Wade was tracking Kim and Ron as they made their way to the Upperton Jewelry exchange. He was also monitoring the Upperton police net and the top secret GJ agent communication exchange. As the current debate on the Everlot Fan site played across a small corner of his screen, he wondered if anyone would be able to divulge information new to him; not likely. A ticker along the base of his monitor showed the Nikkei average drop in response to Nakasumi Toys report of lower than expected fourth quarter earnings. All the while, he manipulated the plans for his next Wade-bot, adding a stealth mode and upgrading its self-repairing armor. As these improvements were uploading to his patent attorney, he sighed, because no matter how he occupied his mind, he continued to think about Kim’s emerging dark side.
It had been nearly two years since the incident at the resort, and he still had not been able to discover the details of what had happened. Kim had taken on a rescue mission from someone else; he guessed it was verbally because there was no record of it anywhere he could find. Kim wouldn’t talk about it and whatever it was, it had happened too far from any recording media for him to be able to piece it together from electronic records. He had pieced together some of the events and he knew that two girls, both about the same age as Kim, had died. Perhaps a part of Kim had died with them.
The family that had run the resort was now bankrupt and desolate, just like everyone else who had failed Kim during the last eighteen months. He began to run his correlation programs one more time. Somewhere there was information that would explain what happened to Kim. Somewhere there was a key to her deliverance. Kim’s voice interrupted his thoughts; “All set here, Wade.” He sighed again and reached for the keyboard. “You’re all clear, Kim.” He said, “Straight up the south face and ten feet in from the wall.”
“You rock, Wade!”
He already knew that, but it was nice to hear.
Kim hung upside down from the ventilation shaft, her grappling hook looped to her climbing harness, Ron bracing the yoke in the shaft, Rufus sitting on her hands. She and Rufus were dangling in front of the safe but still about three feet too high.
“Down slow.” She sub-vocalized. Ron just grunted acknowledgement and began letting out slack. As she approached the safe’s tumbler, she signaled Ron to stop, allowing herself a quick smile. There had been a time, when she would not have trusted Ron to hold her in position like this without losing his pants. The last year and a half had been good for Ron she thought, as Rufus started on the safe.
Still perched on her hands, the rodent began manipulating the safe’s tumblers, expertly spinning them this way and that, finding the right combinations in about half the time it would have taken her. Satisfied that the job was progressing well, she let her mind drift back to the man Ron had become. He was no longer the goofy, vacant-headed blonde of their early years together; he had matured and focused on what was important. She could rely on him, even if he did constantly refer to himself in the third person, and that was what mattered.
The soft click of the tumblers lining up brought Kim out of her reverie, she pulled Rufus up to her waist and let him climb up to Ron from there. Opening the safe, she quickly removed a small velvet sack and held it in her hand. With her other hand she removed several similar bags from her pockets one at a time and compared them to the bag she had removed from the safe. When she found one that matched size and weight, she placed it carefully into the safe in the exact spot where its twin had been sitting. She then closed the safe and spun the tumblers, taking care to return each one to the position it was in before they had started.
She did a quick survey of the area and verified there was nothing of theirs left behind, and then signaled Ron to pull her up. They quickly broke-down the climbing equipment and moved out. She would exchange the earrings tomorrow and retrieve the beta unit at the same time.
As they swiftly made their way across the rooftops of Upperton’s historic district, Kim let the adrenaline flow through her. She could feel her emotional damn twisting under the conflicting forces. There was still time to alter the plan. There was still time to spare him. The retribution had started and could be completed tonight. She held his future in her hands, it was her’s to save or destroy. The emotional conflict raged inside of her petite frame, building up pressure like steam in a boiler trying to find a relief valve. She allowed the dark mix of emotions to churn in her body and splash out through her limbs.
