Change of Heart by Jack Allen
Page 33
“Are they coming?” Valeria whispered, speaking in Russian.
“They’re coming. I’m sure of it.”
A few cars drove through the mall, but none stopped. Josh made sure he and Valeria were hidden from view behind the trunk of the tree, in case one of them might be the police. The last thing he wanted was to be picked up for loitering, fingered by Mironov’s daughter for his murder, and lose Valeria once more to the prison system.
A van entered the mall. Josh and Valeria stayed behind the tree trunk. The van moved to the other end of the mall and stopped.
Josh watched it, peeking out from behind the tree, his Smith & Wesson in his hand.
The van sat for a long time, the engine idling with a soft ticking noise. Sticky tappet. Josh hated when that happened. He looked around once more to make sure no one was sneaking up on them, but he could see very little in the darkness, and scolded himself for being paranoid.
The side door of the van opened. A large figure got out, closed the door, and stood beside the van. Josh recognized the man; he just wanted to make sure. When the large figure took something out of his pocket and flicked a lighter, Josh was sure.
He was never more relieved to see Walt light a cigar in his life.
“Stay here,” he whispered to Valeria. “If anything goes wrong, run.”
He came out from behind the tree and walked toward the van.
Josh was sure there were probably more than a couple machine guns following him, in case he wasn’t who he was supposed to be. Walt stood still. He might have a gun, too.
“Good evening, Walt,” Josh said.
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Walt took the cigar out of his mouth. “Evenin’, Josh.” They were quiet for a few seconds. Josh could hear the distant sounds of traffic in the center of Moscow.
“Did you bring the Doctor?”
“No,” Josh said. “I killed him.”
“You killed him? Why?” Walt said.
His voice sounded incredulous. It was too dark for Josh to see his expression.
“He resisted. He would have given us up.” Walt grunted and puffed on the cigar. Josh knew he wasn’t pleased with the result, but he would have to be satisfied with it.
“And the explosives?”
Josh shrugged. “All gone. Blew it up.” Walt took the cigar from his mouth and examined the burning tip.
“Saw that on the news last night. Hell of a show.” Josh sniffed. “Jones said it was useless. It decays too fast.” Walt grunted again. To Josh he sounded amused.
“That was the problem he had when he made it for us. Glad to hear he never fixed it.”
Josh was glad, too. Maybe when they got back home he’d tell Walt how much was stockpiled in that warehouse.
“I hope you at least got the girl,” Walt said. The glowing orange coal at the end of the cigar bobbed in front of his face as he spoke. “I’ve got about a dozen friends back home who’ve got some questions to ask her.”
Josh said nothing.
“I want you to know I’m not too happy about that stunt you pulled with VanBriekenbock’s yacht. You wrecked two of our cars, about half a dozen private cars, and you wrecked a city dock.
I payed hell for that one.”
“Walt, I-” Josh started.
“Save it. I’m not done.” He puffed on the cigar for a few seconds. Josh could sense his anger growing. “I’m not too happy with the way you take things into your own hands lately.” 312
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“Lately?”
Walt steamed on. “You caused a hell of a lot of trouble in Tokyo. It’s gonna take months to get that all straightened out.
Not to mention all the trouble you put me through with that Iraqi friend of your’s. What got into your head, anyway?” Josh fumed. His voice rose and he said, “Fine. Why don’t you just fire me?”
Walt didn’t answer. The cigar turned in his mouth.
“When we get back, maybe it’s best you took some time off.
Take a vacation, take a few weeks. Maybe then I can keep Filmore from suspending you.”
“Suspend me? What the hell did I just put my neck on the line for you guys for? When you hired me you said I wouldn’t have to do dangerous stuff.”
“I lied.”
His voice trailed off. Another car pulled into the mall. Josh turned to look. It was a long Zil limousine.
“What the hell is this?” Walt said.
“Someone I made a promise to,” Josh said.
The headlights of the Zil shined on them and he could see the fury in Walt’s glare. Walt snatched the cigar from his mouth and snarled.
“What the hell are you up to now, Josh?”
“One last obligation. I gave my word.” The side door of the Zil opened and a man got out. Josh immediately recognized Yuri’s fair hair.
“Valeria?” Yuri said.
Josh turned to the tree. Her dark outline appeared from behind it. The headlights of the van came on, illuminating her, and she shielded her eyes from the bright light. Josh’s heart broke for her. She looked so vulnerable, like a lost little girl in her father’s oversized coat.
“Valeria,” Yuri shouted.
Josh heard the joy in his voice. Valeria edged from the security of the tree.
“Josh, don’t do this,” Walt demanded.
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The side door of the van slid back and three men in black uniforms with German machine guns jumped out.
“No!” Josh shouted.
He backed up and drew his gun. The doors of the Zil opened and four of Kurchenko’s men got out, each carrying an AK-47.
The machine guns pointed across the gap between the two cars.
Josh put himself between them.
“Don’t shoot!” he shouted, then repeated it in Russian.
“Don’t do this, Josh,” Walt shouted. “She’s coming with us.”
“No,” Josh shouted back. “I gave her my word. You can fire me if you want. You can kill me if you want. I won’t let you take her.”
He could feel the tension between the two sides. The men with the machine guns had itchy fingers and were eager to kill something. He knew what it was like.
“Come on. They won’t shoot,” Josh said, holding his hand out for Valeria.
He stood halfway between the two vehicles with his gun pointed up to the sky. If they opened fire, he’d be the first to die.
