by David Nees
“Are you hungry?” Dan asked.
She shook her head and put her mug on the counter.
“I’m tired. I need to sleep.”
“So am I,” Dan replied.
“Would you do me a favor?” Evangeline asked, turning to him.
“What is it?”
“Would you sleep with me?”
“What? I can’t do that, you’re just a teenager,” Dan responded. He was taken aback by her request. He had not expected anything like that, especially since she’d been so angry at him.
“Not like that. More like cuddling, like you did to help warm me up. I don’t want to be alone.” She looked over at him with plaintive eyes.
“I guess I could…I mean if you really want me to.” He thought for a moment then blurted out, “But you don’t have any underwear. It’s dirty and wet. I can’t lie down with you when you’re naked.”
Evangeline almost laughed. She smiled back at him.
“It’s okay. Give me one of your shirts. I’ll use it as a nightgown. I’ll get in bed first and then you just slide in behind me. I hope I’m not repulsive to you.”
“It’s not that and you know it. You’re quite beautiful, even with your bad haircut.”
She gave him a sad smile. “Maybe. Sometimes I don’t feel so pretty…most times, I guess.”
“Why is that?” Dan asked.
Evangeline just shook her head. “So, will you do it? Please?”
“Okay”
She smiled again, stretched and yawned. “Good. I’m exhausted. I’m going up now. You get a shirt for me and follow.”
“Let me close up the chalet and turn off the lights. I’ll be up shortly.”
He hoped that she would be asleep when he got there. He didn’t know what, if anything, she might have in mind but she was acting different since he rescued her from the storm.
Ten minutes later he slipped into her bed and drew himself up close to her. She pushed herself back into him and reached behind her to pull his arm over her body. She placed his arm and hand on her stomach. She put her hand over his and snuggled down, sighing contentedly.
“I’ve never had a man hold me when it wasn’t sexual…and usually it was headed towards something harsh and kinky. This is nice.”
Dan kissed her on the top of her head.
“I’m sorry for that. It’s okay now. Relax and go to sleep.”
“It feels nice, being close with no agenda, no demands. Thank you.”
“Shhh. Sleep now.”
She wriggled again and Dan could feel her body relax into him as sleep overcame her. He was planning to leave when she fell asleep but fatigue overcame him. They were out of the storm. She was safe; they both were safe for now. He let his mind relax. There was no need to worry today. Let the day be one of peacefulness and the chalet a place of refuge. They had made a connection. It was enough for now. He fell asleep next to this girl who had begun to burrow her way into his life.
Chapter 22
___________________________________
T hat afternoon, Dan awoke first, dressed, and went down to the kitchen. He put on a pot of coffee and began working on a simple egg and cheese omelet. Evangeline came down the stairs a few minutes later. She had the bathrobe wrapped around her.
“The coffee smells good,” she said.
Dan watched her. There was no mention of the cuddling last night but her demeanor seemed friendlier to him.
“How do you feel? Are you hurt from falling?” he asked.
“I sprained my ankle and have some bruises on my arms and ribs, but I’m okay.”
“Are you hungry?”
She nodded her head vigorously. “I’m famished.”
“You didn’t eat much while detoxing. It looks like you’re doing much better.” He gave her a critical look-over. “I think you lost a lot of weight. Your face is a bit gaunt, so it will be good to put some weight back on.”
“You really know how to compliment a girl, don’t you?”
“What did I say? Last night I told you that you were beautiful, even in your condition. Getting off the drugs will only enhance that.”
The coffee maker finished its job and Dan went over and poured two cups.
“Just a half cup for me,” Evangeline said.
He handed her a cup and she filled the remaining amount with cream and sugar.
“That looks like desert, not coffee,” Dan risked a comment. He wanted to stay off how she looked which seemed to be a sensitive subject.
“It’s the way I like it. I suppose you drink it black like some macho man.”
“You found me out.” Dan nodded to her and took a sip of his black coffee. “I’m making a cheese omelet, would you like that?”
“Ja…bitte und danke.”
When Dan neared finishing, Evangeline put some bread in the toaster and took out the jar of elderberry-plum jam from the cupboard.
They ate in silence, both enjoying the meal. Evangeline ate a full plate with three slices of buttered toast and jam along with a glass of juice and a second cup of coffee and cream.
The two men waited in Graz as they had been instructed. They spent their time sitting in a hotel room watching television. They didn’t talk much. Neither wanted to go out. They didn’t want to be seen much. The call would come. It was only a matter of time. There would be instructions, they would carry them out and then go back to Zürich. There was one unspoken worry that stuck in both of their minds. They had not completed the job back in Croatia. And the man in charge didn’t abide failure.
After their brunch, Dan and Evangeline sat down. The storm outside was beginning to pass. Clouds were lifting and the sun was beginning to break through. They could see the bright patches of sunshine down in the valley. It looked like spots of light running across the fields. The change promised a sunny end and a clear, bright day tomorrow.
