Here we go with chapter three! Hope you guys like it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, the reviews are great and keep me going! Makes me smile a lot!
Chapter Four will be out soon but first I'll be putting out a one shot for father's day so keep your eyes open for that.
Now, on with the story!
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"So you have no idea where he went?" Clay asked into the phone again. He'd finally broken down and stopped calling Raimundo's cell phone and instead had searched for Omi's home phone number as well as the number to his business. When the call to the apartment had gone unanswered he'd called the gym he knew Raimundo frequented on his visits to New York. Clay had accompanied him once or twice so he knew Omi enough to not feel guilty calling him.
"I'm sorry Clay," Omi apologized again. "I wish I could be of more service but Raimundo did not tell me anything, just disappeared with that strange woman. The name does not strike a bell for you?"
"No," Clay answered not bothering to correct Omi's incorrect saying. "If you see or hear from him please tell him I need to talk to him."
"I promise Clay," Omi replied and the two said their goodbyes. Clay sank back into his desk chair wondering just what in the hell was going on. Omi had told him that Raimundo had simply left with some random woman he'd just met, saying he had some things to take care of and telling him not to wait up. It wasn't that Raimundo wasn't prone to follow a pretty face or even to have the occasional one night stands but in the early morning hours? And just who was this woman who was seeking Raimundo out?
'Kimiko Tomney,' Clay pondered, 'just who are?' He was tempted to type in a search for her but decided against it. Instead he punched Raimundo's cell number into his desk phone and waited. There was no reply, as usual, and Clay was too disheartened to leave another voicemail pleading with him to call.
"Hey Bailey," someone called and Clay turned in his chair. An attractive woman with red hair styled in a no-nonsense straight cut at her shoulders stood in front of him. He knew Cynthia Sommers from his time in college when they'd attended many classes together under the same major. Cynthia was an associate of Raimundo's as well but she and Clay were closer because they'd both gone to American University in DC after graduating from high school in Texas.
"What are you doing here Cynthia?" he asked slightly surprised to see her. Cynthia worked in missing persons, an entirely different division so the two barely crossed paths anymore.
" 'Fraid I got some bad news," she said grimly holding up a sheet of paper. "This just came across the wire. There's a new Amber Alert in Orlando." Clay accepted it from her and his eyes widened.
"Amelia Pedrosa! That's Raimundo's youngest sister!" Clay almost shouted. Cynthia nodded grimly.
"I checked and then double checked. Seems she got plucked out of her bed while visiting her grandparents in Orlando."
"I wonder if Raimundo knows?" Clay murmured wondering if this had anything to do with Raimundo's odd exit from Omi's gym this morning and also wondering what Kimiko Tomney had to do with any of this.
"Last update was that all immediate family members had yet to be identified," Cynthia answered. She looked around the office.
"Guess he's still on sabbatical." Clay rubbed a hand across his face.
"This is no good. Too much of coincidence that she's related to Raimundo."
"That's being considered in the search," Cynthia told him. "I just thought you should know."
"Thanks," he said offering her a weak smile.
"Keep you hopes up," she told him. "The first twenty four hours are crucial and we've got a good team in that area." Clay made a noise of agreement but didn't look anymore convinced.
"Hey," Cynthia scolded, "I wouldn't have come all this way to tell you in person if I knew you were going to go and break down on me. You need to keep up hope."
"I appreciate it," Clay assured her, "really I do. It's just that there is a lot of stuff going on right now and I'm feeling pretty uneasy about it." Cynthia nodded sympathetically.
"I'll keep you updated," she promised knowing news would come faster to her then to him. "Just keep checking your messages."
"I already am," he told her not entirely sure if he should be letting his piece of information go, "I've been trying to get a hold of Raimundo for the past three days." Cynthia looked a bit alarmed.
"Is he missing?" she asked in a low hiss. Clay shook his head.
"No," he told her, "Omi, the guy he's been visiting in New York City was with him up until a little after eight this morning. He's out on his own now though and isn't answering his cell." Clay decided to leave the part about the mystery woman out of it. Cynthia sighed.
