Iris Johansen - Final Target

She shook him off and moved toward the Wind Dancer.

"Jesus." He ran across the room, snatched the statue, grabbed her arm, and pulled her after him.

"Hurry, dammit. They'll be knocking down the door any minute."

"Is she doing okay?" Galen glanced at Melissa's reflection in the rearview mirror as the car pulled onto A6. "She looks like a sleepwalker."

"She is a sleepwalker. With the amount of sedative Jessica fed her, she should be out like a light. She should never have been able to leave the apartment. I don't know what's keeping her going."

"Yes, you do."

"Maybe I do," he said wearily. He took his handkerchief and dabbed at the blood on Melissa's lips. "The body can be made to do amazing things when the will is strong enough."

"Why the hell did you take the Wind Dancer? Did you think we weren't in enough trouble?"

"She wouldn't leave without it." He shrugged. "And what's one more-"

"Straw on the camel's back?" Galen finished. "The French police are going to regard this theft as an insult to their pride. They promised Andreas absolute security for the statue. We could get them off our ass if we find a way of returning it."

"No," Melissa said.

Both men looked at her. It was the first word she'd uttered since they left the museum. "We have to keep it."

"We'll talk about it later," Travis said. "You may not be thinking clearly right now."

"We have to keep it."

"It's dangerous. You saw how the police swooped down on that museum. How did they know we were there? There must have been a leak."

"I called Andreas," Melissa said.

Galen began to swear. "I knew it. I knew she'd do it."

"Be quiet, Galen. It's just as well she did call him. Deschamps was positioned on that catwalk to take us all out. Those sirens scared him off."

"Not in time," Melissa whispered.

"No, not in time for Jessica" Travis said gently. "But it may have saved the rest of us."

"I don't care about the rest of you."

"Not even Cassie?"

She closed her eyes. "Help…Cassie."

"She's okay. No different than she was before."

"Help…Cassie."

"We'll help her, Melissa." Travis pulled her head onto his shoulder. "Now try to rest. I'll wake you when we get to the cottage."

"Help Cas…"

She was asleep.

The shuttered window framed a lavender and scarlet sunset sky.

Beautiful…

"Take some water." Travis held a glass to Melissa's lips. "You've been out for a long time. You must be thirsty."

She was thirsty. Her mouth felt as dry as cotton. She drank half the glass. "Out? What do you-"

Jessica.

Pain stabbed through her. White hot. "Dear God."

He caught the glass as it fell from her hand, and drew her into his arms. "I know. I know. I'm sorry, Melissa." His voice was muffled as he rocked her back and forth. "Christ, I'm so sorry."

"Being sorry doesn't do any good. She's dead." She buried her face in his shoulder." I couldn't help her. I couldn't stop it."

"No one could help her. Even if we'd gotten her to the emergency room within minutes, the wound would still have been fatal."

"I couldn't stop it. I should have been smarter. I should have realized she'd try to stop me from going along."

"She surprised me too. And if you'd come along, you might have been shot as well."

"No, I'd have found a way to protect her. I knew it was coming. I'd have stopped it."

She felt him stiffen against her. "What?"

"Let me go." She pushed him away and swung her feet to the floor. "I have to get out of here."

"Sure, it will be good for you to be alone." He helped her to her feet. "And this mile or two of beach is deserted. Just don't go far. Okay?"

She didn't answer.

She was running from the bedroom, out of the cottage, her feet sinking into the soft sand. Her shadow cast a spidery imprint on the beach in front of her as she ran toward the far dunes.

Jessica.

She slid down the opposite side of a dune and lay huddled at the bottom.

Jessica.

Sister, mother, friend, savior. Sweet Jesus, why Jessica?

She rocked back and forth as agony tore through her. And, at last, the tears came. Painful sobs racked her body.

Jessica…

"Tough." Galen's gaze followed Travis's to where Melissa was sitting on the beach, staring out at the sea. "They were close?"

"You saw them together. What do you think?"

"I think life sucks sometimes."

"Like right now. Everything's going to hell and it's going to get worse." He paused. "You could bail out. I wouldn't blame you. You've done more than I've asked of you."

"So I'm an overachiever. I'll stick around."

"I don't need-"

"Shut up, Travis. This isn't only about you. That son of a bitch killed one of my men last night. Do you think I'm going to bow out before I take him down?"

"He's mine, Galen."

"We'll argue about that when we catch up with him." He looked back at Melissa. "But she's the one we'd better watch. Once she's over the first shock, she's going to harden into pure steel."

Staring at that fragile, lonely figure silhouetted against the sky, it was difficult for Travis to believe. "You could be wrong."

He shook his head. "She told me once that we were a lot alike. Brother and sister. I think she's right." He turned to go back inside the house. "Since you're keeping an eye on Melissa, I'll go check on Cassie. I'm very good at baby-sitting. Did I ever tell you I once baby-sat a wolf?"

"No, but it wouldn't surprise me." Travis's voice was abstracted as he watched Melissa. So much pain and sorrow. So much loneliness. He wanted to go to her and hold her and try to ease-

Not yet.

You had to face the first grief alone before you could accept comfort. Hell, maybe she wouldn't be able to accept comfort from him no matter how long he waited. After all, he'd been a primary part of that horror at the museum.

Why did he even want to help her? His modus operandi was to be emotionally detached. Yet from the first moment she had shown up on his doorstep, Melissa had managed to…involve him. She had aroused interest, anger, desire, amusement, and admiration, and now she was touching something deeper.

Pity?

What difference did it make? Self-examination was bull. He dropped down on the doorstep. So don't think. Just watch and wait and maybe do a little grieving of your own.

"You've been out here a long time" Travis said behind her. "Don't you think you'd better come in? It's almost three in the morning and the wind's coming up, Melissa."

" I don't want to go in. I'm not chilly." It was a lie. She felt ice cold, but it wasn't from the wind. "I have to think about a few things."

"Jessica."

"No, I've thought all I can about Jessica right now. It hurts…too much. I loved her…"

"I know."

"You couldn't know. She was everything to me. She brought me out of the dark and taught me how to live again." She rubbed her temple. "She always laughed when I called her Saint Jessica, but there was truth to it. She was so goddamn…good." The tears were starting again, and she brushed them aside. "See, I can't think of her without blubbering. I have to stop it so I can think clearly."

" I feel a little like blubbering myself," Travis said. "I didn't know her long, but it was enough to see what a fine person she was."

"You're being kind to me." She didn't look at him. "I wasn't kind to you when your friend was killed. I couldn't let myself soften toward you. You were the one leading Jessica toward the Wind Dancer."

"And I led her right into a trap. I suppose you blame me for her death?"

She shook her head. "No more than I do myself. She was the one who made you promise to bring the statue and Cassie together. It was like being on a runaway train. I knew what was coming, but there wasn't anything I could do about it."