Undercover (21 page)

This time she didn’t resist him when he pulled her closer, and she rested her head against him. “No, you wouldn’t.”

“You know it’s true.”

She did. If he disappeared, she would suffer, but try to keep it together for Lindsay’s sake. It wasn’t difficult to imagine him either going back to his old life, becoming some form of criminal, or why not a full-time drunk. The fact that he was
right
still didn’t mean she would let him open the package. “So, we both need each other. The more reason to leave well enough alone.”

“It’s not well enough, and there’s no reason to risk all of us. Would you rather she lose both her parents? Or die?”

“You’re not opening it.”

She knew he would give in. He always did. “I hope you’re right.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

On Sunday afternoon, Alex and Jenny left Lindsay and the cat at Theresa’s house and headed towards the airport. They decided to spend a night at the airport hotel again; they had many good memories from it, and re-living parts of their first days together might help chase the shadows of what lay ahead away. She hadn’t been to the airport since they came home from Russia, but he might have seen a great deal of it. The line of thought led to unpleasant memories.

Her eyes wandered over to her purse. She couldn’t see the innocent-looking little package, but it was still there. Maybe she should have let Alex open it. Maybe the contents were something fairly harmless, like documents, or maybe it really was something that would get them caught in customs. Either way, they would both be safer knowing.

It was a thought of utter selfishness and cowardice. It would be so easy to sit back and let him take responsibility for everything. He would do it too, he would do whatever she asked of him, but it wouldn’t be right. She shuddered, and Alex glanced away from the road for a moment. “Are you alright, my darling?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking…”

There was no need to elaborate on it. He knew.

Once in the hotel, they turned the TV on and ordered dinner from room service. Jenny shuffled her food from one side of the plate to the other. She played with the utensils and her hair, picked the remote control up just to put it down again, and built a little fortress of potatoes. She knew Alex watched her and she needed to stop, but she couldn’t help herself.

“You’re fidgeting. Are you afraid?”

“No. Are you?”

He made a dismissive gesture, and she believed him. They both knew
she
was lying.

To get the focus off herself, she suggested, “It’s still early. Wanna go down to the bar and grab a beer or something?”

He nodded, took her hand, and kissed her fingers. “Sure.” His eyes glittered, “You know, you look like a little troll right now. It’s very cute.”

She giggled when she went into the bathroom and saw herself in the mirror. Her hair was naturally curly, and it stood in all directions. “You’re right. The handsome prince married a troll, that’s an interesting twist to the story.”

Her hairbrush vanished without a trace, but he found it for her. Running it through her hair, he suggested, “Or, maybe the princess is just in disguise. I’m sure we can find her in here somewhere.”

The brush looked out of place in his hands. “Maybe you should have become a stylist.”

It wasn’t that funny, but Alex laughed heartily, “Instead of my luxurious career as husband, father, spy, and trouble-maker?”

“Please don’t say that.”

He fell serious too and kissed her cheek. “There you go. You look wonderful. And I wouldn’t change my life with you for anything, you know that.”

“Well, if you keep talking like that you’ll have to take me back to bed. And after that you’d have to fix my hair again.”

He grinned and slapped her butt lightly with the brush. “And here I was thinking you wanted beer.”

She pretended to pout while rubbing her behind, and he slapped the other butt cheek too. “You’re a bad, bad, man.”

Throwing herself at him in a fake attack didn’t get her far. He caught her and hauled her up in the air, holding her easily with his arms around her waist. It wasn’t fair. He was too big and strong, and she would never win.

*****

Jenny woke from her husband caressing her hair. He was already fully dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed. She wanted to take his shirt off, and reached up to tug at the fabric hiding his body from her. “You’re a wanton little nymphet, but you’ll have to wait. I’m going out to get us breakfast.”

Trying to look hurt wasn’t easy, and she failed. She still took a good long look at him when he left. It wouldn’t surprise her if he tried to sneak out and open that darned parcel without telling her. As soon as the door closed behind him, she scurried over to her purse, and sighed with relief when it was still there.

