Trifecta

by Pam Richter

  Sabrina was thinking, Oh dear, now the Japanese know where we live. The American were studying them, the Russians were trying to abduct them, and the Japanese wanted to buy them.

  Eve caught Sabrina's expression and stopped jumping. "Not very mature or sophisticated behavior?"

  "I was thinking that the Japanese know where we live. You can jump all you want."

  "Drink all the syrup you want." Eve started jumping again.

  Sabrina looked at Eve with concern.

  "I'm not going psychotic. You say such nice things to me. When I drank your syrup you said, Drink all you want. It reminded me, when you said I could jump all I want."

  Sabrina nodded. "Maybe you should call Ivar."

  "Oh, yes!" Eve ran to the phone in the kitchen.

  I think I have a teenager on my hands, Sabrina thought, and started giggling. She knew she should be concerned because she just knew that Eve would go out with Ivar tonight, but it was so much fun to see Eve happy. Even if Ivar was a creep, Eve was smart enough to figure it out for herself.

  Sabrina had to admit she was really worried, though. It had been horrible today when she had found Eve missing. Sabrina had to face the possibility that it might actually happen one day.

  Eve came bouncing out of the kitchen and started dancing around the room, "I'm going to see Ivar in two hours!"

  "Good. Are you hungry?" Sabrina asked.

  "Famished. Starving. My stomach is making noises. Growling." Eve made a noise that sounded more menacing than hungry.

  "What shall we do about that Japanese man, Hashimoto?" Sabrina asked when they began eating.

  "Nothing." Eve sounded unconcerned. "From what I have read, the Japanese think they're very civilized. They will try to negotiate. And we can put them off until we decide what to do with me."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Either we have to come out in the open, tell about the computer implanted in my brain, or I'm going to have to go into hiding in another country."

  Sabrina didn’t like either option much and ate in silence. It was difficult to conceal that there were two of them. They had to separately enter and leave the building. Then, at the shop, one of them kept to the back room while the other was in front. Luckily, Eve was now adept at acting normal. The customers believed Eve was Sabrina. Still, even one day of trying to hide the fact that there were two of them was becoming a strain.

  * * * * *

  Ivar knew what he was doing was downright stupid and extremely dangerous. Afraid to even use his own car, he was sitting in a taxi outside the back of Eve's condominium. Part of the problem was that he was a noticeable person, being so tall and strikingly blond. And Eve was conspicuous, because she was so pretty and also unusually tall for a woman, if that's what she really was. The two of them together caused heads to turn.

  Now he was sitting here like a stupid jerk, waiting to meet her, knowing full well he could be compromising his whole life.

  He had to admit Eve had a spell on him. He desperately wanted to see her, but he kept reminding himself that she was dangerous and might inclined to violence. She had attacked a man with her teeth, so he wondered if she had normal human restraints.

  Ivar saw a woman leave the back door of the building and walk toward the taxi, but it wasn't Eve. She was the right height and proportion, tall and slim, but she was blond. Ivar thought, in a confused way, as she came nearer and materialized out of the darkness, that it must be Eve's cousin, Sabrina. This woman had Eve's face, but her coloring was so different. He remembered the first pictures he had taken of Sabrina. She had been blond then.

  Ivar got out of the taxi and the woman walked up to him. She pushed the purse hanging over her shoulder back so it was out of her way, and then she reached up to put her arms around him. He was astonished and did not respond, but let her hug him. He wondered when she would stop.

  "I'm so glad to see you, Ivar." Her voice was muffled against his chest, but she sounded exactly like Eve.

  Ivar didn't want to be seen out in the open being hugged by one of the women being investigated, so he opened the taxi door and she got in.

  She didn't leave him much room on the back seat. Ivar had to squeeze in, closing the door with difficulty. The woman reminded him of a very affectionate cat. She leaned against him, snuggling her head against his shoulder and put one hand disturbingly on his thigh.

  "Ah, Sabrina...?" Ivar said. He pushed her hand off of his thigh.

