A Secret Held Fast (CLOSED-PM for info)

[zydrate]

"Can I at least get something for my face?!!!" Kess demanded when she was placed in a room (much like Zach had been escorted into) and one hand handcuffed to the bar in the middle of the table. Someone threw her a box of tissues and she took one and held it to her open cut. Thankfully by now, it had mostly dried up with blood. It was tender but it wasn't anything she couldn't deal with. That was something she could check off mentally in her book of firsts, being cut by brass knuckles. She had to assume it wasn't a full force punch but damn if it didn't hurt like one.

If they were trying to intimidate her, they were failing badly. She knew she'd have to give a report on what had transpired. But she'd never been handcuffed before to do it.

The door to the opened and two agents entered. Agents who probably never had been in the field... just stuck behind desks.

She didn't recognize either one.

Kess continued to hold the tissue to her face but still said nothing.

Finally, one of them spoke.

"Agent Marcus... or Kess, can we call you Kess?"

She didn't answer.

"Uh, your partner... what was his name?" The man looked briefly in a file, "Zach? Well, he has given us his report, indicating you are the reason the end of the mission failed. Although Hassler is dead, it could have probably gone a lot smoother if it weren't for you."

She didn't flinch at that remark. How stupid did they take her to be? Zach wouldn't do something like that. Yes, Kess messed up but she didn't think he'd outright accuse her... right?

A long pause of silence... they realized Kess wasn't going to talk or be baited. So they continued, "This was to be your last mission, isn't that right? Why? You want to retire? You wanted to quit? After all we've done for you? Do you realize how much we've spent on you and your training?"

"I want to speak to Jennings." He was Kess' main handler. She trusted the old man more than she could these two clowns in front of her. He was always the one who debriefed with Kess.

The two idiots looked at each other... "We're sorry to say Agent Jennings is no longer working with us... he passed away earlier this week."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want. Agent Jennings is no longer here. You want to leave and you know very well, no one leaves this...department in one piece.. so, here's what we're going to do. You're going to admit you fucked up and we'll turn you over to Hassler's people and let them deal with you and your 'retirement'. Trust me, it would save a lot of time...not to mention, a lot of paperwork."

Although it hurt her face, Kess shook her head and laughed. "You really think your rookie moves are going to work on me? Your so called intimidating threats?" She sighed audibly.

"It worked on your recently married sister."

Family. They brought family into this.

"I'm sorry you said that..." Kess said ominously. She got tired of these games.

***

The sounds of sirens filled the night. Armed security were running around, trying to get a handle on things.

Inside the warehouse, were two dead agents and two dead guards.

They were looking for Kess but couldn't seem to find her...

***
-4 months later-
-Wynyard, Tasmania, Australia

Her family was safe. Kess had called in all of her favors to make sure her little sister and husband were taken care of.

Jennings was dead and from what she had found out, he had suffered a heart attack and died in his sleep.

Supposedly.

She had remained in hiding and so far, no one had been able to find her.

Turns out, one couldn't just leave as if retiring from the post office. That wasn't an option. It was never an option. When she had stated she had wanted to leave, they asked her why.

And Kess said she was just wanting to move on.

Then Zach had shown up for her last mission. Did he know it was her last mission? No. They wouldn't have given him that information.

Zach.

She had thought of his often and knew what they were saying about his wasn't true. That he turned on her. That he had blamed everything on her. That still bugged Kess to know they were pinning it all on her... she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't contact Zach... why? Hadn't it been just another assignment for him?

No. Kess had wanted to believe there was something more...but of course, people in their line of work didn't get happy endings. There were many times she had wanted to make contact with him but didn't follow through...

 

[BeachBum25]

Tomlin and the other guy knew they were not going to get anywhere with Zach. They tried for a little while, but failed miserably. Yes, they tried the whole ... your partner gave a full report and blamed it on you. Zach's only response to that was a chuckle. They threatened him with not working any assignments ever again if he didn't tell them what went wrong. Zach didn't change his expression to that one. Finally, the told him he was going to be taken to meet with his new debrief team. Zach didn't respond, but he started to prepare himself for more games to be played.

Zach was put on a plane and flown to Dublin, Ireland. When he saw where they were landing, he commented to one of the crew members that he always wanted to visit Ireland. Sarcastically, he said, "thanks for bringing me here. It saves me the cost of plane fare." Debrief meetings with his handler always took place in different locations; usually, however, they took place somewhere in the US. To have one in a foreign country was extremely rare, and also very dangerous should that country find out what was going on. Zach figured the reason for holding the meeting here was that they felt it would minimize any aggressive reaction Zach would have when introduced to the new people that would attempt to debrief him.

When he was escorted off the plane in the private hangar, he was surprised to see the large number of armed personnel waiting for him. He was pretty certain that the Irish government had no idea what was going on here. Although the hangar was a private aviation hangar, it was huge. Zach was escorted to a room in the back where he was seated at a table and left to wait.... again.

Approximately an hour later, a man and a woman walked in and introduced themselves as his new debrief team.. The man said that he was going to be Zach's new handler. Zach paid no attention to their names. They were nothing to him. His response to their introduction was, "Where is Hightower." Terence Hightower had been Zach's handler from day one. Zach trusted him implicitly. "No Hightower, not talk."

The female across from him looked at Zach, and with an expression that was full of fake sadness, she said, "Agent Hightower has passed away. He died in his sleep yesterday. They think it was either a stroke or a heart attack. An autopsy is pending."

Sitting quietly, his mind racing, Zach wondered what was going on. There was too much shit here. Then, he looked from one to the other. "Did you give Terence the same shit we used on Hassler? Is that how you killed him?" He tried to remain calm while he figured a way out of this. The two across from him tried to assure Zach that there had been no foul play in Hightower's death. Zach laughed. "You just fucked up. It shows how little you know about my line of work."

Zach got quiet again. The two looked at him... then at one another.. then back to him. "So, you are wondering how you fucked up, right? Well, here goes. In one minute you told me that an autopsy on Hightower is pending. Then a minute later you tell me that you can assure me there was no foul play. How can you do that without the autopsy? So, here is what I am going to tell you. I know there will be know "real" autopsy on Hightower. Yes, there will be a report. Yes, it will say he died of natural causes, i.e. heart attack or stroke. His body will be cremated, and that will be the end of the Terence Hightower story. A good man was killed so that you could try to get information out of me. Well, that won't happen. You know who will get information out of me..... the Secretary of Defense, the Director of the CIA... the Vice-President... or the President. Without one of them sitting across from me, there is no debrief. Fuck both of you, and fuck everybody that is part of this whole fucking organization."

The two sitting across from Zach were shocked at Zach's response. It was obvious they had not been given much information about him. They were probably sent because they could be persuasive... with most people. Zach, however, was not like most people. They had not been told about just how stubborn he was, and just how angry he got when he thought people were fucking with him.

Zach was told that they were the only ones to debrief him, and if he didn't report to them that he would not be able to return home, and he would not be able to return to future missions. They reminded him, "you came here with nothing... no passport, no identification, oh, and no weapons, and there are no guns in Ireland... except the ones we brought and the ones the Irish military have." Zach stared at both of them. I wouldn't need a weapon to kill both of you before any of those assholes standing over there knew what happened."

The two got up, put a card on the table and headed for the door. "That is how you can contact us when you are ready to talk and go home. In the meantime, enjoy the streets of Dublin." They walked to the door and stopped. The guy said, "I hope you make a better decision than your girlfriend." Zach wondered what that meant.

Before he knew it, he was struck on the head from behind. The next thing he remembered was waking up on the sidewalk, his back against a wrought iron fence that bordered the River Liffey. He had nothing in his pockets except the card with the contact information on it. He sat there for a while. He started wondering... worrying... about Kess. Where had they taken her? What had they done to her? It was time to start focusing on her. He had to find out if she was okay.

