World Class: A New Beginning, Part 6


    Keiko awoke suddenly to an unusual sound.

    At first, the combination of the sound, and waking up in a strange room, next to a man, and not knowing where she was, left her frightened and confused.  Then her recent memories intervened, and she recognized the room, and Sean.

    But the noise remained unexplained.  It was quite loud, and it repeated again.  It was coming from her room, right on the other side of the connecting door.

    Without disturbing Sean, she peeked around the corner into her hotel room.  The noise came from the entrance door.  Her heart started racing so loudly, that was all she could hear.  She still knew how to stay calm in the face of panic though.  She reached in, just barely, and silently dragged her second duffel bag through the doorway, and then shut the connecting door.

    She then headed to the door of Sean’s room, because she realized it had a peep hole.  Through that, she saw it was dark outside - she had no idea what time it was - and a car parked next to Sean’s that wasn’t there before.

    Then she heard whispering, in a man’s voice  Are you sure this is the right room?  We don’t have enough time to kill everyone in this hotel before we find her.

    Keiko headed straight back to the bed, crossing the entire room with a silent and quick efficiency that only ninja could perform, leaping onto the bed without a sound, and perching on its side with perfect balance.  She shook Sean furiously, but not enough to make a noise.

    Before he could speak and ask her what was wrong, she covered his mouth.  Then she saw her own terror reflected in his eyes as they widened to the size of saucers.

    That’s when Keiko’s fear became anger.  She was absolutely furious.  Those two men had chased her for far too long, and now they terrified a man who thought he left that kind of fear of death behind in the Middle East, and had known only civilization since.

    Stay here, she mouthed to him in a barely audible whisper.  Do not move.

    Keiko opened the connecting door, and slipped through into her own hotel room, closing the connecting door from her side.

    Sean leapt from the bed, and tried to push open the connecting door, but found it locked.  “Keiko!”  he tried whispering just barely.  “Keiko, no!”

    He stood face to face with the connecting door, waiting and hoping, his heart racing.  He strained to see if he could hear a sound, but there was nothing.  Sean wondered if Keiko was still alive, wondered if he should get a room key and go in there.  Or if she had done something horrible.

    The door opened suddenly, and Keiko pulled it closed it again behind her, then closed the door on Sean’s side and locked it.  Then she motioned for him to follow.

    Keiko moved to the opposite rear side of the room, just near the bathroom.  She closed the bathroom door, because she knew sound insulation between bathrooms was not very good.  Then she squatted on the floor, because the lower down you are in a room, the more furniture absorbs voices, so they don’t travel.

    Sean took the clue and kneeled beside her.  She leaned very close, so her lips were almost touching his ear.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We go to the lobby, fast,”  she whispered.  “Take our bags.  Tomorrow we abandon the car and go to the airport.”

    He didn’t have time to argue.  Keiko picked up one of her bags, and took his hand.  He grabbed her other one, and his own.  Like a train of humans in pajamas and luggage, they funneled out of the room without making a sound, and raced to the elevators, which were fortunately around the corner.

    Since the hotel wasn’t busy so late, just over a minute later they were in the lobby.  Keiko approached the desk first, since she was dressed in sweat pants and a pullover instead of pajamas.  Sean tried not to look suspicious in his plaid pajamas.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Someone broke into my room while I was out,”  Keiko said.  “I grabbed my friend Sean and left.  We’d like a new room.”

    The female night clerk turned pale and turned around to talk to the manager inside the office behind her.  The manager came out a moment later.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Just one new room?”  the manager asked.

    Keiko nodded.  “Two beds.  Different floor, just in case.”

    Sean, meanwhile, watched the night clerk on the phone talking to hotel security.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Here you go.”  The manager handed Keiko two card keys.  “I’m terribly sorry about this.  I’m going to knock you down to the single room rate with an employee discount for your trouble.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s fine.”  Keiko smiled slightly and said, “Good night.”

    She had a way of hurrying something along without looking like she was doing so, Sean thought.  She managed to evade almost all conversation and get the room switch done quickly.

    Understanding the urgency better now, Sean followed Keiko quickly to the elevator.  The object was to complete the room switch - which they’ve done - and get to the new room before the intruders returned to the lobby.  Or more accurately, the object was to avoid a fight.

    Once they were in the elevator, Sean looked at Keiko.  She looked nervous, which was uncharacteristic for her.  And she kept looking at him.  He understood then that she was worried about creating a confrontation with the other assassins with him present.  Alone, it would be easy for her to handle.  With a friend nearby, things become more dangerous; she has a lot more invested in the outcome.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I can fight too, you know,”  Sean told her as they rode up the elevator.

    Keiko pressed her finger to her lips to quiet him, but didn’t reply.

    Once they had arrived at the new room, and were safely inside, she spoke up again.  “I could not speak, those two men recognize my voice.  If they hear me in a passing elevator car they would begin to track us again.”

