by Pam Richter
Ivar promised himself he would be very cautious. Thinking back on the night before, when he had met Eve, was like remembering a happy dream. He had believed she was one of the most wonderful women he had ever met, smart, beautiful and fun. He had been ready to break cover for her, jeopardize his position here in the United States, and risk his association with the KGB. When Stephan Steinbrenner started stupidly waving his gun around in front of Ferd's Tanning Salon, Ivar almost shot him.
Ivar had done quite a bit of research. Dr. Steinbrenner was a remarkable man and he supposed that the government believed he had experimented on a human being. His son's were less admirable. There had been allegations that they were not the most honest or honorable of lawyers, but there was no hard proof, just records of reprimands from judges.
Ivar had learned all there was to know in the scant information files on Sabrina Miller. He had found nothing at all regarding Eve Miller. It was puzzling, as if Eve really did not exist.
Ivar decided he had become lax because nothing much seemed to happen in Los Angeles, where he had been assigned for the last three years. In the seven years Ivar had been in this country he had been placed on relatively easy assignments. He decided that he had definitely become soft, believing that nothing could harm him or make him blow his cover. Until now.
Ivar's reverie was cut short by tapping on the car's passenger door window. He looked out and saw Eve. She was dangerously gorgeous in jeans and a sweater with a large turtle neck collar. He thought her neck, emerging out of the bulky sweater, looked as graceful and delicate white as a swan's against her dark hair. Ivar did not know he was smiling until he saw Eve smile back at him.
Ivar decided he was right to be wary. She was so cute he wanted to hug her. Instead, he started the car and told her that he hoped they would be on time.
As they watched the previews of coming attractions and ate hot dogs, Eve whispered that the movie shorts were like her dreams. First you were in one situation, and then suddenly popped inside another. She said it was a little disconcerting, and Ivar wondered whether it was seeing the short clips that made her feel that way, or her own dreams. He remembered her sobbing in her sleep the night before.
As they watched the movie, Eve held on to Ivar's arm and leaned against him, so he felt her reactions. Ivar had picked the old movie, "Russia House," so that he could behold his home land again. Shooting movies in the Soviet Union was a relatively new phenomenon of harmony and co-operation between the two countries. Seeing the onion domes of Red Square again made him feel sentimental. It was a moving experience for him to see the beautiful country he had left so many years before.
Ivar took Eve to Tommy's for hamburgers after the movie and they talked about the picture at length. He thought that his choice of movie had been a mistake. Eve was very interested in the spies and disinformation depicted in the movie. He was made even more wary by her interest in the politics of the two countries. Her summary of the intricacies of the plot was so succinct, he again wondered if she could be a computer. Looking at her now, he could not really believe it. But he now understood why Hood Eyes had asked the agents to look for scars or false hair. He wanted to know if the women had had something implanted inside their brains.
Ivar ordered chocolate cheese cake for Eve, laughing at her expression as she tasted it. She did not keep her face neutral at all when she enjoyed something and that tickled him. It was so much fun watching her enjoy things, the movie, food, sex, even just talking. But he vowed that tonight there would be no sex. He liked to be with her, and that was enough for him for tonight.
As Ivar drove Eve home, she was wishing she could tell him that she had never seen a movie before. It was not at all like watching television. The heads and bodies on the screen were so enormous she had been disconcerted. It felt as though the people could come right out of the screen at her, and she had been a little frightened. Eve's vision, or her interpretation of what she saw, was not like most people because she had not been trained to see in perspective. Sometimes, while riding in a car, a street she was traveling on would seem to go straight up instead of straight ahead. Then she would have to realize that she was going forward and not up. Of course, it helped to have Sabrina's memories. She was like a blind person suddenly receiving the gift of sight.
Ivar stopped his car at the back entrance of the condominium, where he had picked Eve up. Eve had not noticed where they were because she had been admiring Ivar's side view. "You took me home?"
Ivar nodded.
"Oh. You want me to go in now?"
