Braxton turned onto the road leading up the mountain. “Where are we going?”

“To one of Denver's make out spots. And don't worry, I am not going to force myself on you. There's a great view of the city at night from up there.”

“Braxton, pray tell, how do you know where the city's make out spots are?” she teased.

“Word gets around. I do have some teenage patients, you know. The other day I asked one of them where the best one is so I could take you there”, he teased back. Marissa was glad it was dark and he couldn't see her blush. When they got to their destination, they saw a few other cars there. “It's not as busy as it should be on a Friday night. I think there's some big football game going on.”

The moon was full and Marissa could sense eyes on them as Braxton pulled into a spot overlooking the city. She wasn't wrong. It wasn't often that a Mercedes came up here at night - except for the occasional time someone's father let him use the family car for the evening.

Braxton could sense it, too, and he decided to give them something to watch – if Marissa co-operated. “Let's go sit on the bench”, he suggested. “It's a better view. You can wear my coat.” They got out of the car and walked the short distance to the nearest bench. He put his arm around her and she leaned into him as he pointed out the city's landmarks with his free hand.

“This is such a beautiful view”, she said. “I'd love to see it in the daytime.”

“I'll have to bring you up some day, if you are still around.”

“Yes, let's do that”, she replied. They had turned to face each other. Braxton reached out and tenderly pushed a lock of her hair off her face. Her heart was pounding. Is he going to kiss me? she thought. What if he does? Should I kiss him back? I want to, but I can't let him get close. It will make it harder on him when I leave.

Someone yelled from one of the cars “Hey Gramps, aren't you a little old to be up here?” Marissa thought she would die.

“Shall we give them something to see?” Braxton asked with a grin on his face.

“What the hell, why not?” He leaned in and kissed her on the lips, softly and tenderly at first, then with a growing fervour. She responded in kind, despite her intention to keep it light. “Braxton”, she said “This can't go any further than just kissing.”

“I know, Marissa. Please, let's not mar our evening. Besides, we're giving those kids something to watch.” Catcalls and wolf whistles were coming from the other cars.

Another teen boy called out “She's pretty young for you, Grandpa – did you change her diaper before you brought her out?” Marissa raised her casted hand, holding her middle finger up.

“She's feisty!” someone else yelled.

“Isn't it past your bed time, kiddies?” Braxton yelled back before he resumed kissing Marissa. Eventually, the noise died down as the teen boys turned their attention back to their dates.

They sat there a while longer, alternating between kissing and chatting. Braxton didn't want Marissa to get a chill, so he suggested they head back to the city. Just then, a teen boy appeared. “I want to apologize ....” he started to say, then he recognized Braxton. “Dr Jagger!”

“Hello Tony.”

“I-I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry for those Neanderthals”, he apologized. “I swear they all think they are the product of the second Immaculate Conception in history.”

“Don't worry about it, Tony. We decided to give them something to see.”

“They are just jealous that their girlfriends aren't as pretty as you”, Tony said to Marissa. “You are a lucky guy, Dr Jagger. But if I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have told you about this place. Actually, I thought you were joking when you asked me where the best make-out spot is.”

“It's all right, Tony. Really, it is.”

“I better get back to my girlfriend. Good night, Dr Jagger. Good night, Ma'am.”

“Ma'am?” Marissa said when they were on their way down the mountain. “Do I look like a 'ma'am'?”

“He was being polite”, Braxton told her. “He's a good kid.”

“Thank you so much for this evening, Braxton. I had a great time and it's meant the world to me.”

“Thank you for coming with me. I had a great time, too.”

A week later, Ryan Duncan declared Marissa free of infection. He had had her get x-rays before her appointment and he told her he was pleased with how her wrist was healing. Since her incision was all healed up, he put another cast on and said it would stay on for about a month. On the way home from the appointment, Braxton told her she was welcome to stay at his place as long as she wanted to, even though she didn't need the infusions anymore. He had been bathing her as he had done that night that his window was shot out – kneeling in a position behind her and letting her wash her front. He felt she might not be able to do it entirely by herself and she agreed. It would be hard managing with just one hand, so she said she'd stay longer as long as she wasn't a burden to him.

Gideon Maynard had scheduled the surgery to remove her kidney tumour for 3 weeks down the road. She had received a call from the therapist Braxton had recommended, but he was not able to fit her in for another couple weeks.

Three days after her appointment with Ryan, Braxton came home from work a bit early. He told her he'd received a call from a hospital in Boulder. His parents had been in a car accident and his mother was critically injured. He had to go to them, but he said she could stay there in his house if she wanted. She said she thought she'd like to go home to her apartment, she hadn't been there in a while. He dropped her off before he headed to Boulder.

“I might be gone for a week or longer”, he told her after he'd taken her belongings up. “I have a sinking feeling you won't be here when I get back. I wish I didn't have to go.”

“You have to go, Braxton. Your parents need you. Thank you for everything you've done for me. I'll treasure the time we had forever, and I'll hold on to the memory of the fun times and forget about the bad ones.” They clung to each other in a hug for a few minutes, then he gave her one last kiss before leaving.

