Chapter 12

Rain woke up from her nap half an hour later, and Case helped her sit up. Then she jumped down from the truck and picked up Rain's discarded shorts and held them ready for Rain to step into. Rain pulled her bra and tank top on as Case buttoned her up, and then Case stepped back a pace and seemed to be sizing her up. Case grinned.

"You know, I don't normally have dessert after lunch, but I could get used to that."

Rain smiled and pulled Case forward and gave her a long slow kiss.

"Me, too," Rain replied, after she pulled her mouth away. "So, what's next on the agenda?"

"We could go for another hike, but first I need to use a pay phone. I haven't checked in yet today and I wanna make sure there's a clear connection."

Case had made sure to use the pay phone at the supply store on the way up, even though she'd been positive Doc wouldn't send her on any hits until she'd had a little more time to work on Rain's training. But she had never missed a day and she didn't intend to start now, no matter how unlikely it was that she would have any messages.

Rain nodded. Case jogged off to where the pay phones were located near the bathrooms and Rain sat down again in the back of the truck. She quickly pulled over her sports bag and unzipped the top so that she could reach in and pull out her brand new laptop. She opened it up and waited for the machine to boot up, then checked her e-mail, using the satellite link-up Case had purchased for a phenomenal amount of money.

Rain quickly downloaded the initial report that was waiting for her and then reset her password. She'd made a quick call to Dawson to request the background on Case while she'd been up near the bathrooms doing their dishes and had given him her new e-mail address to send the files to. Within moments, she had the files hidden under several innocuous sounding directories and then closed down all the programs, except for one of the games that had come with the computer. She had just barely started the game when Case came around the side of the truck.

"Hey, whatcha doin'?"

"Just messin' around. You ever played Minesweeper?"

"Play it? I'm a master. My best score ever was one-twenty-three on the expert level, but usually I stay around one-twenty-eight to one-forty-two. I just can't seem to break that one-twenty barrier."

"Wanna show me how to play? I can't seem to figure out what it is I'm supposed to be doing."

"Oh, sure."

Case climbed into the truck to sit side by side with the older woman and pulled the laptop so that it rested half on her right thigh and half on Rain's left thigh. With only a little explanation, Rain was able to grasp the logic of the game and only blew up when she had to actually guess at where the bombs were. Her scores stayed at about two-twenty for the first dozen games, but she was soon averaging less than two hundred, as she gained speed with the mouse.

"You learn pretty quick," Case complimented her.

"Once I figure something out, I tend to remember it," Rain replied.

"Good, then I shouldn't have to repeat myself too much," Case teased, as she climbed back out of the truck.

Rain grinned and then shut down the computer. She shoved the laptop back in her bag and joined Case outside. Case slammed the door shut and locked it. They headed off for another hike, but Case changed her mind before they reached the trailhead and led them to a grassy open area where several families were having picnics and playing Frisbee.

"I thought we were going to climb another trail," Rain commented.

"We were, but I really do want to start working on your skills and this is a good place to do it. Close your eyes."

They stood in the middle of the clearing and Rain looked around for a moment, unsure, before closing her eyes and waiting for Case's next instruction.

"Now, I want you to follow my movements. I want you to be able to pick out where I am at all times as I move around you. Tune out the kids laughing and the people shouting and the dogs barking and listen to the air around you. It will tell you where I am. Use your hands to follow me. Begin."

Case quit talking, but continued walking around Rain. Rain brought up her hands and pointed to where Case had been when she'd stopped talking. Case paused and reversed direction, then did it again. She weaved around Rain's body and Rain's hands only managed to track her fifty percent of the time. The farther Case moved from Rain, the less Rain was able to follow her movements. After several minutes, Case stopped in front of Rain.

"All right, not bad," Case said approvingly.

Rain opened her eyes.

"Why is this something I need to learn? Don't I just point a gun at the Target and pull the trigger?"

"No. Sometimes, that's all that's required, but most of the time, it's a lot more complicated than that. And it's important that you be able to know where someone is without seeing them because a lot of the hits I've been on have been in the dark and sometimes they know you're coming. You need to be able to move around in a foreign setting, in the dark, and be aware of who is moving around in the dark with you. It could save your life."

"How many hits have you been on?"

Case looked away and stared unseeingly at one of the families gathered around a picnic table. Several dozen scenes of people dying at her hands flashed through her mind before she met Rain's eyes again.

"Seventy-two. Including the last one," Case said quietly.

Rain nodded. She wasn't sure what else to do. She hadn't expected Case to look so... lost.

Case shook her head. There was no point in dwelling on the past. Her life was what it was; she was a killer. That's all there was to it.

"Close your eyes, Rain."

Rain heard the change in tone and realized the teacher was back in control. She closed her eyes and waited.

"Describe the family at the picnic table to your right."

Rain started to open her eyes, but Case stopped her.

"No. Do it from memory. I don't expect you to be able to remember a whole lot, since I know you weren't paying attention, but that's something I want you to work on." Case walked around Rain in a slow circle. "Little details can become important when you least expect it. From now on, everywhere you go, I want you to be aware of how you would escape if you were ambushed. I want you to be able to recall the face and clothing of every single person you meet. Without having to try. I want this to become reflex. You need to learn how to take pictures with your mind that you can look at later on if you need to. It can mean the difference between finding your hit and losing him, or even becoming the target yourself." Case stopped in front of Rain. "Now, tell me about the family at the picnic table."

