Double Bluff: Chapter 3
Thank you all for your flattering and encouraging comments thus far! Everybody thank Monica (Thank you so much, Monica!), for pulling a fast final check through of Chapter 3 so I could put it up for you all ahead of schedule. Chapter 3 below the cut, enjoy!
<----Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Goth Angel With a Fake ID
Two hours, a lot of towns, and one appropriated (it wasn’t stolen dammit, they’d get it back) car and a short metro train and bus ride later, Tony and Kelly were all the way on the other side of DC, walking the short distance from the bus stop to Abby’s rambling old Victorian rental house.
Kelly had been quiet since shortly after their exit from the first car, only interacting when Tony required her to move. Considering Tony was exhausted, he was pretty sure Kelly was only moments away from a total crash. He’d been carrying her since they’d gotten on the Metro, and right now was thanking his meager luck that Abby didn’t live too many blocks away from a Metro bus stop. *
Dragging tired feet and tired child up the last few steps to Abby’s front door, he pounded the knocker, remembering from his first visit here that the doorbell had never worked. He really hoped Abby was home. Neither of her roommates would be nearly as helpful, and they’d both think he was crazy showing up with child in tow.
The door swung open and a delighted voice greeted them,
“Tony! What are you doing here? I thought we were going out on Friday. Oh- who’s this?” Abby peered at Kelly’s dazed face. Kelly raised her head and peered back with tear filled eyes.
“Oookaaaay. Never mind, don’t ask questions, Abigail, invite your clearly exhausted guests inside. Come in, both of you!” Abby waved her hands expansively a bit like she was trying to help land a small plane and shooed them through the doorway.
Under Abby’s direction, Tony carried Kelly upstairs and into the office across from Abby’s bedroom. He laid her down on the futon and Abby covered her up with a black blanket covered in purple sparkling vampire bats. Kelly appeared to be completely asleep.
“Come on, we can probably talk in my room if we’re quiet, and she can see us if she wakes up.” Abby whispered as she moved quickly across the hall. Sitting down on her bed, she turned to watch as Tony followed wearily and sank to the floor by her feet.
“Abby, you don’t even know...” Tony began and trailed off, unsure how to manage to explain the events of the past few hours.
“Only if you don’t tell me, Tony. What’s going on? She isn’t yours, is she?” It was amazing how she managed to sound supportive and confused all at once. Tony raised his head.
“Abbs, remember how I was worried my boss wasn’t a good guy? Ha! Turns out I may have been understating the problem. I think about half my department aren’t good guys. And I know they’re after us. Abbs... I only got her, I couldn’t save her mom. Her mom...”
Tony laid his head on Abby’s knee and grabbed tight to her outstretched hand. He knew he had to pull himself together and get this show on the road, every minute they stayed here would be one in their pursuer’s favor. But he needed a short time out, to stop and just be for a bit, because he was damned sure he wouldn’t get this chance again for a long time. He’d signed up to be a good guy, and he was going to save Kelly and figure out a way to expose the criminal’s masquerading as officers of the law in his department. Right after this not so regularly scheduled mini breakdown.
“I’ll help, Tony, it’ll be okay, just tell me the details.” Abby petted his hair and squeezed his hand right back. Tony gave a mental head-shake and forced himself to focus.
“She’s a witness, her mom was too. Her mom had just given her preliminary testimony, they were supposed to be going to a safe house and on their way out of town. I overheard a phone call that didn’t sound right. I got to her before they could, was taking her to get her mom, we’d just gotten there... she saw it, Abbs. Car bomb. The agents knew it was coming. They knew we were coming. They came after us, I lost the tail, ditched the car, came here by way of three means of transportation and two half false trails. We should be okay for a few hours... but we need out of here fast, Abbs.”
“Oh my god, Tony! That’s... whoa. Okay. Okay, we can do this. That means two IDs, some place to go, and cash. And a car I think. Or maybe we should put you on a plane? Do you think we can do that if we get you there fast enough?”
“I don’t know, Abbs. If they can use department resources then there’s likely an alert out already, they may even accuse me of kidnapping. If they try to keep it all under wraps and avoid using department resources, then we might be okay for a while. I’m just not sure what story they can tell, or how high up this goes.”
