"Why did you let him get drunk?" he said, his face flushed with anger.
"Let's get something straight, general. I'm not in the military so your rank means nothing to me. I'm a Kazak so shouting doesn't impress me either. And I'm your son's bodyguard not his nursemaid. You will notice I didn't try to help him to his room or hide his actions."
"You're very arrogant, Lynn." He stood looking at me for several minutes. "I guess that's why the government types don't like you. But you're right. David, give me your keys. No car for a week." When he put out his hand out, I dropped the keys in.
"I'm not suicidal."
***
David refused to talk and tried his best to ignore me. I found it an improvement and interesting that he wasn't talking to me because he got drunk and his father caught him-so it was my fault. It didn't help that his friends were talking to me and found the situation amusing. They attended movies, visited arcades, played a variety of games at each other's homes, and met with girls in the evening. David didn't seem to be good at games. One girl who had been at the beach party seemed to have latched onto him. A good thing since the other girls didn't appear interested in him. After the first couple of days the novelty wore off and they ignored me. I knew all the kids by now but it didn't stop me from paying attention. From what I could tell the old group had several new faces, probably due to my presence. The second week his father gave him his keys back, but little changed except he didn't need to bum a ride. This assignment had elevated boredom to a new level I never thought possible. What was worse, Udella had received another letter threatening his son, so it was unlikely I would be relieved until I could neutralize the wannabee assassins. I just wished I could find some way to make them hurry. Unfortunately, there was a high probability that they had no intention of taking any overt action. In that case, the normal ninety-nine percent boredom was going to reach one hundred.
***
The summer flew by and only a week before he and his friend would be departing for their respective universities. I could just image how much fun that would be for me. That night, David tried to ditch me because he had a date with, Irene, the girl who had been seeing a lot of him since the beach party.
"I've got a date tonight, and you're not coming," he screamed and shook his fist at me. I opened the back door, entered, and fastened my seat belt. Eventually, he got in and drove to her house.
"I can't get rid of her, Irene," he whined when she came out.
"It doesn't matter, David. I don't mind her watching."
"I do!"
"Believe me, you won't care." Her smile was sultry and David went all gooey-eyed. The road he took weaved through heavily treed back roads. An hour later, Irene pointed to a dirt road and a few minutes after that told him to park off to the side of the road. Judging by the way she directed him here, I wondered how many times she had done this before. She grabbed his hand and began walking up a dirt path. She walked slightly in front of David blocking my view of her so I didn't see her pull a gun from her bag. She put her arm around his waist and leaned against him and whispered something while nibbling at his ear. A few steps later they both turned. She still had her arm around him and lips to his neck, but she had moved part way behind him, a gun held waist high pointing at his ribs. The gesture was clear: move and he's dead. He stood looking at me and grinning, oblivious to everything.
Just then, a boy stepped out from behind a large tree ten yards in front of me and then another an equal distance behind me. They were the two who had joined David and his friends supposedly because a Kazak was along. Both had guns aimed at me. Mistake. You don't play with Kazak's- you kill them immediately.
"Well, Davy, don't you think it's time to teach your big, bad guard-dog a lesson?"
"Ya, that bitch has been following me, ordering me around, and talking to me like I'm a dog. The bitch even hit me and got me in trouble with my straight-assed father. She needs to be taught she's not as tough as she thinks," David's face had twisted in anger until Irene kissed his neck and whispered something.
"Jimmy, she has a gun some place, get it."
"My pleasure, Jacob. She's not much in the tits department but her ass isn't bad."
I felt the barrel of a gun in my back as he began to reach around me. They teach you on the Hill that it takes a second for someone to react to your movement, whether it's a gun or a knife. I spun right. My right arm knocked his arm left and the bullet went well past me. I kept spinning. My left arm snaked around his neck while my right drew my gun. Irene reflexively turned toward me, but too late. I spun, jerking Jimmy's head with the arm around his neck and back-kicked Irene in her chest. She flew backward dropping the gun. I then moved so I stood between David and Jacob, who stood, gun lowered and frozen. Then he smiled.