    Sean nodded.  “I can fight, though.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I don’t doubt it,”  Keiko replied.  “This, however, is a completely different class than you’re used to.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh really?”  he asked.

    Keiko charged at Sean suddenly, driving her arm into his chest so that he was knocked back onto the bed.  Then she added her knee into his side, and pushed him over so his arm was threaded behind her bent leg, and he was immobilized.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Oh yeah?”  he choked, “I can just--”  He tried to push her off, but the knot just tightened, and his shoulder started to hurt.  “Okay okay, I get the point.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, you don’t.”  Keiko let go of him, and sat beside him as he rubbed his arm.  “I was trying not to hurt you.  If I didn’t care, like them, your shoulder would be ripped to shreds.  And that’s if you didn’t get a knife in the neck.”

    She stared at him, and felt a little bad as she watched a mixture of mild pain and hurt ego in his eyes.  “I didn’t mean to upstage you or show off.  I want you to know that this is serious.  From someone who would defend you with the determination of a wild animal, Sean, I am telling you it’s not enough.”

    He slouched back onto the bed, and nodded.  “I just hate feeling useless.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You’re not used to a girl fighting for you,”  Keiko joked.

    He laughed too.  “If it’s a female ninja, I guess I can live with it.”

    Keiko leapt over to her own bed and climbed under the covers.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“One more thing,”  she whispered, as Sean turned off the light.  “I could have killed them both.  I saw them enter the room, and I could have done it.  But I left because I knew you could not live with it.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“So...airport tomorrow?”  he asked.  “Won’t they track you?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They already know what city I’m going to, and that your car is owned by the Garden City P.D.,”  she pointed out.  “We can’t change that.  But we can outrun them there, so they can’t follow to your house.  Even if they know which flight we took, they still will take some time to catch up.”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Mmm,”  Sean replied, already drifting off to sleep.

    Keiko envied him.  She hardly slept normally anymore at all.  She only hoped she would feel more protected once they arrived in Garden City.


---


    The next morning turned out to be more of a rush than Keiko or Sean anticipated.  Sean, being the earlier riser of the two, decided to pick up Keiko’s smartphone and check the airport departure times.  The departures turned out to be very early.  He quickly made a reservation.

    He immediately woke a very cranky Keiko, who roused with an irritated yet muted, ‘What?’

    Once he explained the situation she hurried to dress, not even having time to shower first.  While she dressed in the bathroom, Sean called the desk to order a taxi.

    The two of them barely made it outside when the cab arrived.  They barely said a word to each other during the ride to the airport, since Keiko was still fighting grogginess and sleep, and she was dozing off.

    Once they made it to the airport, the two of them checked in.  Sean happily turned over his bag, but Keiko only handed over one, opting to carry the other just in case.

    When they got to the security area, Sean stopped and looked at Keiko.  “Are we going to make it through?”

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hmm?”  Keiko asked tiredly.

    He clarified.  “I mean, do you have anything on you or in your bag that’s going to get us arrested?”
    
    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, just clothes,”  Keiko answered.

    As they began working their way through the airport, it was becoming more crowded.  Keiko was more awake now, and aware.  In an empty place, it’s easy to be killed.  In a busy place, it’s very difficult.  In a crowd, it’s really easy.  Two people dropping dead suddenly wouldn’t even be noticed.

    Fortunately there wasn’t much of a wait.  They had arrived so late at the airport, they found themselves running when a boarding announcement for their flight was made over the public address system.  They made it to the gate just as the last zone began boarding.

    And while Keiko didn’t say so, she was actually glad it ended up that way.  Sitting inside the plane, waiting for a lengthy boarding process to complete, would have left her vulnerable if those two assassins learned they were there.  They might have had just enough time to race over and catch her.

    The door for the plane closing brought a wave of relief to Keiko.  She watched all the passengers board, and made sure none of them were anyone she might remember or know.  Once that door was closed, she was headed for the safety of the air, at least for a couple of hours.

    It was the first time she slept deeply in days.

    The double chime and the droning voice of the pilot woke her up with a jolt as the announcement about landing at Garden City airport came on.  She glanced at Sean, and he was looking back at her.  He didn’t want to disturb her restful sleep.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We’ll take a cab home,”  Sean planned, “And then I’ll call my boss and explain why I left the car behind.  Or maybe that can wait until tomorrow.”


---


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“The next flight isn’t until tomorrow morning,”  a flight agent told the two men who asked about the next flight to Garden City.

    The one who spoke to the agent gritted his teeth, and he wanted nothing more than to kill her where she stood.  But this was a crowded airport, and that kind of thing was how their female companion ended up shot by police.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What do we do?”  he asked the other assassin.

    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We drive straight through.  We’ll get there by morning.”


TO BE CONTINUED?
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2012 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- World Class and all characters therein are property of 
--    Strike Two and Jason Froikin.