A Secret Held Fast (CLOSED-PM for info)

[BeachBum25]

As Zach moved behind the tender, he heard the engines of the jet begin to race. "What the fuck is going on?" It was not time for the jet to leave. He still had five minutes to get on it. Something bad was happening; something very, very bad.

Refocusing on the immediate threat, Zach maneuvered quietly around to get better sight lines on his targets. One by one he picked them off. Although a couple of them got off shots before they were eliminated, Zach emerged from the confrontation unscathed... physically. Now, he needed to focus his attention elsewhere. He needed to get Kess and Abigail Rose back.

Zach reached out to the contact that was supposed to have made the arrangements to get him the private jet. When he got to her house, he found her, dead on her kitchen floor.. a single gunshot to the back of her head. "So, that's how they knew about the flight.. and they killed her anyway," he said out loud.. to nobody. They knew where Kess was from the guy on her flight into Brazil and they worked through the night to get info on how she... they... were getting out. Zach figured that they had wanted to get him on the flight too, but that got messed up when he heard the men behind them. "The Farm." Once again, he said it out loud to nobody. He knew where they were taking Kess.. and Abbie. He knew they hoped he would come for her. Zach just hoped Kess was alive when he got there.

Zach took the dead woman's car and started driving. He needed to get far away from all of the chaos that had just occurred. He needed to find a place to sit and collect his thoughts and to devise a plan. He needed to get Kess back. He needed to get Abigail Rose back. He needed them in his life.

After driving for over 2 hours, Zach pulled into a hotel. Walking into the office, he offered cash for the room and used one of a thousand different names he had used in the past to register. He went into the room and took a cold shower. He needed to stay awake. He needed to focus. He needed to figure out how to get to the Farm undetected, and once there, how to get onto the Farm and get Kess and Abbie out safely. Getting to the Farm was the easy part... the rest was a formidable challenge.

Using one of the many passports and forms of identification he had at his disposal; ones that he had never used before and the agency knew nothing about, Zach got on a flight to Calgary, Canada. From there, he rented a car, and, using a Canadian passport, was able to easily cross into the United States. He crossed at a low key border crossing that did not have facial recognition. That part of the plan could not have gone any better. Now came the challenge.

Using an Illinois driver's license and a credit card with the same name as was on the license, Zach checked into a hotel about an hour outside of the farm. He had decided to stay at a luxury hotel instead of a cheap motel.. hell, this might be the last chance he had to stay anywhere. Zach knew the Farm. He knew the layout of the farm. He knew where the strong and weak points of security of the Farm were, but even the weak points were very secure. It was what Zach did. It was what made him so good. He was always observing, so, anytime he went back to the Farm, he noticed everything there was to notice.

Zach rested for a little, but he found it hard to sleep. He kept running through the map of the Farm that was in his head. He wondered which building they were keeping Kess in. There were so many possibilities. One thing he was pretty sure that they wouldn't do, was keep her in the building with all of the prison cells. They would think that was the first place Zach would go... they were wrong. That would be the last place he would check.... if he lived long enough to go through all of the buildings.

The stress was building. He never felt like this before on any mission... not even the first one he had been assigned to. This was different... this was personal. He tried to make it just like any other mission... but it was impossible. They had his "family" and he wanted them back.

 

[zydrate]

They took Abbie away.

That was the one thing Kess feared the most. She tried to fight it but it only made her little girl scared and as they took her, all Kess could hear was her little girl's cry.

Pierce assured her that the little girl would be taken care of. She would have the best of everything! They would enjoy spoiling her while 'mommy' worked.

Yes, she knew they wouldn't hurt her. Abbie was too valuable right now, besides, it wasn't their way. But they could hurt Kess. That wasn't out of the realm of possibilities for them. She had to keep her composure. She had to keep her wits about her. She had to do what they wanted. She had to bide her time for her daughter’s sake. Also, she had to bide her time for Zach to show up. Kess was sure he was still alive. She just had to wait for him.

Before, Kess had no problem taking orders from them. She never questioned the assignment or reasoning behind it. She just trusted what they were telling her was the truth. But this time...this time was different. Yes, the rumors were that no one just leaves. It had been said over and over... why did she think she was any different?

Sitting across from his prized pupil, Pierce just looked at Kess. She didn’t make eye contact with him. He had said something earlier, but she didn’t acknowledge him.

“You want to see your little girl again, right Kess?”

She kept her breathing steady and proceeded to not look directly at him.

