Part 45 (1/2)
”Danielle McMinn,” Bryce reported. ”We're not sure how she died yet, but Officer Hendricks and I managed to confirm that the scar was on her arm.”
”Did you all ever manage to figure out if that one guy was your fourteenth victim or not?”
Bryce nodded and told him it was Joaquin Hernandez. ”We finally had confirmation that Hernandez had the mark on his arm, which made it evident that he was the fourteenth.”
The chief thanked him but stopped Bryce once again and told him that the case was officially reopened by the commissioner, but was still to be conducted as it was before, in secret and kept secret. Bryce thanked him and seemed to sprint out of the office to tell his coworkers the news.
12:57 PM.
Kenmore, Was.h.i.+ngton Nick hadn't slept well since his training began, though he thought he would have slept better considering how exhausted he was each evening. All the physical toll did to him was kept him from finding a comfortable position to sleep in with all of the bruises and other aches and pains. The training exercises continued to run through his head while he fought to sleep as well.
His fatigue garnered a few comments from some of his cla.s.smates and instructors and in each case he provided a reasonable lie. He sat alone in Mizuno's cla.s.sroom with the vain hope that he might catch some shuteye for the rest of the lunch period. Mizuno had left him there to go and socialize with the other teachers to continue the ruse that he was indeed a regular member of the Inglemoor High School faculty.
Since Nick began training after his return to Was.h.i.+ngton State, he'd practiced creating and firing dozens of different firearms from pistols and derringers to shotguns and sniper rifles. He practiced for three hours each day before Mizuno put him through basic hand-to-hand combat training as well as everything from knife throwing to hotwiring various models of cars. Mizuno even taught him how to convert a basic calculator into a bomb that would detonate if the equal sign was pressed, though Mizuno required the help of Ke Kitayama, the innovator of Mizuno's team. But the worst part of the grueling training course was that if Nick was ever tired, hurt, or fatigued, Mizuno never relented. Everything Mizuno did was supposedly to benefit Nick, though Nick only felt it was hara.s.sment and unjustified abuse.
The cla.s.sroom door swung open and Mizuno took a seat next to Nick before the door closed. ”You need to get more sleep.”
”I know,” he muttered, ”I've tried.”
”Have you taken anything?”
”No.”
”Good.” Mizuno reclined in his seat slightly and told him that pills make people dependant. ”But try slowing your breathing rate and drink a cup of chamomile tea before you head to bed tonight. How are your cla.s.ses going?”
”Fine.”
”Just fine?”
”Why are you even asking me?” Nick snapped. He glared at Mizuno and asked, ”If you can learn whatever you want about me in the blink of an eye, why do you waste the time to ask me?”
Mizuno looked away from him and admitted that he could easily do that. ”I only ask you because one-way conversations are not very entertaining. Besides, if we talk it establishes trust between us and it helps you formulate your own thoughts and ideas, some of which I might not come to on my own.”
”Then this is all about your grand project?”
Mizuno told him to open his eyes before he left Nick there and headed for his desk.
The first bell rang and just before the first students arrived, Mizuno told Nick that he'd be training with Strom after cla.s.s. ”I need to be with the remainder of the group today, so you'll be working with him.”
Nick didn't reply as his fellow students arrived. Amy joined him and asked how he was doing. ”My friend Teresa told me you fell asleep in cla.s.s today.”
He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep in any of his cla.s.ses or even that he shared a cla.s.s with one of Amy's friends. Nick rubbed his eyes and told her that his job was getting to him. ”I got the homecoming tickets though,” he told her.
Her eyes lit up and she thanked him. ”This is going to be so much fun Nick! Where do you think we should go for dinner then?”
Cla.s.s with Amy was the highlight of Nick's day. It was in her company that he finally managed to relax, since Mizuno rarely called on him. Nick spent the hour holding his girlfriend's hand, fingers laced, and they chatted quietly amongst themselves whenever their instructor was not lecturing.
The relief ended though and he soon after had to face the rigid exercises Strom had planned for him. Nick felt a familiar knot in his gut unsettle him as he prepared for his afternoon.
Amy stopped him as they readied to leave and asked Nick, ”Do you want to come over and meet my mom tonight? I know you're busy with your job and everything, but I'd love it if you would stop by.”
Nick didn't know how long he'd be training for, but he wanted to at the very least make her happy, so he agreed. ”I'd love to.”
”Great! What time do you think you'll be able to stop by?”
He told her he wasn't sure, but that it would have to be close to eight.
”Oh, alright.”
Nick saw the slight disappointment in her eyes and asked what was wrong.
”Nothing,” she lied. ”I just thought it would be nice to have dinner with you, but I guess we can do that some other time.”
”I would love to Amy, I really would. But later this week or next week will work better for me, okay?” He parted ways with her and headed for his motorcycle in the student parking lot.
Nick drove back to the hotel he called home so he could leave his belongings in the room he rented out and carpool with Strom to the abandoned department store building Mizuno rented out for their training purposes. He managed to get a parking s.p.a.ce next to Strom's jet black two-thousand-nine Maserati GranTurismo. He'd only been in it twice, but knew Strom kept it exceptionally clean to the point of never allowing any food or drink in it.
He headed into the hotel, stopped to tell the receptionist that he wanted the room for another week, and made his way to his room. Strom's bags were in the doorway and he was reclined on Nick's bed with a paperback copy of The Sun Also Rises.
”What happened to The Catcher in the Rye?”
”I finished it,” Strom told him as he turned a page, ”And now I'm reading this.”
”Is it any good?”
”I don't know, I'm only a few pages into it,” Strom admitted. ”There are millions of people who would vouch for the novel though, seeing how Hemingway was one of the greatest authors this nation ever produced.”
Nick had never read any of his work, so he tried to change the subject, ”Are we going to leave soon?”
”After this chapter.”
”How long is it?”
”Does it matter?”
”Yes,” Nick said. ”I-I want to be back early so I can see my girlfriend.”
Strom stopped reading for a moment to glance over at Nick. ”You're still with her?” Nick said he was, and Strom returned to his book. ”Mizuno doesn't like her you know.”
”What?”
”He doesn't like the fact that you're with her,” he repeated. ”He thinks she's holding you back.”
Nick glared and asked what he thought.