Reckoning Day

Leah reached the marina just before daybreak. She checked the boat to make sure everything was in order, and then started the engines and headed off. She rounded the northeast corner of the sound and then headed south towards the harbor near town centre.

*********

“What do you have?” Kim asked. She, Caitlin, Katie and Hayley were at the harbor near the check-in booth for the fishing tournament.

“Nothing so far”, Hayley said. She had been at the docks since before dawn. “Boats headed out at sunrise. They’re starting to come back in.”

Kim looked at her watch. “It’s two in the afternoon. It’s going to be chaos soon”, she said, looking at the harbor filling up. “Leah is going to use the large crowd for cover when she docks, if she isn’t here already. Let’s split up. Raso and I will take the north docks”, she said, pointing. “Foord and McCabe, you guys take the south docks.” The team nodded, then dispersed.

“You okay?” Caitlin asked Katie as they headed off.

“Yeah, why?”

“You seem…I don’t know…distant…or something.”

“I’m fine”, Katie said, nervous about seeing Leah but also nervous about if that happens then Caitlin maybe getting shot. “It’s just…there may be a chance I’m going to see Leah today.” She paused and then looked around. “This place is a fucking zoo down here. Look at all these boats and all these people.”

“Let’s split up”, Caitlin said. “We can cover more ground.”

“No, we stick together”, Katie says.

“Katie - we can cover more ground-”

“No”, Katie said again.

“Katie - we have to split up if we’re going to be able to search this place efficiently. Otherwise we might miss Leah.”

Katie stared at her. Caitlin was right - it was a lot of ground to search. “Fine”, she acquiesced. “But be careful.”

“You've said that like a hundred times already”, Caitlin said with a smile.

“And I meant it every single time”, Katie said with a serious face.

“I’ll be fine”, Caitlin said. She took Katie’s hands and squeezed them reassuringly, and then planted a kiss on her lips. She pulled back and smiled, then let Katie’s hands go, and started walking down another dock.

“Stay where I can see you”, Katie called after her. Caitlin turned around and smiled reassuringly at her and then continued walking away. Katie watched her go, then exhaled and continued down the dock she was on.

********

Leah docked her boat in the harbor just after 3pm. There were tons of other boats, some already docked, others were just pulling in. People were everywhere, milling around the docks and parking lot. She smiled to herself at the cover the large crowd and many boats gave her, then looked over at the parking lot and spotted her minivan. Not too many boats docked between her and her van. She had purposefully docked a bit away from the main crowd. She grabbed the tackle box and the rod case with the gun in it, and started carrying them to the car.

“How’d you do?” a man on another docked boat asked Leah.

“Caught a couple but no keepers”, Leah said with a smile.

The man smiled back. “Well, that's a bummer, but as long as you had fun, that’s what fishing is all about, right?” the man said. He paused and looked at Leah and then said, “Need a hand with your gear?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks”, Leah said.

“Well, after you get done unloading your boat, come join me for a beer”, the man said, holding up a Corona.

“I’m in a bit of a hurry, but thanks for the offer”, Leah smiled, then proceeded to her minivan, loaded the tackle box and rod case, then headed back to her boat. She unloaded the cooler with the mount in and started rolling it towards the van, passing the man on the boat who had offered her a beer.

“Let me help you, miss”, the man said. He put his beer down and got off the boat.

“It’s okay, I got it”, Leah said politely, putting up her hand.

“It’s no problem, you’re in a hurry, right?” the man said. He grabbed the handle and started helping Leah. “This is heavy. I thought you said you didn’t catch anything worth keeping.”

“I have some other stuff in here”, Leah said evasively. They reached the minivan and the man helped Leah load it into the back.

“This is real heavy”, the man said again. “And I don’t hear any ice rattling around. Usually ice is what makes these things so heavy, combined with some keeper fish.”

“I dumped the ice before I pulled into the harbor. Needed the space for some other stuff”, Leah said, trying to think of a way to end the conversation.

“Well, it’s always something with a boat, am I right?” the man said with a smile.

“Indeed”, Leah smiled back. “Well, I have to get moving", she said and pulled out her keys. "Thanks for the help.”