“I know I said one more job, but I feel, personally, that we could still you. With each one you complete successfully; you can see your little girl. That’s it. It couldn’t get any simpler.”

He pushed the picture of some guy in a lab coat, walking to his car. It was a bit blurry, but she could still make out his features and a distinct description of him. “Get rid of him. Just like with any other mission, you get free reign but remember, Abbie misses you so, you complete this, you can see her.”

Easy enough…any other day.

“Drop off point is 2 hours away. We’ll drop you off. You complete the assignment. Report back in the allotted time. You can see your little girl. Just remember, the more assignments you complete, the more you can see your little girl. You don’t report back…well, you know the consequences. I mean, seriously, it’s not that hard.”

Kess didn’t move. Didn’t answer.

Pierce sighed and reached for the picture. He knew she would do what he wanted. Would she be happy about it? Of course not—

In one, hard swift move, Kess jumped up and grabbed Pierce by the collar of his suit and was able to reach the back of his head, slamming it forward against the interview table. It was an awkward position as he couldn’t get her off. Kess was able to slam his head against it, repeatedly until 3 other agents ran in to get Kess off Pierce. They didn’t hurt her as she was expecting some sort of retaliation from them for attacking their boss, instead, they held her there as Pierce got to his feet…his forehead was cut and bleeding.

“24 hours Kess. Or else your stupid little brat of a kid is gone!”

----
Kess was tossed out of a SUV in the middle of the night in a dark alley. A transmitter and comm had been fixed to her person and she was told if she removed either, she was dead. And not to contact anyone either. Find the doctor. Get rid of him. Report back.

Then she’d get to see Abigail Rose.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach saw movement. He wasn't close enough to tell who, or what, was moving, but he saw it. Then he saw a black SUV, yea the same black SUVs that all government law enforcement and other clandestine groups use, speed out of the back gate. He had no idea who was in it, but his instincts told him to follow it.

It wasn't easy to do. He had to go fast enough to gain ground on the SUV, but not so fast as to attract the attention of a police officer. The last thing he needed was to get pulled over for speeding. When the SUV went into the city, it gave Zach an opportunity to catch up... traffic signals slowed them down. He followed them at a safe distance; always keeping several vehicles between them and not always the same number of vehicles between them.. never staying in the same lane.

He saw the SUV turn into a dark alley. Zach could not follow them into the alley. He went around the block and as he got to the far end of the alley, he saw the SUV coming toward him to exit the alley. He continued around to where he had seen the SUV enter the alley, and waited.

Several minutes later he saw Kess exit the alley. He pulled up and put the passenger side window down. Zach called out, "Excuse me ma'am, can you tell me where the freeway entrance is?" Zach wanted to be careful in case there was someone around or in cast they were listening. He saw Kess look at him and her eyes got real wide. She pointed to her waist and the devices there. He nodded. She responded that she had no idea where the freeway was and to just leave her alone.

Zach nodded to her; acknowledging what she was saying. He was able to conclude that they were using Abigail Rose to make Kess complete a mission. Hell, with Abigail Rose, they could make Kess work for them until she was no longer any use to them, or was killed on a mission. Zach had to do something. For right now, however, he just had to follow Kess on this mission. Follow her and come up with a plan.

She was so good. Zach watched as Kess moved into a position where she could easily take out the intended target. When she was finished with that, she disappeared without anyone seeing her. Damn, he was glad she was on his side. That put a thought in his head. How long would it be before they sent Kess out for him. They had her daughter. They knew she would do anything to make sure her daughter was safe. She would be the only one that was even close to being good enough to get Zach. It made sense.

Following her after her hit, Zach started to formulate a plan. He had to get onto the Farm. How was he going to get through security?

Kess stopped at a corner. He didn't dare approach her. While Kess remained back near the building, Zach stood out by the street. A black SUV pulled up and the rear door was pushed open. Zach pointed at Kess, and then stepped into the back seat with 2 weapons drawn. There was a driver and a man in the back seat; each had one of Zach's guns pointed at them. "Sshh." He nodded to Kess to come. Before she got in, Zach said to the 2 men, "if you want to live, you will do exactly like you would do if I wasn't here. If I even think you are thinking of trying something, you will be dead before you finish the thought."

Zach took the weapons from the 2 men. He knew that this was dangerous. He was riding into the arms of the beast, but he did not have much of a choice.... and he hadn't even thought about how they were getting out of the Farm.

