Tying up loose ends is a lot like pulling on a dangling thread. You never know what else is going to come loose.
I made my way towards Jake’s apartment, stopping on the middle of the bridge to toss the revolver into the water. The flow of blood was slowing, but I’d still lost a lot and was starting to feel the effects. I was beginning to wonder if I’d be able to skip the trip to the hospital. But they’d take one look at blood-spattered me and call in the police, and that couldn’t happen. I’d taken a course in field medicine, granted it was years ago, but I still remembered the basics. I could get through this.
Jake’s apartment was still dark when I got there, and I quickly picked the locks on his front door. There was one skill I was very good at, and it was coming in handy. Leaving most of the lights out, I headed straight for the bathroom. I stripped off my clothes and dumped them into the washing machine. Then I riffled around under the sink until I found the first aid kit, which still included the small suture kit I remembered. Perhaps another reason I should have questioned his ‘job’ as a graphic design artist. How many people do you know that have a first aid kit with suture supplies? Mine doesn’t. Mine has a handful of Hello Kitty band-aids and a half-used tube of ointment. I grabbed the bottle of alcohol and positioned myself so my arm was dangling over the bathtub. Then I unwound the flannel, thankful that it hadn’t had time to really stick to the wound. I was still slowly oozing blood, and I took a very deep breath before I poured a good amount of alcohol over the wound.
You know how in the cartoons pain causes little stars to float above the character’s heads? I saw those stars. It was even more painful than the original cut, almost certainly partly because I was exhausted and had lost a lot of blood. I kept myself from passing out, barely, and went about threading the needle. The stitches stopped hurting after the first few, and I blocked out everything but concentrating on the next neat, tidy little stitch. I was a decent seamstress, but no doctor, so the stitches looked more like a patch job on a teddy bear than real sutures. But they were holding the skin together and the bleeding had stopped, so they would do. I hopped into the shower and washed all the blood off of me, careful not to get too much water on my stitches. I got out feeling almost refreshed, though I was smart enough to realize it was more of a giddy delirium than anything else.
I sat on the floor of the bathroom and dozed until the washer was done. Then I threw the clothes in the dryer along with the towel I’d used. I neatly put back all the medical supplies under the cabinet, and wandered into his bedroom for a robe. It felt a little weird walking around naked. What if he came home suddenly? And what if he wasn’t alone? So far my luck had held out, but I wasn’t counting on it staying that way. I pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of boxers from his drawer, and fought down the melancholy at the gesture. At least I hadn’t seen any indication of another women at the apartment. I’m not sure I could have handled that.
The kitchen was well-stocked and I helped myself to a very large ham sandwich, a few cans of pop, and a very large slice of chocolate cake and a glass of cold milk. The food made me feel better, but more sleepy. I suppressed a yawn and went to check on the clothes. They were almost dry. I had just enough time to do one more thing and then I’d get dressed and leave. Maybe for the last time. If everything went right, I’d probably never see this apartment, or even this city, again.
The necklace was in the first place I looked. The top drawer of his dresser, nestle next to an impressive Colt 45. I ran my finger down the length of the barrel of the gun, smiling to myself. I had been an idiot not to see what Jake was, but then, I suppose that’s why he was good at his job. I wondered briefly if Jake was his real name. I pulled the necklace out of the pouch and put it on, now realizing the subtle difference in weight between this one and the tracking device. How hadn’t I noticed that before? Because I hadn’t been looking for it. Things are so obvious when you know what to look for. It’s spotting the oddities out of the blue that is difficult.
I riffled through the paper on his desk, snooping while looking for a blank sheet of paper. There was nothing interesting. Just a pile of mundane bills and junk mail. I would snoop longer, but each minute I stayed I was in more danger of being caught. I found a slip of blank paper and sat, chewing on the end of a pen for a moment. No pressure, I just had to decide the next chapter in my life right this moment. A name popped into my head, and wrote it down on the slip of paper. Then, thinking about it for a minute, I decided to run a quick internet search before committing to it. No results. I briefly hoped I wasn’t too blatantly ripping off Bloom County, but figured it was a bonus that Jake would get the reference. I slipped the piece of paper into the jewelry pouch and waited for the clothes dryer to finish.
When my clothes were done I slipped them on, hung the towel neatly back on the rack, and stuffed Jake’s t-shirt and boxers into my bag. It was depressingly sentimental, but I couldn’t help myself. I let myself out of the apartment, being careful to re-set the locks on the door. Locking a door with a set of lock-picking tools is a lot harder than opening it, but like I said, I’m good. I left the apartment building just as the sun was rising. I was dead on my feet but still had one last stop before I could rest. I made my way on foot and by public transport (no risking a taxi remembering me) to the storage until and dug out the paperwork for my alternate identity. It was a safe one, since it had never been, in any way, connected with the agency. I’d created it on my own time, and never using any agency equipment. It was an old-fashioned fake identity, with the real Elizabeth Henderson having died in childhood in a car accident. Strange how death certificates are the one thing no one ever checks for. Credit reports, yes, and thanks to some careful pre-planning Elizabeth, though never having bought a car or house, had some credit rating. I’d worked some second jobs as her, and attended college on-line in her name, so there was a history. I told you working in the spy business made people paranoid. I’d been preparing for this, even though I never thought it would happen.
I was all set to go to a hotel and spend the night, but fatigue finally got the better of me. I shut the storage unit and flopped down on the couch, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep. When I woke up, it was dark again, but the light was brightening. I’d slept through the entire day and night. I yawned, stretched, and let myself out. I walked to the nearest fast-food place and immediately used the bathroom. The one drawback to camping out in a storage unit would be the lack of facilities. I ordered breakfast, feeling the coffee and grease revive me. It was a big day today. The first day of the rest of my life. I started it off by going back to the storage unit and taking a nap. I thought it a fitting start to my new, independent life.
When I got up the second time it was mid-afternoon, and I spent a few moments gathering up the things I needed to keep near me. I packed a suitcase with all of my new documentation and stored everything of my old self in a lockbox. I would, eventually, need to dispose of it, but not now. I wasn’t ready for that just yet. I stepped out of the unit and headed back to the fast-food place for another bathroom break and lunch before heading out to get a truck.
The nearest U-Haul didn’t have the size truck I wanted, but when I told them of my lack of transportation, they had one delivered from a nearby store. If they thought it was odd for a twenty-something to suddenly decide to up and move across the country, they didn’t say anything. I suppose I had the right mix of weary and defeated on my face, as if I’d come to the place with dreams and ambitions that had been brutally dashed. Close enough to the truth.
I rented the truck and persuaded two of the guys working there to come help me load up the storage unit for a modest fee. I think they felt sorry for me, and I’m not ashamed to admit I took full advantage of it. With the three of us working it only took a few hours, and by the time I was ready to go the sun was once again sinking into the horizon. I could still get a few hours on the road before it was time to stop for the night, though, so I took off and started my journey cross-country.
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