Don't Say A Word (36 page)

    Alex considered her question as he surveyed the parking lot, which was crowded even for a Thursday. "Lots of people, neutral location, good place to blend into a crowd, and even if someone is following us right now, they wouldn't expect we'd be meeting someone here."

    Julia appeared impressed by his deductive reasoning. "You sound like you've been involved in clandestine meetings before."

    "Believe me, I've never done anything like this," he said dryly. And that included getting personally and emotionally involved with a woman he'd spent the night with. He'd managed to keep sex casual and easy the past decade, but there was nothing casual or easy about his relationship with Julia, and it was getting more complicated by the second. Maybe when they stopped living out of each other's pockets, he'd be able to get his feelings for her back into perspective.

    "Do you like roller coasters?" Julia asked as they approached the main entrance. A monster
roller.coaster
with three wild, curving loops was just off to the right, and they could hear the screams coming from the cars hurtling down the first drop.

    "I haven't been on one in years. What about you?"

    "I love them," she said with a smile, "and I haven't been on one in years, either. We should take a ride while we're here. I could use a good scream right about now. Get out all my frustration." She cast him a quick look. "I really thought your dad would be at the house and he'd tell us everything we wanted to know."

    "It's my fault. We shouldn't have left yesterday. I was just so pissed off, I couldn't think straight."

    "I know, and I completely understood why you had to get out of there."

    Alex bought their admission tickets, and they strolled into the park, stopping at an information sign to check the location of the Pirate's Cove Cafe. When he saw the skull and crossbones next to the name, a funny feeling swept over him, a vague, distant memory teasing the back of his brain. He'd been only five or six, and his dad had taken him to Disneyland for his birthday. They'd ridden on Pirates of the Caribbean, and he'd loved the waterfall drops. He'd made his dad take him on the ride three times in a row. He hadn't wanted that day to end, but it had. And the next day his father had left for another business trip. It was a^ month before they saw each other again.

    It had been hard, he realized, all the times apart, and even more difficult for his mother. She used to cry when his dad left. He'd forgotten that-until now.

    "I think it's this way," Julia said, tugging his arm. "Is something wrong?"

    He shrugged off the memories. "No, everything is-"

    "Fine," she finished with a smile. "Your favorite word and always a lie."

    "Hey, a little while ago you said I was the most honest man you knew."

    "Not when it comes to yourself. You never let on how you're feeling."

    He flashed her a smile. "I think you figured me out pretty well last night and this morning."

    A warm blush spread across her cheeks, and it made his smile widen. She was so beautiful and sexy, and f yet there was also an appealing innocence about her. It was a potent combination and one he probably should have resisted.

    "Let's keep our minds on the present," Julia said.

    "That's fine with me."

    "Yeah, I know," she said with a laugh. "Pirate's Cove is over there."

    Alex let her lead the way, enjoying the view from behind. Julia wore tight blue jeans and a clingy camisole top that left her shoulders bare. Her blond hair danced around her shoulders with each step. He had to stick his hands into his pockets to stop himself from reaching for her. He had the insane desire to hold her hand or put his arm around her, and that kind of casual affection had never been part of his life.

    "There it is," she said, pointing to a wooden shack with a skull and crossbones painted across the front and a dozen tables with umbrellas set amidst thick green plants and a dark pool of water that was probably supposed to be the cove part of Pirate's Cove.

    Only a few of the tables were taken, and those were occupied by families and small children. Alex glanced down at his watch. It was only three thirty. They had a good half hour to wait. "We're early," he said. "Or else they're watching us from somewhere else."

    "That's a creepy thought." She took a step closer to him as she looked around the area. "I don't see anyone suspicious."

    "Neither do I." He paused. "I have an idea. While we're waiting, why don't we take one of those scream-inducing rides you love?"

    Her eyes sparkled. "Really? Do you think we should?"

    "Why not? Why should we sit here and wait?
Let'em
wait for us."

    "Okay. Which coaster do you want to ride?"

    "How about that one?" he said, tipping his head toward a square box that rose about six stories, then dropped at breath-stopping speed to the ground.

    "That looks fairly terrifying," she said, adding with a teasing smile, "You won't be scared, will you?"

    "Not if you hold my hand," he joked.

    She pulled his hand out of his pocket and gave it a squeeze. "I'd be happy to."

    Her warm touch gave him chills, and suddenly he wasn't afraid of falling six stories, but of falling in love. There was no way he could let that happen. He didn't know what love was really all about, and he didn't believe he would be good at it. Just like his father, he'd always be leaving, always be saying good bye. It wouldn't be fair to put any woman or kid through that. But right now they were just taking a ride. He could handle a ride. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. When it was over, it was over.

    They waited in line for fifteen minutes before they were strapped into the elevator car that would rise to the top, then shoot to the ground. Alex felt a tingle of nerves as they rose, the ground getting smaller, the view getting bigger. He glanced over at Julia, who stood next to him, her fingers white as she gripped the poles holding her in. She looked scared but brave, which was pretty much the way he'd seen her every day this week; only this time the fear was simple and specific, not vague and complicated.

    The car hit the top with a jarring thud, probably designed to give their hearts a jump start on the thrill ride. A second later they were diving toward the ground. Julia's scream rang through his ears, and he found himself joining in. They landed with a soft, gentle thud that seemed completely out of sync with the breath-stealing pace of the ride.

    "Oh, my God," Julia said. "I think my stomach is still up there."

    "Mine, too," he admitted with a laugh as they exited the car. "But that was great."