The two men played their parts well. It was obvious they knew who he was and that he was serious when he said he would kill them. The one in the back seat asked Kess how the mission went. Kess gave her normal response. Zach felt that Kess was not happy with his plan. She kept giving him dirty looks.

Zach hid well in the back seat as they entered the Farm. As they pulled up to a building, Zach saw Pierce standing outside. He should have known that asshole was behind this. He was always willing to hurt someone to get his way... even going so far as to go after people's families. Of course, he never did any of the dirty work. He was always the one making the threats though.

When Pierce opened the rear door to get Kess out of the SUV, he was greeted with the barrel of a gun pointed right at his forehead. "Hello Agent Pierce, it is so nice to see you again. Now, why don't you get in and join our little party." Zach smiled at him. Pierce knew that one wrong twitch of a muscle would result in him taking a bullet to the brain. "Kess, get rid of the listening and tracking shit they put on you." Then, looking back at Pierce, "If one hair on that child's head is out of place, I will bring pain to you that you could never in your wildest dreams imagine. You will beg me to kill you and put you out of your misery. Am I clear, pumpkin?"

Pierce nodded ever so slightly as he climbed into the back seat. Zach gave him an evil smile. "Now, let's talk."

 

[zydrate]

Zach! Kess’ heart skipped a beat when he showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, yet, she knew he would show up. She had indicated she had a comm and tracker on her, which was fastened tightly around her waist and locked. It couldn’t be unlocked or removed unless the person who had access could do it with their fingerprint.

What was he up to? She watched him drive off… in the back of her mind, she wondered when the time would come when the agency would send her after Zach… stop it! She thought… she knew Zach had a plan and she had to trust him, but she also had to do her job… forced job. Kess knew it was for a reason, she would do literally anything as she knew it was what would allow her to see her daughter.

The feel of the weight of an empty sniper rifle was all familiar to Kess… It was concealed in a leather bag she had slung over her shoulder. The agency had picked out a place she needed but she didn’t go that route. Instead, she found her own vantage point. It appeared the good doctor had a habit of stopping at his favorite small coffee shop for his morning fix.

Although it was still dark but getting lighter, Kess quickly surveyed where she would put herself….

Of course, once the job was done, Kess sent a message to her pickup. They would be there in 10 minutes. It was over as quickly as it begun. The doctor was dead. Since it was so early in the morning, no one would notice right away but Nicole waited for a bit as she packed up her weapon. She needed to mingle in the with the gathering crowd…. Perhaps convey some concern and shock with everyone else but of course, not communicate with anyone. Just slip away.

She waited at the rendezvous point and just as the SUV pulled up, so did Zach. Kess should have been shocked… surprised, yes, shocked, no.

“Target?” said one of the men, looking at both Kess and Zach. Poor guy, this had to be his first year with the agency. His voice was slightly shaken as the other guy drove, his eyes darting to the review mirror looking at both Kess and Zach.

“Confirmed.” Kess said, slinging the bag to the rear of the vehicle.

It was best not to ask anything of Zach. Kess didn’t want to argue with Zach in front of the guys, besides, the comm could still be active.

What the hell was Zach up to?

Kess grabbed Pierce’s left hand and he tried to pull back, but Kess looked at him, “I’m happy to cut your thumb off.” With that, he relented and Kess was able to remove both the tracker and comm. She tossed it on the floor of the SUV and crushed it with her foot.

Pierce glared at Zach, “I knew we didn’t get rid of you so easily… it was only a matter of time you’d show up, it was my mistake it was sooner than I had anticipated.” Kess was tired of this, she grabbed Pierce’s own weapon and quickly shot one the agents in the head and his body slumped against Pierce. No warning given as Kess spoke up, “Where is she?!”

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach looked at Pierce and shrugged his shoulder. "Well, I guess we won't be a conversation. It appears that you are the only one that should be talking, and, if you weren't sure about how serious she is, look at Exhibit A." Zach pointed at the dead agent slumped in the seat next to him. "You see Pierce, all of your dirty little manipulative ways may have worked on others, and may have made you feel really powerful, but you underestimated Kess. You see, that little daughter means more than life to her, and she definitely means more than your life to Kess."

Zach cocked his head to the side a little. "Oh, I'm sorry, I said you were the one that should be talking." With that, Zach punched Pierce dead in the face. He could hear his nose crack. "Where is the girl Pierce? The next few bullets have your name on them if we don't get the correct answer." When Pierce hesitated to answer, Zach did not hesitate to show him that what he said about the bullets was a promise not a threat. Zach put a bullet through Pierce's thigh; careful not to hit the femoral artery.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zach saw the young agent who was the driver flinch. Zach looked at him. "Don't do it kid. I don't want to have to kill you. Sit tight, do as you are told, and you have a very good chance of surviving. Do anything else, and you will join your partner. I am sure they will put a flag over your coffin."

