Second Chance

“I knew I should have called in sick today,” Mina Hill muttered as she scanned the area around the pier. Wiping sweat from her face, she pulled a lock from her backpack and secured her Marlin 7 mountain bike to the rack. She ripped her helmet from her head, exposing her Bantu knots, and shoved it inside the pack. Falling in step with the crowd of tourists, Mina’s dark eyes scanned for the last person she thought she’d be meeting up with when she began her day – her ex-girlfriend, Kaitlyn.

The day started out fairly normal. After waking up with only a subtle hangover, she mounted up and headed for her job with Zip Courier Service. Most of the runs for the morning had been between attorney’s offices and the Hall of Justice to deliver court documents. That was the typical fare during the week and the reason she was able to stay gainfully employed. Everything changed when dispatch called with her last pickup. Mina met him in the lobby of the Hotel Union Square. He was a tall middle-aged White man with brown hair and steel gray eyes. As she approached him, he silently took her in, and she suddenly felt like she was under a microscope. The man extended a hand, directing her to sit on the chair across from him.

“Hi, I’m Mina with Zip.” He leaned forward and placed a small black notebook in front of her. She blinked at the offering. Normally, packages were in an envelope or small box. Before she could inform him that the customer was expected to provide the transport container, he put a brown paper bag on top of the book. She frowned. “Wait, two different deliveries? I was only told one. Each delivery is a distinct ticket. You’ll have to call Zip and…” The man held up a hand to cut her off. The gesture was disrespectful and dismissive; however, the authoritative look in his eyes kept her silent.

“The item to be delivered is the book. The bag is a bonus for following precise instructions.”

“What kind of instructions?” she asked after a hesitant pause.

“The delivery needs to be made at a specific time after hours; later tonight. You can say no, of course, but I believe the premium will make it worth your while.” Mina’s eyebrows rose in intrigue. She jumped at any opportunity to make extra money. San Francisco was an expensive city to live in, and her break up with Kaitlyn left her with no one to share a bed - or bills. Mina eyed the stranger who tipped his chin towards the bag. She picked up the sack and opened it; her eyes bulged at the two cash stacks each wrapped in a white band showing an amount of $10,000. Dropping the money as if it contained anthrax, she looked wildly around the lobby.

“Are you crazy? Twenty-thousand dollars?”

“The notebook is vital and must be delivered at a very specific time tonight. This bonus is an incentive to ensure that happens.” She slipped her phone from her pocket and doubled checked the delivery location. When she saw the address was in Potrero Hill, an area not known for its seedy nature, her skepticism waned. Her mind immediately began calculating how many credit cards she could pay off with this one job. She could even afford to upgrade her bike. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, she decided this one ride could help her begin to heal from the heartbreak of Kaitlyn. If only that had been true.

After agreeing to the transport, Mina rode over to Union Square to grab lunch from Bella Lucca Pizza. She figured she needed to let some time pass before confirming the fake delivery in order to receive a new job. As she ate her slice, her grip tightened around the back pack. Her mind was reeling from the interaction. Could it really be? After three months of hell, could this really be the lifeline she needed to pick up the pieces Kaitlyn left behind? She opened the backpack and stared at the paper bag tucked inside. What could be so important that someone would pay that kind of money for its safe delivery? It couldn’t be too confidential given the man handed her the book unconcealed. With a shrug, she plucked the tome from the pack.

The leather-bound notebook was the size of a planner; inside, the writing was neat and orderly. Three columns were drawn vertically down each page. The first column contained a name and address. Another name was written next to the first along with a city and state, and a number in currency format. The first name was Cynthia Veracruz in Providence, Rhode Island succeeded by the name Antonella Moreno and $150,000. There were hundreds of names in the book with locations in numerous cities, and the values ranged from $100,000 to $5,000,000.

As she flipped through the contents, her eyes came to rest on an unexpected name. Kaitlyn Lawrence in San Francisco, California. Next to Kaitlyn’s name was Tracy Gunderson and a value of $250,000. Mina felt a dark feeling stir in her gut. She didn’t know what the information meant, but she knew in her soul that Kaitlyn was in danger. Grabbing her phone, she scrolled down her contacts before remembering that in a drunken fit of rage, she had deleted Kaitlyn’s number. She mentally cursed herself as she called up a Google page to search for Kaitlyn’s employer. Once she was rung through to her office, her breath stopped when she heard the voice of the woman who broke her heart. All thoughts and words left her mind until the greeting was repeated.

“Hello? This is Kaitlyn Lawrence; how can I help you?”

“Katie, don’t hang up.”

“Mina?”

“I need to see you… Now.”

“Mina, I’m at work.”

“It’s hard to explain, I just… I think you’re in trouble.”

