Part VII

Having Grandma Nelly around the house was amusing for everyone at the Foundation for Law and Government. She was insistent on doing something in return for her room and board Devon had put up for her and Nadine. First it had been dusting Devon's office, even after he tried convincing her that they had housekeepers that were paid to do this as a living; but she wouldn't hear of it. Kitt and Michael had woken up the morning two days after the fire at her house to find a note had been slipped under their door requesting that they report to the kitchen first thing.

Neither of them had bothered to change into regular clothes; instead both appeared in the kitchen in pajama pants, Kitt a sweatshirt, and Michael a gray tee. Michael had been up first and greeted Kitt about ten minutes later with a stuffed mouth.

"Good morning, Kitt!" Grandma Nelly said quite cheerfully. "Bacon, ham, or sausage?"

"Sausage?" Kitt said a little unsure as he sat down across from Michael, realizing that the note was meant for a breakfast treat.

"How do you like your eggs, dear?"

Kitt looked at Michael's plate and wanted to make a disgusted face as the yoke of the egg ran like a river over the whites. "Preferably not like that," he said softly.

"Broken, got it," she said and went to the refrigerator for more eggs. "Two, three?"

"Two's fine…"

"This is a treat," Michael told him. "You got a note too?"

"Yes," Kitt said folding his hands on the table. "May I ask what this is all about?"

Grandma Nelly had just broken the shells and dumped the contents of the insides into the frying pan. "For being such wonderful young men to Nadine and me," she commented. "You've been very kind."

"We've hardly done anything," Michael said.

"But you've taken us in," she said as she turned over some sausage in the second pan. "That and you're looking for that terrible boyfriend of hers."

Michael chewed, but his eyes narrowed a bit. "Thing is, though, we're no closer to where we were when we took this on. The guy hasn't been seen by anyone and hunting him down is near to impossible."

"There was the bar keeper on Main Street," Kitt pointed out.

"Whom I think was more drunk than the guys he served drinks to," Michael said.

"Well, I have confidence you'll find him," Grandma Nelly said and brought over the frying pan to the table. Using the spatula, she put the eggs and sausage on Kitt's plate. "Eat up."

The breakfast was quite good. Kitt hadn't had something other than cereal in a while, for the simple reason he hadn't learned how to cook yet. He was a leery on touching a stove, afraid he'd end up torching the food instead of making it edible.

"I'm going to head to the grocery store today," Michael said as they left the kitchen and headed for the stairs. "We'll see if Robert Oliver has someone doing his shopping for him or not."

"I hope someone there will recognize him," Kitt said. "It's starting to get frustrating."

"Tell me about it," Michael said.

They started to ascend the stairs when out of nowhere Kitt grabbed the railing and leaned over it. He felt his entire body heat up and his hands trembled as the tightly gripped the railing.

"Kitt?" Michael asked quickly and put his hands on his friend's shoulder.

Kitt's eyes automatically closed and he took in a sharp breath…

There was a lot of loud music and he was surrounded by people his age; some were dancing, others were sitting on chairs, couches or tables. There was a lot of laughter and even a heavy card game in the corner. There was a girl at his side—Nadine. She looked happy and excited. A friend came up and welcomed them, but he couldn't hear what he was saying. He seemed too distant…

"Kitt?"

Kitt opened his eyes to see Michael looking at him with a very concerned face. He was sitting on the stairs now. "Sorry," he said softly and started to get up.

"Two more days and that will be over I hope," Michael said as they started up the stairs. "What was it this time?"

"A party, I believe," Kitt replied. "Ever since I met Nadine she's been in almost every flashback, as if she triggered another part of the memories."

---

Kitt had showered, dressed, and was downstairs within an hour's time. Michael had already left for the store, which didn't bother Kitt—he had little desire to spend another day asking questions and getting nowhere.

The sun was shining brightly, and Kitt couldn't refuse a small desire in the back of his mind that was telling him to go take a walk around the grounds and get some fresh air. Having put on the black leather jacket that Michael had given him for Christmas, he made his way outside, hands in pockets and mind clear.

It wasn't as warm as it had been, but it wasn't enough to keep people inside. There were a few people working on the grounds of the estate, someone taking out the two guard dogs, and then somebody sitting on a chair on the patio right outside the back doors. Kitt had rounded the corner and knew immediately who was sitting there, reading a book with her feet up on a chair across from her. He decided to do the polite thing and say good morning.

