Closer Raisa Chapter 3

We sat in silence, with only the dog’s heavy breathing. Even though there was a back seat, it was crowded in the Beamer, with the dog, Kale, and me 1

“So what’s with the dog?” Kale asked, motioning with his thumb towards the back.2

“I don’t know. He came out of nowhere and attacked one of the shooters from the house long enough for me to knock him over the head and to wait for you.” I took a big breath and continued. “He also ran out when you drove by, where as, I would have let you drive on.”3

I could feel his eyes on me as I watched the houses pass by. I wondered what was happening in those relatively normal homes? What would it be like to be normal? To have a nine to five job? A family? A dog?4

I felt a soft weight on my shoulder and turned to find a cold, wet nose resting there. I reached up and scratched the dog behind the ears.5

Kale was quiet as the sun finally rose. It's pale light peeked over the shingled roofs of the neighborhood. I was tightly wrapped. Every nerve sang with unused energy. Every sound was amplified. Touch was more sensitive and smells overwhelmed me.6

Nights of passion flashed through my thoughts and I threaded my fingers in the fur on the dog’s neck, comforted again by the unexpected familiar feel. If only the feeling couldn’t banish the memory of hands and lips, of a trail of fire across bare skin. I could still smell the faint scent of melting wax.7

I refused to think about the last night Kale and I’d been together. A warm canine sigh brought me luckily to the present. Kale had asked me a question and I asked him to repeat it.8

“Besides saving your life, what is that dog to you?” I could hear the resentment in Kale’s voice.9

I looked at him confused. He shouldn't feel threatened by a dog - that was just absurd. “Wow, you’re jealous of a dog?” I didn’t even try to keep the astonishment out of my voice.10

“I, I, I…” he stuttered.11

I held up my hand. “Don’t bother. This dog, as you sneered, my saved my life and made me feel a sense of security when there wasn’t any.” I patted the russet head. “After this is over I am going to see about adopting him.”12

The dog barked loudly, as if in approval while his tail wagged, hitting the ceiling of the car. Silence stretched on as the miles flew beneath the tire threads. I leaned my head back and managed to doze as the whisper of the engine sped on.13

***14

Kale shifted uncomfortably as he gripped the wheel hard. The leather biting into his palms irritated or annoyed him. This pain distracted him from concerning himself with the woman next to him.15

Raisa confused him and excited him in the same breath. She had incredible inner strength and a gentle touch that was unusual in the Company. It was why Sunsaray had taken an interest in her. It was what made her one of the best. And it was what made him ache for her. Kale longed to touch her, to stop the car and pull her close. He wanted to taste her, to capture her lips with his.16

He shifted again. She had made it clear on their last night together that that was not to be. He had let her go. What was he to do? She would have pulled further away. Kale let Raisa go, knowing she might never come back. And she hadn’t for over a year.17

Kale had his pick of women. What made him need her so? Through training she had been determined and smart, cunning to the point where her classmates refused to go against her.18

Kale had taken it upon himself to train her. She had risen to his challenges, put her heart and soul into defeating him.19

Friendship had turned to affection and what he had hoped was more. Now he wasn’t sure what he felt about this dog that had come into her life. Why there was animosity. Almost like it knew how he felt, how Raisa felt and had planted its haunches between them. Her proverbial wall.20

***21

The houses morphed into business gradually as the car ate up the miles. Old growth trees were replaced with new saplings giving the area a just created feel. Wispy gray clouds drifted in a robin’s egg blue sky.22

The dog barked once as we passed mom and pop motel and I sat up unexpectedly. I wiped the spittle off my chin, that had ran from my mouth while I slept. “I need to stop. Find a motel.”23

“Do you think that is wise?” Kale asked, worry tinged his voice, as he glanced in the mirrors.24

I sighed tiredly. “Look, I need to pee. And I’d like to sleep in a bed, if only for a few hours. We can fight about what to do a little later. Besides I’m sure Dugan needs a pit stop.”25

“Dugan? How do you know its name?” asked Kale, as he turned in to a parking lot.26

I shrugged while looking at the dog. “It just popped in my head.” I scratched under his chin. “What do you think boy? Do you like Dugan?”27

I got a big lick and a bark. “This looks good.” I commented as Kale parked in a semi-dark parking lot.28

“Stay here,” he ordered.29

I saluted and continued to pet Dugan. Shaking my head and breathing deeply I watched Kale saunter across the blacktop, feelings fluttered around in my chest. “Well boy, this should be interesting.”30

***31

I thought Kale was being a little paranoid when he slipped the ladder back chair from the vanity, under the doorknob. I closed the curtains to block out the morning sun as Kale slipped into the bathroom. I assumed he was checking the window, since I could hear slamming and swearing. I curled up on the multi-colored floral print bedcover with the dog.32

Dugan jumped onto the bed and curled up by my side as I waited for Kale to finish his inspection. I watched as he paced the room checking under the two queen size beds and the drawers along the wall.33

I was lazily running my hand through the fur on Dugan’s neck. “What is it you think you are going to find?”34