Zach reached out to someone he had met on a previous mission. The man had told him that he was retiring to Ireland and would be settling in a small town in the west. Zach found a map and the town.. Dingle. He was able to reach Gerry, and Gerry made arrangements to get Zach on a train to Galway where Gerry would pick him up. It was in Dingle where Zach planned how he was going to get out of Ireland, and Gerry was more than willing to help. The first thing that Zach had Gerry do was check on Kess' family. When Gerry told him that her sister had recently disappeared with her husband from their hometown, Zach started to worry more.

"Where are you Kess?" he sould in a low whisper.

 

[zydrate]

Kess sat on the park bench, watching some random children playing, her thoughts were elsewhere. It was coming on the tail end of fall in Wynyard so the weather today was quite chilly so she pulled her jacket around herself tighter.

Old habits were hard to break as she was well aware someone was approaching her. She didn't have to look to notice it was Matt, the mayor's son. He proceeded to sit down next to Kess and sighed happily, "What a great day, am I right?"

Nodding, Kess agreed with a "Mmmhmm..." she was not one bit interested in him but he seemed to take a liking to Kess almost right away when she first arrived in town. She didn't push him away but she didn't lead him on. It was always good to have friends... one didn't know when they would need them. Besides, she couldn't push everyone away because of her past. It would raise suspicion.

"Something wrong?"

Kess sighed and shook her head slightly, giving him a smile, "No, just enjoying the morning is all. How have you been?"

"Ahh, it's going. I figure the store is closed today and so I decided to take a walk.. then saw you here and thought I'd just say hello." Matt owned a local hardware supply store.

She was going to say something in response when one one of the kids from the little group ran toward her and Matt. The little girl threw herself at Kess and smiled, "Mommy, it's cold." Kess automatically wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders and smiled at her. "Ready for home then?" The little girl nodded and smiled at Matt, "Hi Matt, are you and mommy talking again?"

Matt answered, "Yeah we were little one, just talking about the weather, that's all."

"Mommy, it's cold."

Kess sighed, "I get it, you're cold.. let's go." She looked at Matt, "See you around."

There was nothing between the two but Kess knew Matt wanted more. He had asked Kess out more than once, despite her circumstances he was pursing her. He was nice, but Kess had zero interest in him.

He grabbed Kess' hand and she almost reflexed to counter the sudden move. "Hey, let's have lunch tomorrow?"

3 year old Abbie spoke up, "Can I eat too?"

That solicited a laugh from Kess... ugh, this kid, she was something else. "OK, lunch tomorrow."

"Yay!" Abbie cheered.

***

Later at their small home, Abbie was napping and Kess was reading the local paper. She had no grid electronics in her home, just a TV for Abbie. She knew better than to have a cell or a computer at home in use. Instead, she relied on the local paper and word of mouth of anything suspicious. She knew she could protect her home.

To say she had no phone didn't mean her home wasn't protected. There was a safe room in the small house in the basement. Abbie's room had plated armour paneling and bulletproof windows. The kid was more protected than the president of the United States.

Abigail Rose.

Yes, she was Zach's daughter.

She never told Zach because well... because of their job.

It happened after their first meeting. Kess did her job as long as she could but had finally disappeared for a year and half to have Abbie and then get back in shape in order to continuing working so suspicion would arise. She had also left Abbie in care of some trusted friends in Italy, who had a family of their own. Kess knew Abbie would be safe there while she went back to work. Although she had ached to not be with her, no one could know about her. Not even those she worked for.

Again, she never told Zach.

If someone on the other side found out Zach had a daughter. That could be leverage for any situation.

The same for Kess. No one knew about Abbie. No one she worked for could know about her.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach tried to get information about Kess' family. He knew, by doing so, he was putting his host in danger, so, Zach was real careful.... often travelling to distant towns to use the computer in the library of that town. He knew it was just a matter of time until they found him. Eventually they would come to Dingle... they would triangulate where all of the searches had come from, and figure out where he was. It was time for him to move on.

After saying goodbye to his host, Zach headed for a port city on the southern coast, Cobh. He didn't know what he would be able to access from there, but it was a port, and he could see if he could find his way out of Ireland. He couldn't really do the work of finding Kess from here. He had to get out. He had to access the documents he needed to be able to move around.

Zach found work on a fishing boat. It was almost perfect. It put him in touch with people who knew the sea. He had to earn their trust.. then he could use them to get off the island. It took some doing, but Zach was able to work it out. He was on the fishing vessel when arrangements were made to pick him up, 20 miles off the southwest coast. From there he would be taken to France where he could make his way to Paris. In Paris, he had documentation put away.... documentation that nobody else knew about... documentation that would enable him to begin his hunt for Kess.

He moved fairly freely throughout the world.. .avoiding returning to the US. He knew it was just a matter of time that he would be picked up with facial recognition. It was why he worked fast and moved around... a lot. Zach was careful about who he contacted. He didn't know who he could trust.. if anyone. He did get a report that Kess had escaped from agency detention and was on the run. Zach, however, wasn't sure he believed it. Why would Kess have been detained?

Thinking back to the dossier he had seen on Kess before the start of the mission, Zach wished he had paid more attention to some of the places in the world that Kess had travelled to. He recalled a few countries, but he needed to narrow it down. He decided he would start in Italy. He had a few contacts there that he knew he could trust. He would lean on them.

It took a while, but he finally got information that told him he needed to go to Australia. The information also told him he needed to move quickly because the agency might also have that information. Apparently there was a local who reported about a woman who was new to the area. Zach was on his way to Australia. he had no idea if it was Kess that he would find, but he had to give it a try.

It had been months since he saw Kess. He had been worrying about her the entire time. He worried so much and worked so hard to find her that he had lost 20 pounds. Zach wasn't one that had an extra 20 pounds to lose. At times he looked in the mirror and wondered who the sickly person was that was looking back at him.

He travelled around Australia.. hunting for Kess.. hoping that he would find her soon. He was able to get a ride in the back of a pickup truck one day. The driver said he could take him to Wynyard, but from there he was on his own. Zach had never heard of Wynyard. He figured he would rest there before moving on, so, he took the ride.

As they entered the town, Zach did a double take. He thought he saw Kess, but when he looked again, he saw a woman holding a little girls hand and they were walking with a man. It couldn't be her. The girl was too old for Kess to have a child that old. They had only been apart for less than a year. Zach thanked the man for the ride. He got out of the back of the truck and decided to sit in the park and people watch. An hour later, he saw the woman, the child, and the man walking back toward him. He froze. It was her.

Zach stayed where he was. He wanted to survey the situation. He was relieved to see that Kess was okay. He was not sure what was up with the man and the child. So he stayed where he was... and watched.

 

[zydrate]

Abbie loved the park. It didn't matter what the weather was like, she loved it. She loved when the ducks would swim in the small pond across the trail from the play area. Today was unusually warm but it was still really nice. Probably a calm before the storm that was coming in later that week. Which was fine. Kess had enough food staples at her home packed away... just in case.

Matt had met Kess at the small daycare where Abbie had been for the morning. It was right across the small coffee where she had gotten a job when she had arrived in town. Yeah, she was new to them but she didn't want to stick out too much as someone who just lived there and had no job... the last thing she needed were locals talking about how she was able to support herself and her child. She needed to seem 'normal'.

Keeping her child in sight, Kess could feel that Matt wanted to ask her something. He was fidgety and he kept clearing his throat. If she wasn't irritated with his awkwardness, she probably would have found it...endearing? But no, she liked confident men. Like Zach.

Goddamnit, she was thinking about him again. It hurt to think about him because she wasn't sure what side he was on. Was he still alive? Was he looking for her? Did he remember her?

"Kess...? Did you hear me?" Matt broke into her thoughts.

