Assassin, page 29
"Good," Rain sighed and opened the car door. "I'll see you on Monday."
"All right. Take care," Ron told her.
CHAPTER 34
IT TOOK FIVE weeks for all the reports to come back from the various experts in the crime labs. Rain was on edge the whole time, though she did her best to act like she wasn't worried. Technically, there wasn't supposed to be anything for her to worry about. But all it would take was one discrepancy between her account and what forensics said had happened and the validity of her own report would be called into question.
In the meantime, she went through several psychological evaluations. She knew it was routine for any agent who'd been undercover for as long as she had, but it still annoyed her. She just wanted the whole thing to be over with already.
Finally, the last report came in and Rain was informed that the investigation was being closed, though a search for Ricardo "Little Ricky" Garavini was still going strong. Everything else had checked out.
Among other things, forensics had reported that there was only one female corpse in the wreckage. The online dental records from Cassandra Jacobson's time in juvenile hall had matched, and unfortunately, there was nothing else left of the charred corpse with which to verify its identity. The FBI had requested the original hardcopies of the files, but they'd been told the originals had been destroyed in an incident several years earlier when someone had broken in and set the place on fire.
It wasn't too difficult to put two and two together. Apparently, Case had been trying to erase her identity and hadn't known the files were kept in an electronic database as well. Lucky for the FBI, they'd still been able to ID the body despite Case's attempt to thwart their inquiry, so their investigation didn't drag on forever looking for a dead woman.
Sorting out the rest of the bodies had been a little more difficult. Most of the dead bosses were being identified based on the cars that had been parked outside the building, since their bodies had been almost completely destroyed in the blast. They were mostly going on hearsay from other agents still in the field, since a lot of the vehicles had been registered under false names, but the DA was finally satisfied that they'd accounted for the most important people involved in the mess.
Reports from current undercover agents also corroborated Rain's statement that Carlotti had been the one that set up the meeting, which had been a major point of contention among her superiors. They didn't like taking anything on faith, and since Carlotti himself was dead, and no one else had apparently survived who had taken part in the conversations, it had been important to have unrelated sources confirm the existence of those talks, even if it was just rumor from household servants who had overheard their boss's excitement at possibly becoming Carlotti's replacement.
In fact, because of the major loss of nearly every single boss within the Carlotti faction, the resultant shuffle of personnel had led to several agents being bumped up into highly influential positions, giving them unprecedented access within the remnants of the organization. Hopefully, new partnerships with other crime families would result in future arrests and convictions.
But it wasn't until a few days after the investigation was officially closed that Rain's evaluations came back. They all returned the same recommendation: temporary leave of absence for a minimum of three months. Rain accepted the recommendations quite willingly. She even doubled the amount to six months, adding up all the vacation time she'd never used, and agreed to take off immediately, much to everyone's relief.
She'd made her reservations the very next day and retained the services of the same company that had taken care of her place while she was undercover for the past three years.
Now, Rain was packing and trying to make sure she didn't forget anything important, like her favorite shampoo. When the phone rang, she walked over to pick it up. She hit the talk button and brought it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Rain, it's Ron."
"Oh, hi Ronny. Don't tell me you're calling me to cancel my leave," Rain warned.
"Heh, no. I just thought you'd like to know they're going to be issuing a formal statement this afternoon on behalf of our department, the NYPD, and the DA's office."
"Maybe you should tape it for me. I've got a plane to catch."
"Oh, that's today? Sorry, I forgot," Dawson apologized. "So, what have you got planned for the next six months?"
Rain smiled.
"I'm going to do a little traveling. I think that psych evaluation was right. I need to relax and get in touch with who I am again."
"You know, I never thought you'd take it so easily. I figured you'd fight it all the way," Dawson commented.
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm not as stupid as I look," Rain joked, and Ron dutifully laughed. "I just... I need some time. It was... I did a lot of things that I'm not proud of." She heard Dawson take a breath, but she overrode the protests she knew he was about to make. "I know I was just doing my job, but it was still hard. For three years, I was the kind of person I normally arrest. And now that I'm me again, I... I need to work some things out. You know?"
"Yeah," he said sympathetically. "Listen, if you ever need to talk, you know I'm here, right?" Dawson offered.
"Yeah." Rain looked at her watch. "Well, hey, I've gotta go. I have a flight in a couple hours, so..."
"Right. Well, I'll talk to ya later. Send me a postcard, huh?"
"Sure," Rain promised. "Bye."
Rain pushed the off button and put the phone back in its cradle. She finished packing and then did a final check of her apartment to make sure everything was in order. She heard the honking horn of the taxi that was waiting for her outside and shouldered her two suitcases. She set them down again outside the door so that she could lock up. She took one last look around her apartment and then closed the door.
The air was clean and warm, the water was an unbelievable blue, and the sun was wonderfully bright.
Rain frowned. After the past month of nervously waiting for her superiors to find something that would prove she hadn't been completely honest with them, it was a very surreal setting.
Rain shielded her eyes, even though she had on dark sunglasses, and peered down the beach. In the distance, she could see a small figure stretched out on a lounge chair, and she headed towards it. Along her right was a thick forest of palm trees and ferns, while the clear blue water lapped at the shoreline on her left. She angled her path closer to the water, the firmer and cooler sand a little easier on her bare feet.
