Push My Pen Chapter Two

Tess’s floor was all but deserted by 5:08 when Lisa arrived, a little out of breath.

“FYI, security locked the door to the skywalk after I came through so we’ll have to take the street and it’s getting cloudy and windy.”

“They already locked it?” Tess asked. She knew they locked this side earlier than the side at the Gilder Building because businesses in the Gilder were open later, but she’d left at 5:30 before and it had still been open.

“The guard said it was because of the weather. They don’t have the staff to watch all the entrances and some unhoused people have been trying to get into the building to sleep out of the rain.”

Tess’s heart sunk. She’d already known the reason. She’d been in that position once. She’d lived on the street for a year as a teenager. It had been her choice then but she’d met enough people and seen enough reality that she knew she was never too far away from being there again.

Lisa gave Tess a quick, understanding smile as she sunk into the chair on the other side of Tess’s desk. Lisa knew every piece of Tess’s history and would know where her mind had wandered.

Tess sighed away the thoughts for now and double checked that her document was synced to the cloud before closing it and locking her computer. She reached down to the floor beside her filing cabinet and retrieved a gift bag. She passed the bag across the desk with a smile.

“You’re too sweet.” Lisa grinned as she took the bag. Tess noticed goosebumps rising on Lisa’s arms.

“Where’s your cardigan? If it’s already about to rain, you should have a jacket.”

“Well, I was wearing it part of the afternoon because of the A/C, but I had to walk to the courthouse twice and I got hot and took it off. I didn’t think the rain was supposed to hit until later.” By now, Lisa had unwrapped the tissue paper and found the postcard.

It had a lovely image of the beach with a little caption that read, “I was here and I was thinking about you. How pathetic is that?” It made Lisa laugh just the way Tess predicted she would; a deep, sincere chuckle. Then she found the journal. It had a leather cover carved with an image of an orca breaching.

“Oh, it’s beautiful, Tess.”

“You said you wanted to start a gratitude journal again. Maybe that will inspire you.”

“And ‘cause you didn’t see whales.”

“We didn’t see whales so I couldn’t take a picture for you. I thought about getting you a framed photo of a whale but you were texting me right then about the journaling thing and if you need inspiration for your first entry just go back to those texts from Saturday. Paragraphs about Thomas. Paragraphs.”

“Dirty paragraphs,” Lisa smirked as she carefully placed the journal back into the bag.

“Some dirty, yes.”

They both laughed and in a moment, they were lost in their friendship, talking more about their long weekends and a bit about their work days. It was almost 6:00 when the boom of thunder from outside reminded them where they were.

“We’d better get out of here if we’re gonna beat the rain,” Lisa said, standing.

“Shoot, yes,” Tess said. “I have an errand to run still. Let’s go.”

But, as they stood at the big front doors of the bank lobby and watched water sluice down the windows, backlit by lightening, they lost their eagerness.

“Well, shit,” Tess said.

“Yeah,” Lisa said. “Normally two blocks is nothing but that’s a lot of frickin’ water.” A box truck went by and sloshed water up onto the parked cars directly in front of the bank.

“I’m sorry I made you walk over here. You could’ve been dry. Oh!” Tess remembered that she had a folding plastic rain poncho. The bank had put their logo on them and handed them out at local baseball games last summer. “I have a poncho!” She reached for her purse, but it wasn’t on her shoulder.

Lisa laughed at her. “You left your purse? Good luck with your errands.”

Tess shook her head. “I have to go back for it. My keys are in there.” She put a hand over her eyes. “It’s been a long day.”

“Well, I’m gonna go ahead and run, girl,” Lisa said. “Thomas said I could stop by the axe-throwing place to see him if I wanted and now I’m gonna have to change first, so I’ve gotta go.” She pointed at her thin, white shirt. She started to roll down the top of her gift bag and then held it out to Tess instead. “Since you’re going back, can you keep this in your office tonight so it doesn’t get wet?”

Tess nodded but before she took the bag, she shrugged off her blazer and held it out to Lisa.

“Take this,” she said. “I’ll have an ugly poncho to wear, and you need something.”

