Parker's eyes snapped open at precisely 5:00 a.m., as they did every morning without fail. She didn't stay in bed, she immediately swung her feet over the side and headed for the bathroom. It was still pitch black outside...Parker opened several windows to allow the cool morning air free reign of her bathroom. She stood in front of the window for a few minutes, letting the remainder of the night wash over her face. She'd had the dream again last night...the awful dream where Paiton's screams echoed endlessly through the contours of her mind. Parker was chasing her down a neverending path of flames. The dream always ended the same...with Paiton running farther away from her, running to Patton...away from Parker forever. She hadn't had that particular nightmare in more than four years. Until last night. Sighing heavily, she ran a hand over her face, its expression one of extreme vulnerability that Claudia wouldn't believe if she had seen it.
Shoving away from the window, she started the shower...cold water, always cold water. Parker surrounded herself in the cold...cold air, cold water, cold heart. Her therapist said that it was a form of punishment. It was symbolic of the emotional warmth she prevented herself from feeling. Parker had a better answer...Texas was damned hot. That excuse didn't wash with the therapist...and it really didn't wash with Parker either. She was simply too afraid to face her past, and the pieces of it she still carried with her. She could fight with thugs in alleyways and even kill if she had to, but she could not face her own personal demons. She stood in the shower for longer than she usually did...lathering her hair with apple scented shampoo. She lightly touched the round, pink scar just above her right breast...wincing at the memory it brought.
She shook her head to clear her mind, then shut the water off with a quick jerk of her hands. Parker was not one to dwell on her past failures, and she wasn't going to start now. She wrapped a towel around herself and strolled to her closet, where rows upon rows of dark colored clothing stared back at her. She dressed carefully in a pair of black jeans and a tank top of royal blue. The tank top left her tattoos exposed...the Chinese character for "vengeance" in black ink on her left arm, and the ornate Chinese dragon on her right. Below the dragon, inked in elegant script, was her own personal motto, "Be Quick or Be Dead".
From there, she headed into her vault. It was a daily ritual for her, dress first, then choose weapons. Since she was at home, she chose lightly...slipping her favorite switchblade into her back pocket. She never felt the need to be heavily protected here...it was her home ground, she didn't have enemies here. She strapped a sheath to her ankle and slipped a four inch blade neatly into it.
That done, she returned to the bathroom and pulled her wet hair into a severe ponytail, leaving it to trail halfway down her back. She grabbed her heavy briefcase and car keys, then left the comfort of her bedroom and walked silently through the house to the garage, not bothering with breakfast. The evidence of the crime she and Claudia had committed in Seattle stared back at her in the form of a little gray Honda. It looked ridiculously out of place...sitting there next to Parker's jet black Firebird. Parker chose to ignore that problem for the time being. It was a headache that she wasn't quite ready to deal with yet. Instead, she slipped into her sports car, listening to the familiar creak of the leather seat. Five minutes later she was cruising at a speed of 80 mph towards San Antonio.
Her office was located in the heart of the city...downtown with the 750 foot Tower of the Americas looming overhead. Not as impressive as the Space Needle, she thought to herself, thinking of Claudia. Beyond that was the unmistakable shape of the Alamodome...a worthless waste of money in Parker's opinion. But perhaps the most noticeable building was the new library. It's ghastly orange coloring insured that it stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the cultural architectural masterpieces that were the buildings surrounding it.
She spent the majority of the morning reviewing case files, then consoling a distraught Mrs. Henry Warner when she was confronted with the video tape of her husband entering a hotel room with another woman. It was tedious, boring work. Parker suddenly found herself itching to begin her new assignment. Her lips curved into a slight smile at the thought. Just under a week ago she had sat in this very same chair behind her massive desk, thinking to dump the entire project into Claudia's lap.
She finished filing her paperwork, and it was well after 1:00 p.m. when she finally closed her office up...for how long she didn't know. She still hadn't eaten anything...her stomach was in knots, as it always was after the nightmare. Now she just wanted to go home and put the soothing, dark sounds of Concrete Blonde into her cd player. The drive home seemed to take much longer than the usual 45 minutes, and by the time she drove her car up the long driveway to her house, Parker had a throbbing headache.
