Trapping the Gazelle

Chapter 10

For the next week, Kiera and Ryan made it a vacation, they when backpacking though the canyon in the Claremont preserve. They took the time to enjoy lunch near a small pond, which formed at the bottom of the canyon. Most people did not know about this part of the canyon, but Ryan and Kiera had discovered it during their high school days.

After a wonderful lunch, they took the time to swim in the cold water. More like Ryan grabbed hold of Kiera and tossed her into the pond. Kiera spluttered and gasped as she came up from beneath the water, pulling wet hair from her face.

"That was not nice, Mister Westbrook." Kiera had said, "You are going to get it." She pointed a finger at him while laughing.

Luckily, Kiera had her swimsuit on under her hiking clothes. She pulled them off and threw them at Ryan. He dodged the flying wet clothes, removed his own shirt and cannon balled into the pond. Kiera swam out of way continuing to laugh.

On another occasion during that week, the two rented horses from the nearby ranch and explored farther into the Claremont Canyon preserve. During the horseback ride through the forest, Kiera felt as if someone was watching them. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and a chill ran down her spine. She stopped her horse unexpectedly and scanned the area. It was the same feeling she had a month ago while she was jogging in Saint Ives.

"What wrong Kiera?" Kiera heard Ryan ask with concern.

"It feels as if someone is watching us." Kiera said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked quietly.

"I'm positive and the horses seem to notice it as well. They seem spooked." Kiera answered and gripped the reins tighter. Kiera felt the tensing of the horse's muscles as if the horse was prepared to bolt.

They sat on the horses in the quietness as they scanned the area, but the thickness of the forest and the shadows, made it difficult to see anything. Then as quickly as the sensation came, it passed. Kiera realizing that she was holding her breath let out a deep sigh of relief and relaxed her shoulders.

"Maybe it was a wolf or mountain lion nearby." Ryan suggested.

"Maybe, but..." Kiera did not finish her sentence. It felt stupid saying she imagined the whole thing.

"But what, Kiera?" Ryan asked pulling his horse close to hers so he could place a hand on her cheek. "Don't hide anything from me."

"It's nothing really." Kiera answered and smiled to show everything was okay.

"Here," Ryan said handing Kiera a cloth handkerchief as he pulled his hand from her cheek, "Your nose is bleeding again."

"Thanks." Kiera replied taking the cloth and holding it under her nose until it stopped bleeding. "The dry air must be doing it."

"You should really have your parents look at it." Ryan commented.

"I will later," said Kiera distractedly as she scanned the area one more time. "I don't want to bother th..."

Suddenly her horse reared upward as something darted out the bushes in front of them. Kiera, who had anticipated the movement of the horse held tightly on the reins and tightened her thighs around out the horse's sides. This kept her from falling off as she took control of the horse, calming him down. After the horse had calmed down and Ryan controlled his horse, they looked at each other and laughed. Kiera had seen a fox dart out from the bushes when the horses were scared.

The seen felt pretty funny, but in the back of Kiera's mind she felt that it was not a fox that had been watching them. It had definitely been a person, but again she doubted herself, thinking it could have been her imagination.

Later the next week, Fiona had informed them in an exasperated voice that the engagement party had moved to Berkeley at a location named 'The Barn'.

"Because Captain Johansson feels that he cannot maintain the security necessary for a party of our size." Fiona said heatedly with hands on hips as she explained the issue.

"What do you mean by our size?" Kiera asked slowly.

"A lot of people wanted to come." Fiona answered.

"How many is a lot?" Kiera probed feeling she was not going to like the answer.

"About 150 people give or take." Fiona said with indifference waving her hand in the air as if that did not matter.

"Give or take..." Kiera blurted out, but Ryan intervened.

"That sounds great, Fiona. I'm sure the new location will work." Ryan said quickly then turned to Kiera, "Kiera we have to get ready for dinner tonight with our friends, Remember."

Kiera started to speak, but Ryan shook his head. She understood his meaning and knew that she would get nowhere with her mom right now. Rolling her eyes, Kiera followed Ryan upstairs to get ready for the dinner.

They took a shower and dressed for the dinner. Kiera dressed in jeans and a button down pink top and Ryan in jeans with a dark shirt and his favorite tan jacket. They slipped out of the house trying to avoid Fiona and the event planner, who were in a heated discussion with Captain Johansson. By the look of things, they were not going their way. Captain Johansson stood rigid and unbending to their demands.

James noticed them leaving and winked at them. Kiera blew him a kiss and headed towards the garage. Ryan climbed into the driver seat and Kiera narrowed her eyes at him.

