Watchers

Chapter 41: Haven Redux

It's early afternoon by the time Daniel and Sasha walk up the street leading to the Haven of Salvation. Its gothic spires send the same shiver of unease into Sasha's stomach as the first time she saw the building and she puts her hand self-consciously to her hair.

It's about six inches shorter than it had been this morning, and it is now a deep, burgundy red that looks obviously like it came from a box. Daniel's hair has been crudely trimmed into a crew cut and he's wearing thick-framed reading glasses that make him slightly unsteady on his feet because of the magnification.

They're not great disguises, but it was the best they could do to make sure the shelter nuns won't recognize them the minute they walk through the door. They had no choice but to steal the hair dye, scissors and glasses from a convenience store downtown, and they'd spent most of the morning trying to make do with a grimy gas station restroom as their makeshift salon.

As they walked to the shelter, they'd made up backstories for each other to go along with their new appearances, and rehashed the plan they'd come up with in the back of the station wagon.

It's not much, but it's better than no plan.

Sasha is a prostitute named Marigold, lifting any anecdotes she might need from the ones that Jane has told her in the past.

Daniel's new name is Bobby and he's nearly blind - not much of a stretch thanks to the reading glasses. Marigold found him almost frozen to death on the street and decided to take pity and bring him to the Haven for some help.

The stench of garbage is just as pungent now as it had been the last time they were here. Sasha expected that it would be a little better now that the weather has turned colder, but it rises in the air like the shelter announcing itself from several blocks away.

Daniel leans against Sasha and adopts a knackered, weak affect as they approach the building.

"Ready?" Daniel whispers as they pass under a pair of surveillance cameras mounted on either side of the large entryway doors.

"As I'll ever be, Bobby," she says, and then they push the doors open.

The same two kindly nuns are sitting at the oak desk in the foyer, and they jump up with the same eagerness that they'd shown Sasha on her first time through these doors. She wonders if they're the best actors Father Gary has, or if they really believe what they're selling.

"Welcome," one of them says, standing up to greet them. "Are you looking for a place to get some rest?"

"He is," Sasha says, gesturing to Daniel. "I found him in the cold and he's not doing so well."

"Well, that's what we're here for," the nun says. "We'll get you both fixed up nice."

"Oh, I don't need any help," Sasha objects. "I just meant to drop him off."

"Nonsense," the nun says, coming around the table and taking some of the burden of Daniel's weight off Sasha's shoulders. "You must be cold, too, and I'm sure you could do with a warm meal. How long has it been, dear?"

Sasha smiles demurely, resisting the urge to look over at Daniel. The plan is going exactly as they'd hoped so far, and she'd been right in guessing that the nuns wouldn't let anyone leave once they'd entered the shelter's doors.

"I'm not even sure, to be honest," she says in her most pliant tone. "I lost track."

"No worries," the nun at the desk says. "Let me just get your names for our register and then Sister Mary will see that you both get warmed up."

"Marigold," Sasha says. "Thompson. I just know his name is Bobby."

"What's your last name, dear?" the nun on Daniel's other side prompts, and for an instant, he doesn't answer. Sasha wonders if his mind has gone blank and she knows she can't help him with this. Her heart pounds a little faster and she silently wills him to feign muteness if he can't think of anything.

For a minute that seems like the plan, and then in an impressively raspy voice, he says, "Flay."

Bobby Flay?! Sasha wants to grab him and make a wild dash for the door, but she can't be sure they're not locked from the inside, and she watches as the nun at the desk writes down the name. Neither of them flinches at it and Sasha feels her heart rate beginning to even out again - they're just lucky that this pair of nuns aren't familiar with a celebrity reference from almost fifty years ago.

"Alright, well let's just get you two cleaned up," the first nun says. "We've got showers at the end of the hall, and we'll get you some clean clothes."

The three of them go down the hall, Sasha and the nun supporting Daniel between them, and she leads Daniel into the restroom first, leaving Sasha in the hall to wait while he showers and changes into shelter-issued clothes.

Everything looks exactly like it had, and it feels like much longer than a couple of weeks since she's been here last. Even the group of people sitting around the television in the little alcove of the hallway appear to be the same, and it gives Sasha hope that Jane will be just the same as she left her, too.

She thinks about going on without Daniel now. He's got the nun distracted and Sasha has his knife hidden beneath her dress - she could go into the great room and find Jane, and meet Daniel on their way back up the hall. Quick, easy, painless.

But the nun at the oak desk keeps glancing down the long hallway at her, and Sasha gets the feeling that the woman might alert someone if she were to suddenly disappear without the other nun as her chaperone. So she waits patiently and finally Daniel and the nun emerge. He keeps his hand around her forearm for balance and a little streak of leftover black hair dye is trickling down his temple.

Sasha nods at it as subtly as she can but he doesn't get the hint. She wonders if the nun has already noticed.

"Your turn, dear," she says.

"What?"

"For the shower."

"Oh," Sasha says, and she wants to refuse but she can't think of a single reason why Marigold would turn down the opportunity to wash the grime of the streets off her. It'll be okay as long as the nun gives her privacy, and doesn't take her clothes. "Okay."

She steps into the washroom, putting her hand quickly up to her temple and tapping it as she passes Daniel - Bobby Flay - and finally he gets it. Out of the corner of her eye she sees him wiping away the dye as she goes into the restroom and the nun follows her.