“Okay, so a plane is probably out, too risky. But if we get you out soon, roadblocks shouldn’t be an issue yet. Particularly if you avoid highways 'til you’re a ways away. Where can you go though?”
“I think... Abbs I think the only person I know who could possibly help is my dad. I think for a little girl he’ll help me without tossing me out on sight, and I think he’s got the money and connections to help me pull this off long term. The thing is, I might need to hide for a long time if this goes badly. Either way, I can’t pull a Dr. Richard Kimble with Kelly with me. It’s not like I can do the investigating by myself, and there isn’t really anyone else I can leave her with and know she’ll be safe. If she had other immediate family, they would have been with her or her mom.” Abby nodded.
“Okay, so that means we need to get you a car and enough resources to make it at least a ten hour drive and some leeway on the other end. This is not impossible, Tony.” She leaned down and hugged him tightly. Muffled words came from where Tony’s face was half smothered against her shoulder,
“Right. Okay. One fugitive for justice run coming up. I can do this.” Abby pulled back and smiled down at him, standing up and pulling on his hand. Tony rose and they stood facing each other. Abby tilted her head and looked at Tony quizzically,
“Okay, Tony. I have one very important question for you....” Tony looked up at her expectantly, ready to provide any information she might need. “How do you feel about going blond?”
************************************************
*Author's note: Metro System = DC area public transport, both bus and train are sometimes referred to as "the Metro", though generally "the Metro" means the train, and "the bus" or "the metro bus" means the bus system. This sentence was reworked several times to be less confusing to those who wouldn't automatically get the terminology, and hopefully the final version is completely clear. Suffice it to say, they got on a train, then they got on a bus from the where the train stopped, because a metro stop often has buses right outside where the train ends and are often referred to as the same stop. I'm not sure why I feel the need to explain all of this, except that three different non local people commented on the sentence in it's original form, and two different local people didn't. So, hopefully the new sentence wording works for everybody. I actually worked out where their whole crazy escape took them, which parts by beltway, which parts by train and bus, and where Abby lives... because I'm that silly. As a result, I couldn't quite make myself take out the sentence that started all the confusion, because I felt like I'd put in too much effort behind it. So there you go, my first completely unnecessary but it amused me to write it, author's note.
Chapter 4--->
<----Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Goth Angel With a Fake ID
Two hours, a lot of towns, and one appropriated (it wasn’t stolen dammit, they’d get it back) car and a short metro train and bus ride later, Tony and Kelly were all the way on the other side of DC, walking the short distance from the bus stop to Abby’s rambling old Victorian rental house.
Kelly had been quiet since shortly after their exit from the first car, only interacting when Tony required her to move. Considering Tony was exhausted, he was pretty sure Kelly was only moments away from a total crash. He’d been carrying her since they’d gotten on the Metro, and right now was thanking his meager luck that Abby didn’t live too many blocks away from a Metro bus stop. *
Dragging tired feet and tired child up the last few steps to Abby’s front door, he pounded the knocker, remembering from his first visit here that the doorbell had never worked. He really hoped Abby was home. Neither of her roommates would be nearly as helpful, and they’d both think he was crazy showing up with child in tow.
The door swung open and a delighted voice greeted them,
“Tony! What are you doing here? I thought we were going out on Friday. Oh- who’s this?” Abby peered at Kelly’s dazed face. Kelly raised her head and peered back with tear filled eyes.
“Oookaaaay. Never mind, don’t ask questions, Abigail, invite your clearly exhausted guests inside. Come in, both of you!” Abby waved her hands expansively a bit like she was trying to help land a small plane and shooed them through the doorway.
Under Abby’s direction, Tony carried Kelly upstairs and into the office across from Abby’s bedroom. He laid her down on the futon and Abby covered her up with a black blanket covered in purple sparkling vampire bats. Kelly appeared to be completely asleep.
“Come on, we can probably talk in my room if we’re quiet, and she can see us if she wakes up.” Abby whispered as she moved quickly across the hall. Sitting down on her bed, she turned to watch as Tony followed wearily and sank to the floor by her feet.
“Abby, you don’t even know...” Tony began and trailed off, unsure how to manage to explain the events of the past few hours.
