Trapping the Gazelle

Chapter 15

Kiera lied in bathtub with her eyes closed, enjoying the warmth of the water and the smell of the scented bubbles. She kept a wet cloth over her eyes and thought over today's events. On the surface, Melissa's visit seemed harmless enough with her visit, but as Kiera replayed the events in her mind, she was able to pick out hot spots.

For starters, Melissa seemed out of sorts as if distracted by something. Kiera had never seen this in Melissa before. The Melissa she knew was always the calm center of the storm, ready for anything the world threw at her. A simple issue like a missed email would not have caused Melissa to act odd. Kiera had seen the look on her face when her assistant confirmed the forgotten email. She did roll her eyes and act unconcerned, but behind that charade, Kiera saw the slight widening of the eyes and watched as Melissa swallowed. These sign's told Kiera that Melissa was worried about something.

'But worried about what?' Kiera thought, 'What is Melissa hiding?'

Then Melissa seemed very interested in Kiera's notepad. At the time, Kiera had thought it was curiosity, but someone who was curious would give only an interested glance and then move on. Melissa on the other hand studied the names written on the notepad. Kiera had seen Melissa's eyes move quickly down the list and move her mouth as if reading and memorizing the names. Kiera recalled Melissa doing the same thing during their college years. This was her form of memorization.

'Why was she so interested in the list of names and why did Melissa visit me?' Kiera thought, 'That is the real question.' Kiera knew she wanted to talk about the death of her husband and to give an update on her virus, but it all seemed like an excuse for something else.

With a sigh of regret, Kiera removed the wash cloth from her eyes and blinked in the light. She knew she was not going to get anywhere right now. As she stepped out of the bathtub, Kiera's hand involuntarily moved to the spot where Melissa had kissed her. She could still feel the spot where Melissa had brushed her lips against her neck.

'Could she have been here for...?' Kiera thought then shook her head, 'No, it can't be that.'

Kiera dried off, put on matching bra and panties, threw on a robe and put her hair up in the towel. Kiera walked downstairs and smelled something wonderful. Her stomach grumbled as if to tell her fed me. Glancing into the kitchen, Kiera smiled as she watched Ryan cooking dinner for a moment.

'I am truly a lucky woman.' Kiera thought.

Feeling curious about the information on her notepad, Kiera walked into her office and towards her desk. Once at her desk, she grabbed her notepad and flipped it over. On the notepad, Kiera saw ten names written down. Kiera then noticed five names circled several time in red ink.

Kiera read the names aloud, "Rashid, Dinah, Sandra, Jean and Nianzu." Kiera paused and thought about why those names. 'Why did I pick those names?' She thought and then something caught her eye. It was a small thing, easy to miss, but a letter in a name stood out.

Kiera laid the notepad down on the desk, picked up a pen and leaned over her desk. Biting her lip in concentration, she looked through the names. Then she saw it, the letter 'a' in Sandra's name was missing a slight curl at the end of the letter. The other 'a's' had the slight curl at the end, but then she saw it again in Nianzu's name. She rewrote Sandra's and Nianzu's name next to the first names, the letter was definitely different.

'I could have done it.' Kiera thought, 'Or did Melissa do it?' She shook her head in disbelieve. 'Why would Melissa do such a thing?'

"Now that is a beautiful sight." Kiera jumped slightly as Ryan spoke from behind her.

Kiera turned around and leaned against her desk, "Is that so?" Kiera said.

Ryan walked up to her and undid her robe, letting it fall open. Kiera spread her legs slightly as Ryan pressed himself against her. Kiera turned her head to the side exposing her neck as Ryan leaned over her and gently bit her neck. Kiera moaned as she felt him kiss his way up the side of her neck to earlobe.

Kiera ran her hands down his body and felt for his belt buckle. She undid his belt buckle and pants. Quickly she yanked them down with his underwear as he nibbled and sucked on her earlobe. Ryan seemed to sense what she wanted. He moved to the side and used his hands to pull off her panties.

Ryan then lifted Kiera onto the desk. Kiera grasped his organ and stroked it. She watched Ryan in satisfaction as he groaned and gritted his teeth. Kiera spread her legs and helped guide his hardness into her. She felt Ryan thrust his hips and penetrate her hard. Kiera gasped as he thrust his organ deep into her. Kiera wrapped her legs around his body and laced her fingers through his hair as they kissed.

Ryan gripped her bottom tightly and moved his hips. "Give it to me hard." Kiera breathed out as she stopped kissing him.

Ryan needed no further encouragement. He buried his organ deep into her again as he held onto her bottom. Kiera moaned loudly as Ryan plunged himself deep into her. Kiera felt herself close as she curled her toes and held onto him closely. She cried out and trembled in pleasure as her body hummed with pleasure.

Ryan continued to thrust himself into her. She heard him breathing heavy as his thrust became short and quick. She heard him groan loudly as he held himself deep in her. He gripped her bottom tightly as he climaxed deep within her. Kiera held onto to Ryan as he made short thrusting motions. Kiera purred in satisfaction at the feeling of his movements.

Afterwards, Kiera loosened her fingers from his head and he looked up at her. She leaned towards him and kissed him deeply. Ryan held the back of her head and kissed her back passionately.

Once they had cleaned up and Kiera changed into yoga pants and a loose top. They sat down to enjoy dinner. Dinner consisted of chicken noodle soup , which warmed her body and fulfilled her hunger. Kiera took one of the pills as Melissa had told her to take them daily and on a full stomach. After dinner, they sat in the living room couch. More like, Ryan sat couch, while Kiera lied down on the couch with her head in his lap.