"Well, it's pretty late. Is something wrong?"
"I though you would want to engage in sex. I would like to."
Ivar had an immediate physical response to her words and he was also surprised. Most women did not come right out and say they wanted to be intimate.
Ivar reached over and stroked Eve's hair. "Of course I would like to. I didn't want to get you home too late. And I didn't want you to think I was interested in you only because of a physical relationship we might have."
"I didn't think that. I like to watch movies and eat and talk, too."
Eve watched Ivar throw his head back and laugh.
"You might be right, though. My cousin worries about me a lot." She hugged Ivar quickly. He felt the breath whoosh out of his lungs.
"I'll call you tomorrow," Ivar said.
"I know you will."
She thought it was nice that Ivar laughed a lot.
CHAPTER 18
Sabrina and Eve were dressed in shorts and tee shirts, like they were going for a lunchtime jog in Beverly Hills. It was a cool day and Sabrina shivered as the sun appeared intermittently and then was covered with clouds. The jogging path, which ran parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard, was well kept with grass around the hard packed dirt path, various flower gardens on every block and drinking fountains along the way. One was really in the city, but it seemed more like a park.
They crunched on red and golden leaves and Sabrina jogged in place to keep warm. There were quite a few people on the footpath. A few dog owners were walking their animals, all visibly carrying pooper-scoopers as the laws in Beverly Hills were strict about creating a 'nuisance' someone might step in.
The Steinbrenner's van pulled up and circled the park entrance, off Doheny Drive. When they saw Stephan emerging from the side door in his wheel chair, the two women turned and jogged away. They kept an easy pace, but one which would be hard for the brothers to keep up with.
Stephan could make pretty good time in the motorized chair. Alexander was obviously having a hard time moving rapidly on crutches.
After a few blocks, Sabrina and Eve turned right, up Maple Street. About twenty feet up Maple was the alley that ran behind the houses, where trash was surreptitiously collected, suitably out of sight of the posh homes in the area. The alleys in Beverly Hills were a labyrinth maze. If she and Eve wanted to leave quickly the two brothers would not be able to find them, or catch them.
Heavy, loud breathing along with little labored whistles indicated when Alexander, on his crutches, was near. Sabrina peeked around the bend in the alley so that the men could see her.
When the two men were close enough to hear her, Sabrina said, "The person with a computer can be killed with a gun. If you're carrying, please use restraint."
Both men lifted their arms up innocently, but Sabrina was not convinced. They were wearing suits and carried overcoats. They could easily conceal a weapon.
The two women and men moved hesitantly toward each other. Sabrina thought all the precautions and her fear might have been unnecessary. The brothers were probably afraid of the violence an extremely strong computer without any moral restraints could do in their vulnerable states, also. It was a standoff. They probably did have a gun, but they were facing an adversary who was the most intelligent person in the world, with the strength to injure them badly and without an ounce of remorse.
When Alexander could resume breathing normally after his exertions,
he began to tell Eve and Sabrina about a wonderful Japanese firm he had worked with in the past. He went on and on about a man named Sato Hashimoto. Alexander tried to impress them with the amount of real estate the man had acquired here in California for his Japanese corporation, which also had subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia as well as the United States.
Alexander's pitch was that Eve would be paid to go and work in Tokyo. He cited a salary for her in the hundreds of thousands each year, but said he could not be specific until Mr. Hashimoto met with her. He acted like she should be impressed with the fact that this man, the head of a multi-national corporation, would actually speak to her himself. Glancing around surreptitiously, Alexander said that because the government seemed to be interested in all of them, the computer's departure might be a good thing for all concerned.
Sabrina was very insulted. Alexander was talking to them as if they could not comprehend that the technology to make Eve was worth billions. A salary of a million a year was laughable.
Eve was thinking of pagodas, cherry blossoms, Mount Fugi, rice paddies, jade Buddhas and small, polite and violent people with slanted eyes and beautiful black hair. She didn't need a silly job offer to see Japan, she planned on seeing the whole world. But she would go and meet with this Hashimoto. It might be interesting. She said that a meeting would be agreeable, but there was very little chance that the computer would agree to work for a salary.
