My Mystery Mate Ch. 09-10

Natalie screamed, but she ignored her as she yanked the keys off the downed man's belt. Running to the exit door, she opened the lock just as the men caught sight of her. "Wait, Linda, we need to bring you in. The Director wants to see you." She opened the door, locking it from the back and breaking the key off in the lock as the name Linda bounced around in her mind. She pushed through the crash bar of the emergency exit to the alley, setting off another alarm, and emerged into the light.

"Relax, Linda, we're happy to see you are still alive. We do need to talk, though." She had turned to face two men, one had a pistol out and the other had a big yellow device. "Come with me, please."

"I don't know you." She started to move along the wall, but stopped when the man in back fired a shot from his silenced pistol that took a chunk our of the concrete by her head.

"The hard way, then." Before she could move, there was a pop from the yellow thing and it was like every muscle in her body decided to contract at once. The pain was terrible, but nothing worked as she fell to the ground, her eyes following the thin wires of the stun gun back to him.

She heard a truck, then the pops of a pistol before there was a liquid crunch and the shooting stopped. A different pistol fired several times, then the electric current stopped. Joe ripped the wires out of her and tossed her into the truck, racing around to the other side with her purse in hand. He slammed the truck into reverse, nearly causing an accident as they exited the alleyway and peeled rubber to get out of there.

"ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" She heard him talk, but couldn't get things to work as the effects of the Taser wore off. Using the bond, she assured him he would be all right and he relaxed. "We need to get out of here. Any idea who that was?"

"No. They seemed to know me, they called me Linda." She replayed the memory for him, both focusing on what was said for clues. "They wouldn't take no for an answer. They were human, though."

"Whatever they were, I killed two of them back there."

"It's all right, I can't be taken now, I don't know who to trust." She looked through her purse while he drove through the traffic, pulling into a parking garage he took the ticket and moved up to a busy level. She found the key for the address in Los Angeles and showed it to him as he parked. "This was in the box. Let's go there, maybe it will tell us more."

They got out of the truck, her with her purse and him with the duffel bag containing their clothes, weapons and money. He looked at her, checking her up and down to verify she wasn't injured; all he saw was swelling on her left knuckles along with some small cuts that were already healing. "What next?"

She looked down the line of cars. "Most of these have electronic interlocks or alarms." She continued walking until they got to an old Chrysler minivan. "Ugly, but functional." She used her elbow to smash through the window behind the driver, then reached in and opened the doors. Before he could react, she had ripped several wires down from the dashboard. "Knife?" He handed her one from their bag, and she stripped two wires and put them together to start the car. "Let's go." He moved into the driver's seat while she moved around to the other side, as soon as she was in he was backing out. They used the newly purchased ticket and five dollars to get out of the parking garage.

"Do you know where you are going?"

"Nope. Check the glove box, maybe it has a map." She looked in there, squealing in delight when she found a Tom-Tom navigation system. A few minutes later, she had the address on the key entered in and Joe was getting turn by turn directions.

"Should we go straight there, love?"

"No, let's park a few blocks away and check it out." They spent the next hour talking about what was found; the packets were complete identity kits for her, the guns were high quality and felt comfortable to her immediately, and the keys felt like safe houses. She noticed that none of the ID's or other paperwork was newer than two years ago, and none of the identities were for a Linda.

They stopped in a quiet residential neighborhood, the minivan under a large tree by a park. They got out and walked past the address first; it was a non-descript townhouse, third in a line of eight, no lights on. The walked around the block, seeing and smelling nothing abnormal they walked up to the door and used the key to open it and walk in.

The condo was clean and smelled like werecat. They removed the pistols that had been hidden under their clothes and moved around the ground floor, finding nothing in the kitchen, living room or bathroom. They were about to check the upstairs when there was a noise at the door. Talking to each other over the bond, Joe moved into a position behind the couch while she hid behind the refrigerator, peeking around the doorway through a small side table in the hallway.

A man walked in the house, he was older- maybe in his forties- and had short cropped black hair with graying at the temples. He put the keys in his pocket before he froze, sniffing the air.

She looked at the man, she KNEW him, and when the smell hit her she instantly felt safe. Standing up, she moved into the hallway, staring him down as he looked at her in shock.

The moment was fleeting, as a little bundle of energy raced by him with a shout of "MOMMMMYYYYYYY!!" and grabbed onto her legs.