"I don't know Raimundo as well as you do but this is pretty unusual behavior for him, right?" Clay hesitated before answering, not wanting to implicate Raimundo in anyway.
"He's always been prone to just run off sometimes and end up in Vegas or something with no clear explanation but he's always been pretty good about answering his phone or returning calls at least. He knows how to have fun but he's responsible. He's been a bit," he paused to choose his words carefully, "odd with me since the incident." Clay glanced at this leg. "I think he feels guilty."
"Hasn't he been having to go see a shrink?"
"He's been in mandatory therapy, even when he's been on leave in New York," Clay told her and he could tell the wheels were turning in Cynthia's head. "What are you thinking?"
"That I should tell my bosses about this but I'm not going to. They'll find out soon enough. Probably already know. And since he's got an alibi there's no real worry there."
"You think Raimundo could be involved?" Clay asked surprised but Cynthia was already shaking her head.
"I don't, I know Rai well enough to know he wouldn't do something like that but the family usually gets looked at pretty closely in cases like this." Clay made an indistinguishable noise in his throat and Cynthia gave him a sympathetic look as well as a pat on the shoulder. "Keep you chin up," she told him before walking away. Clay made sure that she was out of sight before snatching up his phone and pressing Raimundo's number in.
"Enough of this bullshit," he told the voicemail, "call me as soon as you get this."
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Raimundo felt his phone vibrate in his pocket but ignored it as he and Kimiko read the online article he'd found.
"This is really freaky," Kimiko said with a shake of her head.
"What is?" Raimundo asked wondering what from the list of the day she'd choose.
"This thing," she gestured toward the screen, "has only been open for a month and you said something like this takes time to plan. How did they know about it then?"
"Probably set it up," Rai said grimly. "Made a donation to the museum to have the project going on while we're running around Manhattan trying to figure out their clues." He saw her physically shudder before shaking her head.
"Who the hell is behind this?" she wondered aloud not expecting him to answer.
"You said you said your dad is pretty well off right? Could it have to do with that?" he asked and studied her reaction hard but she gave very little away.
"Maybe, but if that is the case why drag you and me into this?" she answered. "Why go through all this?"
"Something to continue to think about but for right now we need to think about this."
"Kinda sick to use a kids exhibit as part of all this," Kimiko sighed. Raimundo's search had found an advertisement for a kids' exhibit being sponsored by the Museum of Natural History that let children dig through a plot of earth looking for artifacts. The tag line for the summer long event that was closing the coming weekend was 'finding fun and history in the earth.' Raimundo nodded in agreement and then checked his watch.
"It opens at nine," he told her standing and pulling out his wallet, "we can catch a cab and get there right when it opens so hopefully it won't be crowded." Kimiko nodded, already packing up her things, and noticed Raimundo throw some bills onto the table.
"Let me pay for this," she protested.
"I've got it," Rai assured her.
"But," she started to protest again but silenced under a look from Raimundo.
"Are you really going to argue with me about this?" he asked. Kimiko sighed and decided that Raimundo Pedrosa was a man that you needed to pick your battles with.
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It seemed that Raimundo had been wrong about the exhibit not being crowded. They'd caught a cab from the diner and made fairly good time to Central Park where the mock dig was set up.
"Well crap," Raimundo muttered observing the numerous kids running around in the dirt before letting out an 'umph'. "What was that for?" he asked wondering why Kimiko had just elbowed him in the stomach.
"There are kids around," she scolded, "don't swear."
"Crap is a swear word?" Raimundo asked and was answered with another elbow to the gut.
"Yes it is," Kimiko told him, "at least with all these kids around it is." Raimundo considered arguing but decided against it. "Now where to?" Kimiko asked looking around.
"No clue," Raimundo breathed out heavily scanning in the area looking for anyone that he might have remembered seeing earlier.
"Well I guess we should start by getting in there," Kimiko reasoned and the two headed to a table at the enterance that an older woman sat at. "How much to get in?" Kimiko asked when they reached the volunteer. The woman eyed the two suspiciously.