Sabrina wondered aloud what Alexander would get from the negotiations. After hemming and hawing, Alexander said that of course he would get a 'finders fee.'
"We need the photograph to make up the ID papers," Stephen said. He tried to show restraint and did not grab at the picture, but Sabrina knew he could hardly wait to see either black or red hair. When he took hold of it he glanced at the photograph and then showed the blond picture of Sabrina to his brother.
* * * * *
Willard Modert, Burgess Whitcomb's assistant, had added a third person to the team now searching for Sabrina, Eve and the Steinbrenner brothers in the vicinity of the jogging path in Beverly Hills.
Ivar knew Sergi Malcovich was undercover KGB. He was upset that Sergi was being passed off as another CIA agent.
The three had been following the progress of the women as they jogged along the path in Beverly Hills, but had lost them when they turned up Maple. The agents were in a car, which meant that they had to use the streets in Beverly Hills, one of which ran parallel and a block away from the jogging path. Ivar was worried because he was sure the Steinbrenners would be carrying the gun he had seen last night.
Now Ivar had to deal with Sergi, who was insisting he wanted to go after the four on foot. Ivar didn't know if he could trust Sergi, he had just met with him that morning, but his impression was that Sergi was stupid, and therefore extremely dangerous. He even had a pronounced Russian accent. Maybe Sergi's family had some kind of pull in the Party, but Ivar didn't like the situation at all. He could tell that Malcolm was also suspicious of the new man.
Sergi was infuriated, obviously believing his competence in undercover surveillance was being questioned. As Sergi argued that he could do the surveillance just fine on foot, Malcolm rolled his eyes at Ivar, as if to say, Who is this Schmuck? Unfortunately, Sergi saw the silent pantomime. When the car stopped to turn on Maple Street, Sergi jumped out and started furiously walking down the street alone. From the back he looked like a big, insulted bully.
Ivar saw Sergi turn into the only place the four could have gone, the alley, and pull out his gun. Ivar told Malcolm to drive him around the block. He exited the car and went after Sergi from the opposite end of the alley.
Sabrina and Eve were still talking to the Steinbrenner brothers. Sabrina didn't know why she looked up, maybe something in her peripheral vision, but she saw a man turning the corner of the alley. Sabrina flinched. The man had a gun held straight out in front of him.
Stephan, using his newly acquired expertise in the wheelchair, turned around to see what had caused Sabrina's reaction. When he saw a man coming toward them with a gun, he pulled out his own gun, which was under the coat he had been carrying on his lap.
Evidently the man who entered the alley thought Stephan was going to shoot him. He fired first and hit Stephan in the shoulder.
All Sabrina heard was a muffled clap, no louder than the bird chirps from the trees. Then a geyser of blood and flesh exploded from a spot on Stephan's shoulder and upper arm. There was a red raw mess where his shirt and suit jacket had been torn away. Then there was a second shot. The man fired again at Stephan, the bullet ricocheted off of the metal side of the wheel chair.
Alexander forgot he was on crutches. He tried to pull Stephan's wheel chair around to get him out of the line of fire. Alexander fell down.
Sabrina felt Eve pulling her away. As they were turning to run she saw an enormous blond man enter the opposite side of the alley and shoot the man attacking Stephan.
Then Sabrina felt Eve yanking her arm and she stumbled after her. They sprinted down the alley and out to the jogging path. Eve was running very fast, holding her arm. Sabrina had no choice but to run.
"He shot Stephan!"
"Ivar will take care of him," Eve said, still holding her arm.
"Ivar!"
"Ivar shot the man who shot Stephan."
Sabrina could not believe what she had just witnessed. A man had shot another man in a wheelchair! Then he had been shot by the man who had taken Eve out on a date last night.
"Ivar was trying to protect us. But it's obvious I've put you in far too much danger. Alexander and Stephan are right. I have to leave."