She turned to him, still able to keep Abbie in her sights as she smiled at Matt, "I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"I said, I was wondering if you'd go out with me later this week? I mean, my parents would only be happy to watch after Abbie so you wouldn't have to hire someone to watch her."

With a small sigh, she looked away, "I don't think so Matt. I'm not really looking for anything right now. My priority is over there," she looked over at Abbie, "Listen, I like you but not in that way. I'm sorry if you think I've led you on but... yeah, I'm not looking right... I appreciate you asking though."

Yeah, he was an OK guy... if he only knew the truth. He wasn't her type... he was just some small town guy who was looking for a way out from his father's thumb.

"Ohh, alright..." Matt nodded and turned away, "I guess I'll see you around? I mean, look where we live."

"Yeah... I'm sorry again..."

"Don't be, have a lovely day." Matt had wanted to say more but what was the use? The only thing left to do was go drown his sorrows at the nearest pub...

And he had walked back toward town on the narrow trail that had led them to the park. There was a sudden chill that hit Kess... the chill like she was being watched?

No... no one could've found her... it wasn't possible.

"Shit..." she said under her breath but didn't move like she was panicking. It was time to get home anyway. Maybe it was just a feeling of being insecure? Maybe it was the fact that she was living like her life wasn't in danger? In the end, putting her daughter in danger also.

Abbie had wanted to be picked up so Kess picked her up, which was fine, she could pick up the pace a little. It would be at least a 15 minute walk back to her small house which was located on a small isolated street still in development. She didn't have a vehicle but most things were within walking distance so that was a good thing.

Once home, Kess secured her place.

Was she paranoid? Yes.

It never left her. Nor would it ever. At least not until this was all over.

 

[BeachBum25]

Once he realized it was Kess, Zach made sure that she did not see him. He was not going to go barging into the life that she had here... at least not until he knew what her life was like, and even then, only if he felt he would be welcome.

Zach saw the man walk away from Kess. Then he saw Kess collect the little girl, and walk away. As she walked away, Kess seemed to have a little faster gait. Was something wrong? Did she pick up on the fact that he was watching her? Did Kess realize it was him and wanted to get away? He knew she was good and he was certain her radar was always up.

Now he had a decision to make.... should he follow Kess and see where she went, or should he follow the guy and do some recon on him? Zach decided to follow the man. He knew Kess was safe at the moment. He needed to gather some information. His contact had told him that he believed that the agency was closing in on Kess. Zach had to find out if this guy was a threat.

Walking into the pub shortly after the man, Zach took a seat several stools away from him at the bar. When the barman came over, Zach ordered a pint and a glass of water. He sat there, sipping the water and bringing the beer to his lips, periodically. He heard the man that he followed speaking with the barman, and it was obvious that the man was a local. The two men knew each other and the barman asked him about his parents and how things were going at the shop. The conversation told Zach that they had been in town for quite a while.

Zach was relieved to find out that this wasn't someone new to town who might have been looking for Kess. Zach's ears perked up when he heard the man mention Kess and how she had rejected him. The man seemed angry. He told the barman that he thought Kess had led him to believe he had a chance, and then just blew him off. Zach just listened. He didn't turn in the man's direction. That was when Zach heard another man join the conversation.

The hair stood up on the back of Zach's neck when he heard the new person ask the man that Zach had followed if he had mentioned a woman named Kess. When he acknowledged that he had. The new guy in the conversation, who spoke with a New England accent, said that he was an old friend of hers and had heard she was living here now, and he thought he would look her up while passing through. Zach listened as the guy Kess shot down told the American where Kess lived.

Making note of where Kess was making her home, Zach stayed and listened. The American was drinking, so, Zach was pretty certain he would not make a move real soon. The barman gave each of them another pint and Zach listened as Kess' jilted beau described her to the American. The man smiled, "yes that sounds lust like my old friend. I will definitely have to look her up." Zach almost shook his head. "So, this is what the agency is resorting to now?" he thought. "This guy talks way too much.. thank goodness. It will give me a chance to get Kess away."

As the two men got yet another pint, Zach slipped out of the pub. He had made sure to make himself as non-descript as possible. He did not rush to Kess. He had a little time, but not much. The guy in the pub was in no condition to do anything at the moment, but he could relay the information that he found Kess.

He took his time finding his way to Kess' house. He made sure that nobody was following him. Carefully, he approached her house and knocked on the door, softly.

 

[zydrate]

Work, daycare, lunch, park and nap.

That was almost everyday.

In her line of work, it wasn't good to have a routine. But as a parent, you had no choice when a 3 foot adorable goblin takes your life over. Abbie was only 14 minutes into her hour and half nap (usually) as Kess was walking back toward the kitchen when she heard a faint beeping coming from the cupboard.

She rushed to it and opened the cabinet door, in which a monitor of sensors showed someone coming. It was a graph indicating someone was coming up the unpaved drive way. She hadn't installed cameras only because they were visible and easily detectable. But the ground sensors weren't... when done right. Quickly, she reached on the top of the fridge, brought down the gun safe, opened it with her fingerprint and removed her weapon.

Hurrying, she slipped out the back door and made her way quietly to the front of the house when she heard someone knocking at the door. The person's back was toward her and she moved out from the side of the house, her gun trained on him, "Who are you?" She asked, not bringing her gun down.

She watched the man turn slowly and immediately recognized Zach. Her heart dropped and her breathing quickened as her mind raced. How the hell did he find-- oh, forget it, she knew he would find her one day...

Kess wasn't ready for it to be today. Her only dilemma right now was wondering if he was here for her or here to kill her.

But it didn't matter and as much as she wanted to resist it, she ran to him and jumped in his arms, nearly slamming him against the front door as she kissed him hard. After what seemed like an eternity, they broke the kiss and she looked him in the eyes, "You look like shit." This man in front of her didn't resemble the man she remembered. Had they done something to him? Had he been on the run also? "How the hell did you find me?" She asked.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach held Kess tightly in his arms as they kissed. When they broke the kiss he stared into her eyes. "Trust me, it hasn't been easy." He almost told her that he wasn't the only one that found her, but it wasn't time for that.... yet. "I have spent all of this time trying to figure out if you were alive or dead, and if you were alive where would you be, and I was doing it all after being dumped in Ireland with nothing."

He was relieved to speak with her, to hold her, to kiss her. Yes, he relaxed when he finally saw her for the first time, but nothing like right now, and, this was about to get turned upside down again.

Zach kissed Kess again. "I see that being on the run has certainly not dulled your senses when it comes to making sure that you are secure. I am assuming you have cameras hidden somewhere. Here I was trying to knock softly so I didn't startle you, and by then you already had a weapon pointed at my head."

He just stared at her for a fem minutes saying nothing. His mind was void of everything but Kess during those moments. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you... to see that you are okay.. to know that you are safe. I have to be honest, I always, in the back of my mind, was worried that they would have killed you." He kissed her passionately. Never had he been so emotional with Kess. Hell, he had never been emotional with a woman before. She, however, was different.... and he had to make sure to protect her.

"Can we go inside? We need to talk." Zach's voice was serious and Kess obviously sensed that in his tone. Zach lowered her to the ground and then followed her inside.

Once inside, with the doors secured, Zach took Kess in his arms and held her... looking into her eyes. "Kess, there may be a problem. I will go into everything that I did to try to, and to ultimately find you. However, I need to give you the shortened version. I saw you for the first time walking through the park. At first I didn't think it was you, because you were holding a child's hand... that and you were walking with a man. I sat down in the park, and when I saw the three of you walking through the park again, I saw your face. Yes, it brought a smile to mine. I watched as the man with you talked, but I couldn't hear what he said, however his facial expressions and body language said he wasn't happy with the direction the conversation went. When he walked away, I had to make a decision.... follow you or follow him. I chose to follow him to see if I could pick up any information."

