Undercover (22 page)

She stuck her tongue out at him, but he ignored it. “I’ll go out and get us new suitcases when we come back. We need to leave these in the other room. That place will be bugged too, so be careful what you say.”

He zipped their luggage up again, took her hand, and pulled her along with him through the door. He was right. Walking was much easier when the bag was empty.

She wanted to stop outside the elevator, but he nodded towards the staircase. On the way down, he stole a few plastic bags from a door, and before she knew it, they were going out a back door into another taxi.

*****

The other hotel was much closer than she expected, and when they entered the foyer, Alex talked to her about the nice shopping trip they’d taken. He insisted on peeking into the plastic bags, and she played along the best she could, all the while thinking, “I’m too old and tired for this.” When they got up to the room, he exclaimed, “Isn’t this nice. How thoughtful of them, don’t you think, my love?”

By now, Jenny agreed with anything as long as she could sit down. “Yes, it is. It’s very nice.”

She sat on the edge of the bed and wondered how he could have so much energy left. Alex pulled the curtains, checked the mirrors and the TV-set, and pulled the sheets off the bed. His words, “I’m just dying for a shower,” made her blink a couple of times. She was too, but didn’t expect to get one
there
.  He, of course, just turned the water on.

When he returned to the room, she mouthed her latest discovery, “You think this is fun. You’re enjoying yourself.”

He nodded, smiled, and kissed her. When he pulled her close, the feeling of his arms around her, his smell, and his body so close sent an unexpected wave of desire through her. He tugged at her clothes, and before she knew what was happening, they were making love on the big bed.

She didn’t care about people listening, or even about people possibly watching; she just wanted her husband with a passion that couldn’t be denied. If anything, hearing this would convince whoever might be listening that they were really staying in the room.

Afterwards, she lay snuggled up to him and teased, “Look what you did; now I
really
need a shower.”

When they finally left the hotel, he flashed a smile and his eyes glittered with mischief. “See, I wasn’t lying to the man on the plane. We do have a lot of sex.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Once back in their other room, Jenny sank down on the bed, exhausted. Alex seemed completely unfazed; he walked around, clearing up the mess he made earlier. He sounded like he was talking more to himself than to her. “If we believe the old man, someone here would recognize me. That might mean I would know them too, but it’s not certain. Or, someone nearby might recognize me, and that might compromise the situation.”

This all seemed much too complicated and she wasn’t able to follow his line of thought. Her head was spinning with the long journey, the time change, the new environment, and the foreign language that surrounded them. As much as she wanted to participate, and as much as she tried to come up with something intelligent to say, there wasn’t a coherent thought in her head.

Alex sat on the bed next to her and brushed a lock of her hair away. “I just don’t want you to go in there alone.”

She wanted to curl up in a little ball on his lap and sleep, and the very thought of going
anywhere
made her want to cry. Tomorrow’s event was best pushed far back into her mind, and she wanted to change the subject. She knew she wouldn’t get a chance to talk about food or TV when he pulled her close. “We’ll go there early in the morning and check the place out. You’re exhausted and you need a rest now, and I need to make some preparations.”

That didn’t sound good. She wanted to object even before she heard what he had to say, but he didn’t give her a chance to get a word in. “What I have in mind would be much more dangerous for you than it is for me, and I’d rather you didn’t come with me. I know I won’t be able to make you stay here, but maybe if I ask nicely?”

Leaving the room again was the last thing she wanted to do, but she didn’t want
him
to go either. Her skin tingled with imagined danger, and her mind painted out all sorts of disasters. “What kind of preparations?”

“I have an old… uh… acquaintance… that moved to a town a couple of hours away from here… a while ago.”

From what she’d heard about his old life and acquaintances,
nothing
good could come from seeing them again.

He added in a more confident voice, “He might have information, and he’ll certainly have weapons. We’re in need of both.”

“You’re not lying, but you’re not telling me everything either.”

Alex laughed. “How do you do that? Does it work on everyone, or is it just me?”