"We ask for a five dollar donation," the older woman answered and Kimiko beat Raimundo to her wallet, handing over a ten dollar bill. She was surprised when the woman didn't take it. "Where are your kids?" she asked softly.
"Kids?" Kimiko questioned wondering if she looked old enough to have kids.
"We're meeting my girlfriend's niece and nephew inside. We think they're in there but can't be sure with all this confusion," Raimundo stepped in to answer and placed an arm around Kimiko's waist. Kimiko fought down the flurry the simple touch set off in her stomach and nodded in agreement.
"My sister said to meet at nine," Kimiko added, "we're taking them off her hands for the day." The volunteer didn't look entirely convinced but took Kimiko's money anyway and stamped their hands. Raimundo moved his hand from Kimiko's waist to the small of her back and pushed her forward into the chaos of the mock dig. As he passed he caught a look from the volunteer that clearly said she'd have her eyes on them.
"Good cover," Kimiko told Raimundo when they were out of ear shot.
"Thanks but we should hurry up in here," Raimundo said looking around noticing that they were already attracting a few looks. They were the only ones without children running around nearby.
"But where do we even begin to look?" Kimiko asked looking around at the piles of dirt children were happily digging through.
"Will it go completely against your morals if I paid some kids twenty bucks to pretend to be with us?" He caught her glare. "Ok, that's a no, but what do you suggest?"
"There must be something logical to this," Kimiko murmured as she began to walk edge of the roped off area. She looked over her shoulder at him and continued on, "But I am worried about one thing. What if what we are looking for has already been found?" Raimundo glanced around and motioned her to another table set up in a corner, far from the dirt and dirty children that looked like an information booth. The two walked over and Raimundo scooped up a brochure while Kimiko looked at a crude bulletin board that hosted pictures of various kids and with whatever they'd found. "Looks like nothing but fossils," Kimiko told Rai when he joined her, studying the pamphlet in his hand.
"Yeah," he agreed looking up.
"I'm at a loss here Rai," she said looking back at him and Raimundo was caught by the fact that she'd finally used his nickname.
"I hate to admit it but I'm slightly stumped as well," he answered looking back at the mock dig and noticed the hard eyes of the volunteer on him again.
"Only slightly?" Kimiko questioned with a small laugh.
"I've got a few ideas rolling around in my head," he told her as his eyes continued to scan the area, looking for anyone or anything suspicious but so far the most threatening thing seemed to be the old volunteer.
"Care to share?" Raimundo hesitated at her request, wondering if his far fetched thoughts were even worth mentioning.
"Well," he decided to give her at least something, "going on what you said about being worried that someone else had found what we are looking. I don't think that the people behind that would inhibit us that much, there's no fun in it for them if we fail so early on."
"So great," Kimiko lamented, "these are the easy clues and we're already stump."
"We were able to break down the first clue so why not do that again?" Raimundo suggested and was pleased when Kimiko fished into her bag and pulled out the tiny notebook she'd written the first two clues in and opened to the second. Her eyes were moving across the page and so was taken by surprise when Raimundo physically steered her toward the opposite end of the long dig.
"May I ask what you are doing?" she asked in a low voice.
"That old volunteer lady is getting suspicious of us so we are walking to nice quiet bench over there so I can call your sister and ask where she is," Raimundo explained quickly and Kimiko had to take a moment to process.
"Oh, ok," she finally managed and sat down on the bench they'd arrived at.
"Give me your phone," he told her sitting down also.
"Why?"
"Because why would I have your sister's number on my phone?"
"Fine," Kimiko snapped and gave her phone to him, "but another question?"
"Shoot," Raimundo told her.
"Arm?" she asked.
"What?"
"Your arm, around my shoulders, why?" Kimiko said slowly and was rewarded with another winning smile.
"Seems like something a boyfriend would do," he teased and Kimiko had to fight down an eye roll. Instead she looked back at her notebook again, missing Raimundo's lingering smile. After another moment of smiling at her Raimundo pressed a random button on her phone to light up her darkened screen. He saw she had a new text and wondered if he should tell her but curiosity won over and he pulled the message up.