“Don’t forget your fishing rod and net”, the man said, pointing back to Leah’s boat, where the fishing rod and net were sticking out from the holders.

Shit, Leah thought. She really wanted to leave now, but leaving her rod and net would look strange, and possibly suspicious. She smiled and shook her head forgetfully, then said, “Thanks. Long day on the water”, she said, then headed back towards her boat, the man walking beside her.

“Sure you don’t want to cap off the long day with a beer?” the man asked, as they reached his boat.

“I’m good, but thanks”, Leah said. She smiled at the man, who was clearly disappointed. He climbed on his boat and waved goodbye to Leah. Leah waved back and smiled, then headed back to her boat to grab the rod and net.

*********

“Report”, Kim’s voice came into the comms.

“Katie - I mean, Operative McCabe and I split up to cover more ground”, Caitlin said into her comms. “So far nothing.”

“Me either”, Katie said into her comms. She turned down a dock, walking slowly, scanning each boat. Some were empty, some had people on them, drinking, grilling, trading fishing stories, enjoying the day.

“Join us for a drink?” two women asked Katie as she passed by. They smiled and held up their glasses.

“No thanks”, Katie said politely. She smiled and kept walking. Three more people asked her to join them for drinks. She smiled and kept walking, then looked over and saw Caitlin two docks away.

“Getting hit on?” Caitlin asked, having heard the offers thru the comms. She was looking over at Katie and smiling.

“Not interested”, Katie said, staying focused, but smiling back in Katie’s direction.

“Unless it’s me, right?” Caitlin said.

Katie smiled back at Caitlin and gave her a wave, then turned her attention back to scanning boats. She reached a turn in the dock, and started down, then paused. Halfway down the dock, a lone woman was just getting off a boat, carrying a fishing rod and net. The woman had long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap, jeans, dock shoes, and a hoodie. Katie scanned the dock. Not many people around the immediate area, except for a few on some boats along the dock that went off towards the parking lot. She looked over at Caitlin, still two docks away. There was a pathway that led her to this dock. Katie looked up towards the parking lot and froze when she saw a new white minivan. “Caitlin, I think I may have something.”

“What is it?” Caitlin said, looking around.

“Lone woman, a hundred feet in front of me. Blonde hair in a ponytail, baseball cap. And there’s a new white minivan in the parking lot, a hundred yards away.”

“I see both," Caitlin said.

“Come in slow, and wait for me when you reach the other end of this dock.”

“I can come in faster and we can close her down”, Caitlin said.

“No”, Katie said. “If this is Leah-”

“We can cut her off before she can run the other way, towards the parking lot.”

“No”, Katie said again, but Caitlin had already picked up her pace. “Caitlin, I said no.”

“What’s going on?” Kim’s voice came through the comms.

“We may have spotted Leah”, Caitlin said. “Katie and I are going to close her down.”

“No, Caitlin”, Katie said.

“Where are you?” Kim asked.

“South docks, near the parking lot”, Katie said.

“Hold position and wait for us”, Kim said.

“We don't have time”, Caitlin said, now moving quickly. “She’s just getting off her boat, and she’s got a clear path to the parking lot.”

“Caitlin, slow down”, Katie hissed.

“I’m close to her dock”, Caitlin said, picking up her pace even more.

“Shit”, Katie said, and started to pick up her pace.

********

Leah got off the boat with her fishing rod and net. Everything else was in the minivan. All she had to do now was politely brush off the man who had offered her a beer one last time. She looked up and around, and that’s when she saw it - a woman with shoulder length hair was walking briskly towards her. Definitely not a fisherwoman, Leah thought. Then she looked the other direction and saw another woman walking towards her. She stared at the woman for a moment. Long brown hair in a ponytail. Intense eyes. It was Katie McCabe from INTERPOL. The other woman must be her new partner.

Leah looked back at Caitlin, then back at Katie, and in one motion threw her fishing rod and net into the water and pulled a pistol out from underneath her hoodie. She smiled at Katie, who was just fifty feet away, and then swung the pistol towards Caitlin.

