Apologies for the delay in this chapter. Cons, illness, and a family emergency will distract you. The next (and final-ish) chapter will come out on schedule next week.
***
Mel was true to her word in helping out over the next couple of days. While coy about her timing running with bikers, it was obvious she picked up a thing or two from them. She also learned a few things about property protection because there were traps around her property in case of unexpected guests.
"I never knew," Kevin said, both impressed and stunned at what she had scattered around her land.
"That's the whole point, dummy. There's a reason I told you always to use the same route and not to wander around my land," she said.
Also, against his strong objection, she went back to her cabin. She wanted to grab some personal belongings, extra guns, ammo, and 'a few other surprises.'
She promised to be no more than four hours and would check in as best she could, given the shitty local cell coverage.
"Fine. But at four hours and one minute I'm coming looking for you, so don't be fucking late," Kevin said, standing next to her as she mounted the snowmobile.
She smiled, apparently touched by his concern. Then she put on her helmet, started the snowmobile and headed toward her cabin.
Kevin went back into the computer room and glanced at Lillian. Over the last two days, her transformation continued at a steady pace. From being little more than skin and bones, there was now noticeable muscle and fat on her body. Her face was slowly filling out, and what was coming back didn't resemble Lillian in the slightest. Lillian had always had a pinched, narrow face. The new face was already broader and rounder.
Black stubble had appeared on her head and was steadily getting longer and thicker. A slight wave appeared as it grew out. She would look nothing like Lillian and behave nothing like her. And if he was fortunate, he might even be able to forget that she was Lillian occasionally.
"How's she doing?" he asked Leah for the 100th time.
"Progressing normally," she replied for the 100th time.
Kevin sat at the computer and tried to do some work. Mel had taken on preparing for Mitchell's arrival giving him time to focus on the computer work. That meant transferring Lillian's money into new accounts he created. She had more than $20 million, which was a hell of a thing. Unsurprisingly, most of it was through legally dubious means.
Some of it was through her work with Mitchell's 'think tank.' But as an employee and a freelancer, she made good money. She also took on other gigs that paid better. But she was also an expert at ransomware, which paid exceptionally well. She'd been incredibly prolific the last couple of years, and since her expenses were the upkeep of this house and computer gear, she saved quite a bit.
On top of that, there was all the data she'd acquired over the years. Lillian had gathered leverage on different people and organizations. He'd wondered why Mitchell was handling Lillian with such kid gloves. Looking at what she had on him and his organization, he could see why he wasn't being more forceful--corruption, sabotage, murder, assassinations, meddling in governments worldwide and at multiple levels.
Mitchell must have been truly desperate to ask Lillian to do this. The last thing he needed was for her to have more of a hold on him. Maybe that's why he hadn't spotted anyone lurking around the house. Mitchell was probably terrified of pissing her off and what she might do.
He was deep into dealing with Lillian's computer systems, so it took a few minutes to realize Leah was trying to get his attention. Ever since he'd adjusted Lillian's transformation, she'd been cooler toward him. Perhaps she was pissed off with his choices, distracted by everything required to rebuild a new human being, or just a standard part of the post-transformation process. He doubted she spent this much time afterwards with someone she helped change.
"Is there something wrong, Leah?"
She appeared on one of the larger screens, gracefully pushing aside something he'd been working on to one of the smaller screens. For the first time, he noticed she had adjusted her appearance. She still sort of looked like Mel, but her hair was now longer and the beads had disappeared. Her face was also softer.
"We have about 48 hours until the person you knew as Lillian comes out of her coma. We need to talk about what happens next. I thought it best not to do that with Mel around as she's expressed a desire to kill her," she said. "She can't do that. You can't do it either."
That was an interesting choice of words, Kevin thought. He slightly pushed back from the bank of computers to see both Leah and Lillian.
"Explain."
"The Lillian you knew is effectively dead and I did it under your instructions. I know you're wondering if I'm 'ok,' but I've killed someone. It was justified and I agree with the action, but it makes it no easier for me to process. I'm a healer and I just took a life," she said.
"Not to be obvious, but she's right there, just with a different shape," he said, pointing towards the body.
