by Kim Baldwin
“Where are Claudia and Philippe now?” she asked.
“In light of what’s happened, the guy who’s filling in for Theo decided they’re safer where they are, in Indianapolis, until the hearings. They’ll only be brought back here for their court appearance.”
“Will Alexi guard me until the hearings?” Blayne asked.
Dombrowski frowned. “No. Though she wanted to. Created quite a stink in there about it earlier, actually.” He rolled his eyes toward one of the other interview rooms. “But WITSEC is like the FBI. If a Marshal discharges their weapon, they’re put on temporary leave while there is an investigation. That can take some time in a case like this one. You’ll probably be relocated before she is returned to duty.”
The news sank in, and a cold dark cloud settled around Blayne. She and Alexi likely wouldn’t be spending any more time alone together. “Can I see her now? Is she down the hall?”
He shook his head. “Sorry, no. She’s gone to the WITSEC offices to see if she can help in the search for Theo.”
“When can I see her?” Blayne asked.
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that,” Dombrowski said gently.
Why the hell didn’t I get the number of her new cell phone? “Do you have her number?”
“Blayne, I’m sorry. I can’t give that to you. We’re not allowed to.” Dombrowski’s expression made it clear he wished it was different. “I know you two are close, and she probably wouldn’t mind. But it’s against the rules.”
Blayne felt a moment of panic. And she won’t know where I am, will she? Not if she’s off the case. So she won’t be able to contact me. Fuck. But then she remembered Vaso. The Fairmont, that was the name of the hotel. She’d be able to reach Alexi through Vaso, if through no other way.
“That’s okay. I’ll just call Vaso. Is there a phone here I can use?”
Dombrowski leaned over and laid a hand on her forearm. “You can’t make any calls until they’re done questioning you. And the calls you make after that will be screened, just so you know. So you can’t give out any information about where you are, what your new name is, or how you can be contacted.”
“Jesus.” I can’t even talk to her any more without someone listening in?
“Yeah, I know. A real bitch. And much as I wish I could help you get adjusted and everything, I won’t see you after today, either. You’ll be taken to a new safe house and under the exclusive protection of the Marshals from now on. Your new WITSEC Inspector is flying in today to take charge of you.”
Everything seemed to be happening incredibly fast. If I had known last night was going to be our last night together…for however long, maybe forever…I would have…should have… But then again, after some thought, she decided she would have done nothing differently. At least she had the kiss to remember. And remember she would. Damn, what a kiss. Best kiss ever.
“You know, I didn’t expect a smile like that at the news I’m not going to see you any more.” Dombrowski jutted out his lower lip in an exaggerated pout.
“Oh, George.” Blayne smiled at him. “I will miss you. And I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me. My mind was just on something else.”
“I know you have a lot to think about. Stick to the positive—you’ll see your friend Claudia soon.”
“Yes. And I’m really looking forward to that.”
Dombrowski stood. “Have to go now, I’m afraid. They’ll be in to talk to you some more.”
She got to her feet and gave him a hug, and he hugged her back. “I just want you to know, I think you’re a brave woman, Blayne,” he said. “And you’re doing the right thing agreeing to testify.”
After more questioning, she was introduced to her new WITSEC Inspector, a tall, no-nonsense ex-Marine, who formally briefed her on what to expect during her orientation. He said her relocation choices would be taken into consideration, along with Claudia and Philippe’s, but the exact destination would be withheld from all of them until they were moved.
After meeting with him, she was introduced to the three local U.S. Marshals who would take turns guarding her until the pretrial hearings—two men and one woman, a married mother of two. All seemed pleasant enough, and capable.
They arrived at the new safe house in mid-afternoon. It was a condo this time, with two bedrooms and modern furnishings. She was finally allowed to make a phone call, but one of the Marshals was seated on the other end of the couch, listening to every word.
She got The Fairmont and the front desk put her through.