  The woman jerked up quickly and looked so astonished that he thought he might have made her angry. And now he wasn't sure if it was Sabrina. Maybe it was Eve. And maybe he had made her angry. He didn't want to do that. He had seen her angry. She had been quite vicious.

  "I forgot about the trimmings."

  Ivar looked into her face. He was used to seeing dark eyebrows and now they were light brown, but the light blue eyes were the same, as were the dark lashes.

  "Sabrina doesn't even know you. She wouldn't hug you."

  It was Eve.

  "I was confused by your hair." He wanted to placate her in case she was upset. "It's very nice."

  He could see the cab driver watching them in the rear view mirror, smiling in a lecherous way that was annoying. Ivar told him the address to his apartment.

  He turned back to Eve. "I made dinner and rented a few videos. Is that all right?"

  "I don't care what we do." She leaned forward and sniffed him. He was reminded of how a dog checks out another animal, but she was sniffing his neck. It was a peculiar feeling. Then she audibly sniffed his hair. Her breath against his cheek was nice, but he was aware of the cab driver's eyes on them as the vehicle started.

  Eve had noticed where he was looking. She gazed into the mirror the driver was using to watch them.

  "He should be paying attention to his driving," Eve commented sternly. She leaned forward, put her hand on the back of the driver's head, forcefully turning it so he was facing straight ahead. Evidently she was not gentle, as the driver grunted.

  Eve kissed Ivar and the cabdriver did not look.

  When they got inside his apartment, Ivar decided to test Eve. He would teach her to use his sophisticated chess computer. If she could win a game at the most difficult level of activity, he would be convinced she was computerized.

  Eve learned the control moves quickly. He would hear, even from the kitchen, if she won. A bell would ping if the player won. There was a droll 'Da da, Da da' sound when the player lost.

  Ivar was afraid to take her outside in public now, so he had spent a lot of time cooking some of his favorite foods. He was just putting the peppered vodka in small glasses on a tray with the appetizer, beluga caviar and toast, when he heard the first ping. Eve had won the first game in about ten minutes! Ivar knew it was a fluke. He had, in several hundred games with the computer, only won a few times. Another ping came a couple of minutes later.

  She had to be a genius.

  Ivar peeked out into the living room. He saw Eve manipulating the computer at a speed he thought impossible for a human being. She actually had to wait for the machine to make moves. Her hair fell gracefully over the left side of her face. He saw her shake it back impatiently when it obscured her vision of the board. Ivar had never seen fingers move that rapidly.

  It was so disconcerting, Ivar went back into the kitchen, took a big swallow of the peppered vodka. He wiped away the perspiration that had accumulated on his forehead. There was not a doubt in his mind now that Eve was a computer. It was a big leap and he almost felt faint. He had never really believed it, even with all the evidence that she was different. He was repelled and fascinated. He also felt inclined to stay in the kitchen for another hour or so. He made up his mind that he had to know what was locked up in the top secret files regarding Eve. Tomorrow he would break into Burgess Whitcomb's office and find out for himself.

  The shot of vodka had made Ivar a little more mellow and he carried the tray into the living room. As he did so, Eve looked up and smiled at him. It wa
s such a melting smile, so beautiful, that he could almost believe she really cared about him.

  Ivar told himself to be extremely careful. He did not believe human computers could have real emotions. She did have physiological sensations, he knew from their lovemaking and her reactions to food. The puzzling thing was the way she had acted with him this evening. If he didn't know better now, he would have believed that she liked him a lot. It must be a ruse. He had thought, previously, that she knew he was following her. She must have figured out by now that he was working as an undercover agent for the CIA.

  As he put the tray on the table he remembered hands moving so swiftly that they couldn't be human. Certainly, if she could think that fast she must find him extremely boring.

  Eve stopped playing the game, as though she was more interested in him. She must have impeccable manners.

  "This is a fun game," Eve said, smiling brightly.

  "Don't you want to finish?"

  "I would rather talk to you."

  She was lying.

  "I made you some of my favorite foods. This is the appetizer."

  "Oh. Caviar and vodka. Russian specialties. You drink the vodka, all in one gulp, and then take a bite of caviar."

