Undercover (8 page)

Intriguing. “Do you like it?”

“I could get used to living like this.”

She laughed. “Oh, sure you could, in a house without central heating far out in the countryside, together with a pagan woman believing in dragons, and a cat that likes fruit and bread. There isn’t one normal thing about it.”

He put his hands on her hips and inched her closer. “Sounds good to me.”

*****

Working seemed like a bizarre waste of time, but she still had to do it. The day crawled by, and the drive north from Chicopee was endless. The snowy fields around Hadley weren’t usually depressing, but this day the farmlands were everywhere, and the icy roads mocked her eagerness. Driving too fast and ending up in a ditch would be bad.

As eager as she was to throw herself in his arms, she still stopped right inside the front door. It was hot. How could it be
this
warm? Had he set fire to the basement or something?

The shower was running and she bit her lip. Would knocking on the door, asking if she could come in, be too forward?

Hanging her coat up brought her close to a radiator. It was warm. She reached out to touch it, and almost burned her fingers. She ran around the house to check on the radiators, and down to the basement to look at the furnace. Everything worked, nothing leaked, and she could see a large amount of fresh pipes. If it was easy enough for one man to do it in one day, why hadn’t John done anything about it for almost ten years? Or at least, paid someone to do it for him? She shrugged it off. No reason to linger in the past when the present was so much more interesting.

Alex walked out of the shower with his hair wet, wearing only a towel around his waist. She ogled his muscles, and barely heard him say, “Hello beautiful, I thought I heard your car.”

It took a struggle to keep her mind out of the gutter. “I can’t believe you fixed the heat.”

He gave a little shrug and ran his hands over her shoulders. “It is not difficult if you know how. You had new radiators and piping, it was just a matter of plumbing.”

Her face was close to his, longing for touching, but she extended the sweet yearning and tried to play cool, “Well, I’m impressed.”

His eyes smiled. “I also made you dinner.”

She wanted to tell him he was a superman, but her mouth said, “I thought
you
were dinner.”

In the next moment, she found herself scooped up in his strong arms, heading for the living room sofa.

*****

The days rolled by, and when Jenny came home from work that Friday, John’s car stood parked askew outside the house. “Shit. I don’t need this.”

These two men should be kept as far away from each other as possible. On the bright side, maybe he’d leave her alone now when he saw her with someone new.

John stood in the middle of the yard, yelling something she couldn’t make out through the car windows. Alex appeared to have been working on the porch; it threatened to fall apart for years and looked much more stable now than it had this morning.

Getting out of the car, she heard her lover saying something in Russian. She could see her ex stagger even from a distance and wondered how drunk he was. He took a swing at Alex, who ducked quite easily and pushed the other man backwards, almost gently.

“Guys! Hey, guys, no fighting.”

Her lover glanced over at her. “I am not fighting, I am trying not to hurt him,” and she answered with a sigh, “I know.”

Her Russian lover could probably kill the pudgy American in the time it took her to blink. Turning to her ex, she yelled, “What are you doing here drunk in the middle of the day? And you took the car here, didn’t you? And you’re wondering why you’re divorced?”

John sprawled on the ground, trying to get to his feet. “I miss you, babe. I love you. And I come home and see this… foreigner… outside the house. Can you blame me for being upset? Can I come home now?”

Jenny stared, and her voice was as icy as the fingers clutching her heart. Wasn’t it difficult enough to constantly fight with him, to constantly be reminded of all the wasted years? Alex shouldn’t have to see it. It wasn’t fair. “No. No, you cannot. I live here now, Alex is my boyfriend, and you have no right to come here and attack him. You will leave this very minute, and if I ever, ever, see you driving drunk again I’ll call the police.”

Alex’s mouth twitched and she crossed her arms over her chest, struggling to appear sane and calm. “It doesn’t seem like you wanted anything, so off you go. Bye, bye.”

Alex stepped forward, offering to pull the other man off the ground. Her used-to-be husband didn’t take the hand; he crawled backwards in the dirty snow. How could she have spent so much time with him?