Upon entering the house through the garage, she immediately felt uneasy. If Parker knew anything at all...it was her own house. She set her briefcase and keys down on the counter in the kitchen, and instantly recognized what was out of place. There on the counter, sat an opened jar of mayonnaise, a block of cheese, an open package of turkey, and a butter knife smeared with mayonnaise. Parker scowled at the items, remembering the catastrophic appearance of Claudia's apartment in Seattle. Parker suddenly had a horrible vision of her spotless home littered with Claudia's clothes and papers...her empty Chinese food cartons. Scatterbrained....the girl was completely scatterbrained.
She suddenly became aware of a clacking sound...the only audible noise in the otherwise silent house. She turned towards the unfamiliar sound...then stopped dead in her tracks. The door leading down to the basement was slightly ajar. One of Parker's curved eyebrows shot up in surprise. That door had a tendency to pop back open unless it was lifted up when closing it. It was a slight flaw that Parker hadn't gotten around to fixing yet. Since she hadn't been down there in well over a week, and knew that the door had been firmly closed before...Parker became instantly alarmed. Basements were very uncommon in Texas homes...but Parker had insisted on having one when the house was built, intending to convert it into a gun vault. She nixed that idea shortly after moving in, opting to keep her weapons more accessible to her.
She pushed the door open hesitantly, then switched the light on. Her intense gaze swept the room, coming to rest on the unsteady stack of boxes that contained her mementos from high school and college, as well as other things she'd rather not remember. Even though it had been years since she had packed them away, and she hadn't offered them another thought since then, she automatically knew that those boxes were not as she had left them. She carefully plucked one of the top of the stack and pulled the flaps back. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she eyed the content of the box. Clearly visible inside the box were several newspaper clippings, detailing the grisly death of Patton and Paiton...and several more covering the death of Senator Kravik. Seething with the knowledge that Claudia had so thoughtlessly invaded her privacy, Parker replaced the box and headed back into the kitchen.
She had just finished cleaning her counters and was making a pitcher of iced tea when Claudia appeared in the kitchen, her flaming curls a mess.
"I didn't hear you come in," she muttered, Parker didn't reply. Claudia hesitantly hopped up onto one of he barstools lining one side of the island in center of the room, feeling as though she were walking on thin ice. She cleared her throat nervously.
"So...did you take care of what you needed to?," she asked carefully.
"Yes," Parker replied, her voice steady.
Claudia was desperate to make conversation...Parker seemed irritated. Claudia wanted to run back into the guest bedroom and hide in the solace of her computer. But rational thought urged her to stay. If they were to be partners, she'd have to accustom herself to Parker's frigid demeanor.
"I think I wore myself out today," she said, trying to sound cheery,"too many hours staring at a computer screen I guess." She yawned, then giggled a little, "Guess I could use a nap."
"Hmm...yes...no doubt rummaging through my personal belongings was exhausting," Parker replied smoothly.
Parker didn't look up from where she was stirring sugar into the tea pitcher, and Claudia was glad for it. Her words alone were enough to freeze the blood in her veins...she wasn't sure she could stand another one of those chilling looks. Claudia felt her face grow hot, the blush spreading to her hairline.
"It was an accident really," she explained in a small voice, "I accidentally shorted a circuit and-"
"If you want to know something about me Claudia...I suggest you just come out and ask. I detest people who have no respect for privacy. I can't guarantee that you'll get an answer if you do ask me...but if you have any regard for my level of respect for you, then next time just ask."
Parker's interruption of her explanation, and the venomous way she reprimanded her made Claudia feel about two inches tall...but it also angered her.
"That's it? That's all you're going to say without giving me a chance to explain?"
"I don't see what there is to explain."
"I didn't intentionally go snooping around through your stuff," Claudia stated, defending herself. This was never going to work if they couldn't trust each other. Parker glanced at her, then began to speak.
"My father served two terms as governor for this state," she said calmly. "I come from a very affluent, political family. Patton was being groomed to follow in our father's footsteps. He was the oldest...it seemed natural. Paiton was the baby and married to Senator Kravik's son...he was also heavily into politics. I'm the black sheep...I became a cop. An ordinary, everyday rookie cop. Daddy had this horrible habit of controlling our lives...he decided that just being a cop wasn't good enough for me. He pulled some strings, and the next thing I know...I'm fired from the police department and on my way to becoming the personal bodyguard to Senator Kravik. I resented it...but I loved the job. Hell, I was only 20 years old...who wouldn't love the prestige and excitement at that age?"