Marissa was out of sorts for the next few days. She missed Braxton something fierce. He called her every day, sometimes twice a day, to let her know how things were going. His mother had been upgraded from critical to serious. They thought she might make it. His father was fine – he just had some bruises. Their car had been t-boned on the passenger side by someone running a red light.

Then came the call from Brian that Marissa had dreaded – they were sending her to New York State and she had 24 hours to pack up whatever she wanted to take with her – the rest would be packed and moved by a couple of the Cartel's employees. He said that one of them would be a woman who would box up any remaining clothes and personal care items. Brian said he was taking her with him in a limousine.

After a good cry, she got to work. There was no point in brooding – she had no choice in the matter, so she might as well accept it. First, she dealt with the pictures from Braxton, uploading them to a cloud drive, then deleting them from her email program. She entered his phone numbers and home and work addresses into a file which she also uploaded. This was in case she had to turn her phone in. The last thing she did before starting to pack was to finish a letter she'd been writing to Braxton – a little at a time as writing hurt her broken wrist. She put it in an addressed envelope, stamped and sealed it, then took it downstairs to the mailbox in front of the apartment building. Back in her apartment, she called his landline and left a message for him, telling him that she had to leave and was sorry she couldn't say goodbye in person.

The first things she packed were the dress, shawl, shoes and jewellery Braxton had given her. She didn't want to leave those items for the movers - just in case. These and the pictures were all she had to remember him by. Finally, she packed the clothes and personal hygiene items she was taking. She didn't feel she'd be able to sleep much that night and wished she had some more boxes to pack up some other things but she settled for watching B-grade movies on tv until she finally fell asleep on the couch.

Brian arrived the next afternoon. The limo driver took her bags down while her supervisor pushed her in her wheelchair. “Have you ever been in a limo before?” he asked once they were inside.

“No.”

“You will like it. We have a bar in here and some snacks. Help yourself.”

“I'm okay. I don't each much.”

“That is pretty evident.”

“Why are we travelling this way?”

“I thought it would be more comfortable than a car and I wanted to spend some time with you. I will be there at the compound for a few days, then I'm being sent to Seattle to supervise the workers there. The supervisor there got a promotion. By the way, I need all your identification.”

“Why? It's in my suitcase.”

“You won't be using those aliases anymore. You'll be assigned new ones. Everyone from Denver is getting new ones. It's to be safe. The police are getting too close. Please destroy yours when you unpack.”

“What's with that, Brian – the cops?”

“Someone ratted us out. I suspect there's a mole among our ranks and I have a pretty good idea who it is.”

“What is going to happen to him or her?”

“You don't need to concern yourself with that, Lydia. That is your new alias – Lydia. You will use it for everything except trips. No more using your real name - for anything. You slipped up using it with Braxton but don't do it again. And speaking of Braxton – you cannot contact him ever again. That is an order. He saw tears forming in her eyes. “Lydia, this is one reason we ask our workers to not have relationships – besides the fact we don't like taking the chance that you will slip up, it's hard on you and your friends when you get transferred and cannot maintain any sort of contact.”

“I understand, Brian. I kept telling him to not get attached to me.”

“It looks like you should have taken the same advice. Does he know you are leaving?”

“Yes, but not when or where to. Brian, I had to tell him, I couldn't just disappear on him! Besides, if I did just disappear, he might have reported me as missing, which could be disastrous.”

“What exactly did you tell him?”

“That I was going to be transferred by my company. That's all he knows. Please do not harm him. He knows nothing of you or the Cartel.”

“I will make you a deal, Lydia. You do not contact him and we will leave him alone. Fair enough?”

“Okay, Brian.” She didn't like it, but she had to comply to keep Braxton safe. “Hey, why are they sending me to New York?”

“You can't go on trips for a while, so they want you to train new recruits. It will give you something to do and you will be earning money. You'll stay in our compound in upper New York State and when you are able to go on trips again, we will send you to another state. I know you didn't like being in New York when you were undergoing training. I'm going to try to get you sent to Seattle, where I'm going.”

“What about all the stuff from my apartment?”

“It will be put in storage at the compound and we will ship it to you when you have a place of your own.”

Marissa was not happy about going to the compound. It held too many bad memories of the beatings she took when she was there for “orientation & training”. She didn't relish the thought of training others to do something she found repulsive, but she knew she had no choice.

“You will have to take out medical insurance in your new name, of course.”

“What about pre-existing conditions?”

“What ones do you have?”

“This, for one.” She held up her left hand. “And remember that female trouble I told you about?”

“Right. I thought you said you weren't having the procedure they were recommending?”

“But what if I change my mind?”

“Act like this is a new problem. Let them do the tests again. That's the only way to get your new policy to cover it. As for your wrist, we will cover the cost of anything you need since it was our employee who did this to you. There is an infirmary at the compound with nurses and a couple doctors that can deal with anything minor.”

