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Realigning Destiny
By TT

Sometimes chance intervenes in our lives and causes destiny to jump the tracks. When this happens, fate steps in and realigns destiny’s course to bring us to where we need to be. But, as with the course of true love, the road of realignment doesn’t always run smooth.

Part 34 - Speakers

Stephanie shuffled the papers into the correct order while she waited for the tape to rewind, making sure to keep the final page of notes aside. Once the tape finished rewinding she would need to be able to find the place where this conversation started.

Eventually, the tape did finish rewinding and Stephanie, setting the papers to one side, drew the machine closer to her.

As she settled onto the chair in order to listen, she took a deep breath before turning the machine on and fast forwarding the tape to the last noted numbers. It took a while to reach them, but when she got close, Stephanie stopped forwarding the tape and let it play.

It went on for several minutes before it reached the part she wanted, the part where they were discussing the locations for their explosives.

It had only taken her a few seconds to identify the voices on the tape. They had been in her nightmares often enough in the past few years that she could identify them in her sleep. The speakers were none other than James Campell and Johann DiMarco.

As soon as she recognized the voices, her lip had curled into a sneer of disgust. She wanted those two out of her life. Not that she was truly ready to face the reality of Trenton, but she longed to be free of the shadow those two had cast over her life.

Her attention snapped back to the tape when she heard the place the notes left off.

“... The Children's Museum of Denver and the Denver Museum of Nature And Science,” DiMarco finished.

“Never was one for museums,” Campbell threw out. “What about the other bombs?”

“The single chemical and biological should be easy enough to slip into the fire and police stations. A nice incendiary or four at the Qwest building probably wouldn't go awry and should draw some nice attention there.”

“Why the Qwest building?” James inquired.

“Their service people were rude to me once a few years ago,” was DiMarco's reply.

Campbell simply grunted in acknowledgment. “And the fake nukes?”

A low, cold, primeval laugh, painted an infinite black by the bottomless depths of the ageless source of evil from which it originated cascaded from the hollow well that used to be DiMarco's soul. “You're going to love this,” he assured. “Denver is home to some wonderful hospitals and medical centers – the University Of Colorado Hospital attached to the Rose Medical Center and Exempla St. Joseph's hospital to name two. We're going to plant the duds here, here, here, here and here.”

Campbell made a sound of agreement. “And the last one with both biological and chemical booby traps on it?” he inquired.

“Children's Hospital, of course,” DiMarco responded.

Soul freezing, evil laughter once more echoed out of the tape machine's speakers.

It was too much for Stephanie. The sheer, unimaginable horror of what they were suggesting overwhelmed her. She felt all her blood rush away from her head quickly, followed by the taste of copper and bile in her mouth.

Not stopping to turn off the tape, she raced to the bathroom and made it to the toilet just in time.

When her stomach was empty and the dry heaves had stopped, she collapsed on the floor and let the tears that already coated her cheeks be the trigger for the sobs of anguish and anger that demanded release.

At some point, as she wept and her soul raged, a strong, familiar pair of arms wrapped around her, lifting her from the floor.

When the emotional storm had passed, she found herself in a comforting embrace, her head resting on a broad chest.

Wiping tears from her cheeks, she let out a sigh. “Ranger,” she acknowledged, her voice little more than a rough whisper.

“Babe,” was the healing response.

Continued In Part 35 - 059. Tissues

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