Claudia was stunned speechless by Parker's quiet admission. She paused in her story to take a head of lettuce from the refrigerator, then resumed speaking as as she chopped it with a long kitchen knife.
"As much as I loved the job...I hated my father for putting me there. It was like he thought I couldn't accomplish anything on my own. Patton was perfect, Paiton was an angel...and I was the disappointment. I despise politics and everything involved with it. Daddy knew that, and it pissed him off. Anyway...I had been Kravik's bodyguard or about a month or so when Patton turned 26. Of course, Mother planned a massive party...everybody who was anybody in this state was in attendance. Earlier that day...I'd had it out with my whole family. I was tired of feeling like I should apologize for my career choices."
Parker was slicing through the lettuce in hard, angry strokes. "It ended with me storming out of the house...fed up with all of them. I was sick of Patton demanding that I stop being childish and sick of Paiton begging me to at least try. So I wasn't there...the entire place erupted in flames and I wasn't there."
Claudia's eyes widened...Parker's hands were shaking...the blade was getting closer and close to the tips of her fingers.
"Daddy's whole world came crashing down around him...his perfect children were dead, his perfect house burned to the ground...and all he had left was me...the disappointment. I stayed on for four more years as Kravik's bodyguard...until he was assassinated of course...which made me a failure once again. I quit after that...I was an embarrassment to my colleagues and my profession. I haven't spoken to my parents in over a year. So that's it...all the dirt. You happy now?"
Claudia was stunned speechless. Parker had just spoken more words to her than she had in the last week. It had all come out in an angry litany of words...and Claudia didn't know how to react. She knew she had gotten the summarized version of the events of Parker's life, and she found herself wondering what was beneath that...Parker didn't seem to have any remorse, nor did she seem to feel any sadness. Just a bitter anger that had obviously consumed her, changed her into the woman she was now. She watched as Parker dumped the lettuce into a large bowl, then started attacking tomatoes.
Wordlessly, Claudia hopped off the barstool and retrieved the block of cheddar cheese from the refrigerator and the grater hanging above the island. She stood next to Parker and silently grated cheese into a bowl. After a few minutes, Parker opened the refrigerator and withdrew a bottle of red wine. She uncorked it and poured two goblets full, then resumed chopping tomatoes.
Parker had just told Claudia more about herself than she'd told anyone in years. And she couldn't even explain why. Something had compelled her to spit it all out, and she had to admit... she felt better for it. For years she had harbored the resentment...kept the pain to herself. "Okay," she stated suddenly, "now you know my life story...what's yours?"
Claudia sipped her wine thoughtfully, then glanced over at Parker, noticing the tattoos on her arms. It was a minor detail that said a lot about the woman who's body they adorned. She thought for a moment...deciding if she should share her own experiences with someone she barely knew.
“There’s not much to tell,” she began hesitantly, “I’ve lived in Seattle for six years. Prior to that, it was San Fransisco.....New Orleans.....Boise. You name it, I’ve probably been there. My mother left us when I was little, too young to remember. From that point forward, it was just my father and I. We traveled wherever he could find work....odd jobs, anything. It was a paycheck to paycheck kind of life, but I didn’t mind. I loved my father and that was all that mattered.” Claudia paused then, her thoughts drifting back to the months spent on the road. She was unused to talking about herself, each word coming from her mouth was a miracle in and of itself. Squaring her shoulders, Claudia picked up her story. “In Portland, I finished my high school education before we took off for Seattle. Computers had always fascinated me, so I began to frequent the lab at the University of Washington, where a man named Tom Borokoff befriended me. I’d had only moderate experience with computers, let alone any formal teaching. But he saw my potential, took a chance, and offered me a job under his tutelage. Unbeknownst to me, the job would be with Microsoft, it’s corporate offices located just outside the city in Redmond. I learned quickly, absorbing everything he had to teach. It wasn’t long before I was working the bugs out of programs, designing software, and making snap decisions for the good of the company and it’s reputation.” Claudia laughed harshly, surprising Parker as her tone became bitter. “When it came to computers I was an idiot savant. Microsoft was pleased, to say the least, and offered me the world. Anything my heart desired was at my fingertips. I could make all my dreams come true.”