“Are you sure?” Lisa asked. “The teal is your favorite.”

“You’re my favorite. It got dirty today, anyway. I’ll have to wash it,” Tess said as they exchanged the bag and the blazer. “Enjoy your night.”

Lisa smiled, slipping her arms into the blazer. “Stay dry,” she said sarcastically as she headed for the front doors.

“Yeah, right,” Tess called. She turned and hurried back up to her office.

She set Lisa’s gift on her desk, grabbed her purse from the hook on the back of the door and headed into the hallway. She stopped in the doorway as another boom of thunder shook the building and the lights everywhere flickered. Someone screamed from a nearby floor and Lisa froze, listening. The lights stayed on, laughter followed the scream and then the sound of vacuuming. It was only the cleaning crew, startled just like her.

She stepped out into the hallway and headed for the stairwell. A door opened behind her, scaring her again, and she whirled around.

Brody, stepped out of a conference room Tess often used to meet with larger groups.

“You’re here late,” he said, approaching.

“Forgot my purse. You’re here late, too,” she said.

“There’s sometimes a leak in that room when it rains. I had to put a bucket down just in case.”

“They’re making you do maintenance now, too?”

“Nah, they were gonna make me wait with the new maintenance guy until he finished what he’s doing on the roof and then show him which room it is and I just said I’d rather stay dry and do it myself.”

“I hear that,” Tess said. She saw the shine of the ring of keys on Brody’s belt, remembered what Lisa had said, and did something she hadn’t done in a long, long time. She adjusted her stance to show off her figure a bit, and ran a hand through her hair. “I’d love to stay dry myself but I’m gonna have to go down to street level to get to my parking garage tonight.” She shrugged and pinched her blouse and wafted it a little, drawing his attention to the thin, pink material. “I’ll be soaked through.”

Brody swallowed, then shook his head. “Here, I’ll let you out the Skywalk.” He gestured toward the stairwell and smiled at her. “I can just lock it back after you go through, no trouble.”

“Oh, thank you! You’re a lifesaver.” She brushed a hand over his arm as he passed to lead the way and she saw him react to the touch. She mentally chided herself. You could’ve just asked, you didn’t need to flirt.

She admitted to herself as she watched Brody descend the stairs ahead of her, that what Lisa had said was true. He was handsome and fit. He looked good in those uniform pants, and she remembered times she’d noticed the muscles of his arms stretching the fabric of his shirt. Tonight he had added a jacket.

But when they reached the skywalk doors and he rifled through the keys to find the right one, she saw his hands shaking. She made him nervous. She could find that complimentary, but it wasn’t sexy. She didn’t need a man who would be afraid to touch her. And he was stalling a little.

“So, uh, what do you usually do on weekends, Tess?” he asked.

Shit. Now she’d done it. As much as she had denied it to Lisa, she had known Brody had a thing for her. She’d always clipped off their conversations just a little early to avoid this exact moment. She thought fast as he turned the key.

“This weekend a guy I know is throwing axes at that place uptown. I think I’m gonna go watch him.” It was low. She knew it. It was almost a lie, especially the implication.

“Oh, wow,” he said. “That’s cool.”

He moved to push the door open for her and, pretending she didn’t notice, she put a hand on it and charged through.

“I really appreciate this, Brody. You have a great night, okay?” She sped away over the skywalk, waving when he told her good night.

She had passed all the way across the skywalk and halfway through the Gilder Building before she slowed. She was going to feel guilty about this for a while. She hoped Brody would only feel bad about it for a moment, though. He was young and attractive. He’d get over it quick. She just hoped it wouldn’t be awkward when they saw each other. And above all she hoped he wouldn’t try to ask her out again.

The skywalk that connected Tess’s building to Lisa’s was shiny and dramatic and beautifully kept. They called it ‘a bridge through time’ connecting the historic Gilder with it’s ornate brickwork and pillars beside the doors to the sleek, modern glass and stone of High Mountain Bank.

