Relentless

But Kate hadn’t talked to either of the women in a long time. She was too busy trying to earn a living and trying to make sense of the poor photocopies from Kosovo. Her days swam by in dread and tedium. The fear never left. Never. It had become her second heartbeat. Now this.

She didn’t have enough horror in her life? She would have screamed her outrage if she thought it would do any good. That poor man in the hotel, to die such an ugly death. She wondered if he’d been married. If he had children.

She got her cell from her purse and dialed Nate’s number. It rang twice.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got trouble.”

“What?”

“It’s not Omicron. But it’s bad. I witnessed a murder today at the hotel.”

“Shit. Where are you now?”

“At a motel in Reseda. I got out, left the apartment. No one followed.”

“Okay, that’s good.”

“What’s not good is that I saw them. Gangbangers. I can identify them.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Yes, I can. I saw their faces. And the tattoos, and their weapons.”

“Kate, you can’t. The moment you come forward, you’re dead. You know that, right?”

“There has to be a way. I can’t just—”

“There is no way. I’m sorry. I know this sucks, but it’s not just you. It’s all of us. We’re getting close. We can’t afford to be identified. And you have to finish the paper trail.”

She let her head drop down, so weary she could hardly breathe. “It’s not fair.”

“Damn straight it’s not.”

“Okay. Fine. I’ll keep my mouth shut. There’s another problem. I didn’t get my last check. I’m really broke.”

“Damn. We just had a major outlay of cash. Not much left in the coffers. Let me see what I can do.”

“Okay.”

“Can you make it a week?”

“If I have to.”

“Sorry, kiddo. I mean it. I’ll figure something out.”

“I appreciate it. What about getting me a new name?”

“That, I can have for you by tomorrow. Give me a call in the morning.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She turned the phone off but didn’t move. There were clothes to hang up, her files to go through. But first, that shower she’d been aching for. There’d been a time in her life when she’d adored showers and baths. She’d indulged in every kind of ointment and bath goody she could find. She’d had something for every mood.

Now she carried a good soap with her because her face got too dry if she used the cheap stuff. That was it. Good soap. No lotions, no salts, no special conditioning treatments. Most days it didn’t matter. But man, today she’d kill for a lavender bubble bath.

NATE DISCONNECTED and dropped the cell phone on the makeshift table in front of him. He leaned back and closed his eyes, willing himself to relax. He tried to remember how long it had been since he’d had a really good night’s sleep.

His eyes popped open, and, momentarily panicked, he looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes. He’d lost fifteen minutes.

He stumbled to his feet and took the ten steps to the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and splashed some on his face, then dried and looked at himself in the mirror.

He had to admit he was looking a little gaunt. Who was he kidding? He looked like crap. Would you buy a customized security system from this man?

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Several times. He actually picked up the brush and made a moderate effort to look somewhat neat.

Kate. He had to find some way to help Kate.

As refreshed as he was likely to get at the moment, he went back into his living room. Well, there wasn’t much he could cut back on. The only table in the room was a piece of plywood on concrete blocks. He’d gotten the mattress at Goodwill. His phone, like everybody else’s in the team, was prepaid—virtually untraceable. He’d never turned on the gas, doing all his cooking on a camp stove—on his plywood table. The couch had come with the room.

Everything went into equipment and the needs of the team.

He picked up his cell and dialed Seth’s. He knew the number by heart, just as he knew everyone else’s. No little scraps of paper lying about to get found later.

“Hello?”

“Seth. It’s Nate.”

“Something new?”

“Kate’s in trouble.”

Nate could hear movement on the phone.

“Shit. Where is she? I could be there in…”

“Not that kind of trouble. She ran into a situation. She’s got to relocate.”

“A-a-ah. Okay. The usual? Driver’s license, birth certificate…”

“Yeah. Pretty quick, too. And how are you fixed for cash?”

Seth let loose a strangled laugh. “I gave the last of it to you for that surveillance equipment. Maybe in a week.”

Nate sighed. “Don’t sweat it. Just get to work on her new ID, would you?”

“Sure thing. And Nate?”

“Yeah?”