He paused, his eyes still fixed on hers. "I followed him to a pub. I sat near enough to him that I could hear him talking with the barman. As they talked I was able to determine that he wasn't a threat... a determination I am sure you made a while ago. Then he started talking to the barman about how he thought you led him on. He mentioned you by name. Now, that isn't the concerning part. The concerning part is that suddenly a guy with a New England accent joined the conversation and said he heard your friend mention someone named Kess. The New Englander proceeded to say he was in country looking for an old friend named Kess. After your friend described you, the New Englander said that was his friend and asked where you lived. Your friend gave him where to find you without a second thought."

Zach took a breath. "When I left, they were on at least their third pint, so I don't think the New Englander will be coming this way today, but you never know. The guy is not very good... talks a lot, so, I have no idea what to expect. However, I think the reason he was drinking was he was happy to find you and he was going to report it. That means we don't have much time to get out of here."

He looked at Kess.. her mouth open... obviously upset with what she was hearing.

 

[zydrate]

He saw Kess with Matt in the park. A small part of her felt good to know her senses were still keen when something was amiss. Her face flushed slightly when he mentioned Matt, yeah, he wasn't a threat... but rumor was he liked to drink... a lot.

She turned from Zach, and brought the gun safe toward her, removed the clip before placing it next to her weapon in the safe and securing it once more. All the while, thinking about what he said.

He had seen her in the park with Abbie. His daughter.

Zach told her what she needed to know and now it was time to make a decision. She had known they would find her someday and she had been prepared. But she wasn't prepared to tell Zach about Abbie. Kess wasn't sure how he would react to the news. Surely, he would be pissed but what would he do after?

Now they had to deal with this someone finding her...? Even if the report was made that they found her. There was no way they could hide a team too close for fear of being found out. They'd need time to get to the small town. Still, that meant Kess would need to leave now.

"Mommy?"

Damnit... Kess rushed over to the little girl, picking her up and Abbie saw Zach, "Who's that?"

Her heart was racing and smiled at Abbie, "He's a friend.. come on, let's get you ready, we need to go somewhere.." with that Kess walked to Abbie's room and put a sweater on the little girl, who looked at the doorway, seeing Zach there. Kess pushed forward, grabbing some toys for Abbie and then picked up the little girl and they both came face to fact with Zach. Kess' eyes pleaded with him to please wait...she would explain later.

Even with Abbie in her arms, Kess managed to grab a small duffle bag from the top shelf of the hall closet. She tossed a backpack at Zach, which had additional weapons. The bag Kess was carrying had clothes for Abbie and herself. It also had money, IDs, passports and other identification needed for herself and their daughter. Yeah, she was prepared.

Oh the way out, Kess grabbed a set of keys. She knew Zach probably had a million questions but if it didn't pertain to their escape, she wasn't going to say anything until they were a good distance away.

They walked to the next street over, by now, it was late evening and Kess knew exactly what to do. She spotted the small green car and the house it was parked in front of. The house wasn't occupied. How did she knew? She had told the owner she would come by every now and then to make sure it was OK. He even offered to let Kess use his car if she needed to do some heavy shopping.

Well, this wasn't exactly shopping... She secured Abbie to the back as best she could. The little girl was still out of sorts as still enamored with Zach.

In 10 minutes, they found themselves at the small airport where Kess removed another set of keys from the bag she had Zach carry. Thank God for the lack of security at the small airport. There was no one around as they pulled up to a hanger where Kess opened up the door, revealing a small Cessna plane. "I assume you can fly because I need to stay with her."

Kess knew Zach could. This would probably cause a little stir with the airport but it would give the town something to talk about, that was for sure... a plane departing without clearance.. Kess gave Zach the coordinates to a small, private airport outside of Melbourne. They would need to stay in Melbourne for a few days, formulate a plan to see where they'd head to next. Kess had figured 'they' would be all 3 of them... that is if Zach wanted to stay with them.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach heard the little girl coming before she said anything. When she called out to Kess, Zach watched as Kess quickly started moving. The little girl was gorgeous; just like her mother.

Kess was like a machine. She moved around; gathering up things for her daughter, tossing him a bag with money and documentation and weapons. Without saying anything, Kess was out the door. Zach followed her to the neighboring street and got in the car. He knew better than ask any questions... Kess was obviously in mission mode.... however, this mission was personal.

Once in the hangar, Zach's only response to Kess' comment about him flying the Cessna was to nod. Zach walked around the plane doing a physical inspection. He had flown worse, much worse before when necessary on a mission. He made sure Kess and her daughter were loaded up, and the bags were stored on the right front seat next to him. Finding a second set of headphones on the front seat, Zach handed them to Kess so they could communicate. "I understand you might not want to scare her by putting them on, but while we are up there, you and I might need to talk."

He started the engine and let it warm up for a moment. He was about to ask Kess if she knew which way departures left the airport, because he really didn't want to crash into a plane that was arriving at the airport. The question became moot when he saw a small plane taxiing out. He would just follow that plane, but not too closely. He didn't want to have to wait at the end of the runway to give enough space between them and the plane in front.

Zach waited until he saw the other plane throttle up and head down the runway for takeoff. Then, with lights off, Zach taxied out to the end of the runway. He did not pause as he turned onto the runway. He throttled up and started down the runway. It was then that they obviously attracted the attention of the controllers in the tower. There were immediate calls for the plane on the runway to identify itself. There were shouts for them to stop and not to take off. Yes, Zach had heard that before, and like those previous times, Zach ignored them.

As they rose up into the sky, he briefly looked over hi shoulder at Kess. "Things are always fun with you." After a little chuckle, he said, "Is your daughter okay?" Zach new that the plane did not have a transponder, so, if they stayed low enough they would be below where they could be picked up on radar, and therefore would almost be invisible. The only real problem now would be the controllers at the private airport outside Melbourne.

As they approached the private airport, Zach asked Kess if the private airport was non-towered. That would be perfect. If there was no tower, Zach would only have to communicate with other planes in the area to land, and, if they were lucky, there wouldn't be much traffic this late at night. He was happy to hear from Kess that it was a non-towered airport. As they approached, there was no traffic in the area. That made the landing simple.

Once they were on the ground, Kess directed him to a hangar. Yes, she was good. She had all of this planned out. She knew the day that she had to leave would come... and she was ready for it. Once in the hangar, with the plane shut down, Zach helped Kess and her daughter out of the plane. Then he grabbed the bags. "Knowing what I know, and seeing how you have reacted, I know you have a plan. I also know that your plan is for 2, not for 3. If you can't adapt your plan to me, I understand, but I will do everything I can to help you put your plan into place."

Zach knew he would get a dirty look from Kess. He also knew that she would probably not even respond to him. He figured she was just going to move onto the next step in her plan.

 

[zydrate]

And she did give him that dirty look as she helped with the bags. The next stop, getting to the city and resting for the next few nights. She didn’t want to stay too long but again; all they could do was wait because she had to get a better picture of the whole situation.

All 3 had finally reached a hotel in the middle of the city, it wasn’t the safest place to stay but it was public, so hopefully if anyone decided to try anything, they would think twice if they didn’t want to cause a scene and get the local authorities involved.

Kess placed Abbie in Zach arms as she went to the front desk to get them a room. Of course, she used a fake ID and used her best ‘local’ accent to secure their room. She also ordered some food to be delivered to their room as soon as they were able to. As usual, she was running on adrenaline and as soon as everything was settled, she was going to literally pass out from all this.

It was already late when they finally got settled in their room. Kess was busy with Abbie, making sure her little girl was doing good with their sudden leaving of their home, she was doing good. A lot better than Kess would have guessed. It didn’t take long for Abbie to fall asleep in her room… Kess had gotten a 3-bedroom suite because she wasn’t sure where she and Zach would stand after she told him about Abbie. And she had to tell him.