Hey Kimiko, can't make lunch sorry. See you at dinner though
The message was from someone named Jermaine and Rai wondered just who Jermaine was.
"Here might be something," Kimiko said bringing his attention back to the task on hand. "We have to activate a key," she told him, "but this place is all about fossils. Maybe we are looking for a literal key." Raimundo thumbed open the pamphlet he'd grabbed and looked it over again.
"Yup," he told her, "you're right about that. This is focused solely on fossils. And here, read this disclaimer."
"All fossils are property of the Natural History Museum and have been previously placed in the sight. Children have no claims to found artifacts." Kimiko snorted. "Could they make the print much smaller?"
"Probably didn't want the kids to notice. I've seen stuff like this before," he motioned to the set up, "everything is preset for the kids to find."
"I've heard about stuff like this in some state park in the south I think," Kimiko mused. "You get to look for diamonds in the river or something and get to keep everything you find."
"I've heard something along those lines too," Raimundo agreed. He took the pamphlet back and flipped it over. "It says here that the kids 'donate' the fossils found to the museum and get there name in a newsletter or something."
"All well and good Rai but what does that have to do with us and what we are looking for?"
"Things were placed here Kimiko," he told her. "no one is going to notice if something else gets dropped in."
"But again," Kimiko sighed, "how do we even know how to start looking? In case you haven't noticed there is a lot of dirt here and we're going to attract a little attention if we start digging through ourselves." She noticed that Raimundo wasn't completely paying attention to her. "Rai?" she questioned.
"That area is roped off with different colored rope," he said to out nowhere and Kimiko's attention was brought to where he was looking. He was right; there was a plot of dirt toward the end of the whole area that was completely devoid of any children.
"It's almost a quarter of the area," Kimiko realized.
"Come on," Raimundo said standing up, "I've got an idea." His eyes scanned the area and found what he was looking for, tugging Kimiko along behind him. Kimiko narrowed her eyes slightly and gently, but noticeable, removed her hand from his grip and met his stride. Rai noticed all of this, as well as the determined look on her face and couldn't help but smile. Kimiko didn't notice the smile and almost completely missed it when Raimundo stopped suddenly and tapped a woman on the shoulder.
"Excuse me," Rai asked and Kimiko noticed that she wore the same volunteer shirt the woman at the front had on.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked with a smile that seemed unnaturally white and a thick New Jersey accident.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could help me with something," Raimundo went on holding out a hand to shake. "I'm Raimundo by the way," he flashed another killer smile Kimiko could sympathize when the older woman blushed slight.
"Maryanne," she said taking his hand, "I'm a volunteer here." She glanced down at her shirt and noticed the word printed there and gave a nervous little giggle. "But I guess you already knew that."
"This is my friend Kimiko," Raimundo motioned her forward. "She was here with her niece and nephew a little while back and thinks she lost something in the dirt."
"Oh my," Maryanne said with real sympathy, "that's no good."
"Do you have a lost and found?" Raimundo asked knowing full well they did not since he saw nothing to indicate that at the information booth he'd stopped at.
"I'm afraid we don't. We usually advise everyone to empty their pockets before going into the dirt. But I do suppose accidents do happen," she told them with an understanding shake of the head. Kimiko opened her mouth to say something but Raimundo beat her to it.
"That's too bad," he said and Kimiko was impressed by his acting, "I was hoping that if it did fall into the dirt and someone found it, it would get noticed since it wasn't a fossil."
"I'm afraid that hasn't happened so far," Maryann told him, "and most of the plots are empty now."
"Empty?" Kimiko couldn't help but question.
"Yes, there are a certain number of fossils in each individual plot so we are able to keep a record of what has been found and what is still buried."
"How do you keep track of that?" Kimiko continued on her mind burning with possibilities. "All of the dirt starts to look the same to me after a while and I've only been here for a few minutes."
"Well," Maryanne continued on noticing their eager faces, "there is a system in place. See the different colored poles? That marks off each section of the fossil beds. We only let the kids into certain ones at certain times. We started at the top of the line there and have been working down since the exhibit opened. All the ones kids aren't in now are empty."
