Episode 88
(Washington D.C., August 7, 2019)
What disturbed Rin more than her ill-advised haste was its cause. After hundreds of years hunting Proteges, such a basic mistake was inconceivable. She always prepared before making a move. Nor did she hold humans in such contempt that she neglected to account for them in those preparations.
Rin knew what the problem was, and it infuriated her. Did she really have such a gaping blind spot when it came to him? Maybe the problem wasn’t the threat to Daryl, but the threat he posed to her. Once his person had been retrieved, she would have to decide how to deal with that threat. This troubled her more than anything.
Rin’s attention returned to her immediate concerns. By any reasoning, her top priority was the well-being of Daryl’s family. They would die if and when she willed it, not at the hands of some cowardly third party. And if somebody was doing this to get to Rin, she bore at least a little responsibility for their current predicament. She had to get Katrina and her kids to safety.
One saving grace was that Rin could not be recognized, and there still was time to capitalize on this. Anyone spying on them would have seen a young woman show up and upset Katrina. Even if they had heard every word, there was nothing suspicious about the exchange so far.
She and Katrina hadn’t crossed any critical lines yet. Rin had expressed surprise at Daryl’s disappearance, but that could be explained away if three or more women were involved in this little love polygon. Still plausible. Daryl was a good looking guy. It wasn’t inconceivable that his disappearance would lead to a chain of confrontations and recriminations among lovers.
Even if this seemed farfetched, his captors wouldn’t reveal their hand by rushing in without good reason. Doing so would alert Katrina to their surveillance and potentially scare off their real quarry. No, they wouldn’t move prematurely. Most likely, Rin was perceived as nothing more than a minor nuisance, one who would depart the scene soon enough. If they remained suspicious, they would wait to be sure.
Unless Katrina was in on it. Then they could move with impunity, and the house would continue to act as a honeypot even if they were wrong. In that case, they simply would dispose of Rin. That’s what one did with minor nuisances of the unlucky variety. In any event, there would be no need for caution on their part. However, there also would be no need for Rin to hold back. Any claim to her protection by Daryl’s family would be forfeit, and she could finally do what she ached to.
This didn’t seem likely. Katrina would have to be an astonishingly good actress to pull it off, and there was nothing in the reports that hinted at such an aptitude. The evidence suggested that she genuinely loved Daryl, whatever that meant. Rin doubted the woman would cooperate with his enemies, at least willingly. They could be blackmailing her. Where were the kids? If she believed it would get Daryl back or save her kids, there was no telling what the woman would do.
Rin decided that it did not matter. If Katrina was in on it, then Rin had no obligation to protect her — if such an obligation had ever existed — but there would be no harm in doing so anyway. At worst, Rin would look the fool. She could exact a suitable revenge for that later, and she’d have a thing or two to say to Daryl about his choice of spouse. Well, she’d have a thing or two to say, regardless. But, right now, she’d focus on saving the family. Rin’s appearance had placed them in a very precarious situation, and each second she stayed would compound the danger.
“You’re here for them too,” Katrina shouted, her voice a mixture of anguish and anger.
Them? It took a moment for Rin to realize what the woman was talking about. Ah, the children. It always came back to those. She needed to end this quickly. The best choice would be to leave and watch from afar. If their stakeout failed, it was doubtful the culprits would bother to harm Katrina and the kids. Rin could intervene if they looked like they would.
As for the rest, she would let Katrina imagine the worst. A little domestic strife was none of Rin’s concern, and she could always try to find a way to mend the damage afterward. Repairing the marriage would be hard if Katrina was dead.
But would it work? If Rin left, the family should be safe — but that wasn’t guaranteed. Killing the family would be pointless and draw unwanted attention, but somebody could do it from spite. Whoever went to this much effort would be upset, to say the least, that the operation failed. Maybe they’d decide to “clean up loose ends,” as the cliche went. But that wouldn’t happen right away. For the moment, Rin would have to chance it. Then she’d quietly destroy the threat, and Katrina need never know.
The most important thing was that she had to leave. Quickly. Before Katrina did something stupid or said the wrong thing. Right now, the enemy didn’t have anything concrete, but each new word could change that. If Katrina suspected who she was and said something, the whole landscape would change.
Rin was about to leave, when she noticed a burning smell. Looking down, she saw smoke and a bright light. It took a moment for her to register what was happening. A taser. A taser hidden in the TV remote. So, Katrina’s behavior hadn’t been just a ludicrous pantomime. The thing actually was a weapon. Rin had to admit that this was clever. She bet it was Daryl’s idea. However, approbation would have to wait.
They were careening toward a cliff, but it still wasn’t too late. If Rin screamed and pretended to be in pain, they may believe the act. Selling it would be a challenge, though. She had almost no memory of how pain felt, but could draw on her extensive experience inflicting it on others. She just needed to mimic their behavior. Before Rin had a chance to try, Katrina ruined everything.
“You’re her,” she gasped.
“Are you an idiot?” Rin barked, knocking the taser aside and patting out the embers of her clothing. “What if your kids got their hands on this thing?”
Well, so much for that plan. If somebody was watching — or even just listening — they now knew that Rin was not normal. This would be enough to catch their attention. Worse, Katrina had hinted that she knew about Rin too. Did she? Why would she have expected the taser to work? It was a pretty mean thing to use on a romantic rival. To be fair, though, it didn’t even come close to the stuff women used to do to one another. Rin smiled. Ah, those were the days.
Whether or not Katrina actually knew anything, they would suspect she did. That meant they now had a strong reason to kill her — though they probably had planned to all along. Most likely, they would kill her kids too. Assuming they hadn’t already. So far, there had been no sign of the brats. Rin couldn’t afford to remain ignorant on that point any longer.