“Vaso?” she said, when the phone was answered in Greek.
“Yes, who is speaking?”
“It’s Blayne, Vaso.”
“Ah! Blayne! How are you? I have been hearing all about it on the news!”
“I’m okay. It’s on the news?” She reached for the remote to the television and turned it on.
“Yes. On CNN and the local stations. How is Alexi?”
Blayne had started to surf through the channels with the sound muted, but at the mention of Alexi’s name she paused. “You haven’t heard from her?”
“No, should I have?”
“Well, I thought you would have,” Blayne answered. “But maybe she’s still at WITSEC headquarters. Dombrowski told me she went down there to try to help in the search for Theo Lang. Her boss,” she added. “He’s missing.”
“Yes, that is also on the news. Well, I have not heard from her yet. But I would expect her to call me when she is able to.”
“They won’t give me her cell phone number,” Blayne said. “So I can’t call her. Will you tell her…tell her…” She looked over at the Marshal, who was feigning interest in a magazine. Shit. What do I tell her?
“Tell her I hope I’ll get another chance to talk to her. Tell her… I’ll never forget her.” Blayne gripped the phone tighter. It wasn’t what she really wanted to say, but it felt wrong to say that now, with someone listening. Too important to be passed along, second-hand, but better second-hand than not at all.
“I will do that, of course,” Vaso sounded so much like Alexi that it almost hurt to hear her voice. “I am certain that she will also never forget you.”
I so want to believe you’re right. She worked up her courage. It needed to be said. She feared too much she might never get another chance, and Alexi would never know.
“And Vaso, please tell Alexi…that I love her. Very much. Will you tell her that?”
“I will be most happy to. As soon as she contacts me.”
*
Alexi appeared at Vaso’s door three hours later, looking haggard but acting like she was half wired on speed or caffeine. “Good thinking, getting a suite,” she said in Greek as she breezed by, suitcase in each hand. “Which?” She waited for Vaso to point toward the bedroom on the right, then continued on into it to get rid of her bags.
She re-emerged a minute later, and glanced around approvingly. “So I presume you have been listening to the news?” She said it lightly as she crossed to the bathroom.
“I am sorry about Theo Lang,” Vaso said. “Has there been any news?”
Alexi shook her head. “Nothing yet. And I doubt they will find anything. It is how Cinzano found us, I think. But I am certain Theo did not give it up easily.”
“I am sorry, Alexi. Were you close to him?”
“I am not close to anyone, Vaso,” she answered ruefully as she crossed to the couch and took a seat. “You know that.”
Vaso thought the statement very telling. She sat down beside her sister. “She called here earlier, looking for you.”
Alexi’s forced nonchalance evaporated, and suddenly, all of her loneliness and worry and anxiety could be seen on her face and heard in her voice. It was like a switch in her had been flipped. “What did she say? Was she all right?”
“She said she is okay. Disappointed that I had not talked to you. She wanted me to tell you that she hopes that she gets another chance to talk with you.”
Alexi nodded and a smi
le lifted one corner of her mouth. “I hope that too.”
“She also wanted me to tell you that she will never forget you,” Vaso added, gratified to see her sister’s smile grow at the news.
“Did she?”
“Indeed. I told her I was certain you would not forget her, either.”
Alexi’s eyes narrowed. “Taking liberties, are we not?”
“You have told me how you feel about her,” Vaso placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “And I am happy that you do. Because she also asked me to please tell you that she loves you. Very much.”
Alexi’s eyes grew moist at the news. “I…I had wondered…” she stuttered. “I mean, do you think she…”
“Yes, Alexi,” Vaso tightened her grip on her sister’s shoulder. “She meant exactly what you want her to mean. So what are you going to do about it?”
Alexi got up and began to pace. “I have not the first idea, Vaso. Not the first idea.” I just know the thought of being without her is excruciating.