"Really?" Kimiko said surprised. "So you started" she emphasized, "up there at the end of the line?"
"Sure did," Maryanne said with a smile. "Sorry I couldn't be more of a help."
"You've been a big help Maryanne," Raimundo assured her, "but I was wondering if there wasn't one more thing you could do for me."
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New York City was good for everything, except for work. It hadn't always been that way. Before the attacks on September eleventh a person could literally get away with murder. Now everyone was too paranoid for their own good and that made everything in the blonde woman's line of work hard to accomplish and it didn't help that she was on the most wanted list of more then a few countries. That was laughable though since none of them had any accurate information on who she actually was. But that was just proof that she was good at what she did. The fact that she could go to parties with her political parents and have conversations with those so eager to lock her up forever sent such a rush through her system. It was the only reason that she kept her old identity and even still spoke with her parents. The feeling mutual though, her parents only kept her around to maintain their image as the ideal American family. It wasn't as if she needed their money, though she never objected to it. She made plenty in her line of work.
But this job she was back in New York City for was purely for fun, for the thrill of the hunt. Licking her lips in a predatory way the woman pulled out her blackberry, an advanced model that wouldn't be on the market for months, and checked the screen. The GPS had gone active less then an hour before, a signal that her targets had become active in the game and were now open to the hunt. She only had twenty four hours to make the kill or else they got to walk free. Grinning like a cat she thought to herself that there was no way that that would happen.
Following the tracker on the map, black heels clicking on the pavement she went the tall thin woman turned into Central Park. Her targets hadn't moved in a while but she still needed a visual to pinpoint their location. The tracker was only so accurate but she didn't want it anyway. What kind of a hunter would she be if she relied on nothing but electronics to do the work for her? Turning down the path she saw a crowd gathered and almost passed it by but she remembered the first clue she'd been forwarded and so she paused. She received each clue that her prey did but didn't need to rely on them, but in this instance it did help her. Bringing up a new screen on her hand held she opened a file that held the photos of Kimiko (Tomney) Tohomiko and Raimundo Pedrosa.
Dark eyes scanned the area and settled on two individuals heading toward the end of a roped off area.
'Purrrfect,' she thought to herself and moved forward to blend easily into the crowd.
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"You are one good sweet talker," Kimiko said as she and Raimundo stepped over a colored rope.
"Nothing to it," he told her. "And I wasn't sweet talking," he corrected, "I was just being nice and polite to a perfectly nice and polite woman."
"Unhun," Kimiko said shooting him a teasing look. "And those free hash browns had nothing to do with the smiles you gave the waitress."
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Raimundo said suddenly uncomfortable. "Now better get to work." Kimiko dug the toe of her sneaker into the dirt and looked torn.
"It's not that deep but it's still a pretty big area," she said looking around. "Are we supposed to just start digging around? We don't even have shovels or anything." Maryanne, the volunteer, had led to two to the first plot of land in the mock dig and told them that they could look through the dirt for Kimiko's missing item.
"Opposed to playing in the dirt Kimiko?" Raimundo teased looking over at her and enjoying the way her nose wrinkled.
"It's not that," she argued, "its just we have a time limit here. We can't waist time digging through the dirt. There has to be something logical here."
"Well the clue said 'start' and this area is the start of the exhibit. But maybe we should take that a step further and apply that to the start of this," Raimundo suggested looking toward the top of the roped off area. Kimiko nodded.
"You take the left corner and I'll take the right and we will meet in the middle," Kimiko told him. "What are we looking for again?" Kimiko asked when she reached her corner, planting her hands on her hips.
"Your guess is as good as mine. This place is supposed to be all cleaned out so anything at this point in time I guess anything."
"Guess we need to get dirty then," Kimiko gave a somewhat defeated sigh and for a moment Raimundo was worried that she was going to make a fuss about it. He was pleasantly surprised however when she stooped to her knees and began to rake her fingers through the dirt. Raimundo watched her for a minute and then started his own search. The two started moving toward one another, meeting in the middle as their fingers brushed one another. Raimundo sucked in his breath and glance over at her but her eyes were locked on the ground.
