Woke Up One Morning... Part 31
It only takes me three minutes to change into my civilian clothes of a plain pair of blue jeans, black sneakers and a gray hooded sweatshirt.
By the time I am done and catch up with Heero in the parking lot, he already has our car revved up with Heather in the backseat. Nodding in acknowledgment of me when I approach, he hits the automatic unlock so I can slip into the passenger seat.
"Sure that this won't tip anyone off that may be watching if you don't show up in your own car?" I ask the red-eyed agent as I close the door behind me.
Agent Storm's long ponytail of blond hair shakes along with her head as she replies, "No. I carpool quite a bit, so they have seen me in many different cars when I get to the daycare."
Good. There's a chance we may actually be able to get in and out of this without any problem.
Heero pulls us out of the parking lot and we begin our trip to the Bright Future Daycare in silence for a few blocks before Heather says quietly from the back, "Duo, I am so sorry. I... I was the one that had leaked out how your personal files were requested by Lady Une for a look through after the attack on the Assembly."
Blinking in surprise, I look back at the sad young mother frowning back at me. "That was you?" I smirk. "I had been wondering all this time how that got out."
The frown on her face deepening, Heather lowers her head to stare at her feet as she explains, "I have been hacking into the data base at headquarters for information to pass off to Ivanov when he wants it. The day after the attack, he wanted to know details on how the Preventer search was going as far as any typed in people of interest."
Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she admits, "When I was in the system, I was in such a rush that I did a bad job of covering my tracks back out and would have been discovered. But your name was in there and so I leaked it out to draw the attention away from me as I went back in to correct my mistakes."
So, that's what happened.
Raising her head back up to meet my eyes, Storm pleads, "I hope you can forgive me. Everything I've done has been to keep Janelle safe. I never meant to hurt you, or anyone for that matter."
I give her a reassuring smile and reply gently, "It's alright, Heather. You did what anyone else would have in your shoes. Right now, let's just focus on getting your girl back to headquarters safe and sound. Okay?" The corners of her mouth tug up in a small, relieved grin as she nods in appreciation.
"What other information have you been passing off to Ivanov since you've been working with him?" Heero questions, his eyes peering into the rearview mirror for a glance at our passenger before he focuses back on the road. "Anything that could come back to haunt us?"
Shaking her head, she answers, "Ivanov knows that I've always been good at hacking software through my prior experiences in the government before I became a Preventer, which is why he targeted me and Janelle."
With a deep breath, she continues, "But he has no idea how easy or difficult it is to actually hack into a database like ours. I used that to stall or simply tell him that I had no way of getting that information, even though I can get into anywhere I want. If he wanted something badly enough, my daughter would be threatened and I would have to give him what he wanted after acting like it took me a couple more days to find it."
A quiet sign escaping her, Heather looks out her window and states, "One of the few things that he was able to get out of me was the location and date of the Assembly meeting." She begins to shake again, lost in her thoughts of that attack no doubt.
Heero glances over at me with a concerned expression. I'm thinking along the lines that I'm sure he is- as fellow Preventers, it's hard to imagine how badly this has been killing her to know she played a part in several deaths in the Assembly. We're defenders of the peace and here she had been forced to compromise that.
I turn in my seat and reach back to squeeze Agent Storm's shoulder and her tear-filled green eyes meet mine. "We'll make sure that you get treated fairly for your actions, Heather," I promise. "'Ro and I know how devoted you are to doing the right thing." My husband nods his head, cobalt eyes looking back into the rearview mirror.
That seems to ease her a bit as she takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily. Biting her lip, she smiles sadly and rests her hand over mine to squeeze it while breathing, "Thank you." I wink as I reel my arm back and turn to gaze out to the road.
Nearing the daycare when we reach the more suburban part of town, my partner and I keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious... namely a car with tinted windows parked close or a man on the street who feels out of place.
Whoever the bastard is, they're good at changing how they're watching the girl since Heather has not been able to notice a familiar car or stranger walking about for the weeks this has been going on.
A few blocks away from where the center is, Heero pulls the car along the sidewalk so I can head out on foot in case our perp is on foot. Without a word to the others, I step out and cover my head in the hood of my sweater at the start of a light drizzle from the darkening sky. Closing the door, I walk quickly in the direction of the large home three blocks down while my lover drives off for the building.
This was the best plan that we could come up with on such short notice. If Janelle is being watched tonight, our target will either be on foot or behind a wheel.
So, it will come down to a chase in either one of those forms if we spot them. Being the faster runner, it was only natural I be the one to be on foot while Heero stayed in control of a car if that was needed.
I shove my hands in my deep jean pockets, feeling for the cool metal of the pistol in the right one to keep a grip on the handle. All the while, I just train my eyes on the large white house where several children are playing in the fenced in front yard's jungle gym despite the light rain.
A woman, I am assuming the one in charge of the daycare, is on the front porch politely calling for the kids to get inside.