As she got closer, Rain recognized the familiar shape of the woman sunbathing in the nude on her stomach. She smiled. When Rain was only a few meters away, the woman spoke without turning her head.
"You made it."
Case had recognized the agent's footsteps as she came closer, and her heart was beating a little faster. She didn't know whether Rain had shown up to arrest her or not, but she was prepared to fight, clothing or no clothing.
"Yeah, I did."
Rain took the vacant chair next to the woman and leaned back.
"For how long?" Case asked warily.
"I received a six-month paid leave of absence. I'm still not sure whether it was supposed to be a punishment or a reward for how the investigation ended up. By the way, you're dead."
Case breathed an internal sigh of relief and sat up as she turned to face Rain.
"So, it worked."
"Yeah. I still want to know how you hacked into all those databases. They're supposed to be locked up tight," Rain frowned in mock reproach.
"Trade secret. Maybe I'll teach it to you sometime," Case smirked.
Rain looked into Case's eyes and removed her sunglasses, so that Case could see her eyes as well.
"I missed you, Cassandra."
Case paused. She wasn't sure how to react. She'd spent the past few weeks in a constant state of limbo. She'd wondered if Rain had lied to her about loving her in order to keep Case from killing her. Then she'd decided Rain did love her, but that Rain had just realized the whole thing had been a mistake. Rain would probably tell the story they'd come up with just to save her career, and then she'd forget all about Case.
The endless wondering had made Case shut down in an attempt to keep herself from being hurt, but now that Rain was here and quite obviously still cared about Case, the ex-assassin didn't know what to do.
"Case?" Rain inquired.
It seemed to take forever, but in only a few seconds, Case's face screwed up into an expression of intense pain. She'd stopped breathing and when she suddenly inhaled, a sharp sob escaped. The sound was the catalyst and tears poured from her eyes as she tried to curl in on herself.
Rain had come back. Rain loved her. Rain wasn't going to leave her. Rain was here.
For Case, knowing that Rain loved her hurt worse than if Rain had never showed up at all. Case had never been loved unconditionally before, and it created a safe space, which allowed her to feel things she'd never permitted herself to until meeting Rain. In order to touch the love, she also had to touch the fear, rage, pain, and hate she'd bottled up for so long. If she were going to feel anything, she would have to feel everything.
It was a testament to the strength of her love for Rain that Case was willing to go through all the pain to get to the love.
Rain watched the transformation from detached confidence to tortured pain, and she didn't think twice about reaching out to comfort Case. As soon as Case felt the arms moving to hold her, she tried to pull away, but Rain refused to give up. Finally, Rain's insistence convinced Case that it wasn't a trick, and she climbed onto Rain's lap and held on for dear life. The soft denim of Rain's cut-off jean shorts and thin tank top were almost as comforting to Case's body as the warm skin beneath them. Rain wrapped her arms around the small blonde's naked torso and held her as she cried.
After a while, Case calmed down and she raised her head from Rain's shoulder to look into Rain's eyes.
"I love you, Rebecca," Case whispered.
Rain tenderly brushed the bangs off Case's forehead and smiled.
"I love you, too, Cassandra," she replied. "Are you okay?"
Case looked down and shook her head minutely.
"No. But I will be."
Rain nodded in understanding. It would be a while before either of them could ever say they were "okay."
Case laid her head back down on Rain's shoulder and forced herself to relax in the comforting embrace. She was so successful that she was almost asleep when she heard Rain's voice again.
"So, what do we do now?" Rain asked.
Case brought her head up again.
"I don't know," she said quietly. "Maybe we can... Maybe we can start by just talking. I want to know who you are. No more disguises."
"The same goes for you. I never want you to hold back from me," Rain requested.
"I won't," Case promised.
She didn't know how she was going to keep that promise, but she would do her best, and hopefully Rain would forgive her when she didn't quite live up to it.
Case paused as she realized she was actually thinking long-term where Rain was concerned. She was putting herself in a very vulnerable position. But the patient understanding in Rain's eyes reminded Case that she didn't need to fear anything when it came to Rain and how she felt. She took a deep breath.
"Will you show me how?" Case asked pensively.
Rain smiled gently.
"Yes," Rain promised. "But you're going to have to help me, too."
Case nodded. She could live with that. She could live with anything if it meant Rain would be there with her. It was because of Rain that she was willing to try at all. If Case had remained on her own, she would have been comfortable staying numb for the rest of her life. But Rain's unconditional love had given Case a glimpse of who she could become, and she'd liked what she'd seen. She just had to take a chance and trust Rain.
Rain felt some of her fears fade away at the glimmer of hope she saw in Case's eyes. For Case, she would do anything. She already had. What surprised Rain the most was that she didn't regret any of it. Everything she had done had led to this new beginning with Case, and if she had it to do all over again, she would. Case was worth it.
Case leaned forward and kissed Rain softly, her gentleness and love infusing the contact with more emotional intensity than a mere physical brushing of the lips could ever hope to imitate. Rain smiled into the kiss and they slowly renewed their connection with one another, as Rain held Case protectively. When it was over, Case rested her head on Rain's shoulder again and sighed in contentment.
They both knew they still had a long way to go. Case had demons that might never be fully exorcised, and Rain was far from being whole herself. And despite any promises or commitments they made to one another, there was no way to know what the future held for them. But for now, they were simply content to be in each other's arms. They'd deal with tomorrow when it came.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
Kodi Wolf, Assassin
