from her purse, opened the door and stepped inside.
She didn't notice the station wagon parked a few houses up the street or the 2 men inside, one with binoculars and one with a two way radio.
Inside the house she looked around. The house held a familiarity but not as if she had lived there; it was more the familiar feeling of a house one had visited frequently. She went upstairs, passed the doors to Mark and Laurie's rooms and entered the master bedroom where she removed her clothes and went into the bathroom and ran water for a hot bath.
Kelly soaked in the spacious tub until the water was almost cold. She got out, dried off, put on the rob that was hanging behind the bathroom door and went in the bedroom. She lay across the bed and stared at the ceiling, unconsciously caressing the cabochon. As the sun began to cast evening shadows on the ceiling, she fell asleep.
The next morning Kelly woke before her alarm went off. She got out of bed, took a quick shower and dressed in one of several very chic and powerful looking business suits.
Once she was satisfied that her appearance was near perfect she went downstairs to the kitchen. She looked through the kitchen cabinets for some coffee but all she found was some instant. She drank a glass of orange juice instead as she went to the front door, opened it and retrieved the morning newspaper from the front porch.
As she straightened up to go back inside, her paper in one hand, Kelly noticed a station wagon parked at the curb a few houses away. She purposefully looked up at the sky as if checking the weather, glanced around at those of her neighbors that were outside their homes (none of whom she recognized) and even waved to a couple of them, seemingly oblivious of the fact that she was under surveillance, then she went inside the house and closed the door.
She stood far enough back from her front window as to not be seen yet close enough to be able to watch the car for several minutes. She was able to determine that there were two men sitting in the front seat, one with a pair of binoculars and the other holding a handheld two way radio and both intently watching her house.
Kelly watched the station wagon for several minutes then realized that she would be late for work if she didn't leave soon so she went into the small study, grabbed her brief case from the chair by the door, her purse and keys from the table in the hall and her Sword of Light from a shelf next to the front door. She stepped out onto the front porch and as she locked the front door she glanced at the car again out of the corner of her eye.
She wasn't sure it the two men were from the Organization or somewhere else, but for some unknown reason, she didn't care. She was surprisingly unconcerned about the fact that she was under surveillance, only curious.
She walked nonchalantly to her rental car in the driveway and got in. She turned the defroster fan on high to defog the front window and reached to turn on the car radio when she suddenly froze.
Kelly stared blankly out the windshield at the closed garage door that was in front of the car for several long seconds, and then she sat back and looked at her reflection in the rear view mirror.
Kelly McKenny had come to the realization that she had no idea what-so-ever where the Organization's offices were nor did she even remotely have a clue as to what her job was there.
TO BE CONTINUED