She kept talking, weaving stories about her kids, aboutcamping in the backyard, chasing them as they fought over flashlights and wrestled with the dogs.
She looked at me, hope shining in her eyes. “And this trip—do you ride the bus often, Venus?”
“No,” I said, my voice clipped. I didn’t want to give her a single detail about where I was going.
She nodded, thoughtful. “Must be exhausting, huh? I prefer my car, but the bus is good when you don’t want to drive. And I hate traveling alone. Just like my kids. Especially my daughter. She hates being by herself. When she goes to school or summer camp, she messages me every hour. It’s exhausting but comforting too.”
She talked and talked and talked, voice rolling through more family memories. I let her go on, answering with one word whenever I couldn’t dodge a question. She filled the silence with stories, until the driver finally announced a short stop at Canmore.
“That’s perfect. I was starting to go numb and I need a bathroom break,” Susan exclaimed, bouncing out of her seat. “Still got a long way to Lloydminster, so I’m using every chance to stretch. Want to come with me? Let’s try to find a restroom.”
“I think I’ll stay here. I stopped at Banff earlier,” I said, hoping she’d let it go.
She nudged me. “Banff was about an hour and a half back. Come on, keep me company. I’ll even give you more beef jerky.”
She grinned, and I gave in, letting her pull me down the aisle and off the bus.
The city was beautiful, surrounded by mountains with green stretching in every direction. We headed straight for a hotel near the station where Susan ordered a coffee so we could use the bathroom, since there were no public toilets for miles.
We each took a stall. I was quick, eager to get back to the bus. At the sink, as I washed my hands, Susan came out too, lookingsatisfied.
“You were right. That was exactly what I needed. Ready to get back on—”
“Raise your hands. Nice and slow. Let me see them and don’t make a sound.”
Susan’s voice was cold, hard as stone, nothing like the woman from the bus. The barrel of her gun pressed against the small of my back. My heart exploded, the shock holding me still. I’d never seen it coming—she’d been so kind, so ordinary.
“Who are you?” I asked, lifting my hands just as she demanded.
I met her eyes in the mirror. All the warmth she’d shown along the road was gone. Her stare was merciless, professional. She patted my pockets, searching for weapons.
My eyes darted to my backpack sitting on the counter, barely three feet away. I measured the distance, wondering if I could grab my Glock before she shot me, but she saw where I was looking.
“Don’t even think about it.”
She leaned over and grabbed my bag, her gun never leaving my spine.
“What do you want? Money? There’s cash in there. Take it all, just let me leave.”
“Oh, you want to get rid of me already? After all that bonding on the bus, with the jerky, the family stories?”
“Who sent you? Was it Konflict?”
“Enough with the questions—”
She didn’t finish before I smashed my elbow into her nose. She staggered back and hissed in pain. I spun, trying to grab the gun, but she held tight, twisting and fighting. Kicks and punches were flying as we were both desperate, both angry. All those lessons from Kate came back in flashes because she’d made sure I knew how to fight, not just shoot. I landed a blow to her arm, and thegun dropped, skidding across the tile.
We both dove for it. She clawed at my hair, yanking off my wig, and my glasses fell and cracked. We crashed to the floor, rolling, tangled, scratching, biting. Susan was trained and strong, landing more hits than I wanted to count, but I fought back, shoving her off and landing a punch to her stomach that knocked her backward. Her head slammed into the wall.
I scrambled up and snatched the gun, aiming it at her. “Who sent you?” I shouted.
But I didn’t get an answer. Someone put something on my nose and pressed hard, making me breath in the dizzying scent and then everything turned black.
“Sleeping Beauty, it’s time to wake up.”
A voice reached me through the haze and something shoved my shoulder until my eyelids cracked open. My head spun, vision blurry, but after a few seconds I managed to focus.
“There you are, finally awake,” said a voice I barely recognized.