“It was him, wasn’t it?”

She shook her head. It would be nice if Alex’s calm could rub off on her. “No. It was you. You need to leave now, and go… I don’t know, go find a life. I can’t help you with that.”

The man on the ground slumped, allowed Alex to pull him up, and got into the car. Jenny rubbed her temples. What might the odds be of him killing someone on the way home? It would probably take the police longer to get there than for him to get back to the village. Calling for them would be useless.

Alex put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

She forced herself to smile, and once she started, it was easier than she expected. “It’s not your fault. And you have no idea how happy I am you’re here. Come on, let’s go inside and have a nice Friday evening, and forget about the locals.”

Chapter Ten

As days went by, Jenny was less interested in going to work than ever before. Alex was kind, romantic, and funny. She was very much in love, and completely content with life. They were finding routines, and simple things like grocery shopping turned into a pleasure.

They sat on the sofa watching a movie, and she enjoyed the feeling of his arms around her. He rested his head lightly against hers, and caught her off guard when he asked, “Do you still want me to stay?”

As much as she tried not to think about it, the day when he would have to leave was coming closer. Once he left, he might never come back. “Of course I do, and I think you know that.”

He shifted his weight. “Jenny, you should know I have done many things in the past that were… bad.”

She hoped his words were due to a sudden problem with the language, but it didn’t seem likely. What could he possibly have been up to that was all that bad? She weighed her words carefully. “You know, whether something is bad or not sort of depends on the setting. Don’t try to tell me you’re evil or anything, because you’re not.”

“No, I don’t think I’m evil. But I haven’t spent my life being an angel either.”

Whatever he wanted to say, she didn’t want to hear it, and whatever he might have done, she didn’t want to know. If this was cowardice, she was happy to be a coward. “The past is the past, and you can’t change it. If you want to talk about it, I’m here. I won’t condemn you, no matter what you’ve done. I promise.”

He looked very serious, enough so to bring a cold block of ice to her stomach. The ice was scary but useful; it helped her keep a steady voice, “The answer to your question is still yes. I want you to stay.”

Since he was trying to be honest, he deserved the same from her. “It’s what I want more than anything else.”

“Thank you.” He kissed her temple. “We can talk about those other things some other day.”

“You know, sometimes love stories have happy endings. It’s okay to be happy.”

As evening turned into night, she fell asleep in his arms, with her head resting on his chest. She woke up from Alex murmuring, “Sweetheart, you’re sleeping. It’s time to go to bed.”

Go? Why should she have to go anywhere? Too much work.

He tried again, “Go upstairs and go to bed. I’ll turn the lights off and be with you in a minute.”

She curled up closer to him instead. “If I do, can I still sleep in your arms?”

“Silly girl, of course you can. Off you go, don’t make me carry you. Don’t think I can’t or won’t do it.”

The threat wasn’t too scary, but she still made an effort. She shuffled upstairs and forced herself to stay awake until he came to bed. Life was good.

Life stayed good for a few days more, until Jenny came home to a dark house where only the cat came to meet her. She heard her lover upstairs, discussing something in Russian on the phone. He paced around, and it was more than the foreign melody making his voice sharp.

She waited in the kitchen, nursing her fears. How empty would the house be without him? He stopped moving around but didn’t come down, and she dragged her feet towards the staircase. There might be bliss in not knowing, but facing one’s fears held value too.

*****

Alex stood by a big window, looking out at the night with his back straight and his hands folded behind it. How could he be so stupid? He should know better than getting attached to someone. He lived in a dream, an idiot intoxicated by blue eyes and golden hair. Done was done though, and now he’d have to try to deal with it.

Jenny’s voice drifted over to him, “Are you alright?”

He couldn’t meet her eyes. “Yes, I am fine.”

She’d never believe
that
. He should do something, reach out for her and say something sweet, but in this state of mind he might accidentally crush her.