She grinned. “I don’t know how I know, but it works on most people. When it comes to you, I can do it over the phone, but most people I have to see. Some lie so often they believe themselves, and that makes it difficult to know what’s true and what’s not.”

He kissed the side of her head, “If you could teach that talent, you’d be as wealthy as Bill Gates, and make life impossible for all spies. I can fool a lie detector, but not my wife.”

Jenny narrowed her eyes, trying to look dangerous, “Yes, and don’t you ever forget it. Now, don’t try to get me off track. What was it you weren’t telling me about your friend?”

Alex shrugged, but she didn’t buy the innocent gesture. “He’s not my friend. He’s an old KGB agent who turned mafia, and moved his operation here. He’s cooperating with the fascist movement, and he traffics weapons. He’ll probably help me, we have a past, but you are a beautiful woman, and I’m worried he’ll try to take you if you come with me.”

It didn’t sound as if he was lying, but she still had a nagging feeling he tried to hide something from her. She lifted an eyebrow.

“And he can tell you all sorts of bad things about me.”

That wasn’t it. She already knew all sorts of bad things about him, even though she preferred not to think about it. “Who is he?”

He looked honestly tormented, and for a moment she regretted pushing it. The feeling dissolved quickly when he said, “Alright. His name is Pavel. He’s old now, but he still likes to throw big parties where many women die.”

The very thought that her husband would return to one of those places made her sit up straight and exclaim, “Alex!”

He looked tired, but smiled, and tapped a finger against the tip of her nose. “You have nothing to worry about, my love. I will never return to that way of life, and I would never do anything to hurt you. I’m just going to rent a car, go there to get what we need, and return right back here. Now you know everything, would you please, please, pretty please stay here and guard the package?”

She didn’t want to, and she didn’t want him to go anywhere near that place. She wanted to yell at him for even considering it. And still, hadn’t he been an exemplary husband and father? Had he ever done anything to justify not trusting him? She closed her eyes and slumped against him. “I really wish you wouldn’t go. Is there no other way?”

“I wish I didn’t have to. It is a long drive, so don’t worry if I’m not back until tonight. You should try to get some rest. I promise to be my very best self, and to be very careful, and you don’t have a thing to worry about.”

That might be so, but it didn’t change the fact that her soul shrunk to a frightened little shrivel, peeking out cautiously into the world. Tears welled up in her eyes, and as much as she tried to keep them away, some spilled over.

“Please don’t cry. It breaks my heart when you cry.”

She mumbled, “Just be careful. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and hurry back.”

*****

Alex didn’t blame Jenny for worrying. He was worried too. This might not be the best idea he ever had, but it was the
only
idea that might help them survive the coming day.

He found a red Ferrari parked on the street a couple of blocks away. Jenny’s voice, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” echoed in his head, and he told himself, “She didn’t mean things like this.” Borrowing the car would help him stay in character. With any luck, he might be able to put it back before anyone even noticed it was gone. When he left the city, he muttered to himself, “What kind of agent have you become, worrying about stealing a car?”

This was his first visit to Pavel’s Italian villa, but he had seen it on a map, and with his memory and well trained sense of direction, it was enough to find the way. Even with a car like this, travelling on the crowded and winding roads took its time, and he had plenty of time to think and worry. He did not look forward to this visit; he hoped these parts of his life were well in the past by now. At least Jenny agreed on staying behind…

It was only his second time in Italy, but he remembered the way people drove, and tried to blend in. More than anywhere else in the world, people here seemed to regard speed limits more as a recommendation than a law, and taking the country’s large consumption of wine into account, it surprised him there weren’t more accidents.

He pulled up in front of a posh mansion two hours later, and parked below a wide staircase. He couldn’t see the guards, but knew they were there, just as he knew when night fell, these would be the grounds of all sorts of orgies, most likely ending with bloodshed. He muttered, “Pavel, you’re an old pervert.”

There had been a time when he would happily have joined in. Earlier in his life, he had managed to shut himself off to the point where he just didn’t care, and the memory made him shudder. Now, he couldn’t understand how people could keep living like this.