Kale didn’t stop to answer, but slammed the last drawer. Finally he stopped by the window and pulled up a chair to peek between the curtains.35

Now that he was out of the bathroom I did what I needed to do. When I was through I went back to the bed. Dugan was where I left him.36

“It’s not like we told anyone where we were going. Unless,” I leaned forward and continued, “you know something your not telling me.”37

Still Kale held his silence. I searched his face. I remembered Kale’s quick smile and fierce determination. Only now I could see the sorrow etched on his face. There were more lines around his eyes and he pinched the bridge of his nose often.38

I wondered what he had been doing in the year we’d been apart. Our jobs were at different levels in the company, so we didn’t cross path. 39

“Kale, do you know something I don’t know?’ I asked, pushing myself off the pliable bed. I squatted down in front of him and rested my hands on his knees. His jeans felt rough against my palms.40

“Kale, look at me please.”41

He didn’t, he just kept staring out the window. I waited, still searching for the Kale I knew before this night. I watched for his sense of humor, his quick wit and his purely innocent smile. I saw none of these things.42

I pushed off my knees and walked towards the TV. The mirror beside it reflected his still form and it took a lot for me not to throw the lamp at him.43

***44

Kale knew that Raisa didn’t understand how hard it was not to reach out and touch her. He wanted to feel her warm skin under his fingertips. So he sat into the chair staring out the window, not really seeing any of the parking lot. He watched her pull away from him, and he twitched. He willed himself to stay sitting when all he wanted to do was go after her.45

“I need to call Sunsaray.” Kale pushed out of the chair. Heading for the door, he dug out his phone.46

Kale walked out and headed for his car, punching the buttons with more force then necessary. He paced while he waited for Sunsaray to pick up. 47

His blood boiled. It boiled out of anger and passion. Life was peacefully flowing along. One day passed into another without problems. That all changed with one call. One call from her.48

“Hello?” came a harried voice.49

“Sunsaray? Its Kale.”50

A nervous laugh. “Kale, where are you? Is Raisa with you?”51

“She's with me and we are fine,” answered Kale.52

“Ahbree and I have been monitoring all law enforcement channels. They aren’t looking for you, but Raisa is still in danger. Again I ask, where are you?”53

“Sunsaray, just know that we are safe for the moment. I think it best we don’t reveal our location as of yet.”54

Mumbling sounded from Sunsaray’s end. After a moment she returned. “Now that we know that you two are ok I’m sending Ahbree home. She’s been here since Raisa was first called to close the apartment. Very dedicated, that one is.”55

“I’m going to keep Raisa safe until this blows over. You did know that the safe house was comprised?” Kale ran a large hand through his sandy hair.56

“Yes, I’m aware of it. We lost Thomas and Georgia.”57

“Man, thats bad. “ An uncomfortable silence followed. “I’ll let you know what we do next.”58

“Kale?” Sunsaray said quietly.59

“Yeah, I know. I’ll do my best.”60

“Keep safe and keep me posted.”61

“Will do, Sarge,” Kale came back.62

***63

I was tired. Every movement I made felt sluggish. I knew I needed to sleep, but couldn’t until Kale came back. Dugan whimpered from the bed.64

“I know, boy. I will soon,” I answered him with a sigh.65

I didn’t take the chair Kale recently sat on, but stood by the door and looked through the curtain. I watched as Kale paced by his car. He paused once to run a hand through his hair, his mouth turned.66

“Well boy, it looks as though he’s receiving bad news.”67

A loud sigh issued forth from the dog. Dugan watched me walk towards. I crawled in, found a comfortable position and tried to relax. Dugan snuggled closer to me. “Thanks, Dugan.”68

Dugan’s constant, steady breathing and his warm did the trick. I never even noticed Kale coming back in the room.69

***70

I was running again, only there weren’t any details. Shadows ran with me in a tunnel, but I knew I was still running in the alley. Beside me, a non-shadow loped on four legs. I relaxed as I recognized Dugan as my shadow.71

We continued running through the alley. I could hear the pounding footfalls of our pursuers closing in on us. Dugan stopped unexpectedly. He whimpered as my steps faltered. I could feel my heart beating like a fully automatic machine gun with the trigger stuck. It felt like my legs were being weighed down by unseen hands, holding me back. My only security was the dog sitting beside me. Sweat dripped down my temples and between my shoulder blades.72

My breath was coming in gasps that clouded my hearing, and I lost the rhythm of my pursuers running. When I stopped, Dugan started barking furiously at the shadows behind us.73

I sat up in the hotel bed and the covers fell to my lap. Kale must have covered me up earlier. Dugan was prancing by the door and barking. There was no sign of Kale.74

“Ok boy,“ I said, shaking my head to clear the dream away. “Let’s take you out.”75

Kale walked through the door with two big sacks in his arms at that moment. I wanted to find out what he had bought, but Dugan barked and whined again.76

“Sorry boy.” Then to Kale, “I’ll be right back.” I left without waiting for an answer.77