He returned ten minutes later with a tray filled with croissants, tea, and yogurt. Jenny was relieved. Under the circumstances, her imagination painted out a hundred scenarios where she would never see him again.

The tray made her smile. She couldn’t imagine anyone else getting away with it, but it was easy to visualize people running around him, turning themselves inside out, wanting to cater to his every wish. She grinned, and he lifted an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.”

He snatched her croissant away. “You’re not getting this back until you tell me.”

She told him, and he put up a smug face. “Well, now that you mention it…”

When they were about to leave the room, Alex stopped just inside the door. “I want you to be very careful, sweetheart. I couldn’t live if anything happened to you.”

She wanted to cry, or maybe to break into a shivering pile of fear, but swallowed hard and met his eyes. “I will be careful, but you must promise the same.”

“Fair enough.” His smile didn’t look real.

*****

Jenny followed her husband closely on the way to the gate. It was familiar ground, but in times like these, one could never know. Alex bought a pair of sunglasses, a couple of newspapers, and a book for her. She was antsy waiting for something to happen, but the plane finally took air. They had a long flight ahead, but they were moving, and it made her feel like she was acting.

The last time they crossed the Atlantic she had gone out blindly, without any idea of what to expect. She hoped this would be easier.

They shared the row with a talkative elderly gentleman who chattered away about business opportunities. His story of when he went to Russia and had to bribe the customs staff to be allowed to bring his money out of the country made Jenny bite her lip not to laugh.

“So, where do the two of you come from?”

Jenny answered with a friendly smile, “Oh, I come from around here. I was born in Adams, actually, but I’ve been moving around a little since then. Just in the state, though.”

Alex said with a lot of glee, “I’m Russian.”

Their new acquaintance exclaimed, “Oh,” and fell silent.

During the past few years, Jenny’s unwilling brain managed to learn some of her husband’s language, and she understood him very well when he said, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

She entwined her fingers with his. “It’s really funny.”

It was of course too much for the man to resist. “Excuse me, you two are together, aren’t you?”

She nodded. This trip over the ocean was much more entertaining than she’d expected. “Yes. We’ve been married for five years.”

Glancing towards Alex, who made the seat look tiny where he sat reading the newspaper, visibly pretending not to listen, the man whispered, “Please, I don’t want to offend you, but… Is it difficult?”

“Is what difficult?”

He kept his eyes on Alex. “You know, adapting between such different cultures. Don’t they have very different ways of viewing things in Russia? Are you allowed to work or do you have to stay at home? What language do you speak at home? Are you allowed to handle money?”

Neither his curiosity nor prejudice knew any limits. She wanted to formulate a killer answer, but Alex beat her to it. He smiled innocently and leaned over her, to make himself heard better as he exaggerated his accent. “Of course she stays at home, she has to take care of the children. We have seven; four boys and three girls. It would be unthinkable for her to take care of all of them, the household, tend to my needs, and work at the same time. My second wife works though. She has only been with us for three years, so she only has three children, but the fourth is on the way.”

Jenny had all the trouble in the world not to laugh.

“Since both my wives are American we mostly speak English at home. I have decided it’s best for the little ones. Regarding money, I give them everything they need, and they don’t need any money of their own.”

The man seemed about to faint. He said, “Excuse me,” and fled to the restrooms. Jenny laughed so hard she had to lean on Alex, and smacked him over the arm. “You’re… you’re terrible.”

“Me? What did I do?”

Further up in the corridor, the man talked to the flight crew, all of them sending covert glances in Jenny’s direction. She wanted to wave, and folded her hands in her lap to keep them from doing something stupid. After a couple of minutes a young stewardess walked by, looked at her with open curiosity, and peeked towards Alex. Jenny smiled her friendliest smile as the girl passed them. It only took a minute until she came back. “Can I get you anything?”