*
Blayne tried the Fairmont repeatedly but Alexi was never there when she called, and Vaso seldom was either. Time dragged and she grew a little sadder by the day, with no word from Alexi and no idea of how her declaration of love really had been received. Her days were spent watching television, playing cards with the Marshals, or being prepped for her testimony. The only people she saw were law enforcement types or lawyers, and she was beginning to go a little stir crazy.
When she got hold of Vaso she learned that Alexi was staying there, but was out at that moment.
“How did she react to my messages?” Blayne asked.
“She was very pleased to get them. As I told you, Blayne, she feels more for you than she will acknowledge.”
“But she didn’t leave any message for me, did she?”
“I think she hopes to talk to you herself,” Vaso answered, staring pointedly at Alexi as she spoke. “Perhaps the next time you call she will be in.”
Alexi glared back.
“I hope so,” Blayne said. “I never know when they’re going to let me use the phone. Well, tell her I called again, will you? And that I miss her and hope like hell that I’ll get to see her again?”
“I will, Blayne.” As soon as she hung up the phone, Vaso punched her sister lightly in the arm. “I am going to make you wait awhile to hear what she had to say this time, as punishment for your cowardice.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Three weeks later, the day before she was to testify, Blayne’s gloomy outlook lifted in an instant when the knock at the front door turned out not to be the usual shift of Marshals, but Claudia and Philippe.
“Blayne!”
“Claud!”
They both shrieked and ran headlong into each other’s arms, meeting in a fierce embrace that almost knocked the wind out of both of them. Neither was anxious to part, and they were both so excited they talked over each other.
“How are you?”
“My God, I thought you were dead!”
“Where have you been?”
“They wouldn’t tell us anything!”
It was all questions and exclamations, no answers, and suddenly both of them realized it and burst into relieved laughter.
“I’ve missed you so much,” Blayne said, holding Claudia at arm’s length to get a good look at her, but unwilling to let her go completely.
“Me too. We heard about Joyce, but nothing after that. I was afraid you were dead.”
At the mention of we, Blayne for the first time looked over at Philippe, standing off to the side, near the door, watching them. He looked as though he had lost ten pounds and aged ten years, and it was then Blayne realized he had indeed known much more about the mob than he had ever let on.
She went to him, and saw tears in his eyes before he hung his head in shame. He had been like a second father to her, and it hurt her to see him in such pain. She hugged him. “It’s wonderful to see you, Philippe.”
He hugged her back. “I’m sorry Blayne. I don’t know what to say, I—”
“Nothing to say now, Philippe. Let’s enjoy being alive, and being together.”
“So we’ve been hiding out in a motel in Indianapolis,” Claudia said. “Spill. What have you been up to?”
It took a couple of hours for Blayne to provide a blow-by-blow recanting of every attempt on her life, and every near miss between her and Alexi. Throughout the retelling, she described Alexi in such vivid detail that Claudia was able to absolutely picture the two of them together by the time their kiss was described.
She could see it all so well, in fact, that she asked Blayne to describe it again the next day, as they waited in a small room near the courtroom to testify at Cinzano’s pre-trial hearing.
“Holy crap, how hot!” she summarized with slightly less than her usual aplomb. “I think I need a cold shower!”
“God, Claud, that kiss just sealed the deal for me. I mean…”
“You really have it serious bad for her, honey. I mean, great for you, but not, right?”
“You know it. I don’t even know if I’m ever even going to see her or talk to her again.”
They were seated on a pair of folding chairs, Blayne dressed in khaki pants and a navy blouse, and Claudia in a black skirt and pale yellow cashmere sweater. Though she maintained her side of the conversation, Blayne kept her eyes on the window in the room’s only door. The Marshal positioned just outside partially obscured her view, but she still could get a good look at the people passing by outside, going into the courtroom. Please. Please.