They were practically flying down the jogging path, jumping over curbs because the path bisected the streets, and then jumping back on the path. Sabrina thought it must appear like they were running for their lives, as well they might be. People were willing to kill for Eve, now. It was getting out of hand. They had to get some protection.
"I don't want you to leave," Sabrina said. "We have to come out in the open about you. Even if we hurt Dr. Steinbrenner. People can't just shoot...other people."
"I would rather be anonymous." Eve let go of Sabrina's arm, but did not decrease her speed. The two women were running in perfect harmony, matching each other stride for stride.
"I know," Sabrina said. "But if everyone knows, we have choices. We can keep scientists from experimenting on you. The government can't use you if the public knows. It will be uncomfortable, but it's the only choice we have."
Sabrina stopped talking because she was out of breath. She felt awful at the thought of Eve leaving. It would be painful to lose the person who had become like a sister.
"There are several governments involved, now," Eve said. "Agents don't shoot each other. They cover up for each other. Unless they're from different countries. And the Japanese know about me, too. And want me. They all want to keep me a secret from each other."
"Our trump is that they don't know which is which," Sabrina said, as they reached the car. She pulled her key out of her shoe laces to unlock the car. "So you should stay with me, at least until all of this is public knowledge."
Eve nodded. She was not really agreeing. She did have to leave Sabrina. The problem was, she could protect Sabrina better than anyone else. She would not leave until she was sure that Sabrina was safe.
"If we go public, they will try to persuade Ferd to make another one of me."
Sabrina was silent, knowing Eve was right.
* * * * *
Ivar had aimed his shot at Sergi's thigh and had hit him in the fleshy outside part of his leg. It was a superficial hit and it just knocked Sergi down for a few moments. Sergi looked at Ivar with such an angry expression that Ivar knew if looks could kill he would be dead. But Ivar was appalled at Sergi's behavior, which confirmed his distrust of the Russian KGB agent. He was stupid and dangerous. He watched as Sergi limped away to the jogging path. He thought that eventually, when he had cooled down, Sergi would go back to the
car. He couldn't nurse-maid a stupid Russian now. Ivar had to tend to the two brothers.
Ivar watched as Stephan glanced at his wounded shoulder with disbelief, then doubled over in his chair and threw up all over his shoes. Ivar put his gun away and started slowly walking toward the two men, holding both arms out to show he was not threatening them.
Now his cover might be blown, and that was a shame, Ivar thought. All because of that stupid jerk Sergi. Ivar hoped he wasn't going after the women, but he couldn't possibly catch them with his leg wound.
Ivar walked over to Alexander, helped him up and brushed him off. Then Ivar examined Stephan's shoulder. A big chunk of flesh was missing, but the wound was not mortally dangerous, just very painful. Still, Ivar had to get Stephan to a doctor right away.
Ivar explained that he could call an ambulance, but then the police would become involved and would have to make reports. Or, he could take them to a private doctor, which would probably be better, because the police wouldn't be involved. He watched Alexander thinking it over.
Ivar didn't want the police. A gun shot wound would cause an extensive investigation. It would, of course, be covered up by his organization, but reports would mean that more people would get involved.
Alexander agreed that he did not want a police investigation.
Ivar asked Alexander to give him the keys to the van. He would drive it over here for them. Alexander handed him the keys without comment. Then Ivar started jogging himself, down the path to get the van.
Ivar hoped that Malcolm had been close enough to get an idea of what had happened here. Shooting a fellow agent was not exactly company policy. And he was going to be in deep shit with the KGB.
* * * * *
Sergi Malcovich didn't give a damn if Ivar was not to be trusted after his many years in the United States, and was not to be told of the abduction until after it had taken place. Sergi had his directive and he planned on executing it expeditiously. Wounded or not. Willard Modert had told Sergi precisely what to do. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, Sergi was supremely confident of his abilities. He had not had time to be corrupted, like the despicable Ivar Cousin.
