The Store Ch. 02

Tim stared at the over-turned bus for a moment.

"Can you smell petrol?" His question made Kelly stand still for a moment.

"Yeah," she replied. "Probably a ruptured fuel line or something like that." She continued to scan the horizon.

"You hear that?" he asked her. Kelly found herself straining to hear anything above the engine. Then it cut through a momentary gap in the monotonous mechanical noise – the sound of someone, possibly a child, screaming. Kelly found herself looking into Tim's eyes and his intentions were crystal clear to her. "Call the emergency services."

"If you want to be a hero then I suggest you hurry up – we're in the open here." Tim nodded as Kelly pulled out her cell phone. He stepped forward to examine the vehicle before glancing back at her. It was at that point that he saw the ominous shape of her Beretta now in her right hand as she began to dial. He made a mental note to discard the question he was about to ask her.

"Right." He muttered as he began to climb up the underside of the vehicle. Avoiding the spinning drive shaft, Tim clambered up onto what would ordinarily be the driver's side of the bus. It rocked slightly under his weight, causing him to rapidly throw his arms out to balance himself.

"There's no bloody signal out here," Kelly cursed. "What can you see?" Kelly found herself shouting to compensate for the noise of the increasingly ragged engine.

"Carnage." Tim said as his eyes took in the sight before him. Many of the windows were shattered, mostly through the impact of the bus flipping, but some of them were the result of the unmistakeable presence of a bullet passing through them. "Someone really went to town on this thing." Tim called out as he carefully edged along the structure. As he made his way he saw the bodies inside. Tim counted about twelve, maybe thirteen people in there – none of them showing any signs of life.

There was a distinctive groaning sound underneath him, coupled with a sensation of the thin metal starting to buckle under his weight, thus forcing him to kneel down before continuing his progress in a somewhat prone position.

"Shit..." Kelly muttered as she glanced down at her watch. "Tim, we really need to get out of here now!"

"Hang on," he said. Tim strained his eyes. Between the twisted shards of metal he could see the source of the noise he had heard – it was a young girl. Her face was obscured and her screaming had become a more subdued moaning now. "I can see her – she's at the back." He inched along until he reached the emergency exit. Gripping the handle in his hand he wrenched it open.

"I really don't like this Tim..." Kelly said. Tim ignored her as he climbed down inside the bus. The smell of the blood mixed with the increasing volume of exhaust fumes inside the passenger compartment made him fell nauseous, to the point where he was struggling to contain the contents of his stomach. Around him he saw several bodies – neat little bullet wounds and blood stained clothing a common link between them all. Taking a few steps forward he reached her.

She was no more than four or five years old. Curly blond hair framed her now blood and tear stained face. Small, stubby fingers clutched a brown misshapen teddy bear as her eyes locked onto Tim as he reached down to grab her. As he lifted her into his arms, he prised her away from the lifeless body of the young woman she had been clinging on to. The girl seemed to be unharmed – something he found remarkable as he realised she appeared to be the sole survivor of this massacre. She suddenly began to shake.

"It's okay; I'm here to get you out of here..." he said in his best soothing voice possible, which was a feat in itself with the fumes building up in his lungs. "Ssshh...it's alright..."

Then the world exploded. Bullets raked through the passenger compartment of the bus, tearing holes in the thin metal covering that had once been the roof. Tim tried to shield the girl from the deadly metal rain as it pinged around the passenger compartment.

Kelly's reaction was more instinctive, diving for the nearest available cover that she could find – which happened to be the narrow ditch that ran alongside the old road. She waited for a moment's respite in the hail of bullets to sneak a peak from her prone location. Another staccato burst of gunfire, this time it seemed to be directed at the road in her general direction.

Taking this as her cue she crawled along the gravel filled soil beneath her, trying to keep her profile below the horizon. More bullets churned up the aged asphalt near her as she managed to make it parallel with the van. She took a deep breath before firing four shots from her pistol into the air. Taking advantage of the momentary respite her decoy shots had given her she scrambled out of the gully to the relative safety of the back of the van. She tried to open the rear door handle only to find it locked. Silently she cursed the fact that the keys were probably in Tim's pocket.

Inside the overturned bus Tim tried to see who had opened fire on him. His view was obscured but he could hear footsteps on the other side of the roof, walking around the bus. He pulled the young girl closer to him as he felt something vibrate in his jacket pocket. A few moments later, after managing to extricate his hand and still keep the child close to him, he found the article that was buzzing – it was the earpiece Kelly had given him.