"Is it a good book?" He asked with a small smile, coming up next to her.

Nadine looked up, brown eyes flashing at his. "Oh, it's you."

"I'm sorry if I've disturbed you," he said.

"Well it's your home, not mine," she replied as she put her bookmark between the pages and shut the cover.

"However, you're the guest here, so it is my duty to be as hospitable as possible."

"Touché," she replied with little enthusiasm.

"Mind if I sit?"

"Your home," she repeated and looked away from him.

Kitt sighed and sat down, trying not to stare at her for answers as to why she was so cold towards him. He noticed that she was watching one of the employees now playing ball with the two guard dogs. He smiled and turned towards her. "Do you like dogs?" He asked, trying desperately to find some sort of method of conversation.

"Not really," she said.

"Oh. I'm fond of dogs as long as they're well trained. Max and Bruce are pretty obedient, you know."

"Are you here just to make pointless conversation?" She snapped suddenly.

Kitt felt hurt. "I am trying to be your friend, not your enemy."

"Well give it up," she said. "I've had enough friends to last me a life time."

"What is bothering you so much?" Kitt asked finally, his voice a becoming a little sterner.

"Who said anything's bothering me?" Kitt just glared at her with a small smile as if to say it was more than obvious. Nadine sighed and took her feet off of the chair in front of her and put her book on the table. "I haven't exactly had the easiest past few years, alright? I'm burnt out. That's all you need to know."

Kitt nodded and tried to keep his mouth shut. Then Nadine stood up and pushed her chair in under the table. "How do you get to the mall from here?" She asked.

"The mall?"

"That's what I said," Nadine told him. "I'm tired of hanging around here; I need to get out and do something."

"You shouldn't go out alone," Kitt said.

"Then I'll get Michael to go with me," she said. "He likes me enough to bring me."

Kitt wanted to tell her that he was annoyed with her attitude, but he held his tongue. "Michael's out right now trying to find if anyone has seen Robert."

"Then Bonnie wouldn't mind having a girl's day out," she said as she started for the doors.

"She's in the technology department right now," he replied simply. "Otherwise I'd be paying her a visit of my own."

Nadine looked as if she had just been let down tremendously. Kitt stood up and pushed his chair in like she had before and went over to her, hands in his coat pockets. "If you want to go to the mall, then I'll bring you."

"You?" She asked in disbelief. "I thought you had brain problems."

Kitt glared at her loathingly. "I do not have brain problems, thank-you very much. I'm stuck with seeing your ex-boyfriend's memories, and trust me its no picnic."

Nadine seemed speechless for a moment and nodded with a big sigh. "Fine; I suppose you'll be good enough company for now."

Kitt had thought that Michael would bring his own car, but when he had gone outside to leave with Nadine he found that it remained and the Knight Two Thousand was gone. He returned inside, leaving Nadine waiting impatiently on the front steps, and went to Devon.

"You're going where?" Devon asked.

"The mall," Kitt said once again. "Nadine's itching to get out of here, pardon the expression, and I figured that maybe if I spent time with her she'd stop acting as if she was about to rip my voice box out."

"I see," Devon said with a nod. "Well I'll say for Michael to use his car; I'm sure he wouldn't mind, seeing as that he took the Knight Two Thousand."

"Agreed," Kitt said and went to Michael's room to grab the set of car keys for the SUV.

"I'll drive," Nadine said going to the driver's side once Kitt returned.

"I don't think so," Kitt said stubbornly. "This isn't my car, and I'm not too sure if Michael would like the idea of you driving his vehicle."

"You guys wouldn't let me bring my own car here because you thought it'd be too easy for Robert and his goons to track me," she countered. "I'm driving." And with that she snatched the keys from his hand.

Kitt put his hands up in defeated defense and climbed into the passenger seat. "I thought you didn't know how to get the mall from here?"

"I don't," she said. "That's why you're here, remember."

Kitt bowed his head a bit and looked out the window, having a terrible feeling that this was going to be a very long outing with Nadine Corvonce. Although, her driving abilities were better than he had thought. When she started the car he had the thought of her tearing around every corner and cutting people off left and right in order to relieve any inner tension; but in fact, she was steady, followed the trafficking rules, and stayed within a suitable speed limit.