Scanning the pretty empty streets that I am walking, I check the cars parked here and there to make sure that they are empty. Not having any luck there, I keep pressing on and check the rooftops of the homes lining the blocks as well as the occasional alleyway that I pass.
Mentally, I take note of the street names on either side of me in case I need to give directions to my partner.
You know, instinct is an amazing thing. Since the days of my training to be a Gundam pilot, my senses seem to have been heightened to feel when something is not right.
The closer and closer I get to the daycare, my skin is almost prickling with tension that there are eyes around somewhere that shouldn't be. It's enough to make me pick up my brisk pace that little bit more as I look search the area.
Now having seen the other children in the yard that have the potential of being hurt if anything was to go wrong, I slide the safety off of my pistol to be on the ready. Street lamps begin to turn on as the sun continues to set in the distance behind the houses around, only making my already amped up nerves that much more anxious.
Half of a block ahead of me, Heero pulls the car up along the sidewalk in front of the daycare center and Heather steps out of the back seat. As she approaches the closed fence, she smiles widely and waves to her daughter, one of the last children to hurry back into the house. Her little one, with her blond hair in pigtails at either side of her head, turns and calls excitedly, "Mama!"
Pulling my hood back a bit on my head, I keep my eyes scanning the area whilst making sure I always keep Heather, Janelle and the other kids in my peripheral vision. And when Agent Storm is inside of the yard, lowering herself to her knees to scoop her daughter up, that's when I see it.
It's the most subtle of flashes from the end of an alley across the street from the center.
An untrained eye would never have picked up on the tiny flash of light from the micro camera. However, I have used such a device so many times in the past that I can spot it instantly. The bearer of that camera, clad in dark clothes, looks over his shoulder and our eyes meet.
His are a dark blue as they widen at noticing that he's being watched. Spinning, he hurries back into the dark shadows of the alley behind him just as I sprint forward.
Charging across the street, I narrowly avoid being hit by a car that came out of nowhere. Its loud honk at me only makes me run that much faster, knowing that my target would have heard it and may be picking up their own feet to get away.
"Fuck!" I hiss. Still running, I reach for my radio in my left pocket and shout into it, "Heero, the alley behind the houses on Acorn Street! Perp was on foot, must be moving for a vehicle! Get back there now!"
Tires screeching on asphalt as he peels the car out into the street, Heero's voice radios back, "Copy that!" He disappears around the corner just as I reach the start of the alley on my end of things. Behind me, I can hear Heather shouting to the other kids to get inside of the house.
Ignoring the splash of the small puddles that have started to form on the pavement, I keep my eyes on the back of the man running a few feet ahead of me. He's heading for a black car at the end of the stretch, facing the streets, he has a clear shot out of here if he makes it inside. "Preventers!" I yell at the top of my lungs. "Freeze!"
Only catching a good enough glimpse of him when he runs under the glow of the lamps lining the alley, I don't feel comfortable to fire any rounds at him right now. Still, I have my pistol gripped in my right hand as I hurry after him all the same.
Well, I may not have a clear shot of him, but I can see the wheels of his car just fine. Putting on the brakes, I hold my gun out ahead of me with both hands and let out two shots for each side of the vehicle.
The marks are hit as the back tires facing me are blown out with two loud bursts when they're penetrated. At the same time, a familiar silver car loudly slams to a stop at the end of the alley to block the only clear exit out.
Flailing to a halt just a few feet away from his car, the man pants heavily and collapses to his knees with his head pointing to the ground at seeing he's trapped. The relieved sigh that I am about to release suddenly becomes a startled gasp when I see in the dim light the flicker of metal as he pressed a gun against his own temple.
"No!" I hear myself cry and take aim once again. Thank the stars above I'm a trained enough shot that I managed to fire a bullet that knocks the weapon away before he can use it. A sharp cry escapes the spy as he scrambles for the gun, only for me to have had enough time to run up on him.
The second my hand grabs his shoulder, I spin him so that he looks up at me with those wide eyes while my armed hand swoops down in a hard punch that lands across his face. Falling back like a rag doll, he collapses onto the wet, black tar unconscious.
Sagging forward, I grip my knees to keep myself from falling over as I suck down air into my burning lungs. My hand reaching up to wipe at my wet brow, I mutter a breathy, "Son of a bitch!" What the hell had this guy so scared about being caught that he was about to kill himself?
Heero runs around the disabled car and completely pays no mind to the man on the ground. His eyes are too busy looking over me as I stay in my slouched position. "Are you alright?" he asks in a rush, worry shining clearly in his gaze.
I smile and nod, "Peachy." Forcing myself up, I look around to see the neighbors living in the houses around peering through their back windows with scared expressions. Quickly, I remove my badge from my back pocket to hold it up and call to them, "It's alright, folks. Preventers." The panic around dissolves with that simple announcement.
