Devil’s in the Details (68 page)

Yes, I did write was. She had a terrible accident, a skiing accident, on vacation up in Colorado last week.

She will not bother you again and the metro station case has been reclosed due to the new evidence leading to the same outcome as the original case.

Burn this letter, Chimera and continue as you have. I will contact you when the time is right and we will move forth with the exit plan I spoke of.

-OM"

I shook my head, "What the fuck is going on?" I handed Dani the letter from Gaines, looking down at the single piece of paper that held Scarlett's face and her dossier from Voltaire. "Kelsey Stanton, United States Marines. Former Voltaire operative candidate, handpicked by that fat fucking bird and the old lady five years ago. Now she’s conveniently dead in a skiing accident, courtesy of Voltaire."

I lifted my head up, tossing the page on the console for Dani to snatch up, "Why does it suddenly feel the entire world is falling apart around us?" I rubbed my face with both hands, "I'm losing my goddamn mind with all this shit."

Dani read while she drove, muttering curse words as she navigated traffic and the facts in front of her, "Fucking fuck. I knew that detective was shady as hell. I should have known her file I pulled was creative writing. I've written a million fake identities to know how to spot one." She threw the pages back down, revving the car up to get us out of traffic. "The world is falling apart, our carefully crafted world of shit. It's falling apart, you're right Victoria, but it might be the best thing." She looked over at me, "I know it's the one thing I have been dreaming about for years, Voltaire imploding into a pile of ashes while I stand, point and laugh." She reached over, grabbing my shoulder, "The old man is giving us the heads up, giving us the ability to stand outside and seek the justice and peace we've deserved."

I shot a look at her, confused why she would be excited about this, "Did you drink the Kool Aid she offered you? This isn't going to be good, this isn't going to end up with any of us riding off in the sunset, and you know that."

Dani chuckled, "I've never expected to live to sit in a motorized scooter stealing the neighbor kids balls when it lands on my lawn. I accepted that I have an expiration date since the day we stood in the oval office, signing on the dotted line." She turned to me, "I don't care about my life, Victoria, never really have. The only thing I have cared about is staying alive to make sure I kept you alive."

She cleared her throat, the emotion rising up, "I will make sure you make it out, even if I have to sell my soul a third time to the devil." She smirked, sniffling, "Just make sure at the wedding you and nurse blue eyes have a toast in my name."

I turned away from the redhead, clenching my hands into fists to fight back tears, "Dani…"

"Shut up, I know." She drove the sedan up into my driveway, waving to my neighbors, muttering as we both looked out the window. "I would give my life to save yours, Victoria, so you can walk off into the sunset with Alex and forget. Forget that we ever did any of the things we have." She hit the unlock button, "Now get the fuck out of my car and enjoy the rest of your vacation. I'm going home to drink a bottle of vodka and have some late night fun with my level one code."

I swallowed hard, "Dani…I."

She shook her head, shoving me against the door, with tears in her eyes, "Get out of the damn car before you see me cry."

I nodded, shoving the car door open and stepping out, sucking in deep breaths of air to calm my stomach and heart down. I didn't turn around when Dani backed out of the driveway and tore off in a rush. I just walked to my mailbox, collected the mail and myself before I turned to Dale waving at me as he stood in front of Alex's mini cooper with oil stains on his shirt.

I kept a tight smile until I walked into the house, down to the basement where I grabbed a bottle of bourbon and began sipping it straight out of the bottle. Still gripping on to the two pages about Scarlett, I picked up a large ashtray a book of matches Dani stole from a hotel in Paris as my birthday gift three years ago.

Dropping the pages in the middle, I lit a match. I stared at the flame as it reflected off the amber liquid in the liquor bottle, then I lit the edges of the pages on fire. Watching the flames consume the pages like nothing, I took a larger drink from the bottle.

This was the beginning. These two pages burning was the catalyst of the world around me eventually burning to the ground.

~Six months later – Columbia~

"I'll be home in the morning, Alex, before your shift is over." I paced around the safe house, watching my clothes burn in the fireplace in between looking out the window on to the picturesque view of the hills of Bogota rolling before me.

Pressing my hand against the glass, cringing at the purple bruise growing around my knuckles from the hard nose I broke a half hour ago. "I miss you too, this should be the last trip for a month or so. The recruitment fairs usually taper off during the holiday months for breaks." I closed my eyes, listening to Alex’s voice with the calming background noises of the hospital.

I had just finished a job interrogating and killing the head of a narcotics ring, delivering cocaine for a known terrorist group to fund their activities. This job, like all of my others in the last six months since my meeting with the old man, was sent down by the old man and it was a clean job. Well, clean in the purpose behind it. I ended up covered in blood after getting into a fist fight with the big Colombian after the first injection I gave him only amplified the PCP he took. He had to be put down by slicing his throat open after I gouged both his eyes out with my thumbs to throw him out his PCP rage.

I had met the clean-up crew in blood soaked clothes and a desperate need to hear Alex's voice.

I had managed to live a dual life with her with some success. It did help that my jobs were longer in time away but shorter in how many I had to do. Gone were the weekly jobs. I was now traveling once a month at best, but doing two or three jobs in that time period. I would make sure I came home before her shifts were done so I had enough time to relax and switch the masks I wore. Once or twice, I had slipped after a particularly hard job that got too close like the job in Ireland had, and Alex would call me out on it. I would try to lie, without success, and we fought.

The last time was because she was home before I was and I wouldn't let her touch me until I took a scalding shower to wash away the hidden filth I felt of strangling a black arms dealer with my bare hands. The smell of his sweat, fear and vomit lingering in my nose and my pores.

