“Some things just don’t generally come up at the breakfast table unless James is in one of his moods which obviously he is this morning. I think maybe he needs a change of scenery.”
Mirisa looked back at James but he wouldn’t look at her. “Then maybe James needs to quit playing with you until you agree to find nicer women who appreciate his talents.”
They brought Mirisa a bowl of oatmeal with strawberry preserves and brown sugar swirled on the top. Meeks had a full breakfast because he was extremely hungry. She stirred her oatmeal and took a bite. Mirisa decided this was a conversation that really could wait for another time when everyone wasn’t being so cranky.
“I’m not going to ask why you smelled like chocolate this morning but I’ll pay to watch if you are doing the same thing with whipped cream.”
Mirisa smiled as Dominic said he was taking the children home then he was going to bed.
Meeks helped Mirisa out of the carriage and carried her up the steps before he put her down. She smiled at him and told him she didn’t want to share him with anyone ever, ever again. He opened the door and they walked in to find the boys in the library. Meeks took one look at them and just nodded. Mirisa knew instantly and kissed him on the cheek telling him she wanted to spend a few hours with the children if he didn’t mind. He pulled her back and whispered to her. She nodded and went upstairs.
Meeks closed the library door and walked over and poured a shot. He sat on the corner of the desk and waited. They told him they had a mission in Pennsylvania to stop an assassination plan targeting one of the most influential senators from that state. He listened to the information.
“Who’s going?”
Dominic poured a shot. “James and I will handle this one clandestinely. Garnett will be working the capital house so that we can keep an eye on the Senator.”
“What do you want from me?”
“The key is Mrs. Lewis.”
Meeks looked at Dominic and shook his head. “No.”
“Meeks you are the only one who can get that close to her and you know it.”
“I don’t care, find another way. I will not do it.”
“Mirisa will never know.”
“See that’s where you lost her because you just assumed she would never know. I will not sleep with another woman, especially that one.”
Dominic lit his cigar and stood up looking out the window. “You think we haven’t looked for another way?”
“Honestly, no I don’t think you have nor do I think you would.” Dominic turned from the window and looked at him. Both James and Garnett just sat and watched. Meeks was so angry that you could see the pulse in his temple. “I have been with you through a lot and I have always done my job efficiently and professionally. I made a promise to Mirisa the night she told me she was staying with me and I will never break that promise especially for a damn job. Count me out.” He got up and slammed the door as he left the room.
Meeks went up to the nursery and told Mirisa he needed to talk to her. They went upstairs and he closed and locked the door. He paced back and forth. Mirisa waited. Meeks finally turned to her and told her about the conversation. She didn’t say anything but instead watched him work through his anger which she knew was directed at Dominic personally.
“Alexander?” He stopped and looked at her. “Will their lives be in danger if you don’t do this?”
“Mirisa, don’t go there. It’s not you that I can’t face if I sleep with another woman, it’s me. Sweetheart, they can handle this without me.”
“I know why you made the promise to yourself and the fact that you love me so much that you have kept that promise says a lot about your commitment to us.” He took her in his arms. “Neither of us could live if something bad happened. The fact that you told me, whether you intend to go on the mission or not, means the world to me. The fact that you are so honest with me is why I love you. Dominic would have done it without telling me or even thinking about it.”
“Mirisa, this is not an overnight mission nor are we talking about sleeping with her only one time. I can’t explain to you that I just don’t want to sleep with another woman for any reason nor do I think I can detach my love for you to be convincing to another woman.”
“You do whatever you feel is right but don’t ever forget that I will always be waiting for you to come home.” He held her tight. There was a knock on the door and Mirisa walked over and opened it.
“Can I talk to you?” Mirisa started to leave and Garnett asked her to stay. He talked to Meeks for quite a while and Mirisa just sat and listened. He finally got up and went downstairs. Mirisa thought that the pressure from what they do and the balance of the team must be so tremendous. They had never allowed her to even know where they were going much less this much detail and Garnett really laid everything out including what Meeks had to do and why.
Garnett went back into the library and poured a shot and threw himself in the chair brooding. “I don’t know if he’ll change his mind. He obviously told her because she was completely passive during the whole conversation.”
“She will convince him to go.” They both looked at James.
“Why do you think that?”
“Mirisa won’t allow any of us to be in danger. You just need to give her time to deal with it.”
“She handled my sleeping with other women without a problem.”
“Dominic, Mirisa didn’t handle your sleeping with other women and if you think she did then you are crazy.”
“I don’t think she’ll let him do it.”
Mirisa walked into the library as Garnett said it and she turned and quietly shut the door. She looked at all of them; walked over and poured a shot turning back around. James started to say something and she shook her head stopping him. They could see she was struggling with what to say and they knew she was very upset. Instead of saying anything, Mirisa walked up to Dominic and slapped him across the face; put her glass down before she quietly left the room. They were all stunned. She stayed in her room for the rest of the day and Meeks stayed away from all of them by going down to his jewelry bench and working on a new piece for her.