Clare was going to be pissed. I had made a fatal mistake not shooting the three, but I had thought them kids wanting to prove they were smarter than a Kazak, intending only to tie me up and leave me stranded miles from anywhere. I never doubted I could overcome them and, therefore, didn't consider them dangerous.
My head exploded in pain and my knees began to buckle. I tried to keep focused on Jacob and maintain control of my gun, but the inside of my head was spinning like a tornado.
"Jacob, shoot the bitch." David's voice. Sensing another hit was coming, I managed to turn enough to deflect some of the force-but not enough. I dropped to one knee, fighting for control. Jimmy and Irene were on their feet again, guns pointing in my direction. If I didn't get control soon, I would die. The inhuman training on the Hill was all that kept me up and fighting to recover. Before I could focus, a bullet slammed into my chest, throwing me backward. I lay there feeling the blood leaking across my belly. Like a dream, I could see the Witch Meztlil in front of me. Think, Fox, she whispered. If I could have, I would have laughed. Thinking was all I could do, I was in no condition to move. My only option was to play dead and hope. I left my eyes opened, staring, and unmoving. I quieted my heart and breathing to almost nothing, as I had often done in meditation, and let myself go limp. It took superhuman effort to lay there unprotected, against all my instincts.
Jacob came walking over and kicked me in the side. I had expected something like that and prepared for the pain. The training on the Hill no longer seemed cruel. When he saw no reaction, he walked away.
"The great Kazak is dead. Now it's Davy boy's turn."
"What? Why me? I helped you kill that bitch."
"Why you? Because of your maniac father my brother is dead. He was part of your father's thirty thousand troop surge," Irene shouted. David screamed. I could hear but could see from where I lay, but I knew their attention was totally on David. They were going to kill him, but not until they assuaged their anger.
"My aunt and her two children were killed by a drone attack on her village," Jacob shouted, pain evident in the words. Another scream from David.
"But you're Jewish," David sobbed.
"Jews live in Afghanistan, too. Your killer of a father doesn't care." More screams.
"My brother's without a leg and has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because his unit was part of the surge." Jimmy's voice. "Maybe your father will understand the horrors of war with your death."
"I doubt it, Jimmy. It made me want to puke having to kiss this piece of shit. He'll probably be glad to get rid of him. But maybe others who have suffered like us will get some satisfaction from him losing his son." Irene's voice.
I rolled over, rose to one knee and almost passed out. I had never felt so weak and dizzy. Find your center, Lynn. That place without pain, doubts, and confusion, Meztlil whispered, her black hood hiding all but a thin smile. I closed my eyes and sought the peace I had found in the temple on the Hill. When I opened them, David's back was against a tree and the three were facing him. A shot sounded and David screamed and collapsed holding his knee.
"There. That's how my brother felt when an IED blew off his leg," Jimmy growled. I drew both knives and rose, unsteady. Taking a deep breath, steadied myself, and focused on Jacob. I drew my knife and lunged forward. The knife flew from my hand and sank up to its hilt in his back in the area of the heart. As Jacob fell forward, Jimmy looked back in my direction. But didn't react for several seconds-he was a kid with a gun not a combat veteran-as I continued to stagger and lunge closer. I threw my second knife as he began to raise his gun. It sunk deep into his chest and heart. He dropped the gun and staggered backward into Irene. Her eyes went wide and mouth opened in shock. Before she could decide what to do, I stumbled into her, driving my fingers into her throat. She fell backward with me on top. I lay there listening to her gasping for breath, which never came. I laughed although it hurt. My wound was pressed against her ample breast. It acted as a compress. I flipped open my iphone and hit "1" automatically.
"Yes?" Witton's voice. I had one last thing to do before I died.
"Tell Meztlil, I love her." My iphone slipped from my hand.
***
The faint smell of lilac reminded me of Clare after a shower. She loved her lilac scented soap. A light minty breath kissed my cheek in a steady rhythm I remembered with Clare asleep in my arms. Content, I lay relaxed.