On the other side of the Gilder Building, a second skywalk was shorter and very basic. It merely crossed the alley between the building and the parking garage where both she and Lisa parked. But the skywalk’s roof was metal and it made such an impressive sound as the rain pounded down that she slowed to a stop and sidled closer to the window. She looked at the world outside. It was hard to see far. No people passed by like they usually would, only an occasional car, mostly obscured by rain. Lightening brightened the sky and Tess heard her own gasp just before the thunder followed, shaking the skywalk around her.

She let the thrill of it unsettle her, smiling at the wild wonder of nature. She was an occasional trail runner. Sometimes, she would drive a few hours to take her run out into the woods – head up a mountain for a good view and a greater sense of accomplishment than what came from running on sidewalks and up stairwells in town. It was time for another trip, her body told her.

She started walking again, eager now to get home and look at her calendar to see when she might be able to take a day off work. As she reached out to push open the door to the garage, something caught her eye. On the ground in the alley outside there was a towel or a tote bag or something that was a beautiful shade of teal, just a little darker than her favorite color. It was in a puddle next to the tire of one of the city’s utility trucks that had been left parked there.

She thought it could be what her blazer looked like soaking wet. But of course, her blazer was safe with Lisa, who’d headed home to change, unless she’d stayed dry enough to go straight to axe-throwing. It was a random thing to see and a silly thing to think of. She forgot it right away, but she would remember it for the rest of her life.

***

Micah was near the principal’s rented duplex at 0600 the next morning. Near was a relative term – he was across the street and down one house. He sat fairly comfortably in the back of a minivan with sunshades in the windows. A stuffed fox was staring at him from the opposite seat and a foul smell – spoiled milk, maybe? - emanated from the third row.

He could endure it for a little longer, he told himself. The leg room was adequate at least. There had been no sound and no light from the house the minivan belonged to yet. And he’d be out soon.

She was awake.

He’d spent an hour in the principal’s house yesterday while she worked. He’d learned what he could about her home. Two entrances. No garage, just an individual car port, the twin to one on the other side of the duplex. Neighbor was a much older man, a widower. Micah hadn’t had the chance to visit his house because he’d been in it. The man kept a sharp eye on things in the neighborhood, which was both a bit of a hindrance and a help for Micah’s mission.

At any rate, he’d learned what he could, and left a hidden camera and a couple of audio devices inside. So he knew she had risen early, emerged from her room in running clothes, and was now tying on her shoes and tuning up music on her phone in preparation.

Which meant he had to run, also. He’d either follow on foot or at the least, run to where he’d parked his car to follow as best he could in it. He’d left it further down the block near a park where suspicion would not likely be raised. He’d be able to tail her more closely on foot, but there was less risk of discovery from the car. Maybe it didn’t matter. They hadn’t seen any threats yet. No one even seemed to be following her. Except them.

A dog started barking somewhere in the neighborhood just as the principal stepped out of her house and began to stretch on her small front porch. A split second later his phone vibrated.

Micah answered at a near whisper. “Scott.”

“Do you have eyes on the principal?” Devlin asked. The tension in his voice caused Micah to reach for the handle to the sliding door beside him, every muscle tensing as his focus locked back onto Tess.

“Yes,” he replied. She was still stretching, so he began scanning the neighborhood.

“You’re sure?” Devlin asked.

Micah’s grip on the phone tightened and he could feel his face tensing.

“Devlin. I’m looking right at her. Why?”

“Shayne spotted operatives.”

“Where?” His hand now tightened on the door handle. Tess was still stretching and everything seemed quiet except the heartbeat in his ears picking up speed.

“Two blocks from High Mountain Bank, right next to the garage where she parks.”

“Wet work?”

“Cleaners.”

Micah’s breath caught even though he was looking right at her. Tess – the principal – was very much alive. She began her run.

“Shayne’s sure?” he asked, waiting for Tess to get far enough away that he could climb out of the car without her noticing.

“They were decked out like city workers but the gear was forensic cleanup. She’s sure of it.”

“Do I need to disable her car to keep the principal away for a while?”

“No, they were leaving when Shayne saw them.”

“Who’d they take out?” Cleaners meant someone was dead. His team hadn’t expected there to be other targets. Especially with Tess still in play.

“We’re looking,” he said. “If it’s someone she works with, she’ll find out before we do.”