Now, turning back to Pierce, Zach just looked at him. He didn't have to repeat the question. Pierce wasn't a real agent; he was just a suit, and he definitely couldn't handle pain. Pierce told the agent where to drive. They pulled up to a building. The agent got out of the driver's seat and escorted Kess inside. He said nothing to anyone inside, because he knew they would all be dead before they knew what hit them.

Moments later, Kess came out with Abigail Rose. The agent got back in the driver's seat; Kess and Abigail Rose got into the back. It wasn't a pretty sight in the back seat, so, Kess covered Abbie's eyes. Now came the hard part.

To the agent, Zach said to drive out the back gate. "If they question where you are going, just tell them you have Agent Pierce and are transporting him to a secret location. Pierce will confirm it... won't you buddy. Don't try to signal that anything is wrong to anybody or else my body count will increase. Now go."

The internal clock in Zach's head was ticking and he knew they needed to get out of there fast. He looked over at Kess and she was holding their daughter tightly. Now it was time to figure out what to do once off the Farm. How were they getting to their safe house?

 

[zydrate]

Kess kept Abbie's face buried in her neck and shoulder. She could tell Abbie was scared and just did as she was told. She was holding onto Kess hard also.

She was sure they would have trouble at the back gate but fortunately, they didn't. The two agents at the gate were obviously first year agents and looked bored beyond belief. Kess knew the feeling. Her first year... well, half year, she was stuck doing gofer work. That was until Pierce took a shining to her and started to train her.. well, he didn't train her personally, he had the top trainers in the agency do the work. He just sat back and watch...

Like always.

Kess held onto Abbie with one hand and her other rested on the butt of her gun which she picked off of Pierce... just in case.

The driver asked where to go now and Kess told him to drive to the small town they had passed through earlier this morning. After they arrived 20 minutes later, Kess told Zach, "The river we just pass 5 miles back, meet me back there, we're going to get a car and be right behind you... and be careful." She knew he didn't want to leave her but Kess reassured him with a hard kiss, "I promise, we'll be there." She said and shut the door.

Her plan... steal a car, get to the river, dump the SUV... would Pierce live? Probably not, but that was no concern to Kess. Right now, she had her little girl back and once this was done, she'd have Zach too.

Five minutes later, Kess and Abbie were walking hand in hand down the small street. It wasn't too busy but there were people... there was a small bar she saw where their parking lot was full. Quickly surveying it, she walked through, still holding Abbie in her arms as she tried each door handle. Luckily, none of them had alarms so she didn't set any off. Finally they came upon one, an older model car had it's doors open so Kess didn't waste any time opening it up and placing Abbie in the backseat, buckling her up. She really needed a car seat but that would have to do now.

Poor Abbie, didn't know what was going on so Kess took a minute to talk to her, telling her it was OK and that they were going to meet Zach... The little girl seemed happy with that.

After that, Kess hotwired the car and it started, she looked around to make sure no one noticed. No one did.

****
Driving up to the river, she saw Zach waiting for them. There was no SUV but there was that frightened agent that was doing the driving handcuffed to a nearby tree just out of sight... "Tell me you have a plan." She said before getting into the passenger side.

 

[BeachBum25]

Zach wasn't sure about Kess' plan. He didn't like being separated from Kess and Abigail Rose again. The kiss from Kess told him that she knew he didn't like the idea. Her promise convinced him to go with what she was saying... like he had a chance of changing her mind.

He noticed the look from Pierce when Kess kissed him. It was obvious that nobody had any idea about the two of them. After Kess was out of the vehicle, Zach looked at the driver, "you know where to go." Then he looked in Pierce's direction, and Pierce had a smug look on his face. That look worried Zach. Would Pierce put the pieces together and figure out that Abigail Rose was his daughter, too? Pierce smiled at Zach. What an asshole he is. "So, you and Kess got a little close during this mission. I guess putting you two together as an engaged couple triggered some feelings between you two."

Zach wanted to hurt him so bad. He wanted to tell him that their little plan had nothing to do with what happened between him and Kess, but Zach was better than that. Also, he didn't want to say anything in front of the young agent driving the SUV.