They both sat and watched the growing sunlight play across the valley floor. Neither spoke. Dan tried to figure out how to broach the subject of Evangeline’s father without triggering her defenses or panic. She was friendly to him and there was a comfortable atmosphere between them that he was loathe to disturb.
“You know, I don’t even know your name,” she finally said, breaking the silence.
“It’s Steve,” he said, using his alias. “But my name really isn’t important.”
“Well I don’t want to just call out ‘hey you’ every time we talk.” She smiled at him, a genuinely friendly, attractive smile. “And I think I should know the name of the man who saved my life.”
“I was scared I couldn’t find you in the dark and the storm. I guessed you would go straight downhill and not follow the road, so that’s what I did.”
“How did you find me? In the dark like that, I could have veered off in any direction.”
“I’ve had some training in tracking. It helped. When I came to a ditch, I figured you might have slipped into it. It was impossible to see in the dark, but I had a flashlight.”
He went on to describe how he discovered her trail and all the events leading to getting her back to the chalet. They were sitting in two chairs facing the large windows overlooking the deck. When Dan finished, Evangeline got up and leaned over to him and kissed him on the cheek. The kiss lingered a moment longer than a perfunctory peck of thanks.
“You’re welcome,” he said smiling at her. She smiled back.
“Do you think we can talk about your father now? I can see that you’re serious about not wanting to go back. Why?”
Her face darkened. “I can’t speak of it. Why ruin a nice afternoon? I want to think of you as someone who saved my life, not someone who will end it.”
Dan leaned towards her in his chair. “That’s why I want to know, so I can understand your anxiety, your fear.”
She lowered her head and shook it back and forth. “Nein, nein. It is not something to talk about.” She looked up at Dan. Her eyes full of dread. “I ran away when I was sixteen. Something happened an
d I knew I had to leave.”
“What happened?”
“My,” she hesitated, then stammered, m-m-my m-m-mother died.”
“And that caused you to run away?”
She nodded, looking at the floor.
This was a crack in the wall she had put up. Dan tried to pry it open a bit more. “How did your mother die?”
Now Evangeline started to choke back sobs. “She…she killed herself.”
“Oh my dear girl. I’m so sorry,” Dan said.
“Are you?” Her eyes flashed. She looked at him, now angry again. “You who will take me back to hell? You want to dig open my wounds so you can understand? Or just to satisfy your curiosity? You’re not going to change your mind, are you?”
She jumped up crying and ran for the stairs.
“Evangeline, I’m sorry,” Dan called out as she ran up the steps and disappeared into her room.
“Hell,” he mumbled to himself. “I really fucked that up.” He started to follow her but then thought better of it. He sat back down. Was he just picking open an old wound? Yes. Did he have to? Dan wasn’t sure. He had taken the job to rescue her from the pornographer and to kill him. The man was just another low life who would fill the vacuum and get into the gun and drug business Dan had created by killing Guzim. He was glad to have eliminated him before he could do more damage.
But returning the girl now filled him with conflict. Jane was right. Dan sensed there was something serious in her fear and loathing about being returned. He needed to understand what it was. Or was he just being stubborn? He wished Jane were here to help. This was not going all that well.
After a half hour, Dan got up and climbed the stairs. He opened Evangeline’s door and gently stepped into her room. She was face down on the bed. He sat on the edge and touched her head.
“I’m sorry. I know the subject is hard for you. But now I have a little more information. I truly want to help—”
“Do you?” she said into her pillow. “Or is your mind made up? Maybe you still have part of your fee to earn.” She turned to him. “How much did he offer you to bring me back?”
Dan’s face must have reflected his pain.
“It was a lot, wasn’t it? He’s very wealthy.”
“The amount isn’t important. I turned him down at first.”
“Then what changed your mind, more money?”
Dan shook his head. “There were two things that changed my mind.” He paused. How would he explain the Watcher? Jane still didn’t buy the whole idea. “First there was a young girl to save from a ruined life in pornography and drugs. Believe me that was important. But the other thing was a woman I ran into.”
Dan gave her a shortened version of his encounter with the woman in St. Marks Plaza, leaving out the location.
“She told me to rescue you. She said that you would lead me to uncover a greater evil to destroy. But she also said you would not be truthful.”
Evangeline kept staring at him, but her fierce look began to soften.
“So I’m in a quandary,” Dan continued, “I need you to tell me things, but I don’t know if you’ll tell me the truth.”
“Truth? I don’t want to talk with you or anybody.” She turned her head to the wall. “Once I left, I vowed never to talk about him again. And I haven’t until now.”
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“Do you even know his name? she asked.”
“I don’t. A Signore Conti was my contact. He said his employer wanted to remain anonymous.”
“I don’t wonder. Didn’t he think I’d tell you?”
“Maybe not. Maybe he thought I’d deliver you right away and we wouldn’t have any conversations.”
Evangeline seemed to ponder this information. “Signore Conti is a flunky for Herr Aebischer, Jan Luis Aebischer.” Her words were bitter.