He made his way up to the front door, making sure to hold his arms out from his body, trying to show how harmless he was. He still wasn’t surprised to feel the muzzle of a gun against his back as soon as he stepped through the door. Someone frisked him, and he didn’t try to resist. As soon as the procedure was over, he took his sunglasses off slowly. “Tell Pavel Alexei Roshenko wants to see him.”

He didn’t have to wait long, and the large Russian looked exactly as he remembered. Maybe his hair grew a little longer and his beard a little shorter, but considering the years passed since they’d seen each other, not much had changed. They kissed cheeks in the traditional greeting, and Pavel laughed his bellowing laugh. “Well, I did not expect to see you. I heard you were dead. If not dead, at least tucked away safely somewhere up north where the sun never shines and no one has any fun.”

Alex smirked. “Well, the rumors of my death seem a little premature. And you look well, old friend.”

Pavel slapped his back. “As do you. Come, have some vodka with me and tell me what brings you to my doorstep on this fine day. What do you need? Drugs? Girls? Both?”

“No, thank you. My woman would kill me.”

His old acquaintance found that hilarious. “Well, then your death would be real and not just a fable. Surely, things could be worse. Besides, you don’t have to tell her.”

Wrapping a meaty arm around Alex’s shoulders, Pavel tried to pull him further into the mansion. Alex didn’t budge, and Pavel poked a finger against his chest. “Oh come now, you know you like it, and you know I know you like it. Don’t be so… what is it the Americans’ say? Suburban?”

That made Alex laugh heartily, and when the other man insisted he at least come sit down and have a drink while they talked, he allowed himself to be persuaded.

*****

Alex sat in a comfortable chair with a big glass of the alcohol he hated the most and tried to explain his sudden abstinence. “My wife has a creepy sixth sense, she knows everything. She would cry, and all in all, it’s not worth it. Besides, I love her.”

The statement made Pavel almost fall off his chair with laughter, and when he settled down, drying his eyes, he bellowed, “You what? You love her?
You
love someone? This world has really changed. So, if it’s not my usual favors you want, what have you come here for?”

Alex leaned back and told an abbreviated version of his story, ending with a list of his favorite weapons. Pavel didn’t even lift an eyebrow. “Weapons I can get for you, but I can’t tell you anything about your mysterious delivery. If I were you, I’d let your woman bring it there just as they wanted, and then get the hell out of here. If she doesn’t come back, you can always get another one. If you want a blond, I have beautiful girls from the Ukraine coming in.”

Alex wanted to roll his eyes, but knew it was useless. There were things this man would never understand,
could
never understand. To be fair, he wouldn’t have either before he met Jenny. He still gave it one more try. “No. I told you, I love her. I
need
her.”

Pavel did roll his eyes, and sounded both puzzled and impatient. “You used to use them and throw them away, just like all of us do. What’s so special about this one, eh? I want to see her.”

That
wasn’t happening. Alex shook his head and tried to change the subject. “So, you have weapons, you say?”

The other man wrinkled his nose, “You haven’t even finished your drink.”

Forcing himself not to grimace, Alex slammed it. “Yes, I have. Come on.”

They were at a shooting range in the basement within minutes. Pavel wasn’t lying; he had exactly what Alex needed. Agreeing on payment turned out to be a little trickier, but not much.

Back up in the large hallway, just inside the front door, the large Russian made one more attempt. “Why don’t you at least stay until night comes? Have a couple of drinks, for old times’ sake? We’re gonna have a great party, and you’ll be my guest. I have some splendid new narcotics coming in tonight, only the best, and women… Oh, the women always loved you, do you remember when—”

He didn’t want to be reminded of all that and interrupted, careful to keep a neutral face. “It’s very temping, but I have to go. Perhaps next time.”

He wanted to leave. The vodka was getting to him, and it was much too easy to imagine Jenny shouting at him for driving drunk. Meanwhile, his old acquaintance rummaged around in his pockets and pulled out a little bag filled with white powder. “I feel bad seeing you leave empty-handed. At least take this. It will make your drive shorter.”