Chapter 24

So...

Catherine just happens to feel a strong, sexual attraction to a sixteen-year-old boy she is tasked with protecting – enough to throw caution to the wind along with her clothes and let me have my way with her.

Hmmmm...

Constance nearly undresses me, to get me in bed, and never regrets it for a second, but lets me fly away out of her life, with barely a backward glance.

Huh...

Janice and Tabitha's clothes just fall off when they get me in the big bathtub in the Kirby carriage house, and Carole climbs in bed with me without a second thought.

Uh, huh...

Doctor Phaisal tells me my testicles provide healing through my essence, and my former lovers and wives don't really want to be with me anymore.

Odd ... Very odd...

Then...

Some very bad people move Heaven and Earth trying to get me very dead, which could explain why the Universe wants Colleen, Rebecca, Regina, and Beth Ann out of my current life, and Catherine in it.

Hmmm...

Whatever I was supposed to accomplish in Kevin's body must be a lot more dangerous, crazy, impossible, or just plain out-of-sight, for the Universe to set things up so carefully. I was glad I got Colleen to bring me one of my Glocks when she came to Florida to meet me. I was pretty sure I was going to need it and plenty more.

All this tumbled through my head as I watched Catherine sleep beside me in the master stateroom aboard the Lake Powell houseboat. The afternoon sun was gone, and with it any heat that the day could provide. It looked cold and stark out there, when I lifted my head to see if I could see any trace of the sunset left at all.

The electric heaters along with the propane furnace were having no trouble keeping the boat warm and cozy, and I loved feeling Catherine's breath wash over my chest, as she slept. Something warned me that rest would evade us before long, and we needed all we could get, while we could get some. That thought got me on my feet, dressed and checking for our chaperones. I could see them scattered around us, and just make out sentries posted on each boat, watching for anything, or anyone that didn't belong.

Safe...

So far, we were safe.

I could hear Catherine stirring in the bedroom, and purposely kept my eyes forward, giving her whatever privacy she craved, to clean up and dress. When she came forward, I felt her arms come around me from the back, and feel the soft whisper of her breath when she said, "What's got you spooked?"

"I woke up feeling like the sky was going to fall on us, sooner rather than later, and decided to check our protection and make sure we hadn't been abandoned. Everybody appears to be in place, and I see nothing to explain my discomfort, but I believe it when my sub-conscious warns me about danger, so I think you need to be ready, just in case I'm right."

She gave me a very serious look that said so much without speaking. I realized Catherine was trying to decide what, how much, or if she should tell me the truth.

"You need to tell me the whole thing - all of it ... Don't worry about scaring me. I'm already scared. Just let me in on the secret."

She could see the truth in my eyes, as well as hear it in my voice. Her discomfort was making everything worse.

Catherine took a deep breath, and said, "They're dead. The men you met in Carlisle Kirby's study. Everybody you met with, except Carlisle and Chester Adamson, have been killed. The only reason Chester and Carlisle are alive, is because they were with the Judge when the hits went down."

The force of her disclosure almost knocked me off my feet, but I stayed strong and said, "What's the rest?"

"What makes you think there's more?" She said that automatically and didn't believe for an instant it would put me off.

Taking an even deeper breath, she said, "Whoever did it was someone they knew. That means someone way too close to all this is feeding our every move to the people who want them and you dead.

"We're all scared, Kevin. Not just you. Someone is setting us all up, and whoever it is has to be way up there, and above suspicion, to get away with it. The Judge is beside himself, which is why he came to personally brief me this morning. We can't trust any form of communication, other than face to face with each other, until this is over.

"My agents that you see out there," she pointed outside to the circle of vessels surrounding us. "Those guys are all newbies, and haven't been in the system long enough for anyone to trust them enough to try and turn them.

"That's what we're down to. We're forced to turn our backs on every single agent in the system more than a couple of months, because we have no idea who is dirty, and who is trustworthy.

"I've never felt utterly alone on a protection before. I hope I never do again, Kevin."

She was really scared, but I knew something she didn't know, and if I could get her to buy in, I bet this thing would unravel pretty fast. My first time through, as Brian, the FBI agent that nearly killed me, had to be the one in the middle of all this.

She had to be.

It was when things were really coming off the rails, and the DOJ was flying Colleen, Rebecca, and me out to Lake Powell, to hide us on a houseboat in the middle of the lake, that she made her move against me, when I was still Brian.

Her deadly eyes still haunted me.

"Instead of a safe house, we're putting you up on a charter cruise boat, on Lake Powell. We can motor out to the widest part of the lake and with our secure surveillance systems; we can keep anyone from coming within a mile of you. The boat is very comfortable, I am told, and you can rest without being moved, or disturbed for several days.

"These types of cases often don't last any longer than that. You've seen how fast things moved, today. Give it another few days. The momentum of a full government press against them will force these jerks to come out in plain sight. Then we'll have a conclusion."

Renee Carson spoke with such assurance; I was tempted to believe her.

How wrong I was then...

Colleen joined Rebecca and me near the hangar doors waiting for the signal to board. Our entourage was getting larger by the minute. Besides the three of us, there were nine armed guards, at least five FBI agents, four DHS military garbed officers with each armored vehicle and several watchers, stationed around a loose perimeter. That was just what I could see.

Colleen was talking quietly on her phone. Rebecca was nervously looking all around, and I was getting the impression that our guards were spooked about something. Just as Agent Carson waved for us to board, her walkie talkie cackled and everyone went into motion at once.

The guards with us, shouted for us to move towards the security doors. The one closest to me shoved me, hard. So hard I fell against the airplane tug. Impacting the tug dazed me enough that I failed to keep up with the group. By the time Agent Carson realized I was not with them, they were hustling Rebecca and Colleen through a set of security doors.

The safest thing to do seemed to be stay down and not make myself a target. Renee locked the doors behind Rebecca and Colleen and started across the hangar towards me, when something hit her, and she dropped. I could see she was in trouble, so I scooted across the concrete floor, grabbed her by the collar of her jacket, and dragged her back behind the tug, not forgetting to pick up her pistol on the way.