James went down stairs with the bottle of whisky and sat on the stool next to the bench and watched Meeks work. James took a swig from the bottle and set it on the bench. Meeks ignored him and the whisky. “Do you want to talk?”
“Not particularly.” Meeks was making a cast for a new piece and concentrating on the details. James got up but left the whisky on the bench before went upstairs and knocked on her door.
She looked up from her book as he walked in and sat down across from her.
“Well, your husband isn’t talking to me so I was hoping I could at least get you to talk to me.” James was leaning forward in the chair facing her. Mirisa put down her book and looked at him. “Mirisa, I’ve been trying all day to understand your feelings but what you did really stunned me.”
“James, you know more than anyone how much he values his bonds and his promises. Dominic put him in a position that all of you knew he could not turn down because he will not allow any of you to be in danger no matter what the cost is to him. You have asked him to do the one thing that scares him more than staring down the barrel of a gun. You have asked him to risk losing me. I really don’t know if I will ever be able to forgive any of you for doing this to him.” The tears were running down her cheeks. Mirisa got up and stood in front of the window. He could see her reflection in the glass and it broke his heart.
“Mirisa?”
“James, please leave.” James stood and started to leave but instead turned back around and put his arms around her. Mirisa turned in his arms and cried. Meeks was standing at the door watching.
“James, would you leave us alone.” James turned, nodded and left the room closing the door behind him. “Mirisa.”
“I know Alexander.” Meeks walked up to her and pulled her close. “When are you leaving?”
“Tonight.”
�
�I don’t want you to worry about us while you’re gone and I promise not to shoot anyone.” Meeks wiped the tears off her eyelashes and kissed her. “I will always be waiting for you, always.” Meeks stayed in bed with her until after dark. Meeks asked Mirisa if she wanted to come downstairs and she told him that she didn’t want to see any of them. He kissed her before he handed her a small box. Mirisa opened it and found a small silver heart with a ruby in the center with a simple love poem scrolled around it. “I’m leaving my heart here so you will know how much I love you.” She put it around her neck and kissed him.
Meeks went downstairs, took out his gun and strapped it on before he filled his canteen with whisky. They were all waiting by the back door but Meeks said nothing to anyone as he walked out of the house toward the stable leaving them standing at the door. It took most of the night to reach Philadelphia where they checked into the Penn Hotel across from the State Capital building. Meeks didn’t talk to them during the ride and after checking in he went to his room.
Dominic picked up his saddlebag. “Is he going to be this way the entire operation?” Both Garnett and James knew that the decision to take this job was bad when they heard who was involved but now they knew that the distraction of Meeks’ feelings put them in more jeopardy because they didn’t know if he would be able to complete the most important part of the mission. They met downstairs after lunch and Meeks and Garnett went to the Capital to make themselves very visible. They talked to all the politicians and lawyers that they knew and after a while they both forgot the tension and concentrated on the job. There was an intimate dinner at the Senator’s house that they both were attending. James sat in his room drinking whisky and playing solitaire as Dominic cleaned his gun.
“I think your silence is worse than Meeks.”
“Probably.” He continued to play without expanding on his answer.
Garnett came in after he dressed for dinner to give them a recap of the day. James was restless but just listened. “Is he talking at all?”
“He’s in character but personally no he’s not communicating at all. He’ll pull off the job flawlessly because that’s the way he is but he can hold a grudge a long time so I don’t know what will happen when the job’s finished. I do know that he is so angry that he's extremely dangerous.”
“This is stupid. It’s not like he’s sleeping with her for pleasure.”
James looked up at him. “It’s no wonder you aren’t married any longer if you still can’t see how much he loves her.”
“I’ve got to go. I’m meeting Meeks in the lobby.” Garnett adjusted his shoulder harness and put on his jacket before leaving the room. They rode to the Senator’s house where about fifty people were attending the dinner including Mr. and Mrs. Lewis. She spotted Alexander from across the room but he kept busy talking politics and purposely did not look in her direction. She finally walked up to him.
“Alexander, I didn’t know you were in town. What a pleasant surprise.” Meeks greeted her formally. She was still pretty though her age was showing a lot. She was about ten years older than him but about twenty years younger than her husband. Meeks kept the conversation light and vague. He didn’t want to think about Mirisa while on this assignment though she was always on his mind. Meeks was seated across the table from her and Garnett was seated next to her. The conversations were social and light. She talked to Garnett about where they had been and what they were doing. Garnett basically gave her the story of being ranchers in Colorado. When she asked about the others he said they were still in touch. Then she asked if any had married and he basically didn't take it past Dominic's marriage. Of course, if Meeks had been married it wouldn't have made any difference to her.
At the end of the dinner, she cornered Meeks and palmed him the key and address to her private apartment. Meeks put them in his pocket and nodded to Garnett. They went in opposite directions when they left the house. Garnett went back up to James’ room and they played poker for a while. He didn’t see Meeks until the next morning when they walked over to the Capital again. Meeks didn’t talk about the nights except to confirm that they were progressing. On the fourth morning Meeks handed Garnett a piece of paper before he sat down to have breakfast. Garnett put it in his pocket.