Silence settled darkly on the room then, Claudia’s eyes flashed with a fire to match her hair as she reflected on the past. Parker laid the knife aside in favor of her wine goblet as she appraised the other woman’s expression. “So, what happened then?” she pressed after several long minutes.
“I came up with a blueprint for a program which would drastically change the way Microsoft did business in Seattle. It would rejuvenate our department as well as lend me the respect and recognition I deserved. At least, it would have if I had been smart enough to keep it under wraps until the timing was right. Instead, I took it to my superior -Tom.” Claudia glanced in Parker’s direction, “that sort of thing was encouraged at Microsoft. You know, feel free to share your innovations with the entire department. Think like a team, work like a team, be a team. Sounds good in theory, right? Not with Tom in charge. No, he took my design to the executives, got it approved, and even copyrighted. Under his name. Claudia Valentine, who?”
Rage clouded the petite woman’s features, emphasizing the fiery aura which now surrounded her. If Parker hadn’t known better, she’d have questioned the fact that the person standing in front of her was indeed Claudia. Introverted demeanor had disappeared, leaving behind an extremely pissed off redhead.
“So I did the only logical thing I could think of....I got revenge. I’ve never been much of a vindictive person, but Tom’s actions cut me to the quick. Those were my plans, and I was damned well going to take credit for them. Of course, there was no way I could prove my case, so I quit. Microsoft, the department, my division...everything. It’s impossible to work in my industry without making a few connections, so I went to the one person I could trust. Cricket. We computer geeks are reclusive by nature, so convincing someone to become your mentor is a tricky business indeed. And it wasn’t as if I were asking Cricket to teach me how to build my own unit....it was more than that. I had a desire to learn the fine art of computer infiltration -hacking. It started out simply enough: cracking encryptions, breaking code, extinguishing corporate firewalls, all the while picking up the tricks of the trade. Tips handed down from the masters.”
Claudia sipped from the goblet then, licking her lips to taste every last drop of the sinfully sweet liquid. “It was a cold day in December when I finally broke into Microsoft’s mainframe -more specifically, Tom’s department.” A self satisfied smirk graced her mouth, her tone triumphant. “And what a joy it was. I wrecked enough havoc to keep them shitting in their pants for several weeks, at least. And I kept coming back.... must have been like living a nightmare for them. Eventually, I became bored, then took up wandering aimlessly through my apartment, wondering what to do next. I caught a whiff of a job up for grabs and mentioned it to Cricket. He set me up with a contact, and I was on my way. Dozens of jobs followed in the wake of that one client, and from that point on, I made by living by infiltration.”
Claudia’s account of her initiation to the computer underworld was unexpected. She hadn’t shared her story with anyone to date - it was too dangerous. Though the incident at Microsoft had occurred five and a half years ago, there was no doubt that she could still be charged with the crime. Claudia was always careful to cover her tracks, throwing in a couple of fake leads at the same time...but the cardinal rule had always been to keep her mouth shut. Now, she had not only exposed her past to Parker, but part of her record as well. That thought alone brought the feelings of uneasiness flooding back though her small frame.
“So, where and why did you receive training with a gun?” Parker asked, getting down to business in what Claudia was learning to consider the norm.
Raising an eyebrow at the dark woman, “Do you really think I could operate WITHOUT some sort of protection? Though I don’t usually meet clients face to face, I’m well aware of the danger associated with making an exchange in person. Besides, I have......had a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment in my apartment, not mention valuable information -some of which could be considered priceless. As for where I received my training......one of my contacts on the Seattle PD was nice enough to teach me. I developed an affinity for the .38 Chief’s Special and Colt Commander immediately. I’m comfortable with them, though I admit I don’t use them that often, save on the firing range.”
“The Seattle PD?” Parker inquired, her eyes narrowed, interest piqued. Claudia shrugged.
“A lot of what I do involves extensive research. Having a police officer in your pocket can come in handy. Besides....Al isn’t an active officer. He pushes pencils and keeps the department’s computers in line. Which reminds me.....I should give him a call to ask that he check Fox’s personal effects for the disk. I imagine that man’s body has ended up in the morgue by now, anyway.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Parker interjected, pulling a battered flat piece from her pocket. She didn’t bother to mention she had taken the software to her office to try to get a look at it’s contents on her own PC. Needless to say, she hadn’t been successful. With a flick of her wrist, the plastic slid slickly across the counter to land in front of Claudia and the now full bowl of grated cheese.