“Alright, I’ve gotta go. I’ve gotta stay close if the game is on.” Hanging up without saying good-bye, Micah climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him. He left it unlocked as he ran after Tess, tucking the phone and the small tablet he used to access the cameras into a low-profile pack strapped tight to his chest.

The pack also concealed his gun. He’d packed only one gun and one knife strapped to his right leg beneath his light black jogging pants. He wore running clothes quite a bit on missions. They were easy to move in and even when the principal was not a runner, it was easier to blend into a strange neighborhood if it seemed you were just running through it.

Her run lasted about 45 minutes without incident, but just because Micah couldn’t see any threats near the woman, didn’t mean there couldn’t be someone aiming a rifle at her skull. He was on edge the entire time, wishing their team was larger.

When she was in the last two blocks toward home, Micah separated from her and hurried to his car. He drove to a spot a block up from her house. Here he was only facing the back or side fences of houses – no windows, doors, or garages. He’d scoped out places he was less likely to cause the neighbors to take note of him or call him in to the cops. But, this was still close enough to the principal’s house to see any vehicles approaching or to hear anything suspicious.

He cracked a window just for that purpose and pulled his tablet and phone out of his pack. The audio from inside Tess’s house told him she was in the shower so he took a moment to make a call.

Devlin answered on the first ring.

“We don’t know anything more.”

“I’m gonnna follow her to work so can you two do the advance sweep alone?” he asked.

“What do you think we’re doing, Micah? Having scones and cappuccino?’

He could tell Devlin was walking and he could hear cars driving past. He must be doing a street level sweep.

“I’m just checking in since this wasn’t the plan,” he said.

“It’s my job to update the plan as we go,” Devlin said. “You’re tense about this one and I need you to stop because Shayne always gets bitchy the first day in play. I can’t have both of you crawling down my throat.”

“Got it.” Micah couldn’t bring himself to apologize and it’s not what Devlin would expect. First real day on the job was always tense.

“I’ll check all the cameras and try to be in one of the building when she comes through. I’ll have Shayne in a car in the garage. She parks on Level 5?”

“That seems to be her habit.”

“Your comm is laid out for you at base if you get there before I do. I’m hanging up now.”

The line closed before Micah could say good-bye. He let out a little huff of a laugh. Apparantly Shayne wasn’t the only one who was bitchy.

The sun came up while he kept eyes on the neighborhood and Tess – the principal – dressed and did whatever she did to get ready. He kept the video closed. Granted, the camera was in her kitchen/entry area, but she lived alone and kept her curtains drawn so she may walk from the bathroom to her room naked. She may not close her bedroom door. Doing this job was invasive enough to the clients without seeing more than he was meant to.

She wasn’t a client. Maybe that was why this job was sitting strangely in his head. The client here was an undisclosed government agency that was investigating a criminal organization. That organization wanted something from the principal and it was suspected they would try to coerce, kidnap and torture, or somehow force her to give it to them. Or they’d kill her.

There wasn’t enough information yet for the government to approach Tess or for them to put her protection on their official budget. So his team had been quietly hired. The mission was twofold: save the girl and gather intel on the bad guys. He, Devlin, and Shayne worked part one while another team in the area worked part two.

The second team was apparently botching it since they’d allowed someone to be killed. He’d talk to Devlin about it since he was in contact with that team.

When he heard Tess making breakfast in the kitchen, he opened the video again and watched her prepare an egg and toast. Just living her life.

Is that why he was having trouble thinking of her as the client or principal? Because she didn’t even know she was being protected? He’d worked a similar job where principal had known she was being protected ,but didn’t know how extensively. He’d been one of the outer perimeter surveillance team and he’d had to keep his work covert.

But Tess had no clue anyone was watching her – good guys or bad – and though he had seen photos of her and her workplace taken by the other side, doing the same thing himself without her knowledge felt terribly intrusive.

Tess Kemper was normal. She was an everyday person following the rules.

She wasn’t famous. No one in her family was famous. She wasn’t a politician or some high-profile CEO or prosecutor. She wasn’t a bad person, which frankly, a lot of his clients were. There was nothing about her job that should be causing the interest of this group. In short, she hadn’t signed up for this.