"What?" Ryan said with his hands in air.

"Can I drive my jeep, master?" Kiera said sarcastically as she pushed him playfully.

"Okay, okay." Ryan laughed and moved over to the passenger seat, handling Kiera the keys.

Kiera jumped into the driver seat, started the engine and drove pass the two checkpoints. Once on the open road, Kiera turned on the radio and drove towards downtown Berkeley. She felt Ryan's hand on her thigh as it slowly crept towards her inner thigh.

"I get to be on top tonight." Kiera demanded with a wicked grin.

"Whatever you want, babe." Ryan replied and squeezed her inner thigh.

Kiera bit her lower lip, feeling her body warm to his touch. The drive took roughly an hour to reach the downtown area. Just as the sun started to set behind the mountains, they reached the downtown area of Berkeley. Kiera drove the jeep towards the 'Whispering Tree', the restaurant where they were going to meet some old friends for dinner. Kiera found some street parking across from the "Whispering Tree'.

The 'Whispering Tree' was a mixture of American and Italian cuisine. One of the older restaurants in the area, it held a special place in Kiera's heart. Ryan took her there on their first date. Many of the Berkeley students and professors haunted the establishment. The place tended to get quite crowded. So crowded that the owner decided to build an upper deck area where people could sit outside.

Kiera and Ryan climbed out the jeep and walked towards the restaurant. Ryan opened the front doors to the restaurant for Kiera. Right away, Kiera noticed her old friends from high school. Samantha a tall blond-haired person from the California area with a tan who looked like she spent most her day surfing. Next was Ling a Chinese-American with dark hair, who was a lab technician for a global pharmaceutical company.

Then there was Thomas with his perfect looks, who was a stock trader and finishing the group was Aryan, an Indian-American who was a lead archeologist. Oddly, Kiera noticed a fifth person about middle-aged with sun bleached hair whispering into Samantha's ear.

'Who is that person?' Kiera thought walking into the restaurant.

"Oh my gosh!" Samantha yelled as she looked up at Kiera. Kiera saw her rush over and embrace Kiera in a big hug.

"Hey Samantha," Kiera replied excitedly as she hugged her back. Kiera smelled sunscreen and the salty tang of the ocean on Samantha. "Still surfing?"

"Every chance I can get." Samantha said with a smile, "I run a business as a surf instructor. Now let me see that ring." She said impatiently.

Kiera held out her hand to show the antique princess cut ring. Samantha let out a low whistle. "Man, Ryan you picked out an awesome ring." Samantha said with a wink.

"It was his mother's ring." Kiera explained, blushing a bit.

'Wow' Samantha mouthed.

"Wow is right," Acknowledged Kiera, "Hey Ling, Thomas and Aryan." Kiera hugged each of them in turn. Each one said their hellos and hugged Kiera in turn. "But I don't think we know who the mystery gentleman."

"Oh," Samantha said with a blush of her own, "This is Steve. He's my boyfriend and co-instructor."

"Hi Steven," Kiera said holding out her hand, "I'm happy to meet you."

"Likewise," Steve replied shaking her hand, "Samantha has talked non-stop about you two."

"Hi Steve," Ryan said shaking his hand after saying hi to everyone, "I bet she has."

A host showed them to their seats on the upper deck of the 'Whispering Tree'. The night sky was clear and cool. The owner had placed patio heaters throughout the upper deck to keep it warm. Ryan ordered a couple of bottles of wine for the table and the waiter poured the wine. Everyone placed orders and Kiera ordered the appetizers.

Aryan stood up and spoke with an Indian accent, "Let me be the first to congratulate these two love birds." He held up his wine glass in a toast.

"Congratulations!" Everyone at the table cheered and then clicked drinks.

"How is your job at CIA?" Ling asked after the toast.

"You can't ask her that," Thomas interrupted, "She's involved in top secret work, remember." He smiled showing is perfect white teeth and Kiera saw there was more behind that smile. Thomas tried to hide the fact he was uncomfortable. The smile was his defense mechanism.

'What could he be uncomfortable about?' Kiera thought watching Thomas carefully.

She tried to keep from shuttering as the smile reminded her of Marcus. She saw Ryan looking at her from the corner of his eye as he talked to Aryan. Kiera gently shook her head and gave a small reassuring smile.

"It's alright," answered Kiera, "I resigned from the CIA around June. I live in Saint Ives, England now and I have a family practice."

"Which one did you enjoy?" Ling asked.

"My practice hands down. The CIA was full of too many secrets to handle." Kiera responded.

