A Cloak of Lies Ch. 06

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"Show me," he said, pointing to the page that depicted the state of Missouri.

Camille covered his hand with hers, looking into his face, seeing the fatigue that plagued him. "Later," she said softly. "Get some rest. I'll study the map and figure out the best course, okay?"

Niko started to protest until he saw the concern in her face. He smiled as he smoothed a silky strand of blond hair from her forehead. "All right, honey. Wake me before dusk, will you?"

Nearly sighing under his touch, Camille pulled her head away from his fingers, reminding herself that she was still angry with him. "Yeah. I'll see if I can't fix us something to eat too."

Shaking his head at her reaction, he strolled away from her, retrieving the discarded sleeping bag to spread out as a bed. He chose a dark corner of the big room to lie down in, draping his arm over his eyes as Camille studied the map. It wasn't long before his exhausted snores filled the air of the barn.

He awoke a few hours later to the sensation of having his foot kicked, only to find his wife standing nearby. The fragrance of something cooking assailed his olfactory senses, sending his stomach into fits of rumbling turbulence. After taking just a minute to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he hauled himself to his full height, surveying his surroundings to make sure all was as it should be.

"What's on the spit?" he asked, his saliva glands working overtime.

"Fish," Camille answered, tending the small fire in the center of the room. "Get the bedroll packed up. Food's about ready."

He gazed at her as she moved in and out of the long shadows cast by the waning light from the open door. The golden light played on her hair, giving her the appearance of wearing an angelic halo, framing her beautiful face.

"Where'd you get fish?" he asked, inspecting the food sizzling over the fire.

"I have my ways," was her cryptic answer. When he cocked an eyebrow at her, she pointed at the article of clothing suspended over the flames to dry. "I used one of the tee shirts we bought as a net. Stuck a forked stick in it and baited the little critters with a few crackers. Took forever, but I wanted to get some protein into Olan."

"You're a hell of a woman, Camille."

"Nice of you to notice. Too bad you didn't see that sooner." Camille picked up one of the skewered fishes, carefully prying it off its stick with a fork. It landed in the tin kettle with a plop, steaming fragrance filling the air around her. "See if you can get this into Olan," she said handing the kettle to Niko.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a mock salute. "Will there be anything else your little heart desires?"

"Yeah, a shower, a soft bed and my life back," she retorted, hating herself as soon as the words left her mouth. "I'm sorry, Niko. That was uncalled-for."

"Yes, it was, but I'll live," he muttered, taking dinner to his sleeping friend.

Feeling properly guilty, Camille continued her task, cooking the remaining fish, laying the finished product in the larger kettle from Niko's mess kit and placing the lid on it. She left the food by the fire to keep warm while she tidied up the small "camp," packing what they would not need immediately before leaving on the next leg of their journey.

"What kind of fish is this?" Niko asked, dumping the remains of Olan's meal onto the fire.

"Bluegill, mostly, and a couple of bass. They're kinda small but should be good. Help yourself."

Niko lifted the lid on the large kettle, inhaling a whiff of the fresh fish. "Aren't you having any?"

"Yeah, in a bit. Leave me a couple, will ya?"

"Where'd you learn to fish with a tee shirt? Doesn't sound like you at all."

"But you don't really know me, do you? I read a lot and I have a brain. I know how to think and figure things out."

Niko shook his head, knowing there was an insult directed at him somewhere in her remark. "You ever going to get over your mad?"

"I don't know, sweet-tush. Ask me in a couple of years," she snapped, jamming items into a bag.

"What do I have to do to see you smile again?"

"Smile? You want me tosmile?" she snorted. With a shake of her head she turned to face him. "What is there to smile at? I'd really like to know."

"Well," he said between bites, "we're together, for one thing."

"Oh, yeah," she flung at him. "That's areal blessing. Gee, life can go on now."

"Goddammit!" he hissed. "I went through hell for you. How about a little gratitude here?"

"Gratitude? Jesus, you reallyare an arrogant bastard," she said, slamming the bag on the hood of the Ford Taurus. "There's something you should know, asshole. You didn't go through hell for me. You did it for yourself. Just don't expect me to be grateful for it."

"You're wrong, Camille," he returned, setting his food aside, striding to her purposefully. "I suffered nineteen kinds of hell to get back to you. I worried about you every day, always thought about you. You were never more than a minute from my thoughts."

She slapped his hand away as he reached out to touch her face. "You suffered, your thoughts -- do you even hear yourself? It's all about you. You didn't suffer shit, butthead. You have no concept of what suffering is."

Niko glared at her, the heat of his rage burning in his eyes. "I took four bullets and laid in a hospital for weeks before they knew if I would survive. It took months for me to recover. Then I had to fight our nation's enemies, traveling the world, trying to get clear and come home. Trust me when I tell you I've been through hell."