After watching her for a couple of days and reading Devlin’s report on her social media and financials, it seemed trail running alone was the most dangerous thing she did. That and having a little too much comfort in her parking garage. She hadn’t seen him standing there watching her last night.

Her parents and younger brother also had fairly normal lives with boring jobs and all lived far enough away that it seemed unlikely this had anything to do with them. The only person in her life that had raised an eyebrow for him at all was her friend Lisa Sullivan. The two seemed very close and Lisa worked for a law firm. But none of the lawyers there seemed to have any high-profile cases now or recently.

Tess had a sealed record from her teen years that Devlin had reviewed with Micah. It read like a much milder version of his own. Not so much as a speeding ticket since she’d turned 18, though. Did he see some connection between himself and this client that made his brain constantly think of her as Tess instead of the vague, amorphous, living game piece he usually thought of clients as in order to keep his goal clear in his mind.

He couldn’t like her. Just like he could never afford to dislike his clients. His opinions had to stay out of it. Names had to stay out of it. So he resolved to stop thinking of her as Tess.

He caught his own gaze in the rearview mirror as he scanned the street behind him. He hardened the look, firm with himself. She was the principal only. Like always.

She was leaving her house now and he glanced down at the tablet to see her about to open her door. He heard the front door of the other side of the duplex open at the same time and he jolted into action, shifting the car into reverse, ready to get back to her.

“Good morning, Tessa!” said the old man next door. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

He’d backed up about a foot when he braked and waited.

“It is, Frank. How are you?” Tess replied.

“I’m well, I’m well,” the man said. “I just wanted to make sure everything’s okay in your house.”

“Yeah,” the door creaked as Tess pushed it open a little more, possibly so Frank could see in. Micah cursed himself for not adding another camera somewhere on the porch. But Frank was retired and sat on the porch often and would possibly have noticed the slightest change. “Why do you ask?”

“Oh, I thought I heard the floor creaking over there yesterday after you’d left for work. I wondered if you’d gotten a cat or something.”

“Fuck,” Micah muttered as he shifted into park. He shook his head. He’d been as quiet as possible.

Tess laughed and the sound coming through the terrible tablet speaker still made one side of his mouth lift a little.

“You can tell me, you know,” Frank said. “I won’t say a word to the landlord.”

Now Micah actually smiled.

“Well, pets are allowed with a deposit, Frank,” Tess said. “But I don’t have one. Especially not a cat. I’m allergic.”

“Huh,” Frank said.

“Just a creaky floor, maybe?” Tess said. “Temperature changes in the wood?”

The door closed and the conversation became too muffled to follow. In a moment, he heard Frank’s own muffled laughter and then they apparently said their good-byes because he heard footsteps leaving and Frank’s door shutting.

Frank was going to make things more complicated. They’d run his background and he was former military as well. His hearing was evidently still sharp and so was his mind. The only social activity they found him doing was a book club at the local library. Maybe someone should leave some pamphlets on activities for seniors under his windshield wiper at the grocery store. Micah made a mental note to arrange that.

It wasn’t just to help them keep eyes on the principal. It was also to keep Frank safe. He knew it would be a valid move to try to get to her at home by getting into the apartment next to hers and since Frank never left… He didn’t know what kind of scruples this group might have, but they’d taken out one person already.

Could it be that they had already eliminated their target? Maybe they were only stalking Tess to get to the actual mark – a boss, a friend - a lover? Devlin had found no evidence of a current lover. Her headlights were brightening in his rearview as she approached and he set his tablet down, looking into the passenger’s seat as she rolled past.

When she’d gotten a little ahead, he shifted into gear and followed. He wound up behind her with one car between them all the way to her parking garage. His gut twisted a little as he drove past the entrance, already losing sight of her taillights as she began circling her way up the levels. Now he had to trust his team to be where he couldn’t be.

In minutes he was back at home base, in a suite in the tall hotel near the High Mountain Building. The principal was already seated in her office. He played back the video footage from a minute or two earlier as she entered her workplace at an easy, comfortable walk. She was relaxed today. Happy.