She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep holding Abbie as they both lay in bed.

Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen. She had wanted to get some things done but figured it was probably from the exhaustion of everything that happened in the last 24 hours. At first, she wasn’t sure any of it happened and that maybe Zach finding them was just a dream…?

The room was dimly lit as Kess carefully got out of bed and closed the door carefully behind her. She needed to talk to Zach before moving on to the next phase in her plan. A plan she knew he wouldn’t like.

 

[BeachBum25]

Yes, Kess was on a mission. Zach had no doubt that this was all about protecting her daughter. She had still not said anything to Zach about the girl. The only way that he knew it was Kess' daughter was when the girl had called her mommy.

When Kess had handed the girl to him, he smiled at her and said, "Hi." He did not ask her name. He wasn't sure Kess would be very happy if he did. "You are a very pretty girl. You take after your mom." Zach said that while Kess was getting their room. Once again, Zach didn't know what Kess was willing to share with him.

Once in the room, Kess was still running around; making sure the girl was okay... checking the window to see their vantage point.. making sure she knew their escape route, should they need to get out fast. Kess put the girl in bed and was off to check on something else. Zach did not want to get in Kess' way. He was comfortable with her doing all of the security checks. Plus, if he started checking things out, it would just piss her off, because she would think he didn't trust her.

When Zach looked into the bedroom where the little girl was laying, she waved to him. "would you come lay with me for a little while. Mommy is busy, but she said you were our friend." Zach thought it was a good idea, because once the girl fell asleep, he could talk with Kess and see what she wanted to do. So he laid down on the bed with the girl. She was under the covers. Zach laid on top of the covers. He had no intention of falling asleep, but....

He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep. It could have been a minute. It could have been a couple hours. Slowly, he got up from the bed and exited the child's room. He closed the door, almost all the way. He left it open a crack so that they could hear her if she got up. Zach had no idea if that was the right thing to do. He had absolutely zero experience with kids.

Walking out to Kess, he kept a straight face. "I am sorry. I didn't intend to fall asleep. Your daughter asked me to lay with her since you were running around. I hope I didn't overstep any boundaries." Kess didn't look at him. That made him think he had done something wrong.

"Well, I am sorry. However, I need to know what your plan is. I know you well enough that you have a plan to get you and your daughter out of here. I know that you probably, no definitely, have had that plan formulated since you got to Australia. I need to know how I can help you. How can I make sure that you and the girl get out of here safely?" He continued not to mention himself going with them. This was Kess' plan. This was her mission. He had no idea whether it could accommodate him. He would not mess up her plans by pushing himself into them.

She still did not look at him. Then, suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Zach pointed to the little girl's room... telling Kess to go there. Zach then took the weapon with the silencer attached and walked slowly to the door; making sure that Kess had time to get into her daughter's room. Once he saw her in the room, Zach approached the door. "Yes? How can I help you?" A female's voice responded that it was room service, delivering food.

Having not been at the desk when Kess had placed the order, Zach was unaware of food being delivered. He looked toward the girl's room and saw in Kess' eyes that she had ordered food. This did not lower his guard, however. With the gun aimed through the door, he opened it slightly and just peeked through the opening. He saw a young girl there. "Just leave the food there. I will get it in a minute. I need to get dressed. I will make sure you get a tip in the morning."

With that, Zach closed the door and waited a couple of minutes. When he saw Kess come out of her daughter's room, he motioned for her to go back until he got the food in the room. Then, he opened the door, looked up and down the hallway, saw nobody, and brought the food into the room. The both let out a sigh of relief as Kess walked out of the bedroom.

 

[zydrate]

The girl.

Kess didn't like how that sounded. If he was someone else, then sure...it would be OK... but again, she would not let someone be close with Abbie.

It was then, she realized that she had never told him Abbie's name.

Kess was quiet for probably what seemed like an eternity but she was thinking. And she was dreading... dreading what she was about to tell him.

"Her name is Abbie... well, Abigail Rose..." Kess said almost in a whisper, "She's your daughter.... well, our daughter."

She let that sink in for a bit, letting Zach process that. She then continued to tell him what happened after she found out and after she had Abbie... how she hid her because she knew the agency would use her as leverage for whatever they wanted... how if someone found out that either had a daughter... well, she didn't have to finish that statement because she knew he would know what it meant.

Kess was exhausted and wiped away a few of her tears... as much as she wanted to hold it in, she couldn't anymore. She was tired of this running.

She composed herself and looked up at Zach, "Remember when we were about to confront Hassler and I said something wasn't right? I'm certain someone told him about us. It was a set up. I was supposed to be next on Hassler's list... and you just got caught up in all." So now, Kess was trying to figure out if it was the agency after her or Hassler's men... perhaps both?

"Please say something... If you want to leave. I totally understand. Abbie won't know about any of this... of you."

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach barely got, "Abigail Rose, that is a pretty name" out of his mouth than Kess continued to tell him that she was his daughter. "Our daughter? As in yours and mine?" He was shocked. He never imagined having a child. Now he found out that he had a daughter... a beautiful daughter. He was frozen.

He listened as Kess went on. His mind continued to work to process it all. Almost immediately in his head, things started to change. It was no longer just protecting Kess and her daughter, it was now protecting Kess and THEIR daughter.

When she was finished, his mind continued to race. He needed to figure this out... they needed to figure it out.

"Kess, I didn't get caught up in anything. This was my mission. I chose you for it. They never told me about your involvement with Hassler or that you were on his list. I chose you because you were the best." As he paused, he thought to himself that he also chose Kess because he wanted to see her again.

"I am not leaving. I am not leaving my daughter, who I just met, and I am not leaving the mother of my daughter, either. I want Abigail Rose to know me. We will figure this out..... together."

Zach took Kess in his arms. He kissed her cheek and could taste the tears running down her face. He caressed her back trying to help her relax.

"Okay, how about we do this... you get some sleep... the food will still be here when you wake up. Then we can figure out what we are doing next. I don't think Hassler's men will be after you... not yet. Without him they are too disorganized. It is no doubt the agency. The guy with the New England accent I am certain is agency. Just, for now, get some sleep. You need to rest. I will stay up."

Although Kess resisted at first, Zach insisted. Once she went in to lay down, Zach started looking around. He checked for every exit. He looked out the window and took note of everything out there. He wanted to know everything about the place that Kess knew. When they moved, he wanted them to move as one. They had to.... for their daughter.

Once he was confident he knew the lay of the land, Zach took a chair from the table and moved it to a spot facing the door. It was the only way anyone could get into the suite. He placed weapons on a table next to him. Nobody was going to get past him if they came into the room. He hoped it didn't come to that. He wanted to get to know and spend time with his daughter... .and with his daughter's mother.

Zach could not get too deep into trying to figure things out. He had to discuss everything with Kess. She, obviously, had a plan. He had no idea what it was, but there was no doubt in his mind that he would have to g o along with it. Hopefully, she would allow him some input, but, they had to protect Abigail Rose, and Zach was going to follow Kess' lead on that.

 

[zydrate]

Kess wasn’t used to resting. It took her some time, but she finally fell asleep from exhaustion. She knew Zach was here to watch over them, but she still had the mindset she needed to be ready, just in case…

Even though her rest wasn’t restful, it did give her a renewed sense of energy when she finally woke up. It took her a second to realized where she was. Then she heard Abbie laughing, followed by Zach’s laughter from the front room.

That was a new one, Zach laughing. It was a heartfelt laugh too.

She got up and walked out to the front room and found Abbie sitting on his lap, watching TV. She stood there for a moment and just watched father and daughter watching TV. Abbie would ask him a question and he would answer. She sensed there was finally a person who cracked Zach and could make him talk. Not even the most hardened interrogator was as successful as Abbie.