Valeria took a tentative step foward. Josh looked at Walt. He looked angry enough to tear steel with his bare hands.
Valeria took another step, then ran into Yuri’s arms. Josh kept his eyes on Walt and his soldiers. Behind him, he could hear Valeria’s sobs and the smack of her lips on Yuri’s. They got into the Zil and closed the door. One by one, Kurchenko’s men got back into the limousine, and it drove off.
Josh lowered his arm.
“Josh,” Walt said. “You’re fired.” He threw down the cigar and got into the van. The soldiers jumped back in and the door slid shut. The van drove off, leaving Josh standing in the middle of the mall. He tucked the Smith & Wesson into his belt and looked up at the stars.
Chapter 13
“This will be your office, Captain Fredericks,” the ensign said with a cheerful smile. She unlocked the door and flicked on the light. “Welcome to the Pentagon.”
Fredericks nodded as he went in, carrying his box. The office was a plain, sterile white room with bare walls, a steel desk in the center, and a single window that looked out over the center courtyard. Immediately, it reminded him of a prison, a sort of purgatory where he agreed he would reside. He chuckled when he remembered the first time he heard the Pentagon referred to as the five sided funny farm.
The ensign went back to her desk in the reception area.
Fredericks put the box on the steel desk and began to unload it.
He had a blotter, a calendar, a clock and a few pens. For now, he had no paperwork. Without a doubt, it would begin
to stack up on this desk faster than he could deal with it.
He went to the window to look out over the courtyard. The apple trees had just blossomed, flooding the entire space with a mixture of white, pink and green. Fredericks sighed. For maybe the first time in his life, he had time to enjoy such simple pleasures.
Never again would he take simple things so lightly.
His broken ribs were still sore. The doctors at the Navy hospital in Pearl Harbor had been reluctant to release him, but he insisted, and they could not turn him down. That was, what, three days ago? His head still hadn’t stopped throbbing. They assured him the headaches and the blurry vision would go away, 314
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but that he should take it easy after such a bad concussion.
Well, he was taking it easy now. There would be no more jets in his future, no more Mach 2 flights, no more carrier landings.
He was committed now to flying a steel desk.
He still couldn’t remember exactly what happened. He remembered the storm, and flying over the clouds waiting to land on the America, but nothing after that. They told him about the crash, and about the man who saved his life. At first, he couldn’t remember him, but slowly, bit by bit, he began to recall images of the man and how he had been so annoyed at being assigned to ferry him halfway around the world.
Fredericks never saw him after that, never found out if his mission was a success. He was sure he never would, either. They didn’t publish the results of missions carried out by intelligence personnel.
It was a shame. This particular one had saved his life, and no one would know about it. He wished he knew more about it himself. He was only able to recount to his wife what he had been told by the officers of the America. And to think, when he first met that man, he assumed he was just another slimy intelligence weasel with no backbone.
After the crash, his wife insisted he give up flying and take the desk job. She was adamant, like she’d never been before. His humiliation was nothing compared to the pain she would go through if she lost him to a stupid, senseless accident, she told him. He knew she was right, and although he wanted to argue for the sake of his honor, he relented. It meant he would never be known as a legendary pilot to the rest of the Navy, but to her, he was always an Ace, and, after all, she was the only one who mattered.
* * * *
Josh found a parking spot in the apartment parking garage and pulled his Corvette into it. He sat in the old car, a 1969 Stingray, with the huge engine rumbling at idle. He was weary, and his body was sore all over. For the last couple of days he had dwelled 316
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on Dr. Otto Jones’ last words. “How is that different from you?” he said. What did that mean? Did it have something to do with the way he killed Mironov in cold blood? Finally Josh shut the car off and went up to his apartment.
He unlocked the door and went in, carrying a small stack of mail, bills, mostly. He put the mail on the table in the small kitchen. It could wait until later. The last thing he wanted to think about were bills and owing people money when his future was so uncertain.
It was dawn in Washington D.C., two days since his last night in Moscow. The doctor checked him out before his debriefing, rewrapped his bandages, and told him everything he already knew.
He had an extra set of stitches across his stomach, and a bottle of antibiotic pills to fight off infection.
He turned on the news and went to the kitchen. The refrigerator contained two items: a leftover bowl of chicken noodle soup and a bottle of beer. Perfect for breakfast.
He sat on the sofa in front of the television with the reheated soup and put his feet up on the small table. The international news was on. He was waiting for the sports to find out what he missed in the hockey playoffs.
A story came on that made him stop with the spoon in his mouth. A middle east correspondent was talking about a bombing in downtown Baghdad. The bomb went off in the middle of the city’s busiest travel time, and dozens of people were killed or injured. The target was the head of Iraq’s Intelligence Department, a man named Ali Galim, who was killed instantly when a bomb blew his car to pieces. As of yet, no one claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Josh put the soup down. He wasn’t sure, but somehow he had a feeling this had something to do with Caroline and Moshe’s missing terrorist and the missing explosives. Somehow he felt partly responsible for his escape.
Maybe the Doctor was right about him. Josh raised the bottle of beer to his lips. And maybe he was just crazy. Either way, he had another sleepless night to look forward to.
Jack Allen is a native of Michigan and lives with his family in the Detroit area. When he’s not writing he’s dreaming about building his dream Mustang and wishing someone would clean out the basement.
Change of Heart is the first in a series of adventures about Josh McGowan, to be followed by An Innocent Among Them, Widow of Calcutta, and The Lennox Conspiracy.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13