Alex demanded me to tell her why I wouldn't let her touch me, why I flinched when she tried to hug me. I almost broke down then, pouring out the full truth in hopes she would walk away. Instead I made up a lie I was coming down with a cold and my body ached.

She saw through my bullshit and we fought some more until she left the house in anger and came back three hours later. Her hands filled with bags of Thai food, a case of beer and a stuffed Navy goat in her arms. She looked at me, hurt radiating from her eyes and making my heart break at the sight, "This is the last time I play the mysterious secret game with you. If you don't want to tell me, I can't make you. I love you Victoria Bancroft, and the next time you refuse to let me touch you, or hug you, will be the last time."

She held my eyes, "Trust me, Victoria. Whatever it is, it can't be so horrible that you hide from the one person who loves you more than her own life." She looked at the beer, "One day you will have to tell me, and no matter what, I will listen to it all."

She then shoved the stuffed goat my way, "I went to the mall to shop away being pissed off, saw this and I couldn't stop thinking about you. It reminds me of you, the angry goat."

The fear of her actually walking away from me scared me more than having her see the killer in me. I made a promise that day that I would never hurt Alex like I did. I only had a few more months to go and I would be free. Dani was getting closer with the old man on getting me out, it was just a matter of when the plan would be set in motion.

Other than trying to hide my double life, life with Alex was perfect. Living with her was what I had imagined being complete was. We would spend our days off doing domestic things like grocery shop, garden, shop for a bigger bathtub, and lie around for hours on Sunday morning's making love or watching movies while we ate breakfast in bed. I was very much in love with Alex and it amplified my desire to leave Voltaire and find the normalcy I needed and craved.

I had zoned out, staring out the window, barely hearing Alex ask me about my birthday. "What was that?" I cleared my throat, "I was distracted by this high schooler with blue hair and barely there jean shorts."

Alex laughed, "I could remember making fun of the girls who let everything hang out in high school." She sighed, "How is Minnesota? Is it snowing there yet?"

I frowned, looking at very green hills standing over an air conditioner that was doing its best to chase out the ninety degree humid heat of Columbia and the fireplace roaring behind me, "Not yet. “It’s cold here and the clouds look like they are threatening to dump a foot down on us. The weather report said by this weekend it will hit, thank god my flight leaves in a couple hours." I glanced at my hand, "By the way, one of the kids kicked open a door not knowing I was behind it. My right hand took the brunt of the handle. It's a purple swollen mess and is hard to move." I stared at the knuckles. The lie I just told would be sufficient enough to cover up the fact I had pounded a face in, not caught a door handle.

"Make sure you ice it and I'll look at it when you get home. Maybe kiss it and make it better. I'm happy you booked the early flight home I've missed cookies and cuddles this week." She sighed tiredly, "Your birthday is tomorrow, is there anything you want to do? I took the rest of the week off to be with you."

I grinned, "Besides you? I can't think of anything." I dropped my hand away from the glass, turning back to the fireplace and the smoldering remnants of clothes. "Maybe we can go to a cider mill? Or talk your mom into making a meatloaf. I've missed her meatloaf and the dogs."

Alex laughed, "I can make that happen, all of it. I've missed you, a lot. Stacy and I were reading an article in one of her silly woman's magazine about how to teach your man new bedroom tricks. It led to us researching a few new things I have in mind for you."

I felt my skin flush at the implications, "Birthday sex? I don't think I've ever had birthday sex." I scrunched my face up, realizing that I had never been with anyone who actually knew what day my real birthday was, or stayed with me long enough to share a birthday. "I feel bad, I missed yours this year. We were in our weird place and you were with that doctor dean."

Alex chuckled, "You can make up for it at Christmas and my birthday next year." I heard Stacy in the background cat call me, "Stacy says hey, and I have to go. Mrs. Simon pulled her catheter out again." Alex groaned, "I’ll call mom and get the birthday meatloaf request in. Hurry home, fly safe and I'll wake you up when I get home?"

"As long as it's with kisses and not your grumpy growls. I'll stop for cookies on the way home." I looked up at the ceiling, "I love you, Alex."

I could hear her grin through the phone, "I love you, Victoria. Hurry up and get here." She hung up leaving me with a sad smile on my face.

Tucking the phone back into my bag, I finished getting dressed and met the clean-up crew outside. We drove to the airport in silence, my only thoughts were that I couldn't really remember how old I was off the top of my head. I had to look at my license to double check, which lead me to think about the last birthday I celebrated. I was eighteen with grandma Edith dropping me off at the front gate of the Academy, handing me a cupcake with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth while she wished me luck in taking the world by the balls.

"Stacy did you get it?" I rushed out of the hospital after meeting Stacy in the lobby. She had left four hours before me, and I conned her into picking up Victoria's birthday gift so I could give it to her when I got home. The place closed at nine and I wasn't off until midnight with another half hour drive to get her gift. I was grateful when Stacy agreed to helping me out after I told her the surprise I had planned.

"Yes, but I want to keep it." She smirked at me as we walked to where I had parked Victoria's BMW. I always drove her car when she was out of town, leaving the boring sedan I picked out as my temporary car months ago. Victoria was set on buying me a BMW but I opted for leasing the fuel efficient sedan, thinking it would be a better choice. It was, but I still drove her car when she was gone because it was my weird way of having her close. I was excited that Dale was almost done with my mini. All he had to do was paint it and I could have the old girl back.