"What about you Ryan?" Thomas asked.

"Nothing as exciting as Kiera," Ryan replied with a shrug and gave Kiera a knowing smile, "Running the family business and such. How is the day trading going?"

"Not bad, a little slow at the moment." Thomas said in a bored voice and Kiera noticed that he was definitely hiding something as the tone betrayed him.

His face expressed boredom, but he spoke with a worried tone. As Kiera watched him, he seemed to become stressed and ill at ease in her presence.

'Maybe stock trading is not going as well as he thought.' Kiera thought, 'I'm imagining things again, but is that fear in his eyes when he looks at me?'

Kiera kept her face looking interested in the conversation as Aryan spoke about his job. She saw Thomas darting nervous looks at her from her peripheral vision.

"How is the amazing world of archeology?" Kiera heard Ryan ask Aryan.

"Yes, what exotic location are you in?" Kiera added turning her attention away from Thomas.

"Currently, I'm at the University here in Berkeley giving a lecture on a newly discovered ancient town discovered off the coast of India. It was an amazing find and I am glad we could get to the underwater city before treasure hunters looted the area. Also..."

"Well that sounds fascinating." Thomas interrupted in his bored voice, "But I need some more wine if this conversation is going to continue."

Everyone sat quiet for a moment, and then Samantha spoke up ignoring Thomas's outburst, "So the engagement party is in two days. How are you two handling it?"

"Staying out of the way, I found to be the best approach." Kiera laughed and everyone laughed with her.

The waiter arrived with appetizers for the table. Everyone grabbed a plate and took some bread with olive oil, bruschetta or Caprese salad. Afterwards, the waiter served dinner. Kiera hand Gnocchi in vodka sauce with grill chicken strips. As they ate, everyone re-lived there high school memories.

"I don't remember," Aryan spoke up after drinking some wine, "But you two didn't start dating until high school, right."

"That's right." Samantha piped in, "Also didn't you beat up a kid who was bullying Ryan in grade school. OH you have to tell that story to Steve."

"I think Kiera tells it the best." Ryan added holding up his hands.

Kiera rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically.

"Come on Kiera," Aryan pressed, "You have to tell the story to Steve."

"Okay, okay," Kiera said, "So I when my family moved to Berkeley from Scotland, the Westbrooks was the first family we met. The first time we met, this skinny shy boy hid behind his ma and stuck his tongue out at me." Kiera said innocently.

"Wait a moment," Ryan interjected, "If I remember it right, you game me this disgusted look, which incited my response."

"Minor details," Kiera scoffed and rolled her eyes, "can I please continue?"

"By all means, please continue, but don't make yourself the innocent one in this story." Ryan warned pointing a finger at her.

"Now would I do a thing like that, dear?" Kiera replied giving an innocent look while batting her eyelashes.

"There is the devious woman I fell in love with." Ryan chuckled and shook his head.

"Anyway," Kiera continued after a dramatic sigh, "I guess since Ryan was such a mamma's boy." Kiera paused for effect while everyone laughed.

"I was not a mamma's boy." Ryan said smirking.

"Who is telling the story?" Kiera asked, "You or me?"

Ryan signed and held up his hands in defeat.

"So on this one day in particular, my parents thought it would be nice if I walked with Ryan to grade school. They thought he could show me around and I could make new friends. Ryan on the other hand decided to take off without me." Kiera stopped for a moment to take a breath and smiled before continuing. "When I finally caught up with him, there was this big kid named Henry who had poor little Ryan in a headlock demanding he give up his lunch money. Henry always picked on the smaller kids outside the school gates." Kiera stopped again and took a bite of Gnocchi.

"Well what happened next?" Samantha asked excitedly.

Kiera took a deep breath, "I walked up to the bully and tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'Excuse me, but that is my lunch money you are bulling'." Kiera smirked as everyone laughed. Kiera noticed Thomas laughing as well, but it was forced, he still looked worried. "As Henry looked up I punched him right in the nose." Kiera punched her hand forward to emphasize the point.

"Wow, you are really tough, Kiera." Ling said with a shocked voice, "I don't think I could have every done that."

"Well growing up in Dundee, you had to be tough or everyone picked on you." Kiera shrugged, "My grandpa taught me how to punch."

"Did you get in trouble?" Aryan asked.

"Yeah," Kiera said rolling her eyes, "The parents of Henry called the school and threatened the school with a lawsuit, because I attacked their son and broke his nose." Kiera sighed, "First week of school and I almost get expelled. I told Ryan he better tell the school principal the truth or else." Kiera held up her fist again.