“Caitlin!” Katie screamed, as Leah took aim and fired.

“Shit!” Caitlin screamed, and took cover behind a dock piling, as bullets whizzed by her.

“Freeze!” Katie yelled, pulling out her pistol. She fired off three shots towards Leah, who was now running down the dock towards the parking lot. “Stay put!” she yelled at Caitlin, who was getting up from behind the piling. “Wait for the others!”

“I can catch her!” Caitlin said. She got up from behind the piling and started sprinting down the dock after Leah.

“Shite!” Katie yelled. She sprinted down the dock, now just a few steps behind Caitlin. She could see Leah a hundred feet away, heading for the white minivan. “Get behind me, Caitlin!” she yelled, just as Leah turned again and fired on the run.

“Shit!” Caitlin yelled, and ducked behind another piling.

“God damn it, Caitlin!” Katie yelled, and then squeezed off two more rounds in Leah’s direction.

“What the-” the man who had offered Leah a beer said, as he saw Leah running towards him. “Are you in some kind of-” he was about to say ‘trouble’, when Leah fired a shot into his chest as she ran by.

“Check him!” Katie yelled at Caitlin, pointing to the man Leah had just shot, then went into a full sprint towards the minivan. She saw Leah jump in and then point her pistol out the window. “Fuck!” Katie cursed and dove behind a large metal garbage can as Leah fired again. Bullets hit the can and the ground around Katie. She heard tires screech and then got up and aimed, but the white minivan was already off and running, on the road out of the harbor, honking at people to get out of the way.

“God damn it”, Katie said, as she walked back towards where Caitlin was tending to the man.

“You okay?” Caitlin asked Katie.

“I told you to stay put”, Katie said, ignoring the question.

“She had the jump on us. We needed to close her down.”

“And you almost got shot!” Katie seethed.

“What’s going on here?” Kim said as she and Hayley ran up.

“It was Leah. She took off that way, jumped into a white minivan, and drove off”, Katie said and pointed towards the parking lot.

“This guy?” Kim pointed to the man who Leah had shot.

“Leah shot him as she ran by him”, Caitlin said.

“She almost shot you”, Katie spat out at Caitlin.

“You too”, Caitlin said.

“Enough, you two!” Kim barked. She pointed at the man, and Caitlin shook her head. “Christ”, Kim muttered, then looked at Hayley. “Call 911 and wait for the ambulance.” Hayley nodded, and Kim looked at Caitlin and Katie. “You two, back to the office with me.”

********

“What happened out there?” Kim asked. They were back at the office.

“I saw someone I thought was Leah”, Katie began. “I told Caitlin - Agent Foord - to stay put. I could have nabbed her.”

“She had an exit”, Caitlin said. “If we didn’t close her down she could have gotten away.”

“We could have calmly walked up to her and not raised suspicion. You rushed in, and she got away anyway", Katie said. "And if you had stayed put after you had botched the calm approach, at least she wouldn’t have shot at you."

“Well, then she would have only been shooting at you.”

“Better me than you!” Katie snapped, eyes fierce.

“Alright”, Kim said, putting her hands up, trying to diffuse the tension between Katie and Caitlin. “It’s been a tough day, and we’re all on edge. Go home and get some rest.”

********

That was a close one, Leah thought, as she drove. She pulled into her storage unit, parked the van and shut the gate. She removed the fishing gear and changed the license plates, then used the pressure hose on the van to peel away the white paint and reveal the red. Then she sat in the van and thought. They saw me. They know I’m here. I may need to take them out. She sat for another moment thinking and then drove to the NDA office and parked halfway down the block. An hour later she saw Caitlin and Katie leave the building and get into Caitlin’s car. She followed them, staying three cars back, and a few minutes later she saw them park in a parking lot next to a building. She grabbed her binoculars and followed them as they entered. They looked like they were arguing. Professional dispute about not nabbing her at the harbor? Or was there something more? She remembered McCabe yelling at her partner Caitlin to stay put. Was there personal concern? A minute later she saw them enter a flat. So this is where you live, Leah thought. She smiled and then picked up her phone.