Brittany's Travels Ch. 05

Brittany had her wits recovered and was waiting for the right moment to make a lunge for the door. It didn't come, but she did notice Biliana rummaging through her purse on the other side of the bed. Figuring she had her best chance against her, Brittany got to her feet and leapt at Biliana.

"Get off of me, you shit!" Biliana grunted, and to Brittany's horror she spotted a pistol in her right hand. But she'd caught Biliana off guard long enough to lock her hand on her wrist and at least keep the gun pointed away from her.

"Drop it!" Brittany demanded. "That won't fix anything!"

"I'm not gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill you!" Biliana managed to get the gun into her other hand, but Brittany had anticipated the switch and she was much stronger than Biliana, and presently she had her pinned on the waterbed while the two men were still pelting each other with bloody fists.

"Drop it, Bili!" Brittany had both of her hands clamped over Biliana's left hand, but she couldn't pry the gun from her grasp and she couldn't free one hand to do anything about the scratches Biliana was giving her with her right hand. She tried to work her way over to the edge of the bed, where she could bang Biliana's wrist against the wood until she let go, but she couldn't make any headway. She tried to kick away BIliana's right hand, but couldn't reach it with either foot.

Brittany had gained perhaps two or three inches toward the edge of the bed when the gun went off. Both women froze in mid-tussle and looked to see Paul slumped on top of George on the floor, blood gushing from his mouth. Paul was alert, but looking horrified. Biliana shrieked and recoiled as she realized what she had done, and at last she let go of the gun.

Brittany grabbed it and got to her feet. "Both of you stay right where you are," she said, backing away towards the door. She didn't dare bend down to pick up her dress; she could worry about clothes later. Biliana was curled up on the bed, sobbing; George looked catatonic. Brittany opened the door and backed out.

As soon as she'd pulled it shut, she realized to her horror that she had no way to blockade them in. There was no choice but to make off with Angie before they could summon help. Still with no idea how to do that, she rushed off towards where she had seen James leading Angie.

She met them halfway, in the main quarters where they'd toasted their deal with the champagne, both rushing towards her room. Of course they'd heard the gunshot, Brittany realized.

To Brittany's utter delight, James took note of her nakedness and the scratches from Biliana before he noticed the gun. "Erika, what in the name of God -"

"Shut up." Brittany raised the gun and pointed it as his face.

Angie, having put two and two together, tackled James from behind, and the two women easily wrestled him to the floor. Angie pulled the sash off her dress and tied James' hands with it, while Brittany pulled his belt off and bound his ankles with it.

"Ladies, let's talk about this," James said, writhing about in vain. "Please!"

"Quiet!" Brittany smacked the back of his head with the pistol.

As soon as he was secured, Angie reached into his pocket and pulled out a book of matches. "Don't you know smoking can kill you, James?" she struck a match and tossed it onto the carpet, which immediately caught fire.

Both women made a run for the stairs. They were nearly deckside when they heard the bedroom door opening below. "Bili or George or both must have gotten their heads together," Brittany said. "Any way we can lock them down there?

"Yes." As soon as she had the door shut behind them, Angie pulled a fire ax from the emergency kit outside the wheelhouse and jammed it over the latch. "It won't hold them long," she said as Brittany stood, hands folded over her breasts, looking out at the water. The beach was in view, but it was a long swim.

"There might be sharks in there," she said as the first thumps came on the door, accompanied by George's shouted epithets.

"There's no 'might' about what happens if we don't swim for it," Angie said, pulling her dress off. "Come on." She held out her hand, and Brittany took it.

"What'll we tell them ashore?" Brittany said as they clambered up the edge of the boat. "Me naked and you in your underwear?"

"I'll think of something!" Angie promised. "Jump!"

Brittany's days of swimming at the Y back in Winchester were a long time ago and she'd never been great at it to begin with, and the sting of the salt water on her bloody side didn't help, nor did the realization as to what that blood meant if there were sharks. But it was her only hope, and she swam for dear life. She swam for what felt like hours, not at all sure that she was getting any closer to the shore, or that Angie was still there beside her - Brittany thought she was there, but there was no way to look even for an instant. She had to throw every bit of energy and concentration into swimming for shore.

A few months into her stint in prison, Brittany had gone through a phase of reading up on the naturalist movement in literature. She'd never been clear on just what it all meant - nature controlling people's actions? People acting like animals to survive? Now it all made sense!