She met the fire of his gaze, undaunted as she stared back with all the pain of the past eight years revealed in her face. "At least you knew I was alive," she whispered so softly he had to strain to hear. "At least you knew where I was. I was never afforded that luxury."

She turned then, walking to Olan to tend his wounds a final time before leaving. Camille found the man watching her, his expression sympathetic. Unable to meet his gaze, she concentrated on changing the dressings and packing the first aid supplies when she was done. His hand caught her arm in his weak grasp when she tried to stand.

"Camille," he said, his voice gruff and low. "Niko has a lot to learn. Just be a little patient with him. He'll come round."

Looking into his blood-shot eyes for the first time since sitting down next to him, she sniffled, biting back tears. "I ran out of patience years ago. I just want to go home."

"He loves you. You know that, don't you?"

"That's his misfortune," she growled through clenched teeth. "I don't know what he expects from me, but he needs to get it through his thick head that I'm going back to my own life when this is over, and he's not part of it."

"You really hate him, don't you? Why?"

Sighing, she gouged her hair with her splayed fingers, yanking it out of her eyes. "I don't hate him, Olan. I just want him to go away. I spent too many years learning to live again. I don't need him to take that all away. And if I stay with him, he will."

Olan had no choice but to release his tenuous grip on her slender wrist when she pulled away. Niko watched their exchange from a distance, watched as Camille carried the bags of supplies to the car, piling them on the hood before slumping forward, seeming to struggle with something unnamed.

She was hurting and he knew he was the cause of it. What she'd said had struck him hard. He'd left her in a void of unknowing and uncertainty, left her to fight those demons alone. In all of those years that had separated them, he'd spent little time wondering or worrying about what she'd been going through. Instead he'd focused on returning to her, getting back to the one he loved foremost in his mind. He'd realized that she probably had gone on with her life, but had thought little of what he'd be forcing her to give up when he returned.

He ached to touch her, to feel her in his arms again, but for the first time in his life, he put someone else's feelings before his own. He decided to leave her alone, let her work it out on her own without pressure from him.

"We'd better get moving," Niko suggested as he walked to the car, opening the trunk. "We'll need to get another vehicle. This one's been compromised."

He hesitated a moment, glancing at Camille as she pulled herself upright. She grabbed up some of the bags to carry to the back of the car without glancing at Niko as she passed him. Bending at the fire, he put the lid back on the pan of fish, picked it up before kicking dirt over the embers of the fire, taking time to cover it completely.

After depositing the still-warm food on the front seat of the car he turned to see his wife carefully removing the blanket from his friend before helping him to put on a fresh tee shirt. She then secured the arm on his injured side to his torso with a strip of cloth. Niko went to help her, lifting Olan, carrying him to the car.

There was a small argument when she decided to sit in the back with his friend, insisting that she could better see to his comfort than if she was in the front. In the end, Niko gave in, not wanting to upset her further. When they pulled out of the barn with the sun disappearing beneath the horizon, Olan was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, his head nestled comfortably on Camille's lap.

They'd wound their way back to the main highways, winding through and around small towns and villages when Niko saw a small motor home dealership.

"Camille," he said as he pulled into the lot. "I hate to inform you of this, but you're about to become an accessory to a felony."

"I'm what?" she fairly screeched, jarring Olan out of his peaceful catnap.

"We need another vehicle. They'll be looking for us in this. I'm going to go in here and steal a small RV. It'll be better for Olan. He can have a bed to lie down in and what looks more natural than a man and wife traveling across country in a camper. I'm sorry,agapi, but I don't think we have much choice."

What he said made sense, but that didn't make it any easier to take. "Just great. Concealed weapons, car chases, grand theft auto -- what's next? Murder?"

"Let's hope it doesn't get to that point," he returned, pulling the car to a stop. "You stay here with him. I'll be back in a minute."

Camille watched him leave, shaking her head and feeling sick to her stomach. She was trying to make up her mind if she should run for her life when the head in her lap moved, a weak voice drawing her attention.

"He knows what he's doing, doll. He and I have gone through worse than this and come out unscathed. Let him do what he needs to."

She looked down at Olan's pale face, saw the pain in his tired eyes. "I wish I had your faith. He's going to get us all killed."

The injured man laughed, choking as a spasm of pain wracked his body. "I have enough faith for both of us. It's not the first time he's pulled my fat out of the fire."

"Your fat wouldn't be in the fire if it weren't for him," she retorted.

"True," he chuckled. "But it's not the first time that an agent got his ass in trouble over the woman he loves."