Abbie turned and saw her mom and waved before turning back to the TV.

Catching eye, Kess motioned Zach over to her on the couch, leaving Abbie in front of the TV. She lowered her voice as she spoke to Zach, “I think I know what we need to do…” she paused, thinking about how she was going to say this next part, knowing he wouldn’t like it. “We can’t keep on the run with Abbie. It’s not fair to her… so what I want to do it take her to my sister’s place. I have her placed in a home in New Mexico but, I can’t have you join us. It’s safer if we go alone and then you and I meet somewhere. As far as I know, they’re looking for the 3 of us.” She pulled a card out of her shirt pocket which she had gotten from her personal items, “This guy can help you get a passport and such here in Melbourne and we can arrange a time to contact each other in a couple of weeks…” she looked at him, “I know it’s not what you want to hear but we need to split up so I can get Abbie to safe place before we get back together to figure out what we need to do next.”

 

[BeachBum25]

"You are right. It is not what I want to hear. I have been looking all over the world for you, and I finally found you. Now you want to go off again and meet up sometime later. On top of that, I find out that I have a daughter, and she is amazing. There is only one other person in the world that makes me feel as good as she does. She is an amazing little person. I am not letting the two of you go. No way Kess. Not going to happen."

Although Zach's words were forceful, his voice was low. He did not want to startle or upset Abigail Rose. He had only known her for a matter of hours, but he would do anything to protect her.

"I don't think going to your sister's place is a good idea. They were able to find you here. I think they have found your sister by now. I would be willing to bet a lot, even my life, that they are just sitting around there waiting for you to show up. You can't go there. You can't take our daughter there."

"We need to plan this together. It is obvious that you have a way to get out of Australia. I know that. I have a place for us to go. A place that they would never look for us, because they would never imagine that we were bold enough to go there. It is in the rainforest in Puerto Rico. I use it when I need to get away. I have never told anyone about it... nobody at all knows where I have gone when I disappeared. It is the perfect place. We can go there, and sit low forever if we want. Or, we can go there until they forget about us and are tired of looking for us and move on from there. That you can decide down the road."

He looked at Kess. Zach was pretty certain that she would object. It wasn't her plan, so, she would resist. He knew that, but he had to push back against her.

"That beautiful little girl over there deserves better than to be on the run. You are right about that. If we do what I am saying, WE, all three of us, can live semi-normal lives and not worry about who is lurking around the next bend. What do you think Kess?"

He could see the wheels turning in her mind as he looked at her. His biggest fear was that she would resist and insist on going with her plan. He waited. He tried to think about how he would respond to her saying she wanted to go with her own plan. Then he heard Abigail Rose say, "hey, are you two fighting?"

 

[zydrate]

Damnit, he had a good point.

Up to this time, Kess was used to making the decisions about her and Abbie’s lives. She took a moment to realize now that Zach was here, Abbie’s father was here, she had to let him in and help her strategize what was best for all of them together.

It would be nice not to have to run… but what if he was right and they found Mel? They wouldn’t do anything to her, Kess was sure of that because they would want Kess.

It was Abbie’s voice that broke Kess out of her thoughts. She looked at the little girl and smiled, “No, we’re not… we’re planning…” even though she was only 3, Kess told her…their little girl what was going to happen. First, they would all eat breakfast and then after that, they’d see. As a 3-year old’s attention was extremely short, Abbie just nodded and started to play.

Kess looked at Zach, “OK… you’re right…” she sighed, reached over, and put her hand over his, “Let’s do this then.” She almost wanted to add ‘your way’ but didn’t because as much as she had to get used to it, this was going to be their way.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach listened to Kess respond to Abigail Rose, and, once their daughter went back to playing and watching television, he looked back at Kess. "She is just like her mother.... very perceptive, and aware of things going on around her. That is very impressive for someone so young."

He held Kess' hand and took a deep breath before saying anything. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, but not now... he was not sure Abigail Rose was ready for that. That would take time and explaining from Kess.

Squeezing her hand a little tighter, Zach said to Kess, "WE need to work this out. I think we both know that we need to put our egos aside and do what is best for that beautiful little girl, and for us, too. My plan of where to go is just that, MY plan. If you want to do something different, we can discuss it. However Kess, nobody will find us there. Nobody will look for us there. We are really in their own back yard, it is just that the difference between Puerto Rico and New Mexico is that the agency will have nothing to tie either of us to Puerto Rico. You have to know they found your sister and are just waiting for you to go to her, or to communicate with her in some way. As tough as it may be, you have to cut yourself off from her.... for a while anyway." He looked at Abigail Rose as if to say to Kess, you have to do it for her.

Zach kissed Kess on the cheek, once again looking at their daughter to make sure that he didn't do anything to raise additional questions in the child.

After making breakfast, the three of them sat down to eat. Neither of the adults were really hungry, but they knew they had to eat something. Neither of them knew how long their journey would take. Abigail Rose kind of played with her food; eating a little here and there. Zach looked at Kess. "I will go out and get some protein bars and some other things that we can put in my backpack. I know that you and I can go without food for a long time, but ...." He knew that Kess understood what he was saying. "When I come back, we will finalize our travel plans. I am really looking forward to going on vacation with two such beautiful ladies." He gave their daughter a big smile.

Zach went out through a service entrance in the back of the hotel and then wound his way through the streets of Melbourne to make sure nobody was following him. Once he was certain there was nobody on his tail, he went into a store and bought chocolate protein bars, figuring there was a better chance that Abigail Rose would eat them because of the chocolate. He also bought several bars of chocolate and a few large bottles of water. He would be travelling light. He would be able to carry the supplies.

Returning to the hotel, Zach weaved up and down the streets zig-zagging around different streets than he had taken to get to the store. He entered through the service entrance in the back, and was able to get to the elevator unnoticed. Slipping back into their suite, Zach laid the bags on the table, and went into Abigail Rose's room looking for his two women. He smiled as he walked in and heard Kess speaking with their daughter.

 

[zydrate]

In her time with the agency, Kess had been on the tail-end of interrogations. She'd been waterboarded. She had been punched and kicked. All while being interrogated.

But Abbie's interrogations were different. It was question, after question, after question... if an answer didn't satisfy her, another question arose... it took a lot of patience, that was for sure. Patience that Kess never thought she had before having a child.

When Zach left, she gave the girl a quick bath and then occupied her with her toys and TV as she herself took a quick shower. She put her damp hair in a french braid because she never really wore it that way, hopefully it would help with not being too recognizable should anyone be looking for them this early in the game. After she straightened up hers and Abbie's things, as in repacking them... just in case they needed to get out of there fast, they were at least ready. Kess sat on the floor with Abbie in room she had spent the night in. Kess turned the TV off and pulled the little girl in her lap and talked to her about Zach.

When Kess said that Zach was Abbie's daddy, Abbie just looked at her and nodded, "Good, he's nice to me. I like him."

Kess rested her chin on top of Abbie's head, "Yeah, I like him a lot too."

It took a few more minutes and Kess had put Abbie down for a nap. She had just closed the door to her room when she sensed Zach behind her. Of course, she heard the door earlier as she was talking with Abbie. Turning to face him, Kess saw the bag on the table and gave him a small smile, "No problems then?"

Kess nodded at his answer and then collapsed onto the couch, letting her head fall back, "I swear, she'll break you down and look cute doing it." She was still tired. Of course she did her best not to show it in front of their little girl.

 

[BeachBum25]

"She certainly does take after her mother, doesn't she?" Zach winked at Kess as he watched her collapse on the couch.

He waited to see if she would fall asleep. He was hoping she would. Kess needed some rest. It was bad enough to be on the run and constantly having to take care of yourself, but Kess had a three year old girl to take care of also. That made it so much harder. That would change now. Zach was there to help her. They would be on the run together, until they got to a secluded location where they could relax.... and be a family.. maybe?