I felt pressure along my body, strands of hair in my face, and the smell of Clare. A lovely dream. I reached up, and ran my hand over her body. Pain coursed through my chest as she jerked up. Pain. I was alive.
"She's awake!" Clare shouted. Kisses rained down on me: cheeks, eyes, forehead, nose, chin, and lips. It was worth the pain. When I looked around, actually around Clare's head, I saw Witton standing at the foot of the bed and Sam the Panther sitting in a chair off to the left. He nodded when my eyes caught his.
"Witton wanted to make sure you didn't shoot one of the nurses," he grinned. Witton didn't know what happened and was being cautious having Sam sitting guard.
"Lynn, how did you let a high school kid get the drop on you? And-" Clare ran towards him.
"You bastard. Get out of here. She doesn't need your criticism." She banged weakly on his arm, tears streaming down her cheeks. He just put his arm around her. Before he could speak, I chimed in.
"My love, it's a reasonable question. He's not criticizing me. He wants to understand." Clare sort of nodded, her face still in Witton's chest. "Let me start at the beginning, if you'll get me something to eat. I'm not hungry, but the faster I eat the faster I'll recover." While we waited, Clare came over and sat on the edge of the bed holding my hand. Witton pulled up a chair on the other side, and Sam rose and moved against the wall closer to the bed but still facing the door.
"Let me start at the beginning..." As I talked, there were a few smiles and a snort or two but everyone was waiting for the punch line.
"WHAT!" Clare screamed when it finally came. Witton managed to wave her to silence.
"That's a little different from the story he told. He claims to be a bit of a hero." Witton's smile did not bode well for David-nor did Sam's. In a way, my injuries had been my fault. Normally, I shot first and determined later if I had been right. This time I had shown poor judgment in not just killing them immediately as they had shown poor judgment in not killing me immediately.
"The little lying bastard!" Clare shouted, giving Witton a mother tiger's stare.
"Of course he is, Clare. He has committed an action that cannot be forgiven or go unpunished. Sam, go collect him. I'll let you know where to take him. Sorry to leave but you're in good hands. I'll discuss your future-"
"No, you won't-" Clare jumped off the bed and headed for Witton.
"With you, Clare," he finished. Clare froze, looking from me to him as he walked out the door.
"Do you think he meant it?"
"For better or worse, I think he did."
Clare stayed with me twenty-four hours a day. Witton had arranged for a two person private room so she had a place to sleep, since she refused to leave. They released me on the fourth day over everyone's objections including Clare, until she found we would be going to my condo.
"Wow, you get this for free, including utilities?" Clare asked as she wandered from room to room. "It's not cozy," she smiled, "but it certainly is a luxury condo."
"It's not cozy because it's not home." I said, making myself comfortable on the couch and switched on some mood music. "When do you have to return to Denver?"
"I'm on extended leave. After what you've done for the paper over the years, no one is complaining." She walked into the kitchen and began opening cabinets and drawers. "I'll make some coffee if you like. And I can make a meal from what you have on hand. For someone who is never here, you have a well stocked freezer and larder."
"Someone magically keeps it stocked when they know I might be in town. As for dinner, there is a restaurant downstairs. We can go down or they will deliver if you would rather."
"That's some benefit package. I'd be impressed, except unlike the president, his cabinet, senators, etc., you earn your benefit package.
"I think for now, I'd just like to hold you in my arms and enjoy the moment."
***
Ann Marie called that evening, to let us know Witton would like to see Clare and me the next day at nine a.m. Clare and I were up early and I gave her a grand tour of the facility, including a stop for breakfast. Everyone we met was interested in meeting Clare and hearing about my recent escapade. I agreed to tell it, once, to whoever was interested after our meeting with Witton. They insisted on showing Clare the Lynn Board when we returned from our meeting with Witton.
After introducing Clare to Ann Marie, we were ushered into Witton's office.
"Well, Clare. Your TLC seems to have our patient well on the road to recovery. I've asked you here to update you on David Udella. He has pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and worked out a plea-bargain with the district attorney. He is being treated as an adult and sentenced to twenty-five years."