***78

Kale had been busy that afternoon and it was evident just how busy. I hated how he still knew my size and what I liked. After a year you would think he’d have forgotten.79

When Dugan and I had returned to the room, Kale had laid out a breakfast of sorts, donuts, milk and Micky D’s egg MCmuffins.80

We ate in silence, with Dugan wolfing down anything we fed him. I smiled; the dog could eat.81

Kale broke the silence first. “Called Sunsaray earlier.”82

“Hmm…” I grumbled around my breakfast.83

“Yeah, so Ahbree’s still listening. Looks like another Closer picked up your car, so the police have no way of knowing your were at the safehouse.”84

“That’s good to hear. I don’t know how I’m going to get out of taking the rap for the penthouse though.”85

“Sunsaray will figure out something,” he replied softly.86

“You’ve a lot of faith in her,” I pointed out. “I don’t even think she could cover this one up.”87

“You never know.”88

“Whatever. What I want to know is how the cops knew to come?” I pointed a half eaten donut at him. “The neighbors under the Grossmans were still sleeping when I ran through their apartment, so it wasn’t them.” I paused to take a drink of the milk Kale had brought. 89

“If it wasn’t the downstairs neighbors and it obliviously wasn’t the Grossmans, could it have been the doorman?” Kale asked, talking around a bite of biscuit.90

“I don’t think so. He was snoring when I first went up.”91

“And coming back down?”92

I sipped the milk again. “He was aware that something had happened. He checked the elevator thoroughly, but I’m not sure he really knew who or what he was searching for.”93

“Ok.” Kale wiped his hands on a flimsy yellow napkin. I watched as he shredded it. “List possible callers.”94

“Neighbors, doorman,” I shook my head, “and anyone at headquarters, but that doesn’t make sense.”95

“What doesn’t?” Kale asked while picking up wrappers. Mr. clean, still.96

“Why would headquarters want me caught?” I asked, wadding up a wrapper and throwing it at him. He caught it like old times.97

“You’re jumping to conclusions without any evidence.” Kale dumped the garbage in the gray container by the door.98

I readjusted my sloppy ponytail. Kale sat back down and popped the top off a Styrofoam cup. The deep, rich scent of coffee saturated the air.99

“Am I? Look at it from where I’m sitting. The job was flawless. I get there, without meeting or seeing any traffic. My car is nondescript and parked legally, not drawing attention. I entered the building.” Here I started to pace. Dugan whimpered while his brown eyes followed me.100

“The doorman was asleep. It was perfect, no lying, and no second-guessing. Smooth sailing up to the penthouse where I started the job.” I ticked off on my fingers. “Everything went according to training, until the cops show up unexpectedly.”101

“So, who knew you were headed there?”102

I continued to pace, while I answered. “The Caller, Sunsaray and the Navigator.” The Caller was the person who phoned when I job was needed and the Navigator was the person who left the address and directions to the job in the car.103

“Anyone else?” He asked, after taking a deep drink.104

“Hmm…whoever was monitoring the lines.” 105

“I guess that would be Ahbree.”106

I watched a scowl appear when he said Ahbree’s name. There was something there.107

“Tell me what you know of her,” I asked, as I swung the chair around. I rested my chin on my hands, which laid on the backrest.108

I had surprised him with the question. His pale blonde eyebrows rose as his lips pinched together. “Well,” he started reluctantly. “Quiet girl, she’s good with electronics and computers. She was training to be a closer.” He stopped there.109

“I feel a but here. Did she finish?”110

Kale pinched the bridge of his nose before replying, “No.”111

“Feels like there’s more to this story then what you are telling me.” I took his coffee from him. The warmth stung my fingers and the bitter taste made my stomach turn. I had forgotten he liked it black.112

“Sunsaray asked that I take over her training.” He looked down at his hands.113

I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks and my heart started racing. “Let me guess: you slept with her. Things got so intense between the two of you that it pushed you into the sack.” I started pacing again. My fists clenched on their own and I knew my voice had risen, but couldn’t help it. It was us all over, how are relationship started.114

I rushed on. “Blow off a little steam! Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? This is just a little convenient. Does it happen with with your entire class of female students? Your special trainees? Man! I should have known.” I paused to catch my breath and then said the most hurtful statement I could think of. “You never meant that much to me anyways. I’m glad I ended it.” 115

Looking back, I probably could have said more hurtful things, but I was devastated. I had just realized I meant nothing to him. Just another easy screw.116

Without another word I grabbed the other sack Kale had brought in earlier and slammed the bathroom door. I leaned against it and slid down, burying my face in my hands to cry. I hadn’t realized it would hurt so much to find out Kale had moved on.117

“You were the one who left,” Kale mumbled through the door.118

Dugan whimpered and scratched at the door, until I turned on the water. I couldn’t hear him anymore. All I wanted was to be alone.119

In the sack I pulled out shampoo, conditioner and soap. My favorite kinds, I hated that Kale still remembered. I cried even more as the water washed over me.120