While Kess closed her eyes, Zach ran through the end portion of the plan. How they would get to Puerto Rico and make their way to his hideaway in the rainforest. He had always enjoyed going there. It was the one place in the world he could go and be left alone. He never communicated with anyone while there, that way nobody could ever triangulate his location. He kept it a secret from everyone, because he figured that one day he would want out of the agency, and if it was sooner than the agency wanted him gone, he knew he would have to have a place to hide. He had always figured he would be alone.... now he was going to have company.... and he was perfectly fine with that.

Quietly, Zach stood up and walked to the door of the room where his.. no, their, daughter was sleeping. He watched her... making sure her little chest was rising and falling. This being a father was all new to him. He needed to make sure she was breathing.. .he needed to make sure she was safe.

Zach left the door open a little and walked over to the large windows looking out on the city. It was a great view. That was, until he saw the black SUV pull up in front of the hotel. He watched closely as 2 men got out. He relaxed a little. If they were coming for him, or for Kess, or for both, they would send more than 2 men.

Then he heard the phone in the room ring. "Kess, let's go... NOW. Get your daughter. We need to go." He grabbed the bag of supplies he bought and started stuffing the contents into his backpack. "Kess, let's go baby. We need to go RIGHT NOW." He could see the look on her face of confusion. She had fallen asleep and was being awakened and told to get her ass up and go.

"I will explain, just get Abigail Rose and her things, and let's get out of here." He watched as Kess jumped into action and ran for their daughter. He swung the backpack onto his back and grabbed Abigail Rose's bag and the bag with the weapons in it as Kess carried her out of the room. They left nothing behind.... other than beds that obviously looked like they were slept in.

He led them to the stairway. "No elevator. There are only 2 now, so, they won't come up the stairs. The phone in the room rang after they walked into the lobby. I think they are just an advance team, sent to find us.. not to come after us."

When they got to the 4th floor, Zach stepped out of the stairway and pulled the fire alarm. Running back into the stairway, he took Kess' free hand. "Are you okay with her? More people going down will give us better cover. We will go out the back as long as other people are going that way."

Once they were on the ground floor, there were a lot of people running around wondering what the hell was going on. Fortunately, a large group of people left through the service entrance in the back. They mingled in the crowd until they were sure there was no immediate threat, and then they headed through the streets; constantly checking to make sure nobody was following them.

They ducked into an alley. They worked to catch their breath. Zach looked at their daughter. "Are you okay sweetie?" When he heard her say, "yes, daddy" he looked at Kess. A little smile came over his face. He kissed Kess, then their daughter. "Okay Kess, it is time to put your plan into action. I know you, so, I know you had a plan to get Abigail Rose and you out of here. You get us out of here, I will get us to a place where we can relax and be the three of us."

 

[zydrate]

Would life ever be the same again? Would Kess be able to go one day without her heart beating out of chest in fear for her daughter’s safety? Hopefully. If Zach was right about his place in Puerto Rico, she was willing to chance it.

She had to get her bearings in the alley. It had been a couple of years since she had been to Melbourne, but she knew the layout of the main part of the city pretty well. She had spent a lot of time studying up on an escape route. Once she figured out where to go, she led Zach to their next destination. They walked casually but, in her mind, it was anything but casual. She was looking… watching… She had no cellphone to rely on like most people did these days. In their line of work, having one was just a beacon for trouble.

Abbie started to squirm in Kess’ arms. She knew she was getting restless, and they would need to stop somewhere so Abbie could get down get some energy worked out. It surprised Kess that Abbie hadn’t a full blown out tantrum yet.

They had found a small fast-food restaurant with a play area. Perfect. It was public but small enough to keep an eye on Abbie as she played and got something to eat. Both Kess and Zach had to act normally for the moment as Kess filled Zach in on her plan. Once they were settled in a small booth where they could keep an eye on Abbie, Kess’ mind slowed down a bit, “It’s long flight to where you want to go. Even commercial, it’s over a day and with a small child, it’s not going to be pretty. We can’t make it there in a couple of days. It’s just not possible. Even if we were to have a private flight, it would take a while. I think we need to do this in spurts. Melbourne to New Zealand, then to Brazil… Brazil to Puerto Rico… I would estimate it would take at least a week.” Of course, she kept her voice low and always kept Abbie in her view.

“Or…” she knew Zach wasn’t going to like this suggestion, “We could split up. They’re obviously looking for us both but, if we split up, they’ll have to deploy another team for you, which could throw off their radar in looking for us together…” Splitting up would be the best option after all. It made a lot of sense… at least to Kess. “Look, I know you don’t want to but think about it…”

 

[BeachBum25]

"Kess, you are damned right that I do not want to think about it. Yes, I know that they are looking for us to be together, but you travelling alone with Abigail Rose will just slow you down and make you more vulnerable. You won't be able to protect yourself as well...... or Abbie. We can protect her better together than just you alone, and that is not my ego talking.. that is a fact."

His mind was racing. For a minute he thought about suggesting that he take Abigail Rose and let Kess go on her own. Then, he almost had to laugh at himself for even thinking that. Right, like Kess would ever let her daughter out of her sight.

"For them to have to split their teams up and deploy two teams to find us, they would have to know that we split up. Yes, it will be fewer men tracking each of us, but, if I were them, I would focus my efforts on whoever has the child with them." He stopped. Looking at Kess he felt like he was fighting a losing battle. It seemed as if she had already made up her mind.

Shaking his head, "I know how stubborn you are, and that is what has made you so great at what you have done. I think we are better doing this together, but you are the one who has been protecting Abigail Rose for the last three years. I will do what you want... not happily, but...." He stopped.

Zach stood up and went over to where Abigail Rose was playing. He knelt down next to her and quietly talked to her. "Sweetheart, I have to go somewhere for work for a little while. You are going to go with mommy. I am going to meet the two of you in a few days and then we will go someplace where we can spend a lot of time together." Her face got sad and she started to protest. Zach put his finger to her lips. "It will be okay my angel. Just do what mommy tells you and take good care of her, okay." He kissed Abigail Rose on the cheek and then he stood up. "You keep playing. Mommy will come for you in a minute." As he walked back to Kess, he had to wipe tears from his eyes.

"Six days from now, I will meet you at the private airport near Sao Pedro, Brazil. Be careful.. and take care of her." He leaned down and kissed Kess.... hard. He knew she was probably shocked at how quickly he was leaving, but Zach felt to longer they stayed to discuss, the more bogged down he would get in trying to force her to stay with him. Also, by leaving now, he did not know how she planned on getting out of Australia and eventually to Brazil. All he knew was the countries she planned on going through. If he was captured, there was nothing they could do to him that would extract Kess' itinerary.

Zach's route to Brazil was much different than what Kess was planning. He had thought about her the whole time. He had wondered should he have just followed her at a distance. Ultimately, he chose not to because he didn't want to be responsible for bringing any attention to them if he were followed.

Whereas Kess was planning on going to New Zealand, Zach went through Malaysia and then Vietnam. He didn't think there was any way that they would be looking for him there. From Vietnam, he made his way to Egypt, and from Egypt he travelled to Venezuela. He was on so many little planes going from one small airport to the next. It felt like he was always flying. When he got off the plane in Caracas, he felt like he was almost there. Zach was able to find a flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil. That was perfect. Once there, it would only be a 3 hour car ride to Sao Pedro.

The flight was uneventful. He was able to rent a car in Sao Paulo. He didn't bother telling them that he had no plans to return the car... obviously. He started the drive to Sao Pedro. He was cutting it close on time. His puddle-jumping journey from Australia took every minute of the 6 days that he had planned for. He was worried about having Kess and their daughter sitting around a private airport and not knowing exactly what the next step was.