“And he’s your father?”
She nodded looking at him with fear and pain in her face.
“Evangeline, I can’t fully understand the hurt you feel at losing your mother, but I understand pain and anguish. I lost my wife, not to illness or accident. She was killed…murdered by some evil men, along with our unborn baby.”
Evangeline looked at him now without so much anger and defensiveness in her eyes.
“And so you became a murderer?”
Dan stared back at her with a hardened look on his face. “I made those responsible pay…with their lives.”
Evangeline looked away. “Maybe you can understand. I don’t know, but for now please go away. I’m tired and want to take a nap.”
Dan stood up. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone. Again, thank you for telling me as much as you did. I’ll make us a big dinner. Do you think you’d like to eat something later?”
She nodded and then turned away. Dan left the room.
He went back to the kitchen. Before he started on supper, he took his secure phone out and called Jane.
“At least it’s a more reasonable time of day. How are you doing?”
“Jan Luis Aebischer.”
“Who’s that?”
“That’s what I want you to find out. He’s Evangeline’s father, the one she abhors.”
“Sounds like you’re making progress.”
“A little. It would be easier if you were here. Can you get Fred on it? Knowing something about him may help me understand her fear.”
Fred Burke, the researcher, and Warren Thomas, the hacker, were able to get into almost any system and not be traced. Together they made a formidable information gathering team.
“So she hasn’t told you yet,” Jane said.
“Only a little. I need more information.”
“I’ll get right on it. Keep going, sounds like you’re doing well.”
Around dinner time Evangeline came downstairs dressed in her jeans and shirt that Dan had washed and dried. She had brushed her hair and put on some makeup that had been in her pockets. Dan stopped turned from the stove and looked at her. She smiled at him.
“Wow. You look beautiful. Where’d you get the makeup?”
“I had some lipstick and mascara in my pockets.”
“Just that? You look like you’re glowing, so much better than before…” He paused. “How do you feel?”
“I feel good, physically.”
She didn’t say more and Dan didn’t probe.
After they had eaten a robust dinner of ham, potatoes and salad, Dan pulled the couch around to face the deck. They sat down and watched the light fade in the valley.
As it got darker, Evangeline moved close to Dan and snuggled up to him. She put her head against his chest. He sat still with his arm around her.
“We get along pretty well, don’t we?” she said after a while.
“It seems were getting along better now, for sure.”
“I could be a good companion to you.” She looked up from his chest. “Why don’t we just go away together? Forget about my father. I’d be good to you. You’d never get bored. And I’ll learn how to cook and clean. I could make life more comfortable.”
She stared up into his face. Dan looked down at her. He didn’t know what to say. The obvious answer was “no”, but he had to be careful. She seemed fragile and her ploy to get him to change his plans was obvious.
“I don’t think that would work. My job doesn’t really lend itself to having a partner.”
“I could be more than a partner. Believe me, I’d make you happy.”
Dan smiled. “I’m sure you could, but I don’t think I could make you happy. I lead a pretty monastic style of life.”
“Do you kill people for a living?”
Dan shook his head. “I don’t talk about my work. I’m a security consultant for corporations. There’s lots of secrets in that job.”
“Sure you are. And I’m really a fairy princess.”
“We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. I have to start thinking about us leaving here.”
“I can’t go back. I�
�ve told you.”
“Well we can’t stay here much longer. We’ll talk tomorrow. I want to listen to anything you have to tell me. But for now, let’s leave this subject alone.”
Dan hoped she would not try seduction on him. It would only lead to hurt feelings and possibly closing off their burgeoning relationship.
Chapter 23
___________________________________
T he call the men were waiting for finally came. Pietro Conti had quizzed many local polizei who had asked around their villages in their areas of jurisdiction about a stranger driving a Land Rover, possibly with a young girl. The request was couched in doing a low key search in a possible abduction, something that had to be kept discrete. He struck gold when the local police office in Sankt Nikolai reported some merchants seeing a foreigner purchasing supplies. He drove a Land Rover similar to the one described.
After the call, the two men packed up their gear and checked out. It was the middle of the afternoon. They would arrive in Sankt Nikolai that evening which is what they wanted. A search of house rentals had come up with the chalet high on the mountainside above the village. They would approach it at night, late at night.
Evangeline looked at Dan. She was still sitting close up to him, trying to make a connection with her body.
“Now it’s you who doesn’t want to talk. That’s a switch. Why do we have to wait to talk about you and me? Let’s talk about it now.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Dan replied.
“Yes there is. You saved my life, maybe twice. And now you want to throw it away. You don’t want to consider that I can be a good partner, a good mate to you. I’m not that young and you’re not that old.” She put her hand on his chest. “You’ve not taken advantage of me and that shows you have character. I don’t think you would send me back if you knew what I was running away from.”
Dan looked back into her eyes. “And that’s what I want to know. Why won’t you tell me?”
