Thanks for the reviews. I promise you that we've now seen the last of junkie Jack:)
I was going to update yesterday, but as some of you know, my dog of nearly eleven years passed away, so I was pretty cut up about that and couldn't find the motivation to write. :'( I'm feeling more like myself today, though, so I decided to finish the chapter... ;)
Chapter 27. The Flash Drive
Claire was still sitting on the bench where they'd left her, watching the boys with a rueful expression when Kate parked the car and she and Jack got out.
"Jack – thank God!" she cried when she looked up to see them approaching, Jack leaning on Kate to keep from losing his footing on the hill, but she refrained from hugging him this time, folding her arms awkwardly across her chest.
"Hey," he greeted her with a shy smile, as if unsure what to say to her. "Sorry for running out on you like that, I just… you know."
"Yeah, I do," Claire agreed, still uncomfortable, but Kate could see her relax at his assurance that his reaction had nothing to do with her.
Aaron was building some kind of road for the cars while J.J. mimicked him, snatching up great clumps of dirt in his fists. He was covered in dark smudges; they were on his face, his arms, his feet, his clothes; but he was having fun, so Kate decided to leave him, and worry about cleaning him up later.
She slid her arm from around Jack's waist once they were close enough for him to sit down, settling back on the bench beside him.
"So what now?" he asked after a long, loaded silence, and Claire smiled.
"I don't know. We talk, get to know each other again, I guess – I mean, if you're up for it," she rushed on, self-conscious after everything that had just happened.
He studied her for a moment, and Kate was afraid he was going to refuse, until he nodded, returning her smile. "I'd like that," he told her.
The meeting with Christine DeVries wasn't for a few hours, so Jack offered to take Claire and Aaron to lunch while she filled them in the details of her life since the island.
She seemed to be doing well for herself, Kate decided, though she couldn't help noting that three years on, she still wasn't dating again; now that her son was in kindergarten, she was working as a receptionist during the day, and taking night classes while Lindsay looked after him.
She was doing well, but like most of the other survivors, she didn't seem better off.
"Maybe we can convince her to come stay with us in L.A.," Jack suggested as Kate drove across town to the Walkabout Publishing offices later that afternoon. Rather than risk a fight with her aunt, Claire had taken the boys with her to run errands, which they'd all agreed was safer, because it meant that they would be in a public place.
"Us?" Kate repeated, enjoying the way it sounded, like they were a real family. "Last time I checked, you had your own apartment, and I was sharing a house with my dad."
"That's why I thought when all this was over, you and J.J. would come live with me," he agreed, and glancing over at him, she realised that whatever he'd been drinking had long since worn off. He knew what he was saying, and he meant it. In fact, as far as he was concerned, the decision had already been made. "You've gotta admit, it makes more sense than you getting your own place."
"Are you asking me to move in with you, Jack?" she teased him, feeling a broad grin spread over her features. She was going to live with Jack; they were going to raise their son together, maybe even have another baby like they'd discussed.
"Do I need to?" he pressed, looking less sure of himself, as if he were afraid that she was having second thoughts about their relationship, but shook her head.
"No."
Kate wasn't sure what to expect, but when she beckoned them through to her office, she discovered that Christine DeVries was a tall, blonde woman with a welcoming smile and self-deprecating sense of humour.
"That'll teach me not to let myself get distracted when I'm driving, huh?" she said, patting a small bandage on her forehead as she gestured to a pair of chairs set aside for visitors. "Minor car accident. Fortunately I was the only one hurt."
She waited until they were both seated to get down to business. "You said you were friends of Gary's?"
"That's right," Jack agreed. "We met on a plane. I'm Jack, and this is Kate."
"You already know my name. So what can I do for you today?" she asked, folding her hands over her desk with an encouraging smile.
Unsure how to answer this, Jack looked to Kate, so she decided to take the lead. She was the better liar after all. "We're putting together a collection of his work and we were hoping you might have something to contribute."
"I'm afraid not," Christine assured them. "We only own the rights to one of his books, but if you'll settle for an extract, I'm sure arrangements can be made. I didn't know Gary very well, but he seemed like a nice guy, with a lot of talent. It would be a shame not to share that with people."
She smiled at them, and as she glanced over at Jack, seeing her beaten down expression reflected in his, Kate felt sick with disappointment. After everything that had happened; everything that they'd done; once again they would be returning to L.A. empty-handed, with the added baggage of a sister Jack was forbidden from seeing simply because they'd boarded the same flight.
"Are you sure that's it?" he insisted, surprising her with his tenacity when hours earlier he was ready to give up. "What about… what about The Valenzetti Equation? You published that too, didn't you?"
Christine was up and on her feet in seconds. "Who are you?" she demanded, rummaging through the top drawer of her desk, and before they could answer, they found themselves staring down the barrel of a sleek black pistol.
"I didn't think people were allowed guns here," Kate hissed to Jack, tensing, thankful that their son was safe with Claire.
"You'd be surprised how inconsequential that becomes after someone tries to run you off a cliff," Christine interrupted, and Kate realised that however it happened, her 'minor' car accident had nothing to do with letting herself be distracted. She was fighting for her life. "No point in worrying about going to jail if you're dead."
"That wasn't us – we're not here to hurt you," she told her, doing her best to stay calm as she raised her hands to where Christine could see them.
"We're survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 – the same crash that killed Gary Troup," Jack agreed, gesturing to her computer as he followed suit. "Don't take my word for it – look it up if you don't believe me – but trust me when I say we want the same thing. All we want is to be left alone – that's why we need the book. We need some kind of assurance that they won't keep coming after us and our families."
"You were really on that plane?" Christine asked, looking sceptical, but her gun hand wilted so that it was no longer pointed at their chests.
"Yeah," Kate agreed with a wry smile. "We were."
"And you want to try to blackmail the Hanso Foundation? One of the most powerful humanitarian organizations on the planet?" she continued, lowering it the rest of the way, her expression telling them that while she no longer doubted that this was true, she still thought they were both crazy.
"We do," Jack told her. "But we need that book."
Shifting the gun to her left hand, Christine turned slowly towards the safe behind her desk. "You'd better be careful, because someone knows you're here," she told them, dialling in the combination. "They're probably watching you right now."
It was a disconcerting thought, but at that moment, all that seemed to matter was that they were finally going to be the ones in the position to make demands; exchanging a hopeful glance with Jack, Kate held her breath as she watched Christine retrieve an object the size of a postage stamp from a little nook in the back.
She tossed it to Jack, who caught it in his palm, holding it out so that they could both see it. It was a flash drive; the kind used for storing data.
"They took everything else," Christine explained, closing the safe. "They even took my hard drive. I figured I should keep a copy for myself, just in case, but you know what? The bloody thing's more trouble than it's worth."
Next chapter: Jack, Kate and Claire celebrate the fact that the survivors now have the upper hand, and Kate gets some news about Sam... ;)