“You have to keep up interest for at least one more night.”
Meeks poured a shot in his coffee and picked up the paper. Garnett had never known him to be this quiet even when he was extremely angry. He got up from the table and went upstairs and gave the paper to Dominic. Garnett met Meeks in the lobby and went over to see a lawyer he knew who was in town on business.
James and Dominic got dressed and put on their shoulder harnesses. Meeks and Garnett went to the theater and made sure they were seen. The Senator was in his box with his wife and Mrs. Lewis’ box which was across from the Senator’s was dark and empty since they had planned a small dinner party at their home. Dominic found a spot in the rafters that gave him a clear view of the empty box and James was in the balcony with a clear shot from the opposite side. Both Meeks and Garnett were wearing concealed guns and were seated on the same side of the audience as the Senator’s box. They didn’t know who would be the shooter but they knew when and from where he would shoot, however, they did have to always keep in mind that the information was deliberately misleading.
The play made it into the second act when James saw movement. He signaled Dominic who turned his attention to the box. James sited his gun across his forearm and waited. There was a slight movement that was just barely visible to the trained eye. They both saw the shine of the barrel of the gun as it beaded on the Senator’s box when they saw a second gun. They both counted and fired. Panic hit the theater and James holstered his gun and blended in with the crowd as he worked his way to the lobby. Meeks and Garnett stood off to the side of the aisle watching for backup shooters before they slipped out the back door to make sure the alley was clear. Dominic slid back, dropped down and walked into the Senator’s box and made sure he and his wife were alright before he escorted them out of the theatre through the back door. The police found the two bodies in the Lewis’ box, one being her nephew. The morning paper was filled with the attempted assassination and arrest of the long time socialite and her brother.
Meeks went to his room and packed, leaving a note at the front desk for James. Meeks was back at the house after dinner. He found Mirisa upstairs with Maggie playing on the piano. Mirisa looked up as he came in and smiled. He hugged his daughter and sat down at the piano with her. They finally took Maggie downstairs to the nursery and put her to bed before he took Mirisa to their room and locked the door. She slept in his arms all night but he never closed his eyes.
They got back late the next morning but found the house completely quiet with no staff. James went in the library to get a bottle of whisky and found another note on the desk. He opened and read it.
Garnett walked in. “What’s it say?”
“He’s taken Mirisa and the children to Connecticut for a few weeks.” James poured a shot and stood by the window thinking. James really didn’t know if he could live without them in his life. Mirisa’s words just kept echoing in his mind.
“James, don’t get depressed yet. Meeks may just need some time to think about things and to make sure she’s alright.”
“When are you and Dominic leaving for Washington?”
“The end of the week.”
“I’m going to stay in New York. I have to straighten this out.”
“Alright. Though I don’t see how any of this is your fault.”
Dominic came through the door and poured a shot. “Where is everyone?”
“They went to Connecticut for a few weeks.”
“With the children?”
“I guess so the house is empty.”
James didn’t address him and continued to sip his whisky.
“James you know that Meeks always comes around no matter what happens. I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over it.”
&nbs
p; Garnett poured a shot and sat behind the desk. “I don’t think it’s Meeks he’s worried about.”
James closed his eyes and the vision of her standing at the window kept coming back. He didn’t realize having a heart meant it could be broken.
The trip to Connecticut was beautiful and the kids loved every minute of the ride. They stayed in an old manor house that belonged to Meeks’ family and which generally sat unused in the winter. There was over a foot of snow on the ground and it snowed daily. They spent two weeks playing with the children, taking sleigh rides, ice skating and just being alone. She never asked him about the assignment, about the others or about what he did and he didn’t seem to even want to think about it. Meeks spent every moment either watching her or holding her and Mirisa was aware that he was hurting a lot more than he should be.
On the last night before they were to return to New York she curled up with him on the couch. “Alexander, you need to talk about it.”
“I don’t want to.” He kissed the top of her head. Mirisa sat up and straddled him.
“I know but you have to talk about it. It’s the only way that you will be able to deal with whatever is bothering you and it’s the only way that you can put our life back together.”
“I don’t know if I want anything back together other than you and me.”
“I know you say that now but you don’t mean it. They mean as much to you as I do or you wouldn’t have gone in the first place. You spent years shutting me out and denying you loved me. Please have enough faith in our love and in the love of your friends to forgive them for not understanding.”
Meeks looked at her and knew that everything he did to have her was the right thing. He told her about the assignment, he told her what he did in detail and he told her that he should never have to choose between an assignment and the love of his family. They sat up and talked all night. Mirisa finally fell asleep on the couch with him. When they got back to New York the next evening the kids ran through the door yelling for something to eat. Mirisa told them to go upstairs and clean up and she went into the kitchen as Meeks headed for the library.
The Visitor - New York 1871-1873 Page 9