“The disk!” Green eyes lighting up, Claudia reached for the aforementioned item.
“Yeah. I pulled it off of Fox on the pier. I’d forgotten until you made mention of it again.” Parker’s hand snaked out to capture Claudia’s wrist firmly in her grasp. “I don’t want you selling that while you’re in this house. I meant what I said last night.” Solemnly, the redhead nodded, slipping the disk into the back pocket in her jeans.
“I understand. You know, not everything I do is illegal.”
“Somehow, I doubt that.” came the wry response. “So, why do they call you Black Cat?” As soon as the question left Parker’s mouth, she knew she had blundered. Claudia grew very quiet, her face paling, the goblet in her hand visibly shaking as the wine almost sloshed out of it. Awkwardly, she set the glass back on the counter, returned to the barstool, and folded her hands in her lap. A lost look came to Claudia’s eyes, which were infinitely sad.
“Because.....knowing me can be a curse.” she whispered. Parker didn’t know what to make of this cryptic comment, though she wasn’t forced to make a reply as Claudia stood abruptly. “Could you excuse me for a minute? I think I better go check up on Defiance -I mean, the computer. I should....uh...unplug it. So another circuit doesn’t short.” With that, Claudia stood, tucked her hair behind her ear, and made a hurried retreat. Parker was left to contemplate her hasty exit and the meaning of the four holes piercing Claudia’s left ear, each bearing a tiny silver cross.
Claudia ducked through the doorway to the guest bedroom, heaving a sigh of relief. Shutting the door softly, she leaned back against the solid panel for support. The atmosphere in the kitchen had been heavy.....to close for comfort. Claudia had been fine up until the last question Parker had posed. That one had taken her completely off guard, setting the world reeling beneath her feet. The other inquiries she could handle. The hot anger residing within her had seen to that. But when the bitter sting of betrayal was taken out of the picture.....all that was left was the anguish she had lived with for the past two years.
She could still picture her team members’ faces in her mind. The bust which had proven fatal for the other four. She alone had escaped from the mission with her life intact. Claudia knew there was a reason she preferred working with criminals. That way, she didn’t have to be there to see the good guys taken down. She didn’t have to be a party to their deaths....at least, not in person. But nothing could change the fact that she had been there that night, working the terminal along with the four individuals who had sought her help and expertise for a project gone awry.
The police had approached her about lending a hand in their current case against a local sector of the black market. Since a large portion of the illicit dealings took place via computer, she had been a prime associate for the job. She certainly hadn’t anticipated slipping up, costing the three officers and a fellow hacker their lives. The powers which ran the ring had traced her connection, leading to the general vicinity of their location. Claudia had later led them the rest of the way to the entire team and the base of operations, her arms laden with Chinese takeout and chopsticks. She hadn’t even been aware of the three shadows which followed her through the night.
Ironically, Claudia, the bearer of ill fortune had been the only one to survive the ambush. One of the officers had pushed her out the window ledge in the back room of the apartment serving as headquarters, prompting her to jump into the safety of a garbage dumpster in the back alley. That event had happened two years ago, and since then, Claudia had become leery of dealing with the good guys.....like Parker.
The darker woman had shown herself to be worthy of Claudia’s best. She had lent a hand when the situation hadn’t even affected her. She had risked her life. Claudia knew that she couldn’t possibly seem like much to Parker.....a little computer nerd like her.....but she would try her hardest to make up for it. She wouldn’t let her partner down....not this time. She wouldn’t have to add another silver cross to her earlobe.
The sounds of Parker working in the kitchen filtered through the door at her back, and Claudia knew she would have to rejoin her host. She couldn’t live in her computer for ever.... a job had come her way, complete with a counterpart. She was forty five thousand dollars richer from the sale of the disk, and that alone was enough to celebrate. Slowly, Claudia slid to the floor, bringing her knees up against her chest. Another moment of solitude wouldn’t hurt..... just to compose her heart. Yes, another moment was all she needed.
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