Pausing to tread water for a bit did cross her mind, or even to float on her back - that was the one thing Brittany always had been pretty good at in the water. But somehow she was sure if she paused, she'd never start again. As her arms and legs grew sore and tired and then almost numb, Brittany figured it would probably hurt even worse if she stopped and became aware of just how tired she was. Images of dry land and clothes and a hot shower and a plane back to New Hampshire kept her pushing, stroke after stroke until she simply couldn't reach her arm out for one more stroke. At least, she reminded herself as she gave up, she had gotten back at a couple of the Mansfield folks.

Brittany took a deep breath and waited for the water to envelop her.

Instead, she felt the most delicious relief she had ever known in her life as her feet touched sand. She was up to her neck in water, but she was safe. Brittany laughed out loud to be alive.

"We made it!" came Angie's victorious yelp from behind. "We did it!"

"Looks like we've got an audience, too," Brittany said, as she saw a crowd of people on the beach looking out in their direction."

"They're not looking at us," Angie said. "They're looking at the boat. Didn't you hear it blow?"

"No!" Brittany looked back to see a flaming wreck on the water some ways behind her. "I guess I was concentrating too much on swimming." Now that her survival instinct was receding, panic set in. "We're in a lot of trouble, aren't we?"

"Let me take care of that," Angie said. "Starting with getting you a blanket to wear. Wait here."

Angie kicked back into the surf and swam to shore, and Brittany watched as she emerged from the water. The rubberneckers on the beach didn't seem to care that Angie was in her underwear - Brittany wondered did they think it was a bikini? True to her word, Brittany could see Angie had soon talked someone into borrowing a blanket, and she waded back out to Brittany. "Here you go," she said. "Don't say anything except to ask for a lawyer, understood?"

"What?!" Brittany wrapped the blanket gratefully around herself and followed Angie back toward the beach.

"Just in case, Brittany," Angie said. "It might not come to that."

It didn't, as it turned out. "I'm so sorry those assholes got you on their boat," said the cop who greeted them on the sand shortly afterward. "They're always preying on tourists like that. We know they're freebasing out there, we just couldn't prove it. It was just a matter of time until something like this happened."

"We'll just get you some clothes at the station and then drive you back to your hotel, once the both of you are cleaned up, okay?" said his partner. "But we will need to ask you a few questions."

"I'd like to have a lawyer there for that," Angie said. "I know someone in the city."

A police station waiting room was at least not a jail cell, nor was it the bottom of the Pacific, and Brittany was too happy to be alive to care much as she waited for the mysterious lawyer Angie had asked for to arrive.

Arrive she did, before too long. "Mrs Goosans? Shelly?" asked the heavyset Asian woman as she stepped into the waiting room.

"That's us," Angie said, standing up.

Shelly Goosans? But Brittany knew better than to say a word.

"I'm Patty Ko, your attorney." To the deputy at the desk, she said, "Can we get this over with quickly, Jason?"

"I'd certainly like that, Patty," Jason said. "Let's go."

Now that the adrenalin was wearing off, Brittany was exhausted and sore and more than happy to let Angie do the talking and even happier when Patty occasionally told them not to say anything. The interview was a blur and she struggled to stay awake, but she welcomed that.

When it was done, Patty stood up. "I guess you ladies need a ride back to your hotel?"

"That would be lovely, Ms. Ko," Angie said. "Thank you, officer."

Patty directed them both to a boxy looking minivan in the parking lot. Brittany couldn't help but think of the dramatic change in fortune, arriving by limousine and leaving in a minivan. But she was glad to be leaving at all.

As soon as Angie was settled in the passenger seat, she looked expectantly at Patty. Once Patty had the doors shut and locked, she said, "The car's secure, Angie."

Angie threw her arms around Patty. "So good to see you, Patty!"

"So glad you're alive, Angie!" Patty replied. "When I heard about the explosion and whose boat it was, I had a feeling you might be involved." As she started the car and looked in the rearview mirror, she added, "And I've heard all about you, Brittany. I'm honored to meet you!"

"You know each other?" Brittany knew she shouldn't be surprised, yet somehow she was.

"Patty is our agent on remote out here," Angie said. "She really is a lawyer, but that's also a cover for her. Patty, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was going to be in town."

"Just as well that you didn't," Patty said. "But I do insist on taking you ladies out to dinner tonight."