The mall seemed very crowded and even Nadine spoke out to say so, noting that it was probably shoppers returning gifts they didn't like or clothes that didn't fit right after the holidays. Right away she started walking ahead of Kitt as if he wasn't there with her. He was surprised she didn't tell him to stay in the car like a little kid or a dog.

"Nadine," he called to her. "I think we need to get one thing straight. You may not like me because of Scott, but I am here with you because you wanted to go out."

"But not with you," she replied simply and continued forward.

"At least walk instead of jog," he told her as he caught up again.

"Sure thing, Mom," was all that came out of her mouth.

Kitt followed her too a number of stores, most of the time walking in and right back out again when she found she had little interest in the merchandise. Crowds were everywhere, especially little kids yelling and running around, apparently still off from school. Being three days before the New Year was to arrive he thought that people would be with family instead of wondering around crowded corridors and bumping into people wherever they turned.

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm sorry?" Kitt said realizing that Nadine had stopped and looked at him, her hand gripping the straps of her purse and holding it on her shoulder.

"I'm asking if you're hungry—I can go for some pizza or something."

"That's fine," he said, wondering where her sudden burst of happiness came from. They made their way to the other side of the mall and into the vast crowds and chattering of the food court. Nadine immediately scoped out where the pizza stand was and led the way. Kitt pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and told her he'd pay, and for once didn't get any bickering from her.

After a few minutes of searching, they found an empty table that had three chairs around it. Hurrying over, they nabbed it just before a small group of teenagers got there, receiving nasty looks from the teens as they turned around to start their search again.

"That's hot!" Nadine said and quickly took a drink of her soda. She looked at Kitt, who waited for the pizza to cool off. "You must think I'm a real bitch."

Kitt raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think that?"

Nadine shrugged her shoulders as she poked her pizza with her finger. "I haven't been very nice to you," she admitted. "I'm not usually like that. So I guess I'm sorry."

"It's understandable," Kitt said and picked up his pizza. "You've been through a lot with this whole Robert situation."

"You have no idea what I've been through," she said and took a bite of the pizza, using her fingers to break off the cheese that made a web from her mouth to the crust. "That's what made Scott and me so perfect for each other."

"What do you mean?"

She sighed and put the pizza back on the paper plate. "Scott and I both had rough childhoods. He was an orphan and had no family here in the States, and my mother picked up and left my dad with two kids to raise when I was about four. I barely remember her—haven't heard from her since she left."

"Why did she leave?" Kitt asked, then realizing that maybe that wasn't the best question.

"She couldn't take the pressure of being a wife and a mother of two. Once I came along, that was it; I guess she was accepting having a son, but when she got pregnant with me a year after he was born, she started to lose it. Whatever."

Kitt continued to eat as she played with the cheese on her food. He hadn't expected her to continue, but she did. "I met Scott when I was in college—a community college, mind you. My dad couldn't afford to put me through anything more; actually I paid for it even though I had a job that paid practically nothing. Anyway, Scott was so perfect when we first met; he was cute, nice, outgoing, and understood me better than anyone did before. By the time college came to an end, we had plans on moving in together and getting married when we could afford it."

Kitt looked at her face and as if for the first time noticed just how pretty she was, once one got past the frown she usually had on. She looked at the ring on her finger with bright eyes. He could hear her thanking him and then she threw her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly. She was so happy—and so was he…

"Are you okay?"

Kitt looked at her. She had tilted her head and looked fearful as she stared straight at him. "Sorry," he said. "Spaced out for a moment, I think."

"You don't care to hear me go on and complain, huh?"

"Nadine, I'm here to listen if you want me to," he told her truthfully. "I'm on your side."

She nodded but didn't speak for a minute as she took a few more bites from her pizza. Then Kitt noticed a tear trailing down her cheek. "It's just that…looking at you reminds me all over again. When I got the phone call from Josh that they were in an accident….My world seemed to crash down around me that very moment. Sam had died instantly and Scott was in a coma; Josh survived, but had a broken shoulder. I went to see Scott every day for a month, hoping and praying that he'd open his eyes and look at me and then everything would be back to normal; we'd get married, and live happily ever after." By now her eyes were filled with tears and she fought to keep them back.