"There's something here," she said almost breathlessly and began to dig into the dirty more intently. Rai watched her pull out a small sealed box and brush the dirt from the top. She looked back at him. "You think this is it?"
"Only one way to find out," Rai said standing straight and helping her up. Kimiko nodded in agreement and went to try and open it but was stopped by Raimundo.
"What?" she asked looking back at him.
"Maybe we should do this somewhere private," he suggested and began to look around. The volunteer from the entrance had her eyes on them again but there was a prickling on the back of his neck that told him there was something else. He hadn't forgotten about the hunter that could be on their trail and he realized how incredibly out in the open they were.
"But what if we need to do something else while we are here?" Kimiko said worried.
"We won't go far," he said looking around, "just not out here."
"But," she started to protest again but seemed to realize what he was thinking. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm not sure," he admitted still looking around them. His eyes settled on a tall blonde woman with short hair and dark glasses on. Her form fitting black jeans clung to her body along with a long sleeved black shirt. She was turned toward them but Raimundo couldn't tell if her eyes were on them. There was something off about her that Raimundo didn't like but he didn't want to alarm Kimiko. "Let's just go and find a bench to sit on or something," Raimundo suggested. Kimiko nodded in agreement, her eyes falling on the woman that had caught Raimundo's attention.
They stepped over the rope and Kimiko bent to knock the worst of the dirt off her sneakers. An unfamiliar sensation sailed over her back and for a moment she thought she'd gone deaf as the noise of a gun shot echoed through the park. People were screaming, running, and ducking and Kimiko realized that she'd just saved her own life by bending down at the right moment. All of this happened in a millisecond but to Kimiko it felt like an eternity.
Her instincts caught up with her and Kimiko screamed, falling to the ground completely. Strong hands wrapped around her arm and tugged her up. For a moment Kimiko fought it, wanting to stay as low as possible but the owner of the hands were insistent and soon Kimiko was up on her feet.
"Stay low and run," Rai hissed loudly at her, already running and dragging her along. Another shot rang out from behind them and Kimiko heard more screams, sending out a silent prayer that no one had been hurt because of them. Glancing quickly over her shoulder Kimiko saw chaos but no one appeared to be down. She also caught sight of the blond woman standing calmly amongst the crowd and Kimiko caught sight of a gun in her hand.
"Shit," she whispered. Rai weaved suddenly, pulling them down another path and then off the trail to an outcrop of rocks.
"Are you ok?" he asked as his eyes scanned her body for injury. Kimiko gave a numb nod, not being able to form words. "We need to keep moving," Raimundo told her. Kimiko shook her head no.
"What if we need to do something here?" she asked.
"Do you still have the box?" he asked and when she nodded he continued on. "We need to get away, somewhere quiet and we'll look at what you found."
"But," she started to protest again but Raimundo interrupted her.
"We'll come back if we need to," he assured her and took her hand again, "now come on." Kimiko didn't fight him, just followed him since he seemed to be so calm and collected despite the fact that they'd just been shot at. His hand in hers was firm and comforting, it seemed so steady and assuring so Kimiko clung to it. But at the same time it was a bit disconcerting. How was it possible that this man was so calm and collected when he was thrown into a situation like this that included some nut with a gun and be totally fine about it? There was something about Raimundo Pedrosa that went beyond being in law enforcement, and until she knew, Kimiko wasn't sure she could trust him.
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Raimundo needed to think, some place quiet to think for a minute, and some place safe. He glanced at the woman trailing behind him and grimaced. This girl, he had to keep her safe, that was a given. 'Think Pedrosa, think,' he commanded himself.
"Hey," he said catching her attention. They'd exited the park and reached the street. There was some color back in Kimiko's cheeks and the slight trembling he felt through their joined hands had disappeared. Kimiko looked at him and Rai saw a bit of fear in those eyes but it was mostly masked by the raw determination he'd seen there since she'd walked into Omi's gym. "We need to go somewhere," he told her.