"Did she really do that?" Samantha asked in wide-eyed shock.

"Kiera can be very convincing when she wants too." Ryan explained, "She also left out the fact that she told the bully the same thing. Before I could say a word to the principal, Henry told on himself."

"Then we became friends and the rest is history." Kiera finished and blew Ryan a kiss.

As Kiera finished, she felt her phone vibrate in her back pocket. Shifting she pulled it out and saw an international number from England on the screen. Kiera puzzled by the number, tried to think who would calling her.

'Is something wrong with Ginger?' Kiera thought starting at the phone as it stopped vibrating.

"What's the matter?" Ryan asked looking at Kiera.

"Someone from England is trying to call me." Kiera held up her phone to show Ryan the number. Suddenly it vibrated again. "I guess I should answer it, give me a moment."

Kiera stood up, connected the call and walked over to a quiet spot on the balcony.

"Hello?' Kiera asked as she placed the phone to her ear.

"Kiera, it's me Detective Williams from the Saint Ives police department." Kiera heard the familiar voice of Detective Williams.

"Hello Detective Williams," Kiera said with a puzzled tone, "What can I help you with this evening?"

"We found the vehicle, which almost hit you." Williams answered skipping the small talk.

"That is great, right?" Kiera replied and knew by his tone that there was more.

"Well it is great, but it leaves us with more questions than answers." The Detective explained, "Can you come down to the police station for a moment so we can talk?"

"I wish I could, but I'm out of the country at my family's home in California right now." Kiera replied, "Why?"

"You are going to need to sit for this," Williams sighed over the phone, "I would rather tell you in person, but you need to know what is going on. I warn you this might be a bit disturbing."

Kiera felt eyes on her and looked to see Ryan looking at her. He gave Kiera a 'what is going on' gesture. Kiera waved and mouthed, 'Everything is ok.' Then Kiera sat down in an empty seat.

"Are you still there, Kiera?" Williams asked.

"I'm here, please tell me a much as you can." Kiera replied and took a deep breath.

"Okay," Kiera heard Detective Williams say and knew by his tone that his was not good news. "We found the vehicle just outside of Saint Ives hidden off the road in the brush. A driver noticed the vehicle partially covered while he was driving out into the country." Williams explained, "When we arrived, we found the driver of the vehicle and he was dead."

"What do you mean by dead?" Kiera probed knowing that this was not an accidently death. Her and shot up to her mouth covering a gasp of surprise.

"The driver hand been shot in the side of the head. It appears to be self-inflicted as in a suicide. The coroner is conducting his own investigation right now. I believe that he was shot by someone he knew, but that is just my own observation." Kiera felt the blood drain from her face. "And it gets a whole lot stranger."

'What could be stranger than killing yourself after you steal a car?' Kiera thought.

"Kiera," Detective Williams continued, "We found a photo in the vehicle. It had slipped or it was placed between the driver seat and the center console."

"What do you mean by slipped or placed?"

"Just a gut feeling, but I think we were meant to find it." Williams answered, "The picture was of you, Kiera."

Kiera felt her head swim and she felt her breathing grow heavy as she tried to control her breathing.

The detective continued over the phone, "It seemed to be taken from a distance. Looks like Rome or some place with many churches in the background. Also there is an unidentified male standing next to you."

'Dear god.' Kiera thought feeling cold sweat break out on her forehead.

"Does the man in the photo have light brown hair, kind of like a chestnut color?"

"Yes, do you know this man?"

"Yes I do. He is Ryan Westbrook, my fiancé. We took a vacation earlier this year to Rome."

"The driver having that picture, plus almost hitting you is not a coincidence."

"What do you mean, Detective Williams?"

"I know I said that the thief was trying to escape from town after stealing the vehicle, but it does not add up." Williams answered, "The thief stole the vehicle from the sound side of town. If he wanted to get out of town fast, he should have headed east out of town, but instead he decides to head north. I'm not positive Kiera, but I think he was after you."

To Kiera this all made sense, 'But why me?' Kiera thought.

"I have to ask, but you don't have anyone who would want to hurt you?" Williams asked.

"I don't have any enemies Detective Williams." Kiera lied, but she knew that was not true.

'Could the LNF had found out about me?' Kiera thought feeling panic rise up in her, 'It's impossible, Ryan told me that they did not identify me.'

"I'm sorry Kiera," Williams said uncomfortable by the question, "I had to ask, but none of this makes sense." He added, "We will continue to investigate, but you need to be careful Kiera. I can contact the local authorities in your area?"