Marissa was not comfortable with this, but she didn't say anything to Brian. She'd have to figure something out. If she ended up in hospital over her kidney stones or tumour, her new insurance policy would not cover it. If she pretended like it was a new problem and they later found out it wasn't, she'd be in a lot of hot water.

“Brian, how did you come to be here?” she asked. “Working for the organization, that is.”

“I was broke and homeless, living under a bridge”, he replied. “I couldn't keep a job and any job I could get was minimum wage, not enough money to get a roof over my head and eat. A recruiter for the organization posed as another homeless man and got to know some of us. He made an offer to myself and a couple others he felt would say yes and would be able to handle the job. Decent pay and travel in exchange for bringing some product home two or three times a month. The rest of the time was mine. I couldn't say no.”

“How did you deal with the mental issues of bringing the 'product' home?”

“By looking at it the way my supervisor told me to – that as long as there is a market for it, *somebody* is going to bring it into the country and it might as well be me.”

They spent two nights in hotel rooms before they reached their destination. Brian and the driver shared a room and Marissa was in an adjoining one. Brian put an ankle tracker on her leg – it would sound an alarm if she cut it off. He programmed it to allow her to walk around the room and even step outside if she needed some air, but if she went beyond that, the alarm would go off. “It's not that I don't trust you, Lydia, but if anything happened, I would be held responsible.”

The days seemed to go on forever. The limo was comfortable, but Marissa's back could only take being in a car for so long. She was still feeling the effects of the beating Tomas had given her. And while Brian was pleasant on the outside, she hated everything he stood for. He was there of his own free will, he wasn't forced like she was. However, she had to play along. For some reason, he'd taken a liking to her and seemed to treat her better than average, so she wasn't going to mess with that. She had found out at the beginning of this turn in her life that resisting would not end well for her – or her loved ones. For about the millionth time, she vowed to find a safe way out, even if it took years.

Finally, they arrived at their destination – the Cartel's headquarters. The compound was on a large piece of land and enclosed by a 10 foot high stone wall. There was a guard stationed at the gated entrance. Nobody got in without a good reason. Brian showed his identification to the guard and they were waved in. The limo stopped in front of a grey brick four storey building. “This is where you will be staying while you are here”, Brian told her as he opened his door. The driver held Marissa's door for her and helped her into her wheelchair. They took her to her suite on the third floor. It was spacious – a living area, bedroom, full bath and a small kitchenette.

“The cafeteria has full meals at no charge – just show them your identification”, he said as he handed the card to her. “There are a few canned goods in the cupboard here – soup, tuna etc and you can use the hotplate or microwave to heat it up. There's a small store on the ground floor where you can get canned goods, crackers, bread and the like as well as personal care items. You have a $50 a week allowance there, anything over that you will have to pay for yourself.”

“That's more than generous, thank you”, she said. When she had been here for her training, she'd just had a small room with a shared bathroom and she ate on the floor with the other recruits. Their meals had been brought to the “dining room” on a cart like hospitals use. There was no store for them to purchase snacks from.

“You can have the next couple days to settle in and familiarize yourself with the place. I'll be in touch and we'll get together so I can introduce you to your new supervisor – he or she will let you know when you start your classes on how to train recruits. It doesn't take long to learn – only a few days.

“There's a map of the compound on the coffee table – you can go anywhere that is coloured green. Red areas are off limits and yellow areas, you need permission first.

“There is WiFi here – the password is written on the map. I will warn you, your laptop and phone are subject to being searched at any time, at the discretion of your supervisor. Oh, I need your phone.”

“Why?”

“I have a new one for you.” He took it out of his pocket and handed it to her. “The number is entered as a contact as well as my new number. Your supervisor will give you his or her number. Your old phone will be destroyed. Also, the first month is paid. If you are still here after a month, you are responsible for paying. When you get transferred, you will want to get a carrier in your new city. Now I will leave you to get settled in. If you need anything, call me.” Marissa handed him her old phone, thankful that she'd uploaded Braxton's numbers to the cloud drive. She hoped to contact him if she ever got out of the Cartel – alive, that is. The kidney tumour might take her before she found a safe way out.

“Just to let you know – Braxton's numbers are on there.”

“I figured they were. You won't be needing them anymore.”

After Brian and the driver left, Marissa unpacked her clothes and toiletries. She held the dress Braxton had given her close to her body for a few minutes, then put it back in her empty suitcase, along with the shawl. She didn't think anyone would come in and snoop around while she was out, but she didn't want to take any chances. She had dresses and skirts, but nothing this fancy. She locked the jewellery in her small safe, then put it in a box in her closet and put a blanket from the top shelf on top of the box. On top of that she set the suitcase, resting on it's side. She didn't know why she was paranoid – she had earrings and necklaces that she wore a lot of the time, but she just did not want to lose the few mementos she had of her friend in Denver.

After putting her toiletries in the bathroom, Marissa went to bed. She tossed and turned for a while, feeling out of sorts in her temporary home. Finally, she fell asleep.