by Trevor Scott
Jake let out a deep breath. “That works for me.” He looked around and guessed they wouldn’t find anything of significant intelligence value.
He got a text and checked his phone. It was from Jenkins, who thanked him for the update and for his great work. A few seconds later he got another text from General Graves, who said similar things. He also asked if the man gave Jake anything. Jake texted back saying he’d gotten nothing.
“Girlfriend?” Sirena asked.
“No. Jenkins and Graves.” He would need to text Alexandra soon, though. He had sent her a quick message from the Canary Islands saying he was safe, but had not given her any details. “We should get the hell out of here before the media shows up.”
“I agree,” she said. “You might want to wash off your hands.”
Jake hadn’t even noticed the blood he had on his hands. He went to the kitchen and scrubbed his hands with soap. But he knew the smell of blood couldn’t be washed away for a couple of days. The smell always lingered. While he washed himself, he thought about having to kill again. He had tried to shoot low to keep that terrorist alive, but he had obviously hit his femoral artery. Nothing could stop that bleeding, he knew. Then he made sure his phone was also clean. He could dispose of his clothes once he got onto the Gulfstream.
The two of them walked out of the apartment building without a problem. The tactical team leader had cleared them through the perimeter.
They picked up a taxi a few blocks away and drove without saying a word to the airport. Sirena got a couple of texts along the way, and she seemed to ignore them. Finally, she typed in a quick response and put her phone back in her pocket.
The taxi pulled to the curb at the private airport area.
“Boyfriend?” Jake asked.
“Afraid not,” she said. “Our favorite pilot. He wants me to continue in Spain.”
“What did you tell him?”
She shrugged. “It beats the hell out of Morocco.”
He couldn’t disagree with that.
The taxi driver looked back at them and said something in Spanish. Sirena put up one finger and answered him. Then she got out of the car and Jake did the same.
On the curb Jake hesitated for a moment. “Is everything all right?” he asked her.
“Yeah. I need to stay here to make sure there isn’t anything else to learn. Could you give me the terrorist’s phone?”
He had forgotten he had taken that. Jake pulled out the smart phone and considered looking at the history. But then he realized it was no longer his job to do so. He simply handed the phone to Sirena.
“I really took it for the Agency,” Jake said. “He’s probably wiped it clean also.”
“I know. Old habits.” She pocketed the phone. Then she moved in and gave Jake a big hug. “Thank you for everything. I hope we can work together again.”
Jake nodded his head. “Thank you. I hope to take a step back.”
“You haven’t lost a step, Jake.”
He laughed. “That’s nice of you to say, but you know it isn’t true.”
She smiled. “You take care of that German friend of yours.” Then she got back into the car and the taxi took off almost immediately.
Jake wandered out to the tarmac. This terminal didn’t have massive security for private aviation. As he approached the Gulfstream, the ladder came down and the female flight crew member was waiting at the top with a high ball glass half full of what looked like the same Scotch he had been drinking in the past.
He climbed the stairs and stopped at the top.
“You look like you could use this,” she said, handing the drink to Jake.
“You’ve got that right.”
“Where to now, sir?” she asked.
Jake took a long sip of Scotch. Then he said, “Calabria. Lamezia Terme.”
She smiled and closed the hatch. Then she went to the cockpit and told the pilot their destination.
As the engines turned over, Jake stripped out of his clothes and found some new ones in his small duffle bag. He also took off his gun and packed that in his bag. Then he took a seat and strapped in.
Now he slowly sipped his Scotch. The flight attendant came back with a decanter and filled his glass without Jake asking. Then she took a seat in the back and buckled herself in.
Jake swiveled around to the flight attendant. “How long to Italy?”
“About three hours,” she said.
“Thanks.” He swiveled back toward the front and checked his watch. Did he text Alexandra now or wait until he got in. Don’t wake her, he thought.
He finished the last of his drink and set the glass down. Then, as the Gulfstream rose up into the sky, he leaned back and closed his eyes, falling to sleep almost immediately.
32
Calabria, Italy
Jake woke to the flight attendant touching his arm.
“We are about to land, sir,” she said. Then she went back and took her seat again.
