I'm out of touch
I'm out of love
I'll pick you up when you're getting down
And out of all these things I've done
I think I love you better now
Dov stepped aside and motioned us into the trailer. Another man rose from the kitchen table to greet us. He was large with a salt and pepper crew cut. He had scars under his eyes, and on his hands like he had been a fighter. "Hey Johnny!" He greeted Luke
"Hey Sal, what's up?" they shook hands and did the half hug guys do.
Luke wrapped his arm around my waist while he made the introductions,
"Sal, this is Dr. Susan Johnson, Suzie, this is Sal."
Sal offered me a large meaty hand, there was a curious scar on his forearm, five jagged spheres in the shape of a V, almost as if tiny stars had branded it there. We shook hands "Is your girl really a doc, Johnny? Cuz she's too pretty to be a doc!" He winked at me.
"What can I do for you?" I inquired while looking around for any sign of Gail.
Sal looked at his hands and shook his head. "Dave's lady managed to get herself knocked up, so we were hoping you could help us take care of it quietly."
I barely managed to stifle a sharp intake of breath and felt myself flush, my heart beating in my mouth.
"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" Dov was looking at me sharply.
I shook my head.
"Look, " Sal said, "She's in the back. We had to teach her a lesson, so maybe you could help clean her up a little too."
"Let me examine her, and I will let you know what I can do." I offered
Dov opened the door at the back of the trailer and ushered me into a dark bedroom. I was suffocating in the inky, hot, blackness. I couldn't breathe! Gail had to be here somewhere! She had to! I was franticly searching for her on all fours now. Where could she be? I was being sucked down into the impenetrable darkness, quicksand eroding beneath me, heaviness pulling me down. I heard Gail sobbing, I knew she was in labor, giving birth without assistance, I had to help her somehow…
My eyes flew open as I sat bolt upright with a gasp! Of course! I remember now! I knew what it was, and I knew where I had seen it before! The events of the night Luke and I had picked up Dov and Gail to go to the safe house, along with the moments before the blast had cracked my scull, came flooding back to me with such veracity, it could be right now. I shook my head and blinked, trying to clear my head of the visions swimming before my eyes in full Technicolor. Shit! I had to get back to the boys, and fast!
Over the past two days since Dov's reappearance in our midst, I had managed to work myself into a state of complete exhaustion, determined to find Gail alive, and in one piece. I had refused to leave my research station at the main computer console, had barely eaten and spoke only when necessary. Several hours ago, Steve had found me, slumped over my keyboard, and gently carried me to the back room and tucked me into bed, scarcely waking me once.
" I remember!" I exclaim as I burst into the room. "The Midas Society! That's what it was!"
The three men look up from the map they are studying to stare at me as if I'd lost my mind.
"Holy conspiracy theories Batgirl!" Dov proclaims lifting one eyebrow skeptically at me. "Slow down."
The other two stare blankly at us.
Dov turns to them and explains "The Midas Society was allegedly a secret society of wealthy men, who basically wanted to use their wealth and power to live a decedent lifestyle outside the law. It was formed during the gold rush by a group of five men, who had made millions on mining, prostitution, and liquor. It is said that in order to join, a man must be invited in by an existing member who is willing to gift one million dollars to the Midas Society's bankroll. But it doesn't really exist. Does it? I mean, I just spent six months with these people… Why do you think it's the Midas Society?"
"Sal had what looked like a brand on his forearm, five stars in the shape of a V, or the constellation Taurus, as in the Minotaur. That must be why they wanted to destroy his body." I muse aloud.
"You know," Dov says, "Club Venus has that V with the five stars in its logo. Wait a minute! I need to call my liaison at the FBI! I think I know where Gail is!"
He gathers our combined notes and maps, and heads to the computer with the secure video feed.
The night is quite and thick with the aroma of wild roses and honeysuckle. A warm gentle breeze plays in Steve's hair as he leans on the hood of his car. I walk over to lean next to him. Dov and Chris are in the car behind, softly playing the radio and talking in voices too low for me to make out the words. I've been on edge all day, knowing that this might be it! The light in the distance moves closer in our direction. We watch as the small plane circles on its approach, its engines briefly drowning out the crickets and the hum of the cicadas. Dov and Chris get out of their car and stand on the tarmac. Dov had asked Gail's mom if she would like to join us at her daughter's homecoming, but she had declined, briskly informing us of the Police Officer's Pension Fundraiser at the Lake Shore Hotel, where she would be a personal guest of the Chief. The plane circles again and drops its landing gear.
Seven days ago they found her, stuffed in a shipping crate on its way out to sea from the San Francisco Bay. The clip of her gun was empty, the child she was holding could have been no more than six. For a moment they weren't sure she was still alive, until she opened her eyes. The child was dead. She had died in Gail's arms after Gail tried to rescue her from the ship's captain. The Russian mob was somehow involved.
Luc Dufort had not been so lucky. They found him too, a neat bullet hole between his eyes. Gail was given medical attention, and questioned by every agency involved in the case before they sent her home.
We watch the plane make its final descent and roll to a stop. It seems to take forever before the door opens and the stairs pop out. I hear Dov and Chris get out of the car behind us. I find I can't move, I grip the edge of the car where I am leaning with white knuckles, my eyes are riveted to the doorway of the plane. Two men wearing dark grey suites emerge. They nod at Steve as they walk by. And then, she's there, standing at the top of the stairs looking left and then right across the dark runway. The boys have already begun to move in her direction. She spots them, nods once, and descends. I think I saw her shoulders sag a little, but then they are all greeting her. There is hugging, and laughter that floats back to me across the warm night air as Steve picks up her bag and they turn as one unit to walk back to the cars. I can tell how tired she must be by the way she moves.
They are still a ways away when she looks up and freezes as she spots me. The boys keep walking, leaving her standing alone on the tarmac. I take a deep breath, push myself off the hood of the car and walk toward her, my heart pounding in my throat. As I get closer, I can't help it, I feel myself begin to smile. She looks so vulnerable standing there, head bowed slightly, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
"Holly. Hey." She says in a voice just above a whisper.
"Hey." I reply, reaching out to take her hands in mine. I pull her to me, and feel her sag and sigh as our body's fit together.
"I didn't think you had come." She says softly into my neck, and holding me tighter. "I'm really glad you're here!"
"I've been going crazy ever since San Francisco!" I murmur in her ear.
She wearily sighs again, "Holly, the places I have been, the crazy shit I've done..."
"We tell each other things? Right? I mean whatever it is, we can get through this…" I know that I'm starting to ramble on.
"I don't, I don't know if you will still want me after I tell you. Holly, I…" She whispers
I realize in that moment that I just don't care. All I know is that she has come home, and that she's safe now, and we are together. I reach out and cup her face in my hands. I can tell she knows what's coming, because we both lean in. Our lips meet and I know that this is all that matters. So I kiss her with everything I have. As we pull away I look her deep into her eyes.
" I love you, and you just had to stop talking…" I feel myself smile as I say this. I rest my forehead against hers.
She smiles back, "I won't say another word."