"What?" Kiera said distractedly still thinking, "No do not do that. The federal government is protecting the location where I am staying. My parents are doing genetic work for the government."

"Okay." Kiera heard Williams say, but knew he was thinking about what she had just mentioned. It sounded as if he was wondering if there was a connection. Kiera decided not to say anything. "Please stop by the police department upon your return to Saint Ives, Kiera."

"I will be sure to stop by and thank you for everything, Detective." Kiera said and was about to disconnect the call, when she heard Williams say something. "What did you say?"

"I asked did you heard any glass shattering on the day of the attempted hit and run." Detective Williams repeated the questions.

Kiera thought for a moment, "I did hear something that sounded like glass breaking, why?"

"Just asking," responded Detective Williams, "At the scene of the attempted hit and run, we discovered Mister Harrison's shop front window was shattered. It is probably nothing, but this whole case is strange."

"Okay," Kiera swallowed, "Well thank you again."

"If I heard anything else I will call you."

"Thanks and good night Detective."

"Good night to you Kiera." Detective Williams disconnected the call.

"Is everything okay, Kiera?" Kiera heard Ryan's voice next her as she lowered the phone, "You look pale."

Kiera looked up feeling scared, "They found the vehicle that almost hit me." Then Kiera recounted what Detective Williams told her. Taking a deep breath, she stared at Ryan trying to gauge his reaction. She saw anger in his eyes, but there was more. Sort of like he knew something, but not related to the attempted hit and run. It had something to do with the thief himself. "Do you know the thief?"

"Don't read into this Kiera." Ryan sighed.

"You did not answer my question, Ryan." Kiera replied.

"No I do not know the thief. I am just as disturbed by this as you are. Why would the thief have a picture of us?" If it is from a distance, we were being watched." Ryan suggested, "I am going to make some calls to MI-6. They might be able to help."

"You don't think it was them?" Kiera emphasized the 'them' part.

"Absolutely not, nothing from the Intel pointed at that direction." Ryan explained. "Right now we need to act as if nothing has happened." Ryan said in a soothing voice as he knelt in front of Kiera placing his hands on her shoulders. "Our friends don't need to know about this. Can you come up with something?"

"I think so," Kiera said confused, "but why?"

"The less they know right now the better. Are you ready to go back?" Ryan asked standing back up and holding out his hand.

Kiera nodded not wanting to say anything. She took his hand and let him help her stand. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. Kiera felt herself calming down. They walked hand and hand back towards their friends.

"Hey, love birds where did yo..." Thomas stopped in midsentence as he saw her. Kiera saw his face betrayed panic.

'Why does he look panicked?' Kiera thought and was about to ask him when Samantha spoke.

"What is wrong Kiera?"

"I...I had a call from Saint Ives." Kiera said looking away from Thomas to Samantha. "Some friends are watching my cat, Ginger." She said thinking quickly, "When they checked on him and they found the kitchen window open and Ginger was gone. They believe they left the window open by mistake and Ginger got out."

"Did they find him?" Ling asked with concern.

"Not yet, but they don't think he could have gotten far. Plus he knows his way home." Kiera replied with a reassuring smile.

"All this drama over a cat," Thomas blurted out, "You would have thought someone had died or someone was after you, Kiera." He looked directly at Kiera and she felt uneasy by the look.

'What does he know?' Kiera thought taken back by his comment and saw Ryan glance at Thomas with a questioning look. 'That was a strange response from Thomas.'

"Shut up, Tom," Samantha said, "You are a real ass sometimes. Don't mind him Kiera."

"It's alright," said Kiera waving her hand as if to say never mind, "Let's order dessert and enjoy the rest of the evening."

After dessert, everyone said their goodbyes and acknowledgements for the engagement party. Oddly enough, Thomas slipped away from the others and was gone.

"Where did Thomas go?" Kiera asked looking around, "I wanted to say goodbye."

"That ass said something about an upset stomach." Samantha replied angrily, "He ran off to the bathroom and told me to say goodbye for him. He really has not been himself lately."

"What do you mean by lately?"

"Look Kiera, don't read into it, but I heard through his friends that take surfing classes that he might be fired soon." Samantha said quietly.

"Fired?"

"Yes, he has not been preforming lately and has been missing work."

"That is odd." Kiera replied and then smiled, "I will catch up with him at the engagement party."

'That is very odd indeed.' Kiera thought.

Kiera and Ryan walked out of the restaurant and towards their Jeep. Ryan drove them home and Kiera did not argue. The whole drive home, Kiera stared out the window thinking about what Detective Williams told her and Thomas's strange body expressions.