Before We Fall

Chapter 19

It was silent as he drove down the street. I turned from looking outside to him.

"What's your real name?" I asked him. He looked over at me.

"Clint." He admitted. I nodded and smiled. I leaned over and saw he was speeding. Then I heard the sirens behind us. He pulls over and puts the car in park. His hand moved down from the wheel to the side of his leg. He pulled out a knife and rolled the window. The cop walked up to the side of the car.

"Good afternoon, officer." Clint greeted him.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" The officer got right to the point.

"Sorry, sir. But my wife is at home about to give birth and she's the midwife. I just have to get her there as quickly as possible." Clint turned to me. I looked at the officer.

"Is that true, ma'am?" He asked.

"Yes, we're sorry for speeding but his wife needs me as soon as possible. Please, officer." I played along with Clint's act.

"Well, I'll let you go. Just don't speed. Have a good day and congratulations." The officer tipped his hat.

"Thank you, officer." I said. Clint pulls away and drove down the road.

"Good job." He commented.

"Thanks." I leaned my head against the window as I thought about all of this. I jumped when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I didn't pull it out because Clint might get rid of it.

It stayed quiet until Clint pulled up to a hotel. He gets a room and once we got in, I instantly walked to the bathroom. I pulled out my phone and checked it.

'Come back immediately.' -N

I sighed, placing the phone on the counter and turned on the water. I wetted my face and reached for the towel. I dried off my face then my hands as Clint opened the door. He leans against the door frame, knocking on it to get my attention. I looked at him in the mirror.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." I said back. He glanced at the phone on the counter then back at me.

"Grace, I....um, you can't call anyone. There are people who care about you who think you're dead and there's nothing you can do about it." He told me, using my given name from the mission. "Anyone you contact, becomes a target. So you need to put aside any normal emotional response that you have. The only edge we got right now is they think we're both gone. Alright?"

"Alright." I repeated back to him.

"So, you're gonna want to go through this." He holds something out to me. I turned, looking at him then grabbed the wallet. "You know, just to be familiar with it."

I opened it and I see my other false name. Claire Johnson. I looked back up at him.

"Who's Claire Johnson?" I asked him, curious of who this woman actually was.

"You are." He answered.

"Did you know her?" I pried even further.

"Not anymore." He turns away from me.

"Why do you have to stay enhanced?" I questioned him. He turns back to me. "Why is it so important to you?"

"Come here." He leads me to the laptop and starts typing on it. I sit down next to him and see the 'Fallen Heroes' website. He clicks on a picture and he moves the laptop towards me. I looked and see 'PFC. Kenneth J. Kitsome.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"This was me. Was. My army recruiter was making quota. He added 12 points to my IQ. 12 points makes them in. Have you ever pulled someone's Blues, drop them off their meds?" He asked me.

"No." I stated.

"It's painted a pretty graffic picture. You have a long way to fall and if I can't keep it together, we won't make it." He said.

I look at him then back to the screen. His hand reached over and shut the laptop. He moves it off the table and started to work on something. While he worked, I changed out of my dirty clothes and into cleaner ones we picked up. Glancing at him every few minutes, he stood up with a camera.

"Stand over here, please." He points to a place by the wall. I moved to where he pointed and he moved closer to me. He adjusted my hair slightly then moved my necklace. He took the photo then went back to his seat. I watched him as he set up the passports. He looked up at me and handed me mine.

"Let's go."