“I’m going to need more than that.”

“Does the name Tracy Gunderson mean anything to you?” Kaitlyn’s line went silent and Mina recognized that had been the key to gaining her attention.

“Fisherman’s Wharf. A half-hour,” Kaitlyn whispered, before terminating the call. Mina put the phone on the table and stared at the remaining slice of pizza, her appetite now gone.

“I should have called in sick today,” she sighed, clearing her trash.

“Mina!” Kaitlyn’s voice brought her back to the present. She searched the area and found her ex waving at her from outside of Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Mina’s heart raced as she darted in and out of the crowd. When she approached, the women regarded each other with uncertainty before finally exchanging an awkward hug.

“Thanks for meeting me,” Mina said.

“You didn’t give me much choice,” she replied. She looped her arm through Mina’s and pulled her into the sea of people. Mina frowned but walked with her for a few feet before Kaitlyn repeated her earlier question. “Where did you hear that name?”

“I didn’t hear it.” She explained the event surrounding her most recent pick up. Kaitlyn’s face paled when she heard the description of the names in the notebook. Her arm still wrapped around Mina’s, she tugged her out of the path and towards an empty bench.

“Let me see it,” she commanded, finally releasing Mina from her grasp and taking a seat. She pulled the item from her bag and handed it to Kaitlyn, who quickly flipped through the pages.

“Oh God, it’s worse than I imagined,” she murmured in disbelief.

“Katie, what is this?” Mina demanded of Kaitlyn, who was scanning their surroundings as if trying to find a hidden threat. When stopped her examination and made eye contact, Mina was stunned to see a familiar tenderness in her green eyes.

“I can’t believe I left to keep you out of this and here we are anyway.” She paused and looked around once more before leaning closer. “I’ve been in Witness Protection for ten years. Tracy Gunderson is my birthname. The story of why is too long to go into right now. I think this notebook is filled with names of people in Wit Sec like me, as well as the bounty is on each of our heads.”

“Holy shit, what the hell are you in Wit Sec for?”

“I literally just told you that we don’t have time for that part of the story,” Kaitlyn sighed. “It’s a good thing I called John.”

“Who’s John?”

“The US Marshall who is supposed to keep tabs on my safety. When you said my birth name, I freaked out and phoned him as soon as I hung up with you. He’s meeting me here.” She began sweeping the crowd once more. After a few seconds she said, “There he is.” Mina followed Kaitlyn’s line of sight. When her eyes landed on the familiar man, she gasped and abruptly stood.

“Katie, what did you tell him?”

“That I thought someone from the past found me and I needed him to meet me,” Kaitlyn frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“That’s the guy who gave me the book this morning. We need to go… Now.” With no other word, Kaitlyn pulled Mina back into the crowd before they were seen by the newcomer.

“Are you sure about this?” Mina worriedly asked. “It could be leverage. It could save your life.” The duo stood under a small overpass near Lafayette Square. After ditching both the corrupt US Marshall and Mina’s beloved bike, Kaitlyn had driven the pair across the bridge to Oakland. The approaching evening brought a decline in temperature and a small cluster of homeless people dotted the area warming themselves by open fires in trash cans and old barrels.

“Hundreds of innocent people could die if this finds itself in the wrong hands,” Kaitlyn nodded grimly. She held out her hand and Mina reluctantly turned over the notebook. “We can’t let that happen.” She stared at the book in her hand for a beat before approaching the nearest barrel of fire and dropping it into the flames. For years, she moved around the country, looking over her shoulder, wondering if today was the day they would find her; the day her father would find her.

“Hey.” Mina’s voice pulled her from the turbulent past into the uncertain present. She laced her fingers through Kaitlyn’s, bringing a smile to her lips with the familiar comfort. “You okay?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do we do now?” Mina wondered.

“I’m not even sure,” she mumbled. “I only had the one contact for the U.S. Marshalls. I don’t even know who I can trust.” She huffed as she stared into the night. “I guess I can just call the main number? Maybe show up at a local office?” She turned to face Mina and found a wave of relief in her familiar gaze.

The comfort and security Kaitlyn felt with Mina made her feel like the impossible - such as a normal life with a loving wife - had become attainable. She even tried to live that existence while keeping her partner in the dark about her past. However, even behind bars, her father was a powerful and dangerous man. The more secure she felt, the more frequent she found herself waking up from a nightmare of Mina’s demise permeating her happily ever after. She never told Mina why she broke things off. Now, here she was once again with an ambiguous future all because she was a Gunderson. Mina flashed the smile that always melted her heart and her eyes twinkled with mischief.

“We could do that,” she acknowledged. “Or, we have passports. Twenty thousand could get us out of here pretty quickly. You still want to see Tuscany?”