She had nearly given up with she saw them. Alexi and Vaso. So quick she might have imagined it. But she knew she had not. “They just went by!” She shot to her feet and hurried to the door, hoping for a glimpse of them among the crowd milling around in the hall. Nothing.
“They?” Claudia said.
“Alexi and her sister.” Blayne prayed for them to find a reason to retrace their steps and reappear in her limited view. “Who is very much your type, by the way.”
“What do you mean, my type?” Claudia said.
“Charming. Cocky. Sexy as hell, and very flirtatious. I like her. Kind of a, tell-it-like-it-is type, which you definitely need.”
“Cute?” Claudia asked.
“Well, I’ve described Alexi and I know you’ve got a good picture in your head of her, right?” Blayne kept talking to Claudia, but her eyes never strayed from the window.
“Oh yeah,” Claudia said. “From your description, I’d go for her myself if you weren’t already crazy about her.”
“Well, Vaso looks exactly like her, just butchier. Great butchier. Like I said, just your type.”
“And you said they just went by?” Claudia got up to join Blayne at the window. “What’s Vaso wearing?”
“How the hell should I know?” Blayne said. “You know who I was looking at. Alexi has black pants, a white shirt and her black leather coat on. One of my favorite looks for her, by the way. Very hot.”
“So what else do you know about…” Claudia began, but Blayne cut her off.
“There they are! Over there!” She pointed toward a small crowd of people near the elevators. They partially obscured Alexi, in profile, talking to Vaso, who had her back to them. Vaso was wearing jeans, black boots and a black leather jacket.
“Oh my God, Alexi is hot!” Claudia said. “Very hot!”
“I told you.” Blayne tried waving in their direction, in the hope of attracting Alexi’s attention, but they were too far away.
“Is that her sister she’s talking to?”
“Yeah, that’s Vaso.”
“I wish she’d turn around.”
Blayne waved again, and this time, though she had been looking in completely the wrong direction, Alexi turned as though she had some sense that Blayne was there, and looked right at her. Blayne’s hand froze briefly where it was, when their eyes met, still held high in the air.
Alexi raised her hand in greeting, said someth
ing to Vaso, and then headed straight for her.
Butterflies crowded her stomach and she suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
Alexi exchanged a few words with the Marshal who was guarding the room, and Blayne could tell from their body language that they knew each other. Something Alexi said made the guy laugh, and he nodded and reached around behind him, opening the door to admit her.
Blayne and Claudia backed up a few feet so that Alexi could step in and shut the door again. As soon as she was inside, Blayne threw her arms around Alexi and hugged her. A mix of emotions—relief, happiness, hope—poured through her and warmed her from within. She clutched fiercely at Alexi, wishing time to freeze.
A bit startled at first, Alexi adjusted quickly and hugged her back. Their reunion felt wonderful, but it was bittersweet, too, for she knew that the joy of this hello would be followed all too quickly with another goodbye, the next one probably their last.
“I’ve missed you. So much,” Blayne said. “I was afraid I’d never see you again.”
“I am here.”
“Oh! Sorry, how rude.” She released Alexi and turned toward Claudia. “Claud, this is Alexi. Alexi, may I introduce Claudia.”
“I am very pleased to meet you, Claudia.”
They shook hands warmly.
“Same here, Alexi. Thank you for taking such good care of Blayne.”
Alexi smiled. “It was my job, but also my pleasure. May I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure thing.”
“Would you mind giving us a few minutes? There is a bench just outside where the Marshal can watch you.”
“Oh! Of course! Most happy to!” Claudia looked so eager to leave them alone that both Blayne and Alexi chuckled.
But as soon as she’d gone, the laughter faded, replaced by uncertainty.
“Shall we sit?” Alexi offered. She felt edgy and nervous, unsure about how to react. She had been thinking about this for days, and had rehearsed in her mind the things that she should say, and how she should act, to make it easiest for the both of them. But now that she was here, facing Blayne, she wasn’t at all certain she could keep control of her emotions.