"Pull off the road and down by the river." The young agent was scared to death. He did exactly what Zach told him. HE saw his partner die in the back seat and he knew Zach had shot Pierce in the thigh, so, he knew that Zach would have no issue with taking him out. "Pull down there, under the bridge."

Once they were under the bridge, Zach told the agent to put it in park and to give him the zip ties that were in the console. The agent handed the zip ties to Zach, who proceeded to zip tie the dead agent's wrist to the seat.

As he started to climb out of the SUV, Zach heard Pierce mumble something. "What did you say asshole?" Pierce repeated it, this time loud enough for Zach to hear. "There is no way you will get away. The three of you will be dead by morning."

The explosion from Zach's gun caused the young agent to scream. Pierce's brains splattering all over him and the front of the SUV made the agent scream louder. Zach looked at the agent. "I am doing you a favor, sport. You aren't made up for this kind of work. If I set you free, find a new job."

He zip tied Pierce to the seat. Not that he was going to be escaping, but to keep him in the SUV. Then he walked around to the driver's door and told the agent to get out. The young man looked at Zach with fear. "Listen, if I was going to kill you, I wouldn't ask you to get out. I would have shot you already."

Slowly, the young agent got out of the SUV. Zach told him to walk over to a tree that he pointed to. After securing the agent to the tree, Zach looked at him. "I am not sure whether you are smart, or loyal to the agency, but I hope it is smart. Get the fuck out while you can. When they find you... if they find you.... play dumb. Don't tell them what you have seen. Tell them we dumped you here and kept driving. Remember, what you have seen me do. If you are a threat to me, I will find you."

Zach turned and walked back to the SUV. He reached into Pierce's pocket and took his ID. Then, Zach went around to the driver's door, put the vehicle in drive and closed the door. He watched the vehicle roll down into the river and slowly move out into the water. It was just a couple of minutes before the vehicle was submerged. If the young agent said nothing, it would be quite some time before they found the SUV.

When Kess got to the river, Zach was waiting for her... impatiently. Worrying about the two women in his life was not good for someone whose work required that there be no emotion.

When she pulled up, he nodded his head as she moved around to the passenger seat. When he got into the driver's seat, he showed Kess Pierce's credentials. "This will get us onto the airfield. From there we will have our choice of planes. We will fly to North Carolina, and from there we will get to Puerto Rico. We have to go quickly. It is only a matter of time before they realize you and Abigail Rose are gone. They will then call out everyone who isn't already out looking for us."

He was worried about the plan. Getting out of the US was the most difficult part... too many eyes on them. It was easier than he thought getting onto the airfield. The night agent simply scanned the credentials Zach had lifted from Pierce without bothering to look to see if it was really him. They found the jet that Pierce always used to travel, and were fortunate enough that it was filled with fuel. It was plenty to get them to North Carolina.

Using the planes call sign, getting off the airfield was no problem. Hopefully, everyone would just think Pierce was taking a trip and not question anything. They just needed to get to North Carolina and then they would make their way to their safe place.

The trip to North Carolina was uneventful. Now came the tricky part. They had to get a plane to Puerto Rico without leaving any evidence that it was them. There could be no tracing them to Puerto Rico. They stole a car from the parking lot of Charlotte airport and drove to a small airport near the coast. Zach had heard there was a drug smuggler who flew out of that airport. Fortunately for them, the guy was willing to smuggle more than drugs. For a large fee, he was willing to take them to Puerto Rico and never mention them ever again.

Zach was confident this guy could get them where they were going. He was worried about his ability to stay quiet. The flight to Puerto Rico would give him some time to think about how much he could trust the smuggler to remain quiet about this flight.

 

[zydrate]

It had been coming up 2 years and nothing. Kess was completely at home with Zach and Abbie, who was 5 years old now. There were no immediate threats but Kess left that all to Zach to so she could devote time to Abbie and making sure their little girl was happy and adjusted. Not that Zach didn’t help, in fact, he did a lot for the both of them, probably to the point of spoiling Abbie a little too much.

Both had agreed that just because they hadn’t heard from the agency didn’t mean they had given up. But, if Pierce was the main guy behind it all, then with his death, it would mean it really was the end.

But of course, in their line of work, nothing was permanent, which is why they took it slow. Day by day.

It was all they could do… at least until they decided it was safe to move back to the main states. If they wanted to… but Kess was fine where they were at. Abbie was thriving and she didn’t have much memory of their time on the run so there was no reason to uproot her again. And Kess… she was really happy with their life they’ve built so far….