"You've mentioned that more then once," she said with a weak smile that he returned.
"I'm going to get us to a hotel so we can think in peace," he told her.
"Why a hotel?" she asked.
"Some security and plus it's easy to get lost in."
"So is a mall," Kimiko argued but signaled for a taxi anyway. "Before we go there I need to stop at a bank," she said her voice wavering slightly as a taxi pulled up. Rai studied her as they climbed in.
"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked. Kimiko nodded yes and had a look on her face that clearly said she didn't want to talk about it. Rai sighed heavily and changed the subject as Kimiko stowed the box in her bad. "Why do you need a bank?"
"Because I'm low on cash and I'm certain that there will be places that won't accept cards that we'll have to get into today." Rai didn't argue while she gave the driver the address of the bank she wanted. It really wasn't that bad of an idea since credit and debit cards could be traced. They were silent as the taxi weaved in an out of traffic. Kimiko was clutching to her bag, fighting nerves and the anxiousness that came from wanting to open the box and get at whatever was inside. She didn't have time to waist on Raimundo's paranoia, even if he did have a perfectly good reason for taking them away from the park. The taxi came to a stop and Kimiko fumbled with her wallet, slightly grateful when Raimundo managed his and paid the driver.
The two slid out of the cab and made their way toward the bank. Raimundo was slightly surprised when Kimiko bypassed the ATM and entered the actual bank. They were greeted as they entered by a doorman as well as a blast of cold air conditioned air that was a relief to both. Raimundo opened his mouth to speak but Kimiko continued on, walking to a particular window with determined strides. Raimundo hung back a few feet, out of coherent earshot, and watched her as she talked to the attendant. A moment later the uniformed teller disappeared and reappeared with another, more senior looking banker. Kimiko and the man talked for a minute and Kimiko pulled out her wallet, removing two cards and presenting them to the man who inspected them closely. Raimundo moved closer as this took place, extremely curious as to what exactly was going on, knowing that this wasn't the normal series of events for with drawls.
The man was returning the cards when Raimundo approached and he managed to catch a glimpse of the names and noticed immediately that they did not say Kimiko Tomney.
"Right this way Ms To," the man managed out before Kimiko interrupted looking over her shoulder at Raimundo.
"Do you mind staying out here Raimundo?" she asked effectively cutting off the banker in front of her. The man seemed to get the hint and remained silent while Raimundo nodded his consent. Kimiko nodded back at him and followed the banker as he led her toward the back. Moving to sit down in one of the chairs Raimundo kept his eyes on Kimiko's back as she moved further and further from sight. He didn't like being separated from her, concerned for safety as well as curious about her. She had two last names and was doing a poor job of hiding it. He might have believed she did just have two last names, resulting from a parents divorce or even a marriage, though he didn't like the possibility of that. The fact that she was obviously trying to hide it set off warning bells in his head. Just who was Kimiko Tomney, or even more importantly who was Kimiko Tohomiko?
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"You ready?" Kimiko asked, barely pausing as she breezed past him. Raimundo immediately followed and tried his best not to let it show that anything had changed in his thinking about her.
"I should get some cash out too," he suggested turning toward the ATM.
"I've go us covered," Kimiko told him waving for a cab. She looked back and saw him about to protest. Her eyes narrowed. "Believe me," she said in a slightly harder tone, "I've got us covered." Raimundo saw the challenge in her eyes but looked away not liking anything that was occurring between them. A car pulled up and Kimiko climbed in the back, followed by Raimundo.
"Where to?" the driver asked when they were settled. Kimiko looked at Raimundo.
"Where to?" she repeated at him.
"Times Square," he told the driver, "a nice hotel near there. You pick."
"You got it," the driver told them as he pulled into traffic. Kimiko wanted to ask Raimundo why time square but she bit her tongue, feeling the heavy air between them. She hated that she had to take him into the bank with her but asking him to wait outside hadn't been an option. She suppressed a stomach ache, something that was often the result of times of stress in her life, and sent a look at Raimundo. He was obviously lost in his own thoughts and Kimiko noted the way his strong jaw clenched. The taxi pulled to the side of the road and Kimiko pulled out some cash, noticing that Raimundo didn't even pull his wallet out, the first time that morning. They slid out of the cab and Kimiko led the way into the hotel, stopping at the front desk and requesting a room for the next two days.
