Burgles

Chapter 5

          In a two-day period, I learned I had a sister, I decided I would make that sister a partner, and I found myself seeking revenge for someone else. I was becoming a real unselfish hero. I pulled the car off the highway onto a side street, parked in a deserted alleyway, and turned to Raine. "Are you sure those are my plans?" I asked, reaching for them.

          She handed the folder to me.

          They were my plans all right. She may be competent after all. I flipped through graphs and diagrams and could feel Raine staring. I didn't look up. "What's the matter? Haven't read through them yet?"

          "Na, didn't have time. Are we really going after the cloner?"

          "Sure are, but"—I glanced at my watch—"we're also going after JJ." I looked over at her. "And, it looks like she's outside the barrier."

          Raine's eyes grew. "Outside? Ya mean like on the other side?"

          I nodded.

          "Crap—I mean...what's even out there?" she asked.

          I shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." I closed the folder. "So, whattaya think? Cloner or JJ first?"

          Raine swallowed. "Uh, I don't knaw." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I mean...I really don't knaw. How 'bout the cloner?"

          "Okay, JJ it is." I drove the car out of the alleyway, onto the road, and headed toward South Bay.

          "Are ya sure? Wouldn't be nicer knawing ya had the cloner safely in your hands?" Her voice quivered.

          I smiled. "Yeah. It would be, but I have a feeling JJ knows something about the cloner that we don't. It might be smart to find out what. And, I want her dead."

          "Good point." She took a deep breath in and let it out. "Ya scared?" she asked.

          "Nope. Can't afford to be," I said. That was a lie. The road dragged on. Buildings faded away and the bridge to South Bay appeared. I was frightened down to my core.

          Raine and I sat parked close enough to the barrier to see it, but far enough away to not draw attention to ourselves. No telling what kind of mysteries lay behind that massive, thick wall. I peered through my binoculars. The wall was wide enough to easily land two helicopters side by side, and long enough to empty three tanks of gas driving alongside it. Guards were posted sporadically about, both on the ground and on top of the wall, particularly around the gate area. However, no action appeared to be passing through the gate. I had a feeling very few ever saw the other side. How we would get there, I didn't know. I handed the binoculars to Raine. "How do you think we do this?" I asked.

          She took the binoculars and looked for a minute. "On the ground maybe? Look there's a door. It probably leads to some sort of barracks. Maybe there's a door on the other side of the wall too," she said.

          I looked where she pointed. Sure enough, there was a door about a hundred yards off to the right of the gate, but it was guarded. "All right, say we do pass that guard and get in there. What if there isn't another door? And, don't you think we might need a car?" I asked.

          "You're the master planner. What da ya think their gonna do? Let us drive right on through? Sometimes ya gotta see something and go for it."

          Before I could speak, Raine got out of the car. Staying low, she made a wide, arching route toward the wall on the guard's left, staying crouched behind a combination of brush and debris. I sat stunned as she inched her way closer and closer. She picked up something and chucked it over the guard's head. It landed a good fifty feet to the guards right. The noise caught the guard's attention, and they took a few steps toward it, leaving the door unguarded. The guard's back was to Raine. All Raine needed to do was slip through the door unnoticed. At first, that's what she appeared to be doing, but then she passed the door, and went a few more steps to the guard. She snuck up behind them, stood up, put one hand over the guard's mouth, and the other on the side of the guard's head. I could almost hear the snap. The guard fell to the ground. I couldn't believe it, Raine killed someone. What for? It was totally unnecessary. Getting out of the car, I followed the path Raine took and approached her. She had dragged the body behind some metallic debris, an aging sign by the looks of it, and was putting on the guard's outfit. I stormed up to her, showing as much quiet anger as possible. I raised my arms to either side. "What the hell was that?"