The Chemist

“It’s okay. We’ve all made mistakes on this little endeavor.”

“You haven’t. You’re trying to make me feel better.”

“I’ve made several major errors in the past few weeks.”

He looked up, disbelieving.

“One, I didn’t just ignore Carston’s e-mail in the first place. Two, I fell for the trap. Three, I missed your tracker. Four, I didn’t arm the ceiling in the barn. And then Kevin made the mistake of taking off his gas mask… I guess that’s the only one I can think of for him, except for not having transport out. Bummer, I guess he wins that round.”

“Well, he also did something wrong in the beginning or the CIA would have bought that he was dead.”

“Good point. Thanks.”

“Arnie, though,” he said sadly. “Arnie’s still batting a thousand.”

“Don’t you just hate those insufferable perfectionists?”

Daniel laughed. “So much.” The humor left his face. “But I don’t think you made so many mistakes. I mean, I guess when it comes to what’s best for you, yes. But for me… Well, I’m glad you fell for it.”

She gave him a sardonic look. “That’s taking romance a little too far, don’t you think?” She wished she could completely excise the memory of their first night together, with a scalpel if necessary. She wished those images weren’t so clear and sharp in her mind – the tendons standing out in his neck, the sound of his muffled screams. She shuddered, wondering how long it would take until they faded.

“I’m serious. If it wasn’t you, they would have sent someone else for me. And if that person had gotten the best of Kevin, whoever it was would have killed me right then, wouldn’t he?”

She looked into his earnest eyes, and then shuddered again. “You’re right.”

He stared back for a long moment, then sighed. “So what do we do now?”

Alex frowned. “Well, our options are limited. My face still isn’t ready for scrutiny. But it’s now better than yours. So we can stay here and keep our heads down, or we could go north. I have a place. It’s not as fancy as this one or as well protected. I don’t have a Batcave.” The jealousy in her voice on the last line was unconcealed.

“So you think it’s safer here?”

“It depends. I’d like to get Arnie’s thoughts about the town before we decide. Kevin’s take wouldn’t hurt, either. Hopefully he’ll call soon. The plans have changed a little. I think he’s going to get his wish. He gets to be the victor after all.”

The day dragged. Alex didn’t want to leave the television. It didn’t change things much, knowing how many times they aired the piece and how many outlets picked it up, but she still had to watch. Arnie took the new situation with the stoicism she expected, only the tightening of his eyes betraying his worry.

Alex wanted to send Arnie to the Batcave with a list of everything she needed. She’d love to have the SIG for herself, plus extra ammo, and for Daniel the sawed-off shotgun that she’d seen in Kevin’s stash. A sniper rifle wasn’t as helpful in close quarters as a shotgun would be. It could incapacitate multiple attackers with one load of buckshot.

She also wanted to hunt for gas masks – she couldn’t wire up the house if she didn’t have a third for Arnie. She doubted Kevin would have overlooked such an obvious safety feature, but then again, maybe it was obvious only to someone like her. In his world, Kevin probably only worried about bullets and bombs.

But though she wanted these things badly, it might already be too late for preparations. If the flirtatious checker had called after the first broadcast – which could have aired earlier in the day than the one they’d seen, or even the day before – it would take a certain amount of time for their enemies to begin the search. Someone had to get here, then ask questions around town, and finally start investigating possible leads. But then, if that someone had good luck, the surveillance would begin. And she had no way of knowing if it already had.

Even though she and Daniel were staying inside with the windows covered, someone could be watching Arnie right now. If Arnie took a field trip to the Batcave, the watcher would follow. At that point, they might as well put up a banner that read CONGRATULATIONS, YOU’VE FOUND THE RIGHT PLACE! HELP YOURSELF TO A FEW ROCKET LAUNCHERS!

They could do nothing that might give away the existence of the Batcave.

Her most essential defenses were in easy reach, everything of importance loaded into her backpack – neatly Ziplocked by category – for a quick retreat. She had Arnie move the truck to the back of the house, close enough to Arnie’s bedroom window that they could be in the front cab with one well-hidden step.

She wished Kevin would call or that he’d trusted them enough to give Daniel the number to his own burner phone, in case of emergency. There might be additional safeties he’d built into the place that Arnie wasn’t aware of.

Daniel made dinner for the three of them, and though it wasn’t as high-spirited an affair as the previous night’s, it was still delicious. She told him to slow down with his stock of ingredients. It might be a while before shopping was on the agenda again, even for Arnie.

It surprised her how unaware Daniel seemed to be of Arnie’s presence – well, not unaware, exactly, just unaffected. Not that he was rude to Arnie or ignored him, but Daniel made no effort to hide his new closeness with Alex in front of him. Twice he took her hand; once he kissed the top of her head as he passed with the dishes. Arnie, unsurprisingly, showed no reaction to Daniel’s exhibition, but she couldn’t help but wonder what he thought of it.