"...Have the keys?" he only caught the end of the question as he secured the lump of black plastic inside his ear.

"Yeah," his tone was hushed, conscious of the unknown movement on the opposite side of the vehicle. "Why?"

"I was trying to get into the van." Kelly responded, her voice equally subdued. "Can you see anything?"

"No – but I can hear someone walking around the outside of the bus." Tim said.

"Look – lie down and try and stay out of view." The words sounded like an order. Something in her voice made Tim do precisely what she suggested. The broken glass of the window pushed into the back of his jacket as he did as he was told.

From behind the van Kelly carefully peered out, taking no more than a few seconds to look around from its protective cover and alternating sides and positions. Then she heard the sound of a firing pin being ratcheted back into position – moments before another staccato burst of gunfire slammed into the passenger side of the van. Kelly ducked down and the voice in her ear startled her.

"The van is bullet proof." Tim whispered. Kelly shook her head.

"Why do you have...? You know what, if we get out of this you have some serious explaining to do!" Kelly spat back at him. She moved across to the driver side and tried to get a clear view of their assailant. As Kelly managed to get a clear view through the glass she felt the world stop.

"Jesus Kelly, you really do hook up with some losers." The voice struck a chord deep within Kelly's soul as she saw the figure standing in front of the bus. Dressed in black combat fatigues, an MP5 cradled in her gloved hands and with her blonde hair blowing casually in the wind stood Emily. "I mean, you broke a contract for this guy? I have to tell you, I just don't get it."

"Emily?" Kelly called out, careful not to break her cover. "What do you want?"

"Oh, you know," Emily replied. "A nice house in the country, a new Rolex, a decent national health service, good school for my kids if I ever decide to settle down – not much really." Kelly ducked back behind the van as a burst of rounds from the MP5 impacted into the van. "And the three hundred grand that's up for grabs for the geek inside the bus there."

"Emily," Kelly said as she rolled under the van and fired twice, both shots evaded by Emily at the last minute. "You don't have to do this."

"Oh yes I do, you see, I'm not in the habit of breaking contracts – unlike some people I could mention." Another burst of gunfire – this time one of the tires ruptured. "Besides, I think it will be quite cathartic killing you – after all, you did leave me to rot in that hell hole in Islamabad."

Kelly fired blind again, this time one of her shots almost winged Emily as the bullet impacted onto the underside of the bus. Her last second duck tore through a sizeable strand of her blonde hair.

"Bitch..." Emily muttered as she unleashed another volley of rounds from her MP5.

"I didn't abandon you there – you went psycho and caused too much collateral damaged," Kelly sniped back. "If we had done things my way..."

"Then we would both have been stuck in that prison...and I, as usual, would have had to haul your pathetic arse...back to the civilised world." Emily spat at her between short bursts of gunfire. Kelly shook her head.

"Tim, can you get out of that bus?" she said as quietly as possible under the circumstances.

"Oh, thanks for remembering us in here – in a word, no I can't." he replied.

"You know, sarcasm doesn't help this situation." Kelly's rebuke flew back as she fired twice more at Emily. "I'm running out of ammunition and there's fuel spewing all over the place from that bus."

"How was your birthday yesterday? Did you actually do anything this time or just sit around in your apartment like some adolescent school kid?" Emily made it clear from the tone of her voice that she was mocking Kelly. She punctuated this with another three round burst of gunfire.

"Yesterday was your birthday?" Tim asked down the earpiece.

"This is not the time..." Kelly began to say.

"Look – if you get a chance, take the shot – don't worry about me." It was his turn to give out an order as he cut her off mid-sentence.

"But, you're in the bus..." Kelly's protesting fell on deaf ears.

"Just trust me and take the shot." He said. Suddenly the earpiece went dead, like the signal had just been cut off. More bullets bounced off the van and there was the distinctive sound of glass smashing.

"You know Kelly, I think I'll screw this one before I kill him," Emily taunted her counterpart. "Just like I did with Thomas..."

"That's it." Kelly gritted her teeth as anger began to well up inside her stomach. She pulled herself up and broke cover, running towards the dirt gully. As she did so she felt bullets fly through the air past her. Twisting as gracefully as she could, she squeezed the trigger of her pistol twice.

As the bullets whizzed past her, Emily made a mental note to deride Kelly's poor aim. However, the thought never made it past her lips as the combination of supersonic bullets merging with petrol produced an explosive fireball that consumed her body. The blast wave from the conflagration hurled catapulted her into the air and unceremoniously deposited her in the field.