  Ivar nodded and handed her the small glass and a piece of toast with the caviar. He was just going to warn her that it was peppered vodka, when she surprisingly tipped the whole glass of liquid into her mouth and swallowed. She quickly took a bite of the toast covered with tiny black fish eggs and cream cheese. Ivar watched Eve's eyes grow very round. She was swallowing spasmodically. Tears sprang into her eyes and started rolling down her cheeks, which had turned very pink, as had the tip of her nose. He thought she was trying very hard to keep the food down. She blinked rapidly.

  Ivar grabbed a tiny napkin from the tray and wiped the tears he thought would never stop falling. He patted her back and felt inadequate.

  "I'm so sorry. I should have warned you to take just a sip. That's peppered vodka. A specialty..." He jerked himself back abruptly. He had almost said it was a specialty of his country.

  "I'm fine, Ivar. I read about how you are supposed to eat the appetizer. I don't like to make mistakes. Maybe I could have a little more toast to make the sting go away?"

  He prepared another piece of toast for her.

  "I like the way the little eggs pop in my mouth," Eve said after she had eaten a some more. "And the vodka sure makes my stomach feel warm. It's a nice feeling. I really do like it."

  He discounted a fleeting impression that she was really very sweet.

  He took a sip of his own vodka, realizing he was making some thoroughly stupid mistakes. Two night ago he had taken her to see 'Russia House' because he had wanted to see the scenery and architecture of his country. Now he had given her an appetizer she had immediately recognized as Russian.

  "Are you feeling better now?"

  "Oh yes. I feel just wonderful," Eve said and she smiled at Ivar.

  She was a wonderful actress.

  "I want to make some toast for you." She was a little clumsy, dropping some of the caviar on the tray, and he thought that she was indeed a consummate actress. He had watched her amazing dexterity while playing the chess game. Now she was delicately messing up his piece of toast, as though she did not have the amazing control he had seen before.

  She reached over to pop the toast into his mouth and almost missed. He had to move his head slightly so it wouldn't drop on the floor. Then he looked at her carefully and realized she had become drunk, or at least quite tipsy, on the vodka.

  "Whoops," Eve said. "Sorry." She started giggling.

  "Why don't you finish the caviar. I'll get dinner on the table." Ivar started to get up off of the couch.

  "Wait," Eve said. She scooted next to him and pulled his arm, so he sat down again. Then she put one arm around his neck and pulled his face close to hers. The other hand was placed squarely on his most private parts.

  I don't believe this is happening, Ivar thought as she kissed him. He tried to abstract himself from what was happening, but his bodily response was immediate and he forgot that she was some kind of computer for a while.

  They stayed in that position until Ivar broke away, long enough to take a deep breath. She was clutching him around the neck so tight it was becoming painful.

  "I better check on the roast." In the kitchen he massaged the back of his neck. He put on a large mit and took the meat out of the oven. When he turned around to pick up a carving knife, he saw Eve swaying in the kitchen doorway. She was holding onto the molding.

  "The body isn't behaving correctly. I feel dizzy."

  Ivar ran over to her, caught her around the shoulders and steadied her. He realized he had greatly underestimated the effect of the alcohol she had consumed.

  "My stomach is going to do something. I can hear it, and my throat is..." Eve made a small gagging noise.

  Ivar hurried her to the sink and held her head as she threw up. He stroked her hair and patted her back until she stopped retching. Then he turned on the faucet, wet a dishtowel and wiped off her mouth.

  "I lost all the good food and vodka."

  He looked into her large deep blue eyes. They looked so trusting and innocent, as though she was really apologetic.

  "Are you all right, now?"

  Ivar watched her for a minute to make sure. She was looking down and Ivar tipped up her chin. He was surprised to see that she was crying. Tears streaked her cheeks and her shoulders shook with each silent spasm.

  "Hey, you don't have to feel bad. It's my fault. I didn't know you never had vodka before."

  "I have behaved in a socially reprehensible manner, throwing up in front of you. What a disgrace!"

  Ivar felt amused. The way she had pronounced that she was a disgrace was so perfectly serious, though, that he restrained his smile.