He hoped she’d stay that way.

***

Tess spent most of the morning in conference with her boss, then quickly met with the marketing director. It was almost 11:30 before she made it back to her own office. She checked her phone and frowned a little. Lisa hadn’t texted anything about a coffee or lunch. Not super unusual except she’d also never texted Tess back last night about how the evening went with Thomas. Tess had written that off, figuring maybe the evening became all night and Lisa was otherwise occupied.

Maybe she was still occupied? Tess raised a brow. Lisa was too dedicated to call in “paralyzed from sex.”

A little too pleased with her own cleverness, Tess texted Lisa.

You didn’t call in to work as paralyzed-from-sex did you?

She set the phone face down beside her and heard a ping from the opposite side of the desk. Lisa’s gift bag waited where she’d left it last night.

She reached for the bag and opened it. Sure enough, Lisa’s phone was just going dark as she looked in.

“That explains why she didn’t answer,” Tess muttered to herself. She grabbed the phone and headed out. She’d walk it over to Lisa’s office. Knowing her friend, she’d have forgotten what she did with it and either be beside herself trying to find it or already be pricing out a replacement.

Lisa didn’t do well with being disconnected.

It was hot today and the skywalk with all it’s windows was beginning to heat up. It was also humid from all the rain overnight. Puddles still stood in the low places on the street and sidewalk below. Tess glanced down at people in the street; a group chatted while they waited for the crosswalk, a couple argued about something at a parking meter.

A man with his hands in his jeans pockets made eye contact with her as he walked down the sidewalk. Maybe it was eye contact. It was hard to tell at this distance. He was looking ahead now, picking up speed and trying not to look at her it seemed. It gave her a chill despite the heat in the skywalk.

In the Gilder building, she headed for the stairwell but found it blocked by a wet floor sign. They’d mopped this morning, evidently. It seemed a dangerous choice during the workday and Tess frowned as she imagined a foot slipping and a head cracking against the hard stairs. Shivering again, Tess changed course and entered the elevator. She pressed the button and, as she waited for the doors to close, she looked down at Lisa’s phone.

She pressed a side button to wake it. The elevator doors clanged shut. She saw all the notifications. Lisa had 12 missed calls and 23 texts. The elevator began to rise and Tess’s gut sank. That was a lot of calls even for Lisa. She entered Lisa’s passcode and pulled the notifications down to see who had been trying to reach her.

The elevator jolted to a halt.

The calls were mostly from Thomas but a couple were from Lisa’s mother. A text from this morning was also from Lisa’s mother, which stuck out to Tess because Lisa always teased her mom for not being able to text ‘in this day and age.’

Tess nearly tumbled out of the elevator when the doors opened. Lisa’s office was straight ahead and she approached with muscle memory as she opened the text.

Theres been a mistake. Honey call me please.

The door to the law office swung open, nearly hitting Tess. The receptionist sniffled and apologized. Then, recognition lit her face as she looked at Tess and she started to cry. She ran off down the hall and Tess stepped through the door.

She recognized the tall, older man who dominated the room. Jeremy was the firm’s founding attorney and the one Lisa worked with most. He was standing in the entry with what seemed to be every employee of the office. They all turned to stare at Tess as Jeremy approached her.

“Tess, come in,” he said. “Have a seat.”

Something in his tone made Tess balk. She pulled back against his guiding hand. He released her arm immediately.

“Are you holding up okay, Tess?”

She meant to ask, “Why wouldn’t I be?” but all that came out was “Why would…”

Somehow, she already knew. She knew what he was going to say to her.

“Christ, you haven’t heard. Tess, it’s Lisa,” he said. “You should sit down.”

When she didn’t move, he sighed. “Lisa’s gone,” he said softly, putting his large, warm hand on her shoulder. “She was killed last night.”

Tess numbed. Her hand went first, because she dropped the phone. Lisa’s phone. The thought made her panic and she tried to bend down to pick it up, but her legs went numb next. She crumpled to the floor. And as people rushed toward her, her ears began to ring. She closed her eyes, and screamed.