"Better call Une to let her know she'll want to keep the press from announcing this," my partner suggests as he turns to head back for our car to get his cell phone. "The last thing we need is for word of a stalker watching a daycare around here being taken into Preventer custody to get out."
Une is about the only person who can put the fear of God into even the media to prevent them from getting a story out. She is also about the only person with the authority to make that happen in matters of security.
Nodding to my husband, I reply, "Good idea." Lightly kicking the side of the man laying at my feet, I growl, "I'll take care of our friend, here."
As 'Ro runs off, I bend down to sling our fallen perp over my shoulder with a groan of effort. "Bastard's heavy for being so scrawny," I mumble under my breath while following after my husband.
* * * * * *
We had a laundry list of things to handle before returning to the daycare to check on the kids: cuff and lock our perp in our car, wait for his getaway vehicle to get towed off to headquarters and the call to Lady Une.
Now that we've covered all of those bases, we pull up to the large white house where a pair of dark tire marks remain from Heero's peel out moments ago.
Before getting out of the car, I look to the guy laying in the backseat. "You know, I'm glad that Heather's story panned out," I hear myself comment quietly. Turning to meet my husband's gaze, I shrug, "It would have been hard to accept one of our own turning on us willingly."
A small smile tugging his lips, 'Ro just gives me a nod of agreement and opens his door to step out. Following suit, I wait for him to round the car so we can walk through the opened fence side-by-side. All around, parents that have reached the scene to pick up their kids are getting an earful about the 'cool stuff' that just happened.
I can't help but chuckle and shake my head in amusement. Ah, the innocence of youth.
When we step inside of the house, the daycare provider gives us a warm smile and leads us into her living room. No doubt she had been briefed on what was going on and has been expecting our arrival.
Curled up with her daughter on the couch across from the doorway, Heather looks up with her eyes shimmering. "You really have him?" she breathes. Little Janelle, completely lost to what is going on, just smiles brightly at us when she recognizes the Preventer coat that Heero is now wearing and waves.
"Yea," I answer with a small nod. Her legs shaking, Agent Storm stands and continues to cradle her daughter close as she sniffles and leans against us for support. Both Heero and I offer a one-armed embrace while she sobs her appreciation over and over with quiet 'thank you's'.
It's a tight fit in the front seat for the four of us, but we manage for the ride back to headquarters. Shifting so that she can sit in my lap as her mama wipes the 'wet' from her eyes, Janelle and I have a game of 'tug-o-war- with my braid that has us laughing for most of the trip. I catch Heero peering at us from the corner of his eye from time to time with a small smile on his lips.
Back at the office, Lady Une is waiting in the lobby to greet us. "I have a room set up for you and Janelle to spend the night in the temporary habitat spaces. We have a change of clothes and anything you need to last you until the morning," she announces to Heather. "Then, we will work out how you may be able to help us as well as make arrangements for a safe place for you to stay with a couple of agents on watch at all times until this case is over."
Carefully lowering her daughter, Agent Storm embraces the Commander tightly with a whispered, "Thank you so much." Taking her little one's hand, she leads the way out of the lobby for their room.
Sighing deeply, Une dry-washes her face then focuses on the new arrival that is entering. Our captive, now alert, is led away to the holding area by an agent gripping either arm. Head down, he puts up no resistance as he disappears around the corner with his escorts.
A small smile tugging the corner of her mouth, she turns to face me and my husband. "This is exactly why you're two of my favorites," she comments quietly. "You both did an excellent job today."
A few of my heart strings get tugged at that. As nice as it is to hear that, it's a bittersweet thing knowing that we won't be working for her when all of this is over. I can tell that 'Ro is going through the same rollercoaster ride of emotions when he swallows roughly and lowers his head a bit. Of course, it only comes across as modesty.
"Go home and get some rest," the Commander orders in that motherly tone of hers. "We'll have all day tomorrow to work more with Krutza and Heather to see what more we can find out on Ivanov and his clients. Until then, be sure to make use of all the rest you can."
There is no complaining from me there. As anxious as I am to find out what is coded on those documents, I just don't have the energy after everything that happened today. Shit, I already feel like I'm about to topple over from exhaustion.
Bowing my head, I reply in tune with Heero, "Thank you, Commander." Together, we turn on our heels and step out of the building. My hands reach back to pull my hood back up against the rain that has begun to pick back up.
With a look over my shoulder back at headquarters, I sigh, "One thing I will actually miss about this job for a while, there's hardly ever a dull moment."
Heero chuckles softly and shakes his head as he reaches over to hold my hand for the remainder of our walk back to the car. "We'll just have to make our own adventures," he states in little more than a whisper. Grinning over at me, he shrugs, "Somehow, I don't think we'll have much trouble with that."
"No," I agree with a smile of my own. Squeezing the hand in mine, I say quietly, "I don't think we will, either."
And I can't think of a better person I would rather share those adventures with.
TBC...
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