Ron kept an eye on Kim with while scouting ahead. He knew she was bursting with something primal and it was up to him to find a suitable place for what came next. Fortunately, this part of Upperton was filled with little parks and courtyards. He spotted a promising milieu just in time. “Now!” the redhead demanded and attacked him full force, wrapping her legs around his waist and burying her face in his neck. At least she had given him a warning this time, he thought. Holding Kim tightly against his torso with one arm, he slid down a drainpipe onto the patio he had spotted a few moments ago. He had just enough time to target the chaise lounge before she dropped one leg down and tripped him.
Ron spent an eternity intently focused on Kim. He was not an expert lover, but he had the ability to exclude everything that was not Kim from his world for as long as she needed it. His hands and mouth explored her with an intensity and fervor that drove her right to the edge of sanity. When she peaked, he held her, anchoring her against the waves. When the storm subsided, he continued his fanatical exploration. He worshiped her. He loved her. He let her know that there was nothing else he wanted to do, nothing else he could do. There was nothing but Kim.
After she peaked a second time she guided him into herself. He could feel her breasts against his chest and her hands clasping his back and ass. She encouraged him to deepen his thrusts and planted teasing kisses on his neck. His right hand slid up her stomach and found her breast, cupping the fullness of it. His fingers teased her nipple and his light but intense touch was bringing her once more to the edge of ecstasy. He could feel her trembling beneath him. Knowing she was climaxing once more put him over the top. He wrapped his arms and legs around her, enveloping her until her orgasm subsided. She clung to him, sobbing quietly into his neck. “I’m here for you, Kim.” He said, “I’m right here.”
The young man handed a single key to Kim. “Thanks for the ride” She said, looking at the red sportbike.
“After what you done for me, you can borrow my bike anytime!” he replied.
“It was just a little cliff-side rescue from halfway down a thousand foot gorge during a wind storm,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hands. “So not the drama.”
She turned to Ron as the man hopped in his friend’s car and they drove away, “Do you want a ride back home?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m supposed to meet Bonnie. If I show up on the back of some bike she’ll just start asking me questions until my head explodes.”
“Don’t you have to go change into your ‘New Ron’ clothes first?” She teased.
“Oh, Right.”
-Twenty seconds later-
“KP! KP! KAAAAAY PEEEEEE! YOU CAN LET ME OFF RIGHT HERE!”
Ron watched Kim take off on one wheel and wondered what had possessed him to climb onto a vehicle that Kim was operating. She might be able to do anything but apparently, reassuring her passengers that they were not going to die wasn’t something high on her list of priorities. He sighed and called Wade for a ride home. It was after midnight, and Bonnie was going to be pissed.
The black Limousine pulled away. Kim memorized the Swiss bank account number and tore the paper into tiny pieces. She spread the flecks on the small breeze like confetti and put on her helmet. The Retribution was complete, but she was feeling uncertain. She was sure that Mr. Long would never leave her or anyone else high and dry again, but something didn’t feel right. A small part of her thought of his family and how they would be affected, she began to feel sorry for his wife and… She stopped that train of thought right there.
I needed him. She thought to herself, and he wasn’t willing to help me when I needed him. He had to pay for that. What if she had failed to protect someone again? What if lives had been lost this time? No! She shouted in her mind, she wasn’t going to feel sorry for him. She wasn’t going to feel sorry for his family… for his damn dog… for anything associated with him!
I make deals with people, she told herself bitterly. I help them; they help me when I call. It’s that simple. If they don’t help me, someone could get hurt… Someone did get hurt. “If they don’t help me,” She whispered inside her helmet. “I make sure it’s them.”
The memory of Jenny’s broken body threatened to overwhelm her. In the back of her mind, the Chief was laughing and no one was answering her call. As she mounted the bike and headed back to Middleton, the helmet lining absorbed her tears impersonally.
Next time:
Chapter 3- Summer here, Summer there.
Kim buys
Shego beats
Wade browses
Ron bumbles
Plus! A special guest appearance… Seriously!