He looked out the window and recognized the lights of Calabria below, from Tropea to Pizzo. Finding his watch, he saw that it was just past four in the morning. He had cell service, so he texted Alexandra and said he was about to land at Lamezia Terme.
Almost immediately she texted back saying she would leave in a minute to pick him up.
Shortly they landed and Jake barely got off before the jet was refueled and back in the air heading to some unknown location. He would have to get used to reality again.
A half hour later, Alexandra picked him out in front of the private area of the terminal with their little Fiat. She met him on the curb and hugged him hard and long. Then they kissed.
She was restless, he could tell, as she seemed to be checking him over for any visible wounds.
“You are all right,” she declared.
“I’m fine.” He threw his small bag into the back seat of the Fiat and then got into the front passenger seat.
Alexandra got behind the wheel and simply sat for a moment without saying a word. But she seemed to be mouthing words to herself, as if praying. Something he had never seen her do before.
They didn’t talk on the one-hour drive from Lamezia Terme to their home on the coast near Tropea. Jake was tired and he didn’t think she was in the mood. They had both been through too much in the past week—her experiencing a horrific terrorist attack in Berlin, and his deadly adventure in Morocco and Spain.
She pulled the Fiat into their garage and closed the door electronically behind them.
Once they got inside, Jake looked in the refrigerator and found a cold Peroni. Sure it was breakfast time, but for some reason he felt like a beer.
Alexandra stood in the living room watching the ocean as the sun started to rise, sending a red orange hue across the ice-like water.
Jake came up behind her and kissed her on the back of her neck. “What’s the matter?”
She shook her head, still casting her gaze upon the Mediterranean. “I’m having a difficult time.”
“Because of what happened in Berlin?”
“Partly.”
He took a long drink from his bottle of beer and then set the bottle on an end table. Then he turned her to him and took her in his arms. Tears streaked from each eye down over her high cheek bones, which she wiped away with her sleeve.
Jake found her a tissue and handed it to her. “What’s wrong. You’ve had much more difficult assignments.”
“I know. But things have changed now.”
“You need to stop working for your former organization,” he said.
“You first.”
She had a good point. It wasn’t like either of them needed the money. Jake had enough for the rest of his life, and she would eventually have her German government retirement. But they had never really discussed a long-term arrangement, instead just living together and enjoying each other’s company. Maybe she wanted more from him.
“I understand,” he said. “I keep on saying that I’m out of the game and the bastards keep
pulling me back in. But I’ll have you know that Carlos Gomez offered me a permanent gig and I told him to take a hike.” Sort of.
“It’s not that, Jake.” She crossed her arms over her chest in a self-comforting gesture.
“I can take only the assignments I want to take,” he said. “After this last trip, I think I might need something less intense.”
She shook her head. “You have tried the sedate, Jake.” Alexandra turned and spread her arms out to the view of the ocean. The colors were quickly changing from warm hues to the normal shades of aqua blue. “This is beautiful. But after a while you get bored with the serenity.”
Of course she was right. But what could he do about it? “I know, Alexandra. I’ve been thinking about that. I should just take on cases that are less dangerous.”
“Especially now,” she said.
He picked up his beer and drank down the last of the cold liquid. Then he set the bottle down again and narrowed his eyes on her. “What are you getting at?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been feeling really emotional lately. I got sick on the flight back here and have been throwing up every day.”
“I’m sorry. You should have told me you were sick.”
Alexandra cocked her head to the side. “You know, Jake Adams, you can break down an international conspiracy of epic proportions and bring those responsible to justice, but when reality is right in front of you, you seem totally clueless.”
“Now that’s just cruel.”
She shook her head. “I’m pregnant, you dolt.”
A rush of adrenaline coursed through Jake’s body all at once, as he remembered the last time a woman had told him that fact. He had thought he had found true happiness with Anna when she told him they were about to become parents, and they had just started to plan for a wedding. Then she was gunned down and died in Jake’s arms. He never thought he would feel this way again.
Jake took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. Then they kissed for a long while. Finally, he pulled away and said, “That’s fantastic. Are you sure?”
She nodded her head. “I’ve taken six tests to be certain. I’ll find a doctor this week.”
They held each other and watched the sun rise on Tropea.
If you like science fiction, please consider reading the first book in this new series:
The Azure Key (the first book in the Corsair Uprising Space Opera Series)