“Alright. I’ll go make dinner.”

She sounded disappointed, and it was his fault. “Wait…” The frown on her forehead was just too cute. His imagination painted out his superior’s wrinkled face saying, “leverage,” and the word echoed through his mind. Endangering other people had never been an issue; he never cared about anyone before. “I have been ordered to go back. I must stay there a week or maybe two before continuing my shore leave.”

Close enough to the truth.

“I see.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper, and broke his heart. This just wouldn’t do. He made sure his face didn’t betray him and show his worries, he even managed to smile. “I must leave on Saturday. Will you come with me?”

He
had
to go back to Russia, there was no getting around it. If the voice on the phone was truthful, he shouldn’t leave her alone. It was much too easy to imagine scenarios where the defenseless girl was taken, maybe tortured, maybe worse, just to get revenge on him. Or, maybe he exaggerated the danger. Maybe he couldn’t bear leaving her behind and needed to justify a bad decision to himself.

Jenny exhaled, and even if her smile was a bit thin, it was a smile. “Yes.”

He nodded. “Good. That’s good.”

This might be more bad judgment on his part. Bringing her along could make everything worse. “We’ll have to get you a visa. I will arrange it.”

*****

Jenny sensed Alex’s worry, but didn’t understand it. Travelling with her lover seemed a grand adventure. A passport with her name and image spent a slumbering existence in a drawer, but she had never left the country.

She had a very dim idea of what was involved in getting a visa, and expected it to take a couple of weeks. Alex sent her passport to the embassy with a courier, made a couple of phone calls, and had it back the next day. A tour to the store resulted in brand new suitcases, and difficult decisions of what clothes to bring. She might meet people he knew and wanted to look pretty, but it would be cold…

Alex held her too hard at nights and called her repeatedly at work. He was clearly checking up on her, but what could possibly go all that wrong? Every time she asked, he shrugged it off. “Nothing, I just don’t wish to leave your house. It is very comfortable, and I like it here.”

The words rang true, sort of, but the explanation seemed a bit too long.

They left for the airport early Saturday morning. The cat was safely dropped off with a friend, and knowing Theresa, she would spoil it rotten. Jenny kept checking she really had her passport. It probably wouldn’t jump out of her purse on its own, but one could never be too sure. Alex kissed her cheek and said, “You have everything, my sweet, it will be fine. Don’t worry.”

Easy for him to say who seemed worried enough for an entire plane of travelers. She sat in the passenger seat with her feet pulled up under her, watching the landscape fly by outside the window, wishing for spring. “Can’t we go to Florida instead? They have palm trees and alligators. Or Hawaii, I always wanted to see Hawaii.”

Her lover lifted an eyebrow, “I wish it was possible. Maybe someday we will.”

When he eventually parked at the airport, she patted the car on the hood. “Take care of yourself and be here when we come back. If anyone touches you, it’s okay to bite them; I’ll sort it out when I get back.”

This long-term parking was going to cost her an arm and a leg. She should have asked someone to drive them, but it was too late to think of that now. She liked her car, and took leaving it like this very seriously. Alex smiled, and she thought even if she was acting silly, making him smile was worth it. They were going on an adventure, something new was starting, and life might never be the same again. She tucked her hand into Alex’s and he bent over to kiss her cheek. She was very happy he was there.

*****

It was a dreadfully long flight with several stops. Russia was much farther away than Jenny expected. He came a long a way for her. She was restless before they even crossed the Atlantic, and Alex flashed a smile and rummaged around in his carry-on. He pulled out the newest book by Dean Koontz and a bag of her favorite candy, and she couldn’t believe her eyes. He was thinking about her when she wasn’t even doing it herself.

She asked with wide-eyed surprise, “When did you get that?” and he took her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed it. “At the airport.”

They spent many hours waiting in terminals in different countries and much too much time sitting on planes, and after watching the same movie four times in a row, she thought they’d never get there. The journey was endless, and the surroundings very foreign.