Rain racked her brain for the fleeting images she had picked up in her peripheral vision while she'd been focused on Case. She gave the most accurate description she could, including height, clothing, hair color, and even their positions around the table. When she couldn't come up with anything more, Case told her to open her eyes and look at the family.

Rain laughed a little at herself. Half of her descriptions were totally wrong, even the colors were completely off.

"Now, I want you to study them. Tell me what you see."

Rain started to describe the physical characteristics she saw, but Case cut her off.

"No. Tell me about them. Who's in charge? If you were to start shooting at them, who'd run for cover and who would shoot back if they could? If you walked over there and struck up a conversation, what do you think each person's reaction would be? Who would talk to you? Who would ignore you?"

Rain looked at Case. She was asking Rain to profile them and that really threw Rain. Case frowned at Rain's hesitation.

"A lot of the hits I've been sent on required me to study the Target and everyone around him or her. I needed to be able to predict everything. Antonio sent you to me, so I'm betting he's going to be sending you on the same kinds of assignments. You need these skills, Rain."

Rain nodded and began her profile, leaving out as many psychological terms as she could. Case listened to her and nodded every now and then when Rain made a particularly insightful comment that mirrored her own assessment of the people they were studying.

As the sun sank below the trees, they headed back to their campsite. They were both quiet as Rain prepared dinner and Case went through a few drills in the open area around the campfire. When Rain was finished getting the food going, they traded places. Case sat by the grill to keep an eye on the food and Rain practiced with her bo, twirling it around her body and moving through several of her forms. When she came to rest, Case hummed her approval.

"That was beautiful. Why haven't you ever fought in any tournaments? I'm sure I would have remembered you, if you had."

"You've competed professionally?"

"No, not professionally. I just keep track of who's who in the arts and I like to watch the matches when I get a chance. I've never had the time to devote to any competitions myself. I barely managed to set aside enough time to earn my degrees and that's only because I have a lot of masters all over the country that I can see whenever I want."

"Isn't that difficult? I just can't imagine Grand Master Kim being very happy, if I started learning Taekwon-Do from a bunch of other people."

"I helped them with a few problems. I also pay them an insane amount of money to not care or ask me any questions. So, they don't mind if I call them up at two in the morning to get my next lesson."

"What did you do for them?"

"Whatever meant the most to them. Master Wong's son was born with a heart defect. He needed a transplant, so I made sure he got one. Master Carlson had a bit of a gambling problem. I took care of it for him and now I make sure his debts are paid on time. That kind of thing." Case shrugged her shoulders. "People tend to be nice when you've helped them out."

Rain put away her bo and checked on the food.

"It's just about ready. Wanna get the plates?" Rain requested.

Case got up from her position sitting in front of the grill and pulled out their mess kits from the back of the truck. She grinned to herself as she remembered what they'd done there that afternoon. She closed the door and stood waiting for Rain to dish up their food onto the metal plates.

They sat in silence as they ate their dinners and contemplated the fire in front of them. Case finished her food and set the plate aside. She leaned back and then looked over at Rain.

"Rain?" Rain looked up and waited. "If you hadn't started working for Antonio, what do you think you'd be doing now?"

Rain looked down as she tried to come up with an answer. Finally, she just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. I guess I never thought about it. What about you? You said you've been working for Carlotti for eight years. That's a long time. Was there something else you thought you'd be doing now?"

Case stared into the fire. Her voice came out in almost a whisper and Rain leaned forward to hear the woman's words.

"I didn't think I'd be doing anything. I always thought I'd be dead by now."

Rain put her dish aside and slowly walked the few steps to where Case was sitting on her sleeping bag. She sat down and gently put her arm around the small woman's shoulders. She didn't say anything, she just held her. After a few minutes, Case turned into the embrace and let Rain hold her more completely. It didn't take long before they were lying side by side, Case held securely in Rain's arms.

Rain listened as Case fell into a deep sleep. She watched the fire and tried again to reconcile her feelings for the assassin with her duty as an FBI agent. She just couldn't separate who she was from what she was feeling. When the time came, she would do her best to protect Case, but she knew she would do her job no matter what. Her brother deserved that. So did all the other families who had lost relatives and friends because of the Carlotti organization.

Rain mentally laughed at herself in derision. Here she was thinking about avenging her brother's death and she was sleeping with a woman who routinely killed people for the son of the man that had caused his death.

Rain shook her head. Not just sleeping with her. She really cared about Case. Rain tried to imagine the final bust. Taking Carlotti and his people down, which included Case. As she saw herself putting the cuffs on Case's wrists, her stomach clenched and she felt a pain in her chest. The vision changed and she saw herself letting Case go, telling the woman to run, to get away.

Rain squeezed Case a little tighter to her body and pulled the edge of the sleeping bag over their bodies. The fire had burned down low enough to be an unlikely danger and the truck was locked up. Rain closed her eyes. She was in a lot of trouble.