“Wake up. We have to go.”
Darnell opened his eyes to see a woman wearing ill-fitting scrubs, shaking him awake. He looked at his watch and saw the time was five-fourteen, less than four hours after falling asleep. The tired man groaned as he sat up.
Sholene appeared to be full of energy, and Darnell guessed that her demeanor must be due to adrenalin. He hadn’t set their alarms to chime until five-thirty.
He said, “I’m up,” and chuckled as she hurried out of the living room. Darnell had let her sleep in his bedroom while he used the living room couch. He had also let her borrow a pair of his scrubs, and they almost fit her. She needed to roll the sleeves up to the elbows, but the pants exposed nearly six inches of ankle and calf. Damn, she has long legs.
Sholene stepped out of the bedroom wearing her black leather motorcycle outfit as Darnell finished brushing his teeth. She was ready to leave and so was he, since he saw no need to change clothes for the short trip to the airport. He was planning to resume his interrupted sleep upon his return.
After learning Darnell was not going to change, Sholene eagerly said, “OK, let’s get going.”
Darnell replied, “Chill, girl. The airport is five minutes away, and I’d rather wait here than there. Now, explain your plan to me. What are we going to do when we get there?”
“We’re going to find the man who stole the package and get it back.”
“You don’t seem to know this guy’s name. Do you, at least, know what he looks like?”
“No, I don’t. I didn’t get a good look at the man’s face.”
“All right, then describe the package we’re seeking.”
“Well, I’m not completely certain, but it would probably fit in a suitcase.”
“OK, so we’re going to the airport looking for an unidentified man carrying a suitcase. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?”
Sholene scowled at him and sighed, “I know. I laid awake most of the night thinking about how to find him. I plan to find his truck and hope he left some sort of identification inside.”
Darnell nodded, “Yeah, that is a long shot, but it could work. His truck probably contains his registration. Once we learn his name, we can have him paged and see who shows up. Let’s start by driving through the parking garage.”
They stood to leave, and Sholene was glad he was so agreeable. She decided not to share that the man they sought was probably not the truck’s original driver. Her chances of success were small enough without pointing out additional flaws.
They had driven past every parking space in both the short-term and long-term parking lots by six-thirty without finding the white pickup truck. Darnell offered to try the off-site lot and also to come back later. Sholene shook her head, explaining that their suspect wouldn’t care about saving money because he had no plans to return. She hung her head and softly muttered, “Let’s just go home.”
Sholene never looked up nor uttered another word on the drive home. Once again, Darnell waited inside during her slow stair climb because she refused his assistance.
His house guest finally appeared in his doorway with a pained expression and a slouched posture. She had refused to take any ibuprofen, and Darnell’s nursing instincts could not accept her needless pain.
“OK, if you aren’t going to take any meds, let me give you a massage.”
Sholene looked at him suspiciously but agreed to his offer. She seemed to have lost all her energy and given up. However, she would not remove her bra and panties, and she would not permit him to massage her on the bed.
Darnell gasped when she laid down on his couch and unwrapped the towel around her. She had an incredible figure that somehow reminded him of the original Barbie dolls with legs three sizes too long. Her proportions, oversized blue eyes, and straight, blonde hair almost seemed like an ideal woman’s caricature. However, his gasp was also due to the massive, purplish bruising along her body’s entire left side.
Sholene saw his shocked expression and said, “Don’t worry. My pale complexion bruises easily, but I also heal quickly. Please be careful, though.”
Sholene tensed at Darnell’s touch but relaxed as he gently began rubbing her shoulder. The eucalyptus and arnica massage oil had a soothing aroma, and she welcomed the way that he warmed his hands before touching her. Cold hands can ruin a massage experience, and she briefly wondered why he was so prepared for this activity before deciding she didn’t care right now.
Darnell moved to the other shoulder and softly asked, “So, what happens now?”
Sholene closed her eyes to fight back her tears and replied, “Nothing. I have five days to return to where we met, and then I go home. My mission is over. I failed.”
“Can’t you contact someone from your agency? You can use my phone or computer if you’d like.”
“No, it doesn’t work like that. I can’t contact anyone while I’m on a mission.”