This whole scenario was precisely what she had wanted to avoid. Her only hope now was that they wouldn’t be too quick to act. They probably still harbored doubts, and the information would have to be passed up the chain of command before a decision could be passed down it.
Regardless, time was short, and all her plans were out the window. There was no opportunity for a gentle seduction. She would save Daryl’s family the rough and hard way or not at all. Rin glanced at her watch. 3:04 PM.
“You’re her,” Katrina repeated, slowly retreating.
Rin rolled her eyes and moved with the woman. “Well, I’m certainly that. I’ve got boobs and a twat, so I’m definitely a ‘her’. Though, I’ll admit these days it can be hard to tell. What of it?”
“You’ve finally come to kill us,” Katrina blurted out, pointing at her.
“A moment ago I was ‘here for them too.’ Before that, I was fucking your husband. And before that, I was a robber. Make up your mind.”
Rin grabbed Katrina’s head and pulled it close. “If I wanted you dead, what do you think you’d be?”
She released the woman. “How did Daryl end up with such a stupid cow?”
“Please…”
The look of desperation on Katrina’s tear-soaked face disgusted Rin.
She smiled at the woman. “I was about to spare you a world of hurt. All you had to do was remain stupid and oblivious for a few more seconds. I would have left, and nobody would have bothered you again. Because I would have killed them all. Then I’d have found Daryl and sent him home. You could have stayed here, and you would have been safe.”
She grumbled a bit before pointing at Katrina. “Just remember, you brought this on yourself. You just had to do something and say something. Fucking women.”
After some more expletive-laden muttering, Rin assessed the situation. The terrified woman in front of her would be a hindrance. She would drag the kids down with her by doing something stupid. Rin weighed the relative risks.
If she killed Katrina, she probably could save the kids — assuming they were docile enough and still alive. But that would be an admission of defeat, a sign of her own inability to herd a single hysterical woman. There also was another reason to spare her. Once Rin started killing members of Daryl’s family, there would be no reason to stop. He would hate her just as much after one as after all, and survivors would be an impediment to his acting on that hate. Protecting them would take priority and weigh him down.
Rin studied Katrina’s face, then groaned. Fine, whatever. She took two long strides and smacked the woman in the face. Katrina staggered and was about to collapse on the couch, but Rin yanked her to her feet by her hair.
“If you wish to keep them alive, get ahold of yourself.” Her voice was quiet and nonjudgmental. What was it that all those self-styled spiritualists said? Find your inner peace. Your center. Channel your Chi. And a whole load of other nonsense. There was no inner peace or center or chi. There were chemicals and neurons, a center of gravity, and blood. Nothing mysterious, just a complex system whose specific behaviors were difficult to predict. A person could control themself no better than they could control others. “Getting ahold of herself” was a command. Rin hoped it would inspire the hormones for self-preservation and override whatever emotional turmoil the woman was experiencing.
A flash of defiance crossed Katrina’s face. There wasn’t much time, but Rin decided a little honey was the best course. She glanced anxiously at her watch. 3:08.
She sighed and smiled as disarmingly as she could. Rin hated this. It was like dancing the male part of a tango. What worked on women was precisely the opposite of what worked on men. An engaging young lady to one was a manipulative hussy to the other, and a disarming smile became a knowing smirk. There was a reason she detested women. Female conversation was filled with subtle undercurrents, misconstrued signals, and reading between the lines. In fact, the lines themselves were largely irrelevant. Men were simple. With women, real trust took a long time — too long for a human life. It only was possible with immortals, if at all, and Rin had other reasons never to trust her own kind. How could she, when she had made them, had ruled them, and was now hunting them?
At present, there wasn’t even time for the chatty confessional variety of trust.
“I tell you what. I am here either to help you or to kill you. You choose. On an unrelated note, to kill you I don’t need to do anything. I’ll just walk out that door, as you insist. Now that you’ve conveniently alerted whoever kidnapped Daryl and has bugged this place, you’re what they call a loose end. I’m guessing they’ll make it quick.” She shrugged. “But who knows? Oh, and they’re probably not kid-friendly either.”
Katrina looked petrified.
Rin had an idea. The woman was in fear for herself and her children. Wouldn’t the illusion of control and power help to dispel such fear? Normally, Rin didn’t carry a gun, but this time she had thought that one could come in handy. With it, she had planned to deter any behavior which could reveal who she was. Unfortunately, she had neglected to brandish the weapon. If she had, Katrina may have been more pliable and things could have gone very differently.
Well, now it would prove its worth another way. She produced the gun, and Katrina let out a yelp. Rin gave her a sharp look, then handed it to her.
“In case you’ve never used one, the safety is on.” Rin showed her how to flip it and even chambered a round. “I’d offer to let you hit me, but that may not turn out well. Feel free to shoot me, though. Just make it quick; we don’t have much time. Oh, and do try to avoid hitting your kids. Bullets can go through walls.”
Katrina hesitated, then handed the gun back.
Rin sighed. “I’m not trying to trick you, if that’s what you think. I tell you what, keep that and feel free to use it at any time.”
“But why?” Katrina asked.
Rin put her hand on the woman’s shoulder. “You pose no threat to me. I need you calm and collected. If we’re to save your family from your blunder, we need to do so now. And you need to do exactly as I say.”
“Or you’ll kill us?”
“You’re certainly making that option more appealing,” Rin grumbled. Then she softened a bit. “Or they’ll kill you. As I said before, they now know that I’m here and that you know about me. Congratulations on painting a big bullseye on your forehead.” She smiled at Katrina. “And your children’s.”