"My best friend Sarah wanted to help and get my mind off him; we all knew Scott would never be the same, even if he ever did get out of that coma. The doctor said there was just too much damage to his memory and whatever. So, she introduced me to her next door neighbor."

"Robert," Kitt said.

Nadine nodded a yes. "He was so much fun and he was always making me laugh. My visits to Scott grew less and less, and the next thing I knew I hadn't seen him for two weeks."

"It was probably better that way though," Kitt told her. "I'm sure you were bringing yourself down every time you saw Scott."

"Yeah, you're right, I was—" Out of nowhere her face seemed to become ghostly white and her eyes widened.

"Something wrong?" Kitt asked.

"Robert's watching us," she said and quickly looked away and down at the floor. "He saw me, Kitt! What do I do?"

Kitt looked over his shoulder, a mistake he wondered, and saw that Robert Oliver, along with two other men were walking over to them. "C'mon," he said and grabbed Nadine's arm to pull her up.

Nadine took his pace and they walked as quickly as they could through the food court and down the center walkway of the mall to get away and hopefully lose Robert and his friends. "Are they still there?" She asked, holding onto her purse as if it was her lifeline.

Kitt glanced over his shoulder. "They're jogging, and now we'll run…" Both Kitt and Nadine broke out into a slow run, trying not to stir up the crowd and cause people to stop in front of them and keep them from getting away. Kitt looked over his shoulder for a third time and saw that they were running after them. "We have to get back to the car!" He said.

Nadine was in a panic as they ran through the people, knocked over a trashcan into the center of the isle, and hurried towards the doors they had come in from. As she ran, Nadine searched her purse for the keys to Michael's car.

Kitt held the door open for her as she slowed down, trying desperately to find the keys. "C'mon," he urged as he held her arm while they hurried through the spaces between the parked cars in the lot.

"Found them," she said quickly and clicked the remote before they had reached the isle where the car was parked.

They both heard a gunshot and Nadine let out a scream, instinctively pausing to cover her head with both her arms. "Don't stop!" Kitt told her, wishing that they had his old body instead of Michael's plain SUV.

Finally reaching the vehicle and hearing two more gunshots, Nadine jumped into the driver's seat, Kitt quickly swinging around to the passenger side and hopping in. "Hurry!" He told her as her shaking hand tried to find the ignition.

Kitt thanked his remaining circuits that a car wasn't parked in front of them and they could drive right through. He looked in the side mirror to see that only one of their pursuers was coming through the isle before them. He turned around to look for the others and saw that they were busy backing out a small blue Chevy. "They're getting their own car," he said as Nadine finally got the engine to roar.

She stepped on the gas and drove around the car that had been parked diagonal from them. Kitt heard glass shatter as a bullet had narrowly missed them and hit the windshield of the other car. He quickly tried to buckle his seatbelt as Nadine swerved to avoid hitting a taxi, then pushing the peddle down to the floor of the car.

"Oh my God they're right behind us," she said after glancing into the rear view mirror.

"Don't stop," Kitt told her as he looked in the side mirror again to keep track of where they're attackers were. He saw that Robert's friend was driving and Robert himself was leaning out of the window pointing a gun at them.

"Turn there!" Kitt pointed and Nadine turned the car so sharply Kitt was amazed they didn't tip over. His stomach was turning and all he could do was watch as they missed a dog running into the street, then turn another corner and hitting garbage cans in the process. He heard another gunshot and the cracking of glass. They were right behind them and the back window of the SUV now sported a spider-web crack on the right side.

"Traffic, traffic!" Kitt yelled out as Nadine turned off the side street and drove through a busy intersection, turning the wheel constantly to avoid hitting cars; Kitt saw that innocent drivers weren't so lucky to avoid a collision.

All that was flashing through Kitt's mind beside the thought that he might die was the night Scott Bordeaux got into that accident, with flashing headlights, crumbling metal, and screeching tires. Kitt looked over at Nadine who was terrified as she continued to drive—but the sound of a large pop and the instant feeling of the SUV leaning sideways hit them; Robert had shot the back right tire.

Nadine yelled as she lost control and the SUV jumped a curb, coming down on two tires; the top-heaviness causing the vehicle to lean, fall, and roll over onto its roof.