    "Did you love it?"

    "I did." And before he could analyze his thoughts or his actions, he leaned over and claimed her mouth with his, tasting her excitement.

    "What was that for?" she asked, looking a bit dazed when they broke apart.

    "No reason. Except you look like a bottle of sparkling champagne right now, and I wanted to take a sip." She licked her lips, and he shook his head. "Don't be doing that or I won't be held responsible for my actions."

    "Maybe I don't want you to be responsible."

    He raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like an invitation. Too bad we're in the middle of an amusement park."

    She tossed her hair with a laugh. "I know. Now you have something to look forward to."

    Her words made him think about the coming night, and the next day, and the one after, but he didn't want to plan that far into the future. "Yeah, that's great," he said. "We better go back to the Pirate's Cove."

    "What did I say?" She grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

    "Nothing."

    "No, I said something that made you freak out a little."

    "I have a lot on my mind," he said. "Don't be so sensitive."

    "Yeah, I was going to say the same thing to you." She paused, tilting her head as she looked at him. "I get it, you know, Alex. Last night was not the beginning of something for you. It was just a night. Maybe that's all we'll have together, maybe not. I'm not going to tie you down, make you promise to stand by me forever, just because we slept together. But I'm also not going to watch everything I say."

    "I am not freaking out. I am calm. I am fine." He heard her sigh at the word. "Well, I am. So let's get on with it."

    "Fine," she said, the smile returning to her face. She waved her hand toward the cove. "After you."

    Alex's nerves began to tighten as they neared Pirate's Cove. He wondered who would be waiting for them. Would it be his father or someone else?

    A man sat at a far table near a thick line of bushes, sipping a soda. He wore a fishing hat, sunglasses, and a short-sleeve shirt over a pair of shorts. He was in his sixties. And he was Alex's father.

    Julia looked at Alex. He was paler now than when they'd exited the thrill ride. She had a feeling it to every last ounce of courage he had to sit down the table.

    "Thank you for coming," Charles said quietly.

    "Does Brady know you left us the note?" Alex asked.

    Charles shook his head. "I wasn't supposed to have any contact with you. It was part of the deal I made twenty-five years ago. As soon as you left yesterday, a moving truck arrived, as well as a package of papers for a new identity. I had no choice but to leave. However, I had a feeling you'd come back, and I didn't want to disappear on you again. So I watched the house and left the note in your car. I hoped you'd come here after you finished with Brady." He paused. "What did he tell you?"

    "That we'd compromised your safety," Alex said.

    "Mr. Brady also wants to provide me with a background I can show to the press," Julia added. "I told him I wasn't interested. I can't live a lie." She saw Charles flinch at her words, and she almost wished she could take them back, but she didn't. Maybe he and her mother had been able to live their lives pretending to be someone they weren't, but she couldn't do it.

    "You should reconsider," Charles said. "It would make your life easier."

    "My life has been nothing but easy," she replied. "My mother made sure of that." She deliberately brought her mother into the conversation. "There are things I want to ask you about her. Did you read her letter?"

    Charles slowly nodded, a gleam of understanding in his eyes. "Yes, and I imagine you have a lot of questions."

    "Questions my mother should have answered, but she didn't, and you're the only one who seems to know anything about her," Julia continued. "I know she was in Moscow working as a costumer with the theater group. What I don't know is what I was doing over there and how I got into that orphanage." She watched Charles closely for a reaction, but he was staring down at the tabletop now. "Please, you have to tell me. I can't go on not knowing."

    When he raised his gaze to hers, she saw nothing but trouble in his expression, and she had a feeling she was going to be very sorry she'd asked.

    "I don't know how to tell you this," he began.

    "Just spit it out," Alex ordered.

    "Sarah didn't take you to Russia with her. You were already there," Charles said.

    It took a moment for his words to sink in. Then Julia's heart stopped. "Are you saying…?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the question. "Oh, God!" She put a hand to her mouth, terrified to say more. She couldn't take a breath. She felt as if an elephant had landed on her chest.

    Alex put an arm around her shoulders, which was probably the only reason she didn't keel over. "Breathe," he said.

    "I'm trying." She took several gulps of much-needed air "Tell her the rest," Alex said to his father.

    "Sarah is the one who took you out of the orphanage and brought you to America," Charles continued. "She was a government agent. It was her job to get you out of Russia."

    "No." Julia couldn't believe it. "Then who am I? Who are my parents? Why would she pretend I was her daughter? I don't understand."

    "Your parents were Russian."

    "Were? You make it sound like they're dead. God, are they dead?" Julia pressed her fingers to her temple, feeling a pain racing through her head.

    "Julia, slow down," Alex said.

    Charles looked around, obviously concerned about their conversation being overheard.

    She lowered her voice, then said, "I want to know everything you know. Are my real parents dead?" It felt odd to even use the term real parents, but what else could she call them?

    "Yes, they are. I'm sorry."

    "Really dead or just pretend dead like you and my mother-I mean, Sarah?"

    "They died in an explosion at their home."

    "No," she whispered, grieving for the parents she'd never known and never would know.

    "You were supposed to be in the house with them," Charles continued.

    It took a minute for his words to make sense. "I was supposed to die, too?"

    His gaze didn't waver. "Yes."

    She bit down on her bottom lip so hard, she tasted blood. "Why wasn't I there?"

    "You had been taken from the house and hidden in the orphanage until we could get you out of the country. No one was supposed to know you were ever there."