"Well did you find anything interesting in the folders?" Ryan asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.

Kiera looked up at him and smiled, "Keep that up and I might fall asleep." Kiera said with a slight yawn. She grabbed her notepad from the coffee table and showed him the names. "I circled these five names. Do you know any of them?"

"Let's see," said Ryan looking at the names on the notepad and thinking, "Well we know who Sandra is of course. Dinah is an Israeli sniper who was part of Shayetet 13." Kiera gave him a confused look, "It is Israel's special forces, which is similar to the United States SEAL team. She is a straightforward person that has no problem speaking her mind. It has gotten her into trouble several times." Ryan explained then looked on, "Rashid is from Iraq. He is skilled in poisons and disguises. I only met him one time during a training exercise. He is pretty quiet and tends to be a loner."

"And can you tell me about Jean and Nianzu?" Kiera asked as she looked at her notepad then back up at Ryan.

"Well I don't think Jean is a possible suspect." Ryan answered.

"Why is that?" Kiera asked giving him a perplexed look.

"He was the one who was watching you. The thief found dead in the stolen vehicle." Ryan explained.

"Odd that I had circled Jean's name, but Dragon never did give me the thief's name," Kiera said with a shrug, "And Nianzu?"

"Now there is a strange fellow. Don't get me wrong, he is loyal and is bound by an honor code." Ryan said.

Kiera waited quietly while Ryan thought for a moment and then he spoke, "Nianzu is a ninja." Ryan said and Kiera raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'You must be joking'. "I'm not joking Kiera. He is full blooded, sixth generation ninja from the Tokugawa clan in southern Japan. You will not meet a more honest man than Nianzu. I'm surprised you had him on your list."

"That is another thing," Kiera said remembering what she was working on before Ryan came into the office. "I noticed that the writing in his name and Sandra's name was a bit different. Let me show you." Kiera flipped the notepad over. As she did so, she cut her right index finger alongside the notepad paper. "Ouch." Kiera cried out in shock and stuck her finger into her mouth.

"Are you okay, Kiera?" Ryan asked a bit concerned.

"Damn, got a paper cut from that...that." Kiera replied with her finger still in her mouth, but she stopped midsentence as she thought.

"From that notepad?" Ryan suggested finishing her sentence with raised eyebrows.

"From a twenty dollar bill." Kiera said quietly deep in thought.

"A twenty dollar bill," Ryan asked confused by her response. "Don't you mean the notepad?"

Kiera sat up suddenly and it all started to make sense. She turned quickly to Ryan and showed her index finger again.

"It's a paper cut and it has stopped bleeding, what is the big deal?"

"Remember that night when I met you at the 'Foxhole'. Remember the guy in the expensive suit?"

"Vaguely," Ryan said, "I remember he was trying to hit on you and I told him to beat it."

"Yes, but afterward." Kiera said impatiently, "He threw down a twenty dollar bill and said to keep it for my troubles." Kiera took a deep breath, "When I picked up the bill. I cut my right index finger on the bill."

"I remember that. You looked pretty hot sucking on your finger." Ryan chuckled.

Kiera rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Well after our night together in your hotel room. When I was going back to my place, I had my first nosebleed in the car. At first I thought it might have been the after effects from the attack in the alley, but that is when everything started."

"Melissa said you had to be injected by something." Ryan added, "Could it have been that simple and why go after you?"

"Ryan you said it yourself that someone was after me too." Kiera reminded him.

"Yes, but that was Victor and we discovered why he wanted you then." Ryan pointed out.

"It is the only plausible explanation. I have to tell Melissa about this." Kiera said quickly standing up. She walked into her office and grabbed her phone. Scrolling through her list of contacts, she found Melissa Cohen and pushed her contact.

Kiera held the phone to her ear impatiently tapping her foot and saw Ryan enter the office. The phone finally connected and before Kiera could say anything a robotic female voice spoke, "You have reached Melissa Cohen, Director for Prehistoric Virus Prevention. She is not available at this time. Please leave your name, number, time you called and a brief message. Doctor Cohen will call you back at her earliest convenience."

Kiera waited for the beep, "Melissa please call me as soon as you can." Kiera said quickly and took a deep breath before continuing, "I think I know how I was infected. Call me immidiately." Kiera disconnected the phone and looked at Ryan in excitement.

"She was not available?" Ryan asked.

"No, probably traveling." Kiera answered. "We need to find out who put that twenty dollar bill on the bar for me?"

"Do you know someone that could get that information for us?" Ryan asked.

"I do know a person who can do it." Kiera replied, "Kate is a computer technician who still works for the CIA. She is a hacker and can get me the footage I need. I will send her a text."

She pulled up her contacts again and found Kate's number. She quickly typed out a text explaining what she needed. She knew Kate would not see it until the morning. It was frustrating that no one was answering her. She was so close to the truth and now a new roadblock stood in front of her.

"Do you think you can set up some interviews with the four people I need to talk too?" Kiera asked Ryan. "Also we need to see Jean's body. He could have been poisoned too."

"I will talk to Dragon and work something out, but we will not tell him of this development."

"I agree, the less he knows the better."

"Well we better get some sleep, since we have to be at the Royal Cornwall Hospital tomorrow." Ryan reminded Kiera.

"Do we have to go to bed right away?" Kiera suggested as she stood in front of him. She forgot all about the other thing she wanted to talk about as Ryan slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He kissed her passionately as Kiera kissed him back.