Snorting derisively, Camille adjusted the blanket around the man. "Stop talking. Save your strength," she ordered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Niko returned, behind the wheel of an older Southwind motorhome. "Oh, shit," Camille muttered. "He found the biggest one on the lot."

There was a chuckle from the head in her lap. "I wonder if it's a Freudian thing."

"Cute," she snapped. "I better go help him."

Carefully extracting herself from under his head, she heard Olan trying to stifle a moan as she got out. "Think you could've found something bigger?" she shot at Niko as he stepped out of the rolling house.

"Hey, it's the smallest one on the lot. It's only a twenty-seven footer. I'll get Olan," he said, handing her the keys to the Taurus. "You get the things out of the trunk, and don't forget your gun. I want you to have it with you."

Camille rolled her eyes, snatching the keys out of his hand. By the time she'd moved all the things from the car to the RV, Niko had Olan installed in the bunk in the back. She had to admit that she felt better knowing the man had a more comfortable bed than the backseat of the Taurus but she still hated having a part in the theft.

"How'd you get the keys to this thing?" she asked Niko as she took the passenger seat in the front, watching him turn the key in the ignition.

He handed her a small metal box, the lock punched out. "Dealership lock boxes. They attach to the outside of vehicle windows, with the keys to the vehicle inside. This dealer must not be worried about thieves. These things aren't exactly tamper-proof. They're intended to be used during business hours." He opened the driver's door, turning to look at her. "Can you drive this thing?"

"Why? Aren't you coming with us?" she asked, almost panicking.

"I have to ditch the car. With any luck, we'll put a day or two behind us before the owner's notice it's gone. Can you drive it?"

"I guess so. Do you want me to follow you?"

"Yeah, just stay behind me until I find a place to leave the Taurus," Niko said, stepping out of the motorhome.

Camille crawled over the console, getting behind the wheel and shifting into drive. She waited while Niko started the Ford, followed him off the lot and onto the highway. After several miles, he pulled onto a gravel road that appeared to go nowhere and into an empty field.

In the dark it was difficult to see what he was doing as he walked around the car before returning to the motorhome. Camille climbed back over the console, taking the passenger seat when Niko opened the driver's door to get in. He backed the camper out of the field, heading back to the highway at a fast clip. They hadn't gone far when she heard the unmistakable sound of an explosion behind them.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded, glancing in the side mirror to see the flames and smoke billowing from the field behind them.

"I would imagine it's an old Ford Taurus exploding," he answered with a grin. "I just love those loud booms."

"Oh, my God," she returned. "You reallyare nuts."

"Nope. Just trying to destroy the evidence of our existence."

She threw her hands in the air, shaking her head at his foolishness. "I'm going back there to check on Olan. I've written out the directions on the paper next to your seat. Holler if you can't read something."

With those words she headed to the back of the vehicle, pulling the accordion door to the partition shut behind her when she entered the back room. Niko watched her in the rearview mirror, noting that she appeared to be thinner. He would have to see to it that she rested while Olan convalesced. She needed food and a chance to let her mind relax, to let the stress of the past few days ease. Despite the situation, he found himself looking forward to spending some time with her in a secluded cabin. He'd use the time to get to know her again, to reacquaint her with him, the thought leaving a happy grin on his face.

At that same moment, hundreds of miles away, a man spoke into the telephone he held, the muscle that twitched in his jaw the only indication of the fury he held at bay. "I don't wish to hear excuses. The method of your incompetence does not concern me," his cultured voice spoke in low, calm tones. "I want his head brought to me or I shall have yours served up in its stead. Is that clear?"

He dropped the receiver in the cradle without waiting for an answer. Plucking an imagined bit of lint from the sleeve of his perfectly tailored Brioni suit, he stood, smoothing the fabric. It was cut to flawlessly enhance his well-toned frame and suited the impeccable surroundings of his cavernous study. He was a man accustomed to getting exactly what he wanted and what he wanted was to have this whole unpleasantness behind him.

It would never do to have any loose ends unraveling his dealings at this juncture. The idea of not having complete control over all he surveyed was abhorrent to him. It was an offense he simply would not bear.

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AnonymousAnonymousover 14 years ago
Name one good quality that Niko has.......

Arrogant, childish, selfish, petulent, olfish, insensitive, clueless, narrow minded, selfcentered, ass bag. Would any woman put up with this from ANY man? If this is what passes for romance to a woman then she deserves to be with that kind of person. The writing is well done but the story line is making it difficult to keep reading. anon jerry

Jorel1455Jorel1455about 15 years ago
Again, Great Writing.

Wonderful to see how this story is progressing. You still have the 'bad' habit of leaving me wanting more when it ends. Please keep up the great work. Your writing is fantastic. A real pleasure to read.

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