Kelly stood up and brushed herself off. She looked at the wreckage of the bus – her heart was pounding and she was short of breath. Her eyes searched for some sign of life, and there it was. A perfectly formed black ball around five feet in diameter. As she watched it shimmered and shifted, flames reflecting off its surface. It twitched before her eyes and folded inward – revealing the crouched figure of Tim with the young girl in his arms.

"Tim! You're okay!" Kelly said as he carried the girl out of the burning wreckage of the bus. He smiled at her and then threw a small matchbox to her. She caught it and opened it – the crack revealed a familiar inky blue-grey substance inside it.

"I thought I might need some sort of insurance." He said. "Any joy with the emergency services?"

"No – I couldn't get a signal." She replied. "There's a phone box back up the road."

"Right – where's your friend?" Kelly found the question uncomfortable.

"She's not my friend," Kelly replied. "She used to be my partner."

"Nice – with friends like that..." Tim could feel the girl shaking against his body. "I need to get her some help. Are you going to be okay here for a few minutes?" Kelly nodded. "Okay."

****

As Tim turned the van around and drove up the road, Kelly found herself walking in the field towards the charred body of Emily. As Kelly stood over her she could see that most of her body had sustained severe burns, most of her clothes were seared to the flesh underneath. Inwardly Kelly winced at the severity of the wounds. A wheezing cough brought blood to Emily's lips.

"...Your aim...is...still shit...bitch..." Emily spluttered. Kelly lifted her pistol and took aim.

"Takes one to know one." Kelly replied as the last bullet in the Beretta spat out and collided with Emily's head. The sound of approaching sirens filled her ears as she walked away from the body of her former partner.

2:34 pm

Tim brought the van to a halt in the underground garage of the Westbridge building. He turned the lights off and opened the door to get out. Neither of them had said much since they had left the "accident" scene – with Tim explaining to the authorities what had happened and surprising Kelly with his assertive nature under the circumstances. As he unbuckled his seatbelt he felt a hand on his arm.

"I...we need to talk." Kelly said. Tim nodded.

"Sure – if you feel like it." He replied. "Do you want unpack the van now or later?"

"Later." Kelly said as she got out of the van.

They made their way upstairs to Tim's apartment. He made two cups of tea and handed one to Kelly. She took it from him and drank some immediately, despite it's almost scalding temperature.

"You said she was your partner?" He asked.

"Former partner." Kelly replied. "We worked together for ten years – ever since I got into this business. Three years ago we were in Islamabad – Emily lost control and blew up a bus of civilians for no reason other than because she could. That's when I realised just how unstable Emily had become." She paused for a minute. "So I bailed, got my gear together once I got back to England and disappeared."

"And she blamed you for that? For leaving her behind?" Kelly nodded. "So, who was Thomas?"

"Five years ago I met a guy – I was ready to give it all up for him...then he was murdered." She took another drink. "I didn't know who killed him until about two years ago. Somehow Emily had gotten out of the prison, found my cell phone number and left me a message telling me that she'd done it and was looking forward to doing the same to me."

"Jesus – and she's been looking for you all this time?" Tim muttered. "Talk about bearing a grudge."

"Tim – I'm going to be brutally honest with you." Kelly put the mug down. "Since I met you three weeks ago, I've felt things that I haven't felt for along time," She walked up to him, standing close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I want to do something about it." She pulled him down and kissed him passionately. Moments later she broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

"Kelly, look, are you sure about this?" Tim asked. She nodded.

"I need to start trusting you." She said in a matter of fact tone before a smile swept her face. "Now, what was I saying about needing a condom early today?"

****

He held her in his arms as she woke. The sky outside the window was filled with an orange hue as the sun was setting. Kelly smiled as she looked at it.

"You did that for me?" she whispered. "It's beautiful."

"Well, I agree on that count, but I'm afraid I can't takeallthe credit for it." Tim spoke in a hushed tone. Kelly shifted slightly, pulling herself closer to him.

"Is this going to affect our working relationship?" she asked.

"I'm still your boss, so I can still fire you if you don't perform." He joked. She dug her elbow into his ribs. "And there's those performance reports every night..." he said as he kissed her on the lips. He could feel her smile as their lips touched.

"You know, if I find out there really is a Mrs Smith, I'll kill you." She warned him, however Tim couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind about that my dear." He said. "Now, how about we go and get something to eat?"