“Only if you don’t tell me, Tony. What’s going on? She isn’t yours, is she?” It was amazing how she managed to sound supportive and confused all at once. Tony raised his head.
“Abbs, remember how I was worried my boss wasn’t a good guy? Ha! Turns out I may have been understating the problem. I think about half my department aren’t good guys. And I know they’re after us. Abbs... I only got her, I couldn’t save her mom. Her mom...”
Tony laid his head on Abby’s knee and grabbed tight to her outstretched hand. He knew he had to pull himself together and get this show on the road, every minute they stayed here would be one in their pursuer’s favor. But he needed a short time out, to stop and just be for a bit, because he was damned sure he wouldn’t get this chance again for a long time. He’d signed up to be a good guy, and he was going to save Kelly and figure out a way to expose the criminal’s masquerading as officers of the law in his department. Right after this not so regularly scheduled mini breakdown.
“I’ll help, Tony, it’ll be okay, just tell me the details.” Abby petted his hair and squeezed his hand right back. Tony gave a mental head-shake and forced himself to focus.
“She’s a witness, her mom was too. Her mom had just given her preliminary testimony, they were supposed to be going to a safe house and on their way out of town. I overheard a phone call that didn’t sound right. I got to her before they could, was taking her to get her mom, we’d just gotten there... she saw it, Abbs. Car bomb. The agents knew it was coming. They knew we were coming. They came after us, I lost the tail, ditched the car, came here by way of three means of transportation and two half false trails. We should be okay for a few hours... but we need out of here fast, Abbs.”
“Oh my god, Tony! That’s... whoa. Okay. Okay, we can do this. That means two IDs, some place to go, and cash. And a car I think. Or maybe we should put you on a plane? Do you think we can do that if we get you there fast enough?”
“I don’t know, Abbs. If they can use department resources then there’s likely an alert out already, they may even accuse me of kidnapping. If they try to keep it all under wraps and avoid using department resources, then we might be okay for a while. I’m just not sure what story they can tell, or how high up this goes.”
“Okay, so a plane is probably out, too risky. But if we get you out soon, roadblocks shouldn’t be an issue yet. Particularly if you avoid highways 'til you’re a ways away. Where can you go though?”
“I think... Abbs I think the only person I know who could possibly help is my dad. I think for a little girl he’ll help me without tossing me out on sight, and I think he’s got the money and connections to help me pull this off long term. The thing is, I might need to hide for a long time if this goes badly. Either way, I can’t pull a Dr. Richard Kimble with Kelly with me. It’s not like I can do the investigating by myself, and there isn’t really anyone else I can leave her with and know she’ll be safe. If she had other immediate family, they would have been with her or her mom.” Abby nodded.
“Okay, so that means we need to get you a car and enough resources to make it at least a ten hour drive and some leeway on the other end. This is not impossible, Tony.” She leaned down and hugged him tightly. Muffled words came from where Tony’s face was half smothered against her shoulder,
“Right. Okay. One fugitive for justice run coming up. I can do this.” Abby pulled back and smiled down at him, standing up and pulling on his hand. Tony rose and they stood facing each other. Abby tilted her head and looked at Tony quizzically,
“Okay, Tony. I have one very important question for you....” Tony looked up at her expectantly, ready to provide any information she might need. “How do you feel about going blond?”
************************************************
*Author's note: Metro System = DC area public transport, both bus and train are sometimes referred to as "the Metro", though generally "the Metro" means the train, and "the bus" or "the metro bus" means the bus system. This sentence was reworked several times to be less confusing to those who wouldn't automatically get the terminology, and hopefully the final version is completely clear. Suffice it to say, they got on a train, then they got on a bus from the where the train stopped, because a metro stop often has buses right outside where the train ends and are often referred to as the same stop. I'm not sure why I feel the need to explain all of this, except that three different non local people commented on the sentence in it's original form, and two different local people didn't. So, hopefully the new sentence wording works for everybody. I actually worked out where their whole crazy escape took them, which parts by beltway, which parts by train and bus, and where Abby lives... because I'm that silly. As a result, I couldn't quite make myself take out the sentence that started all the confusion, because I felt like I'd put in too much effort behind it. So there you go, my first completely unnecessary but it amused me to write it, author's note.
Chapter 4--->