"I'm sorry Miss," the desk worker told her, "but you can't check in until two o'clock." Kimiko felt a headache develop and her stomach gave another dull jolt of pain. 'I need some pepto and some Tylenol,' Kimiko thought trying to keep her temper in check. She looked back at Raimundo whom she was surprised to see was hanging back, watching her interaction with interest. Kimiko turned back to the receptionist and leaned a little closer to him.
"Fine then," she said softer, "I need to get into the Tohomiko suite then please." The man looked surprised.
"I wasn't told that suite was being used today," he said checking the computer.
"There was a last minute change of plans and I need the suite," Kimiko told him.
"I'm sorry Miss," he apologized again, "but I'm going to need to see some ID as well as your gold card." Kimiko groaned in frustration and dug into her bag, wondering if she'd even brought the stupid thing with her. Her father's company kept permanent suites in multiple major cities in multiple hotels all over the globe and although she never used them her father insisted she had her own gold cards so she could get into each. Kimiko held down a cry of success as she found the gold card for this particular hotel chain, stuck behind her old student ID. Kimiko slid that and the ID that held her real name toward the worker. He scrutinized both carefully, before handing them back to her.
"Very good Ms. Tohomiko," he told her before she could stop him. He slid the electronic key cards toward her. "Will you be needing anything else as the moment?" Kimiko snatched the cards away.
"No, not at the moment," Kimiko snapped at him. The man seemed unfazed by her anger.
"Well if you need anything at all feel free to phone down," he assured her with a well practiced smile. Kimiko didn't respond just turned back on her heel to Raimundo and tried to act as if nothing were wrong because for all she knew he hadn't heard anything.
"Ready?" she asked stopping next to him.
"Got us a room?" he asked nonchalantly as he followed her.
"Took a little bit but I managed," Kimiko told him punching the up button on the elevator. They waited in silence as the bell dinged and the doors slid open.
"Which floor?" Raimundo asked when they were inside Kimiko hesitated before answering.
"Top," she said as if it were no big deal and Raimundo complied like it were no big deal. Kimiko allowed herself a tiny, silent sigh of relief.
"Are you ok Kimiko?" Raimundo asked breaking the silence.
"Dandy," Kimiko said blowing a loose piece of paper out of her face. "I'll be better once we can open this up," she said pulling out the dirty box. When she first pulled it from the earth she'd cleaned it off as best she could but she could guess that her bag and its contents were dusty at the very least. The doors dinged open and Kimiko stepped through followed closely by Raimundo and walked into a tiny anteroom that held the only door on the floor. Kimiko slid the card into the key slot and waited impatiently for the little light to turn green and let her know the door was unlocked. When it finally did she entered the dimly lit but cool and clean smelling suite. She heard the door click shut behind her and then another unfamiliar click that wouldn't have caught her attention if Raimundo's voice hadn't filled her ears.
"Drop the box on the table and get your hands up in the air," she heard him command softly. She looked back at him, slightly frozen in fear and at his tone. "Head forward," Raimundo snapped at her and Kimiko's head snapped to face front again. She felt her stomach pitch with nausea and the blood pounded in her ears. In her life she'd had a gun pulled on her twice and both within the last hour. "Box Kimiko," Raimundo's voice reminded her. Kimiko set the box down and put her hands back in the air. "Good," he told her, "now slip off the bag." Kimiko complied as she fought down tremors of fear. "Now," he continued on and Kimiko felt him shift closer, "do exactly what I say and you won't get hurt."
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Sorry this took so long to get out! I wanted to get a good chunk of chapter five done before I got this out. Chapter four will be out soon but I'm trying to finish up my one shot father's day fic before I concentrate on that. Ok, anyway, did you guys enjoy this chapter? Let me know and please review!!