by Terry Toler
Technically, Holly wasn’t a Belarusian citizen, but her crimes were against Belarusian girls and women, and Jamie doubted she’d ever see the outside of a prison again in her life.
Jamie sat in the back of the plane out of sight, away from the windows, though she allowed herself the satisfaction of watching the girl’s reunions with their friends and families from a back window where she couldn’t be seen. A deep sense of accomplishment flooded her soul, her heart was warmed by the success of the mission. All that was left to do was to take the plane back to Obninsk, and then she could go home.
She suddenly felt total exhaustion. This had been the most trying of all her missions. She allowed herself to close her eyes and almost dozed off when she was awakened by a familiar voice. Jill had entered her cabin and was standing at the doorway. Jamie motioned for her to come in. She mustered up the strength and stood, and they hugged and kissed each other on the cheeks. Tears were in their eyes. Tears of joy.
“You are amazing!” Jill said with sincerity. “I can’t tell you how thankful we are for you. You rescued more than fifteen hundred girls. Our fundraising is through the roof from all the publicity.”
“That reminds me,” Jamie said. She walked over to the closet and pulled out a satchel and handed it to Jill.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“An anonymous donation.”
Jill opened the satchel and her mouth flew open at the rolls of cash.
“There must be a hundred thousand dollars in here,” Jill said.
“$353,000 to be exact,” Jamie replied. “Don’t ask where it came from.”
Jill sat down in a chair across from where Jamie was sitting. “You know God is using you to do incredible things,” she said.
“I know. I can sense God’s presence in these missions. Guiding my steps. Protecting me.”
“You have a gift. A calling.”
“I never really saw it as that until now,” Jamie said, using her hand to wipe away a tear. Jamie was saved in a revival at her church as a young teenager. While she’d always been strong in her faith, she was starting to see what she was doing as a call of God on her life.
“I do feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I just wish I could do more. I wish I could save all the girls.”
“You can’t save everyone,” Jill replied. “There was only one person who could do that as you know. But you’re doing your part.”
“Thank you for all you do,” Jamie said. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“There are two people who want to see you. Can I send them inside?”
Jill asked.
“Sure.”
A minute later Daria and Olga entered the cabin. They were so excited to see Jamie, and the feeling was mutual. The girls were talking so fast Jamie could hardly keep up. The exhaustion was making it hard to concentrate, even with the happiness they were bringing her. Fortunately, they did most of the talking.
“I’ve enrolled in school,” Daria said.
“We’ve applied for visas to America,” Olga said. “Can we call you if we get there?”
“Of course.”
“Ana is going to live with us,” Daria said. “Her stepfather would just take her money anyway.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
After a few more minutes of conversation, they said a tearful goodbye.
“We’ll never forget you,” they said. “I’ll never forget you, either.”
***
Mike stuck his head in the cabin and informed Jamie they weren’t allowed to take off yet.
“Why not?”
“There’s someone who wants to talk to you, first.”
“Who?” Jamie asked.
“Me,” a familiar voice said from behind Mike.
“Detective Orlov,” Jamie said, rising from her seat and extending her hand. “What a pleasant surprise.”
He sat down in the chair, so Jamie sat across from him, wondering what he wanted.
“We are taking statements from the girls. It’s going to take a few days. There’s so many.” He said it matter-of-factly. In a monotone voice. Concern started to rise inside Jamie. Moe was acting strangely.
“You know what this means?” he finally said in a solemn tone.
“What?” Jamie asked.
“I’m going to have to arrest you! You’re operating here illegally,” he responded.
A bolt of panic suddenly overwhelmed her. Adrenaline shot back through her veins, overcoming the exhaustion. She sat up in her chair. She didn’t have a weapon near her. Other than her hands. She wasn’t thinking clearly anyway. This was so out of the blue.
A grin suddenly came on his face.
“I’m joking,” he said, laughing hysterically. “You should see your face.
Two can play that game.”
He stood to his feet. “I got you! That was a good one, wasn’t it?”
He grabbed Jamie’s shoulders and kissed her cheeks with great affection.
“That was a good one,” Jamie muttered. “You’re right. You got me.”
“So much for getting sleep,” she thought to herself as she tried to slow her racing heartbeat.
30
Jamie had been home for three weeks and spent a lot of that time with Alex. Turned out he didn’t live in San Francisco. He lived in Arlington, Virginia, in a condo about ten minutes away from her. They spent the last week of the three at Camp Peary, better known in CIA circles as “The Farm.” A nine thousand-acre CIA training facility for covert officers located near Williamsburg, Virginia.