  "You need to eat something."

  She lifted her head to sniff the air. "It smells absolutely marvelous. I won't throw up again?"

  "I believe it will make you feel better."

  Ivar almost felt like he was speaking to a child. She looked at him so trustingly, and he again noticed that except for her moments of embarrassment, she still had the appealing quality of looking him unwaveringly in the eye.

  Ivar kept an arm around Eve as he walked her over to the dining table and carefully sat her down. He wondered how such a tiny amount of vodka could have produced such a violent reaction. She must have been truthful about never having drunk any before. Or maybe her computer had messed up her metabolism in some way. Maybe it had knocked out some of her memory. Sometimes she seemed so intelligent and even sophisticated, and at other times she reminded him of a young child.

  Ivar asked Eve how old she was. Her answer, that she was twenty-eight, chronologically, just confused him more because she looked so much younger.

  "Sabrina does too," Eve said.

  "Are you identical twins?"

  "I can't tell you about me. Or Sabrina. I'm sorry. I do want to. I promise to tell you in the future."

  "Why?"

  "I love you."

  Ivar was shocked by her candor and didn't know what to say. He watched Eve eating calmly and wondered if she was still tipsy. How could she possibly be in love with him? He was stupid big clumsy dolt in comparison.

  Ivar saw her eyes flash up at him and wondered if she was angry at him for not proclaiming that he loved her. Then she smiled and he found to his real surprise he believed everything she said. He made the decision to trust her, even knowing he could be making a disastrous mistake which could back-fire and change his life drastically. When he remembered her biting Sergi, with his new perspective he knew it was not a vicious act, but one of protection for Sabrina.

  She really was an innocent. She had never drunk anything strong before. And she loved him. Ivar smiled back at Eve and cut some more of the roast.

  Ivar thought about the situation. That stupid jerk Sergi was out of the picture because of his leg wound, broken h
and and the bite to his neck. But he knew the KGB would make another attempt to abduct the women. He had also seen the Japanese men sneaking after the women surreptitiously, constantly taking pictures.

  Ivar would try to protect Eve, but the only way he could do that was to get as much information as possible. He didn't want to lose Eve's trust by asking too many questions.

  Ivar suggested they eat desert and watch a movie after dinner. He gave Eve a choice of five videos he had rented. She wanted to see all of them, so Ivar chose one of his favorites, a French movie with subtitles called, La Femme Nikita.

  They ate the whole strawberry rhubarb pie while watching the movie.

  "I want to see the movie again," Eve said, when it ended.

  She had been entranced by the story of a woman used by the French intelligence as an assassin.

  "Right now?" Ivar asked.

  "Yes. Again."

  While they watched the movie, Ivar, full of food and feeling content, fell asleep. Eve nestled next to him. She made the sounds of the French voices along with the movie.

  Ivar awakened, chagrined. "Has the movie been over for long? You should have woke me."

  Eve was smiling at him again. "Can I sleep with you?"

  "Ah...sure."

  "Sabrina will worry. Can I use your phone?"

  When Eve went into the bedroom she immediately started disrobing. She was not provocative or coy, but very matter of fact, and very fast. He had been surprised at her lack of inhibition before, so he decided to see if she would mind if he just sat on the bed and watched.

  "Do you sleep in your clothes?"

  "No."

  "Let me undress you. You are very tired."

  This woman was going to spoil him. He could see that she was over the effects of the alcohol because of her astonishingly quick movements.

  Eve pushed him down on his pillow and then lay down beside him, propped up on one elbow, watching him. She did not mention turning off the lights.

  "I want to get to know you better."

  "How do you propose to do that?" Ivar asked smiling at her sleepily.

  "I want to taste you. Maybe a little bite on the neck?"

  Ivar went totally rigid. He was remembering how she had taken a chunk out of Sergi's neck the day before. He also thought she might be teasing him and knew he had been there, watching from behind a tree. He took a deep breath and tried to relax, but he was now totally awake and on guard. He could feel his palms suddenly become clammy. He didn't want to hit her, but if she really bit him he wouldn't have a choice.