Page 86 of Longing for Liberty
If I wanted to take down the top three, I needed to patiently wait for an opportunity like the last one when they were all together in their relaxed element, not a single State forceman in sight. I didn’t think for a moment that I would survive it. If Amos were armed, others would be too. But the top three would never expect a maid, a woman, to have the audacity to try something. It had to be fast and in close contact so I wouldn’t miss.
One.
Two.
Three.
And I would probably keep shooting for good measure. Two bullets in each man. And then? It was impossible to imagine how the scenario would play out afterward without knowing how many people would be present and how many in the close vicinity. Perhaps I could make it as far as the elevators. All I knew for certain was that I would either be shot or caught and publicly executed.
My heart ached for Jeremy. I left just a sliver of my heart open and available to feel for him, but otherwise it was closed for business.
“What’s on your mind?” Kathy asked, drawing me out of my reverie as we walked. It was a beautiful early fall evening. Quite a few people were out walking.
“Nothing at all,” I said, feeling content as I smiled for the drone that passed.
Kathy waited a long moment before making aharumphsound. “You’re scheming.”
“Am I that transparent?” I asked.
Kathy chuckled. “Ah, sweetheart, I don’t know how you’ve made it this long.”
I grinned at this, because Jeremy always said I had a terrible poker face.
“Tell me,” she said.
“I’m just…” We smiled and nodded at a couple passing by. “Readying myself to cause a little chaos.”
“Libby…”
“Don’t worry.”
“Your position is very valuable?—”
“And I want to make the most of it.”
Only the minor purse of her lips showed she was displeased.
I went on. “If this happens as I plan, please tell Jeremy I’ve missed him, and that I was ready.”
Kathy roughly wiped her nose and sniffed. “D’you know what the underground calls you?”
The resistance had a name for me? I shook my head.
“Lady Liberty.”
I felt a pang of worry. “They know my name?”
“No.” Again with her chuckle. “That’s just what they named you. Funny, right?”
I smiled to myself. If I’d been given a moniker, the information on the thumb drive must have been very helpful. Knowing that filled me with satisfied warmth.
“You’re no fool,” Kathy said. “But please be careful.”
“I will. I promise. And thank you for, well, everything. For believing in me.”
Kathy sighed and looked up at the sky, but I saw that her eyes were watering. She said nothing else, but I wondered about who she’d lost. And then I imagined them reunited when all hell broke loose.
* * *