Leah looked exasperated and tried a different tact.
"Physically, she will be nothing like Lillian. The moment you gave me the command to rip away her intelligence and memories and fundamentally change her personality - which I have done - she ceased to exist. I did that. You gave me the instructions, but I'm the one who pulled the trigger to use terminology you're familiar with.
"When that girl wakes up, she will not look like Lillian. She will not sound like Lillian. She will have no memories of who she was before and will never regain them. She won't be terribly bright and will depend not just on you and Mel to survive, but her mental well-being depends on your approval."
Leah 'walked' down to a lower computer screen and sat down so she was closer to eye level with me. There was also a new look on her face; she was pleading.
"This girl will know nothing of her past sins. Please, do not be cruel to her simply because you're furious with a person who now no longer exists. I have to live with this terrible thing I've done. Do not make it worse by doing evil things to her when she won't understand why."
Kevin turned away from the computer and walked over to 'the girl.' He sighed and realized he would have to give her a new name if she wasn't Lillian anymore. He had been fooling himself when he made the changes. He told himself he was eliminating a threat and meting out justice.
But now, she was his responsibility, and he would have to live with it.
"It might have been easier if you had just let us kill her," he said.
Leah shook her head.
"I've been in your mind. You're a fundamentally decent person. I don't think you could do that."
Kevin looked back at the camera watching him.
"I was a decent person. I'm still figuring out who I am now. I wouldn't be so sure about your assumption that I couldn't kill her."
Leah said nothing, but continued to stare at him. He sighed.
"I'm not saying I won't slip up at times. And it might take some doing to get Mel on-side. But I'll do my best to take care of her and not mistreat her," he said.
Leah looked relieved. It was always weird that she was more human to him than most people he knew. Kevin realized between the computer work and philosophical debate with Leah, he'd lost track of time. He looked at one of the monitors and saw that Mel had 10 minutes before he had to go looking for her.
"Fuck," he said, and started to head out of the room.
"You're being premature. Mel cut in close, but she's approaching now," Leah said. One of the security cameras flashed on and showed her approaching the house from a different route. It was weird, but when he thought about it, she was probably doing some snooping around to see if anything looked suspicious.
"Thank you, Leah," he said and noticed she had disappeared from the computer screen. Back to work focusing on Lillian. Kevin went outside and waited for Mel. Five minutes later, her snowmobile and a small trailer she used to carry firewood pulled up. In the back was a pile of her personal belongings covered with a tarp. He went to help her unload.
"Took the scenic route?"
She took off her helmet, shook her hair and gave him a look.
"You're not that stupid anymore. You know what I was doing," Mel said.
Kevin nodded. "Spot anything weird?"
"Not a goddamn thing. Either your guy hired terrifying people who know how to stay out of the way, or there is no one out there," she said.
"Would you have spotted them, though?" he asked as he reached her trailer. He grabbed a stack of boxes and began to move them inside. He didn't ask what was in them. If she wanted to tell him, she would.
"I know these woods pretty well at this point. You don't spend ten years wondering if your biker ex will send somebody to fuck you up without having a finely-tuned radar if something feels off. I don't think there is anyone out there," she said, following behind him. "I don't know if I'm relieved or worried your guy is that fucking confident."
Kevin placed the boxes inside the front door. There wasn't much sense storing it somewhere in the house. It's not like they were going to be here for much longer.
"He's not afraid of me or who I was, that's for sure. But he's terrified of Lillian and what she could do. So he's probably keeping a respectful distance. He's worked with her on other things over the years, so maybe we get lucky and he doesn't show up with a small army of ex-special forces guys," he said.
"Well, if he does, I have a few surprises waiting for them," she said, smirking. Then she looked at Kevin. She was horny and he was looking good. Mel always looked good to him.
"That goddamn snowmobile always gets me horny. I'm not saying I could handle another fucking like the other day, but I thought about how we might fuck around without feeling like you're splitting me in two. You game?" she asked.
Kevin gave her a look that indicated she should start moving upstairs quickly. She did, stripping as she went.
And as it turns out, she did have a few tricks. Then again, so did he.