Jenny shook her head. “No thank you, I’m good.”

The girl’s eyes darted towards Alex, who now looked like the epitome of serenity and friendliness. He encouraged her, now sounding almost American. “Go ahead and ask. The gentleman who sits here had some interesting ideas about the habits in my native country. Perhaps he has taken time to share with you…”

She looked relieved. “So, it’s not true that you have ten children and several more wives, and that…”

She turned to Jenny and whispered, “That you are his slave?”

The corners of Alex’s mouth twitched when he said, “Of course not. It’s probably just an old man’s fantasies.”

Their flight attendant exclaimed, “Thank heavens. You two look so good together, and it would have been a shame.”

“Look what you did. You’re impossible.”

He regained his poker face. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

People in the row in front of them turned around to watch. They seemed amused. When the older man returned, Alex said in a tauntingly calm and slow voice, “I must apologize, what I told you earlier isn’t entirely true.”

The man stared, not at all looking convinced, and Jenny filled in. “The only thing he’s said that’s true this far is that he’s Russian.”

As relieved as the man looked, Alex wasn’t able to leave well enough alone. His eyes sparkled with mischief. “We do have a lot of sex.”

Their neighbor looked as if he would choke on his coffee, and people all around them started to laugh. Alex put his new sunglasses on and leaned back in the seat, clearly very happy with himself.

*****

For a while, Jenny worried their plane might blow up. Then she grew nervous over going through customs. Her palms were sweaty and she wanted to dry them off on her jeans, but that would look too suspicious, so she forced herself to keep her hands loose by her sides. Nothing happened. No one even raised an eyebrow at the package when they went through airport security in America, and people in Italy cared even less. It wooed her into a feeling of security that might impair her judgement, but it was nice to imagine a package filled with  documents.

Alex looked relaxed and casual as usual, and swept her with him through the large terminal. For a few minutes, she allowed herself to be excited. She would have loved to go to Italy on a real vacation, and it was nice to pretend.

When they stood on the street, a scent of cinnamon and newly baked bread met them. “Wow. Other cities stink, and here they smell like good food.”

He trailed his fingers over her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “We need to find a nice hotel and check in, and then go to the hotel they gave us and check in there too. If we hurry, we can do it in that order.”

His words made no sense to her. She was exhausted, and fantasized about a cup of good Italian coffee, some bread, and a shower.

“Just a little further, my love.”

He winked at her and kissed her cheek, and they went to get a taxi. The driver spoke a little English, and Alex asked him to take them to an elegant hotel. They got out of the cab outside a façade that promised luxury, and Jenny wondered if it would really be this easy. She wasn’t surprised when her husband pretended to be lost, asked for directions in the lobby, and pulled her through a side door onto a bus.

The vehicle was dirty and crowded, and she wanted to get off. That was, she wanted to get off until they actually did. They were on the other side of town, and he took her for a walk that lasted several blocks. When they went into a restaurant, she looked longingly at the soft chairs. Kicking her shoes off would be most excellent.

Alex led the way to a counter, slipped a few Euro-bills to a waiter, and followed the man through the kitchen into a dirty alley. It took less than a minute until they were in another taxi. This time, when the cab pulled up outside a hotel, they did check in. She wanted to cry with relief when he got them a room; she feared this was just another step in the long game of hide and seek.

Jenny was tired, her feet ached, and she wanted to yell at him for making her go through all this. The urge to whine grew bigger and more difficult to ignore when he started emptying their luggage, pouring everything out on the bed. “I don’t think they’ve tagged either of our suitcases or us, so if they are following us and managed to stay on our trail, it’s a big group. If there were just one or two, we’ve lost them.”

This was all way over her head, and she must be incredibly naive thinking they could just go to their room and relax. “Why are you doing that to my clothes?”

He flashed a smile and teased, “So the bag will be easier to carry when we go to our other hotel.”