“But your mission sounds important. I bet your superiors would make an exception this time.”
“No, you don’t understand. I’m not allowed to contact anyone, and I have no way to do so. There are no monitored phone lines or email accounts. It just isn’t possible.”
Sholene cringed in pain as her body tensed. Darnell might have a masseur’s hands, but he had no common sense and little tact.
Darnell realized his mistake, restarted her massage, and said, “OK, you may stay here, and I’ll take you wherever you need to go. But you have to tell me what’s going on.”
Sholene propped herself up to look at him and asked, “Why?”
“Because none of this makes any sense to me, and yet you somehow seem rational. I want to believe that you aren’t crazy, but I’m having difficulty coming up with an explanation that makes sense.”
Sholene collapsed back onto the sofa, realizing that her partial pushup had not been a good idea. She said, “No, I mean, why would you help me? What do you want in return?”
Darnell answered, “I’m helping you because of Milton Lieberman. And, I’m not looking for any sort of compensation. Now lie down and stop squirming or I’ll never finish this massage.”
Sholene had, once again, turned to look at him to ask what he meant. Darnell began gently rubbing the muscles on her strained neck, and she laid down and relaxed as he explained his cryptic reply in a soothing voice.
“After Sarah’s funeral, I couldn’t force myself to come inside the apartment. Everything in here reminded me of her and our planned life together. I didn’t want to be with my family or our friends for the same reason. So, I just sat on my front steps in the dark suit I was supposed to have worn at our wedding.
“Milton saw me as he drove to work. He was a resident at Strong and recognized me from the hospital. We had never met, and I would not have known who he was. I suppose that male nurses are slightly more noteworthy than Jewish doctors.
“Anyway, he saw me still sitting in the same position twelve hours later when he returned home. He pulled his car over and asked me what had happened. I’m not sure how I answered him, but I must have conveyed that I couldn’t go into my apartment after burying Sarah. So, he told me to get into his car and drove me to his house.
“Milton lived down the street, and when we arrived at his apartment, he told me I was welcome to sleep on his couch. He then asked for my keys and apartment number to collect some of my clothes and toiletries.
“I stayed at Milton’s place for nearly three weeks until I was ready to return here. He would pick up my mail and any other items I needed without asking any questions. Milton also never asked for rent, but I paid him something anyway. And, I made sure to keep his refrigerator and pantry stocked.
“I don’t know any other way I would’ve survived those first weeks after I lost Sarah, but I owe Milton an unpayable debt. Perhaps I can repay it by helping you.”
Sholene would never have expected this level of compassion from someone like Darnell. His story soothed her troubled soul almost as much as his hands were relaxing her strained muscles. He had finished working on her lower back and was now starting on her arms.
She was unsure how to respond, but wanted to hear more of his soft voice. She said, “You must have become quite close with Milton.”
Darnell chuckled and placed her hand on his shoulder as he kneeled beside her and began working down her arm.
“No. I never really got to know Milton. He was a resident, and their hours are even crazier than nurses’ shifts. He would just crash at the hospital most nights, and when he did come home, he would eat, sleep, or head out with his friends.
“We weren’t unfriendly, but we rarely spoke, which was fine with me. I didn’t want to talk about Sarah or how I was feeling. I just wanted to get through that time on my terms.
“Milton completed his residency earlier this year and moved to another department. I haven’t spoken to him since.
“So, his kindness cost him almost nothing in terms of time, money, or effort. Yet, his actions affected my life. I thanked him when I left and asked how I could ever repay him, but he waved me off. Milton explained that he became a doctor to help people. He said that the way my appreciation made him feel was payment enough. I don’t think I completely understood what he meant until today.
“Now, tell me about your mission, or I won’t massage your leg.”
Sholene didn’t want to think about her failed mission. And, she wasn’t permitted to discuss it with anyone out of the Agency. However, none of that would matter since she was unable to retrieve the package. Besides, she couldn’t bear the thought of not having her leg massaged. She wasn’t sure where to begin, so she blurted out the basic concept.
“My mission was to prevent someone from releasing a civilization-ending virus. I failed, so the man we were chasing has probably already dispersed his package. Everyone you know will be dead before spring, and we can do nothing to stop it.”