Disclaimer: I do not own Human Target and intend no copyright infringement.
The next day. The warehouse.
"Everything was a lie." Nelly stared out the window. "The man who meant so much to me… who raised me, taught me things, guided me along in life…the man I looked up to… was in truth the murderer of my parents."
She made a small sobbing sound. Chance wondered if it would be a good idea to embrace her, but before he could come to any decision she turned around and faced him. Some time between the sob and the turn her expression had changed. A spark, a tiny one, but definitely a determined one, was now blazing in her gray eyes.
"Sometimes starting from scratch is the best way to start something new."
Chance could only agree with that.
"So you're not going back to the farm?"
She weighed her head. "Not for now. In the future? Maybe. I'd like to meet my family first. The aunt who raised me for the first two years of my life is still alive."
"One of us could accompany you."
"Harry already offered, but thank you."
Chance slightly tilted his head in a questioning expression.
A reluctant smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Starting something new…
She said her goodbyes to the rest of the team which happened to just come trooping in and left.
"Interesting ending to a case, isn't it?", Winston mused as they all sat down in the lounge. "Nobody's injured for a change. Despite Harry's involvement. Definitely a red-letter day."
Uh-oh, Winston. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
But he was unstoppable: "Pizza anyone?"
At this very moment, the elevator signaled unexpectedly. Automatically the men reached for their guns. Ames got ready to dive behind the couch.
… … …
Roughly at the same time. San Diego. The kitchen of a small apartment.
"So you've seen her recently?", the man asked the young mother whose little daughter was constantly pulling at her hand. The girl didn't like the visitor. There was something about him that upset her. The mother could only agree with that. She didn't like him either. He reminded her of a lawyer, but not one of the Boston Legal kind.
"She had bullied me at school and wanted to apologize for that."
The man's demeanor didn't really change, but she could tell he was very interested. She could see it in his eyes. "Do you know where to find her? Did she leave an address?"
Ames had left her a telephone number, but this man was eerie, no, she didn't want to give it to him.
He produced a wallet, opened it and took out five hundred dollars in cash.
Five hundred dollars.
"I'm sure the young lady could do with new shoes or something, couldn't she?", the visitor said.
The mother didn't hesitate long. Ames' face flashed up in her mind – not the current version that had apologized to her, the teenage version that had called her names, ruined her chances to get a proper date, waited after school for her and had taken away her jacket.
"You've been of great help", the visitor said, tucked the card with the number safely away in his wallet and left.
… … …
The warehouse.
Emma and Ilsa exited the elevator. Both were laughing.
The men quickly hid their guns away.
"Long time no see", Chance greeted the women. Both stopped talking abruptly, stared at him, then started laughing again.
They had talked about him.
"You know the one thing that's worse than getting caught between two chicks, dude?", Guerrero muttered. "Getting caught between two chicks that found some kind of common ground."
Winston poured Chance a glass of Bourbon.
… … …
A small café, early afternoon.
Daisy had made an effort. She had paid the hairdresser a visit and invested in new clothes. The message Rusty had sent her had put her on cloud nine. Someone liked her enough to want to see her again – after a first date during which she had set the tablecloth on fire, almost killed another guest with a fork and nearly died of suffocation.
Among other incidents…
Someone was willing to put up with her clumsy ways! A totally new experience!
But where was Rusty?
A young man came towards her, roughly her age, very short hair, wiry. Complexion a bit pale, but nice eyes. "Are you Daisy?", he asked to her utter surprise.
Daisy's stomach clenched. Rusty not here, a stranger knowing her name… not a good sign.
"I'm sorry, but Rusty couldn't make it, an emergency came up."
Her shoulders slumped. Her back slumped. Everything about her slumped.
This had been so predictable.
"But he had already bought these tickets for this jazz concert… Would you mind if I accompanied you instead? My name's Sergej." He held out his hand.
After a short moment of hesitation she took it.