When he arrived at the airport, he went into the private aviation company and spoke with the agent at the counter. "Yes, I am meeting my fiancee and my daughter here. Have you seen them? My daughter is 3 years old and looks like her mother." The agent said that he had not seen a woman and a child in their terminal. Zach thanked him, and started to worry. He was certain that Kess and Abigail Rose would be here by now. He went out and sat in the rental car and waited.... and waited. He had no way of communicating with her. He had no idea where she was. This was not good.... not good at all. "Fuck Kess.... I knew we should have stayed together." He banged the steering wheel in anger. "Where are you?"

 

[zydrate]

Kess stood at the kiosk in the airport as she purchased the tickets for herself and Abbie, whose head was resting on Kess’ shoulder as she slept. When it was naptime, it was naptime. Which was fine since Kess had a lot to do. She had checked in a bag, just so she wouldn’t look too suspicious or out of place. She didn’t need anyone questioning what parent in their right mind would be travelling with a child and have no bags?

At the counter, she gave the lady her tickets and fake IDs for both herself and Abbie. So far, so good.

It was a long flight and Kess had decided last minute to fly to Bora Bora instead. There was still a stop in Auckland but that was fine. That was why she decided to chance it to Bora Bora. Sure, the flight was longer but to deal with a child on shorter flight spurts was just asking for trouble.

They hadn’t run into any problems so far. She could tell that Abbie was sick of traveling and had thrown a few tantrums that normally, Kess could handle if they were in a home or hotel room but when they were in public, it was a different matter.

Kess had a plan in her head and when it didn’t execute as she wanted, she had to improvise.

They stayed 2 days in Bora Bora. There, Kess had a contact to see what was going on, what they heard and in general, just to gather information to see what they were facing. It wasn’t good and that worried her. But once she got to Zach, they would work on this new problem… Originally, she and Abbie were to arrive when Zach had said, 6 days from the day they departed. As they were leaving the airport on the flight from Bora Bora to Lima, Peru, their flight was redirected back to the island. That put Kess on edge.

It wasn’t anything to worry about, said the captain overhead, just something they wanted to check to make sure everything was all right.

Kess didn’t have any weapons with her. Not that she needed them but having one on hand would have made her feel a little better.

When they finally did get to Sao Pedro, it was 3 hours after their original time. It was pretty late and Kess had about had it with flying. On the flight, she had noticed one guy looking at her and Abbie. He even said ‘Hi’ to her when he passed by their assigned seats. Kess didn’t want to raise suspicion, so she just greeted him back. Once they departed the plane, Kess was really loss. She’d never been in Sao Pedro… Brazil yes, just not particularly in Sao Pedro. When she looked loss, the guy from the plane approached her, speaking to her in Portuguese, asking if she needed a lift to her hotel. She had told him no, also in Portuguese. He asked if she was sure, he would be happy to share a ride with them....

Before she could answer, Kess saw Zach, and relief washed over her. Almost like the first time she had seen him when he shown up at her home in Waynard.

 

[BeachBum25]

As the time ticked by, Zach became more and more worried about Kess and Abigail Rose. Their trip should have had them here already. He would never forgive himself if something had happened to them. He should have stuck to his guns and kept them all together.

Zach got out of the car and was pacing. He saw a plane land and wondered, and hoped. As passengers started to come out of the small terminal, Zach looked from person to person. There did not appear to be any threats, until....

He saw Kess carrying Abigail Rose and a small bag, and he saw a man walking with her, talking to her. He had seen the man before. He couldn't place it, but he had definitely seen him before. At this time, anyone that Zach recognized would be treated as a threat. He only knew one person in Brazil, and that was the woman who made arrangements for them to get on a private jet tomorrow that would take them to Puerto Rico. This guy was a problem.

Walking toward Kess, he made eye contact with her to let her know to go to the car. She walked past him, and Zach walked right up to the man and said in Portuguese, "Thank you so much for looking after my wife and daughter on the flight. It was very kind of you." It was then that Zach saw the shock in the man's eyes. He had not expected to see Zach here. He was supposed to follow Kess. He probably had no idea that Zach was involved. Zach almost felt sorry for him. The man had not been given all the information he needed to protect himself. It was par for the course for the agency lately.

Returning to the car, Zach started it, and pulled up to where the man lay on the ground in the shadows of the building. He looked at Kess. "Keep her occupied, don't let her watch me." He climbed out of the car and put the man in the trunk. It was fortunate that Kess had Abigail Rose with her, because it meant she was the last one off the flight... there was nobody around to see Zach take care of the treat.

As they drove to the house they were spending the night in, Zach pulled over and dumped the body in the deep brush about 30 meters off the road. It would be a while before he was found. Once in the house, Zach hugged Kess and Abigail Rose tightly. He whispered to Kess, "you had me worried. I am glad you are okay." Then he looked at Abbie, "you did a great job taking care of your mother sweetie."

After getting Abigail Rose down to sleep, Zach explained to Kess that they had to be up before the sun and back to the airport. If they were even a minute late, their ride would be gone. "It will take us to San Juan airport, and from there I have a car that will get us to our new home. Well, our home for a while anyway." He waited for her reaction, but it was obvious Kess was exhausted. "You get some sleep. I will sleep on the plane tomorrow." Then he reached into the back of his waistband and took out a handgun and gave it to Kess. "I hope you don't need this, but..."

At 4 am Zach woke Kess up. He told her to grab Abigail Rose's bag, and the bag that he had put several weapons in. Zach went and picked up Abigail Rose and carried her out to the car; handing her to Kess once they were in the car. It was back to the airport for them.

As they walked across the tarmac to the private jet, Zach heard something behind them. He handed Abbie to Kess. "Get on the plane. If I am not there when it is time to go... go. When you get there, a friend will make contact with you if I don't get off the plane with you. Now go." He pushed Kess toward the plane, then, turned around to find out what was going on. He saw several men walking in their direction. He turned back to see Kess and Abigail Rose getting on the plane. Then he looked back at the men, drew both of his weapons, and took out the one in the middle before diving behind a tender. He wanted to make sure they came after him.

 

[zydrate]

Kess heard the shots but paid no attention to them. Her priority was Abbie. She needed to make sure she kept her safe. Zach could take care of himself and as she thought it, it seemed callous to even think it, but it was true. It wasn’t that she didn’t care, she just knew his abilities.

Now her own abilities left her doubting at times. Like now. Abbie started to cry as Kess knelt in front of her daughter and secured her in her seat, “No baby, not now, OK? Everything is going to be all right…” she tried to calm her down when she felt the barrel of a gun being pressed in the back of her head. “Agent Marcus.”

She knew that voice anywhere. “Agent Pierce.” She said, not hiding her contempt for the man. Kess sighed as Abbie’s eyes were wide, looking at the men surrounding her and her mom. “Holster your weapons… you’re scaring her.”

“Let’s talk, shall we?”

By then, the door was closed and secured, and the small plane started to taxi.

“She’ll be OK, Jason will watch over her…” the barrel was pressed against her skull harder.

What choice did she have? Kess shoved the bag she had brought with them under Abbie’s seat then she stood up, “Mommy will be right back, OK?” Carefully, Kess pulled out a small tablet she had purchased in Bora Bora for Abbie. It only had some games on them and a few movies. Nothing connecting them to internet or such. Abbie seemed OK with it, already knowing how to operate it.

Kess was lead was led to a seat across the aisle from where Abbie was sitting. The plane started to take off, as she was forced to sit, Kess looked around at each member and made a mental note… you’re all dead once Zach gets finds us…

She didn’t bother to say anything. Instead, she waited for them to start asking the questions.

“Let’s start, shall we? It is, after all, a long way back to the US.”

So, they were taking her back to the Farm. At least, that’s what she surmised. But again, she refused acknowledge them. Instead, she kept an eye on Abbie, making sure her little girl was doing OK.