"Shouldn't we be rushing for the airport to get out of Hawai'i?" Brittany asked.

"That's just what they'll be expecting you to do," Patty said. "And that's if there are even any survivors to spread the word. It's more likely the Mansfield folks will think it really was a freebasing accident, so they won't be looking for you anyway."

"And if they do look for us, it'll be at the airport," Angie added. "So she's right, we've got to hide in plain sight right here."

"Hiding in plain sight," Brittany repeated. "I like it."

"Now you see why I drive a minivan instead of a Ferrari, I trust," Patty quipped.

"I think she's too young to get the joke there, Patty," Angie said.

"I'm also too alive to care," Brittany said gratefully.

They spent another week in the islands, living the tourist life inconspicuously and even ringing in Christmas on the beach. There was no talk of what had happened, for they still couldn't be sure the hotel wasn't bugged, and Brittany had to make do with quiet satisfaction when she read in the paper of a yacht explosion with three known drug cartel members on board. The number didn't give her any pause, as she suspected Biliana hadn't been known in this part of the world and was assumed to be among the guys' victims. She was a bit disappointed at the lack of any confirmation that Peter Gruber had been among the dead, but just knowing it herself was enough.

It was as bitter cold as ever back home when they returned just in time for New Year's, but Brittany didn't care. They were returning victorious, after all. That didn't stop her from feeling a little nervous when Joseph met them at the door with a polite but firm request that they join him in the secure boardroom, but her concerns eased somewhat when she saw he had a cake waiting for them with "Congratulations" spelled out in icing.

"I know we put the Mansfield campaign on hold after Athens," he said as soon as both women were seated. "And I know anything that happened while I was away was strictly off the books, and that if word gets out there could be repercussions," he said.

"Joseph, look..." Angie began, but Joseph held his hand up and went on.

"That's why I'm sure we can all be delighted that an unfortunate accident on a boat in Hawai'i took out three of Mansfield's smugglers over the holiday," he said. "And there need be no official reports filed on the whole incident. Are we in agreement?"

"Sure," Angie said. "But then what's the cake for, Joseph?"

"Oh, just a little appreciation from me to you both for a very successful project to date," he said. "But before we eat, there's a little something our intelligence has collected that you both need to hear." He sat down in front of his laptop and clicked on a sound file.

The recording was crackly and a bit distant, but Brittany would know that voice anywhere: Biliana. "He said she was Lou's kid. That can't be true, can it?"

"There are rumors she got out of prison," came a British man's voice - Brian, no doubt. "But my sources say she only got transferred, to Virginia somewhere. Paul always was a little too paranoid for his job."

"But he'd know Lou's daughter if he saw her, wouldn't he?"

"The woman you described sounds nothing like her, Bili. I wouldn't worry about that. But we do need to find out who she is."

"I'll be happy to help with that!"

"No, Bili, you're too hot right now, and they'll be looking for you as much as you for them. You need to lay low a while."

"Brian, I know how this girl thinks! I know how she operates!"

"And she knows the same about you, Bili. The answer is no. Peter will be in touch with your next assignment, and until then I want you to play the bored rich tourist. That's what you're best at anyway."

"Oh, fuck off, Brian!" And the line went dead.

Brittany's heart sank at the mention of Peter. So it barely registered with her when Angie said, "She survived."

"Yes," Joseph said. "We're not sure how. But at least no one except her believes you're you, Brittany. No one alive anyway."

Brittany said nothing.

"Brittany?" Angie asked gingerly. "No one's in any trouble here. Now Biliana's damaged goods and the Mansfield people won't trust her with another big job."

"That's great," Brittany said. "It's just that...Paul, I thought he was Peter Gruber."

"I didn't have the heart to tell you, Brittany, but we knew about Paul. We just didn't know he was in Hawai'I, that's why he wasn't in that file I didn't give you and I know nothing about you reading."

Joseph laughed. Brittany, seeing it was okay, joined in.

"Peter Gruber would never be a party to such a low-level deal like the one we were doing. I'm impressed we got as high as Paul," Angie explained.

"You took out a big fish all right," Joseph said. "But listen, if you're hurting because he ended up dead..."

"I guess I am," Brittany admitted. "If I were going to take a life, I at least wanted it to be the man who destroyed mine." She swallowed hard and looked at her mentors one at a time. "But Paul did say he knew my father."

"We know," Joseph said. "Brittany, there are some things we need to tell you about your father."