Curly made it his personal mission to make it as difficult and intense a week as possible, and Alex and Jamie did their best to turn it into an obsessive competition. They worked on tradecraft, counterintelligence, surveillance, firearm instruction, hand-to-hand combat, obstacle course, and some classroom language training. The competition got so intense they were barely talking to each other at the end of the process. Besides their bodies being extremely sore, they were sore at each other.
Back in Arlington, Virginia, they decided to call a truce and meet for dinner. The conversation was pleasant but forced. Superficial. Casual. Not much warmth. At least compared to what they had experienced on the cruise and in Belarus. They were both trying hard to recapture some of the spark, but it wasn’t working.
“Alex, I like you,” Jamie said. The meal was finished, and they had allowed themselves to order dessert. As a treat. For surviving the week with Curly. “I just think we were taking things a little too fast.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” Alex replied. “I really like you too.
With what we do, things can get really intense in the field. It’s normal for passions to get intense as well.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Jamie explained. “I had a good time with you. I don’t want to date other people. I just want to take it slow. We barely know each other. I still want us to be together… and I hope you feel the same way.”
“For sure,” Alex said sincerely. “The problem is that we have no idea what our next mission will be. I could get a call from Brad tomorrow and be gone for three months. Same thing with you. It’s hard to have a relationship like that. But we can try. You know. See where it goes.”
The rest of the evening went pretty well. They went for a walk. Held hands. Sat on a bench under the stars. Laughed some for the first time in a week. It seemed to Jamie like the ice was cracking a bit. They had an understanding. They would date but take it slow. See what developed.
Alex drove them back to Jamie’s house and walked her to the door. She decided not to invite him inside. It wasn’t that late, but this was what taking it slow looked like to her.
Alex seemed fine with it. He gave her a kiss. Not just a peck, but not an intense, passionate, knock your socks off, kiss. As they ended the kiss, both of their cell phones pinged at the exact same time.
A text from Brad. They both got the same message.
In my office
. One hour.
***
Jamie and Alex sat in Brad’s office in the two chairs across from his desk. Brad had excused himself to use the restroom. Both of them fidgeted nervously. Generally, those messages meant they were about to get an assignment.
“I wonder where I’m going,” Jamie said.
“Me too,” Alex replied. “I guess he has a mission for each of us. I hope
I go someplace warm.”
“I hope I go someplace where I don’t get shot at,” Jamie said.
They both laughed.
“I’m so glad we cleared things up tonight,” Jamie added. “Before I have to go away.”
“Oh, I know,” Alex replied. “I feel good about our conversation. This break from each other will actually help that. A few months apart will do us good. Give us a chance to see how we feel about each other. You know what I mean?”
Jamie did know what he meant. He wasn’t trying to be rude or evasive. Like he was looking forward to being away from her. She didn’t get the feeling he was acting like a typical man who wanted to take it slow because he was afraid of commitment. They were both very intense people. If they did form a relationship, they probably needed to be away from each other for a few weeks at a time periodically to be able to make it work.
“I do know,” Jamie responded.
“I mean. I’ll miss you,” Alex said. “Some. But this will give me a chance to clear my head.”
“You’ll miss me some,” Jamie said laughing, punching him in the arm playfully.
“Maybe a little more than some,” he retorted, hitting her back. More of a pat than a hit.
This will be good.
Maybe Alex would evolve into being good a friend. Maybe it would become more than that. She was happy with where things were.
Brad reentered the room. “I have a mission for the two of you,” he said getting right to the point.
“Both of us?” Alex asked. “You mean, you want us to go together or you have a separate mission for each of us?”
“One mission. The two of you. You’ll go together.” He said the words slowly.
“Where?” Jamie asked.
“Singapore.”
They looked at each other. Alex shrugged his shoulders, and Jamie gave him a slight smile.
“Singapore’s nice,” Jamie said. “There are worse places to go on a mission. I’ve never been there. Sounds good. What’s our cover?”
“You’re going to pose as a married couple. On your honeymoon.”
“What?” Alex said.
Jamie’s response was right behind his.
“Honeymoon? I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.
“You’re both perfect for it. You are already dating. You obviously have chemistry. You work well together. Perfect match. You’ll have to share a place. Two-bedroom apartment so you’ll each have your own room. Act all in love. It’s very important for the mission that you pull off the cover.
You have to make the targets believe you really are married.”
“How long is the mission?” Alex said.
“Plan to be gone for at least six weeks. Probably more like three months.”
“We have to pretend to be newlyweds for three months?” Jamie asked.
“That’s right,” Brad replied. “You leave in the morning. 8:00 a.m. Sharp. I want you to go to the prop room tonight.”
The prop room was a large room in the basement that housed all kinds of items used by officers in the field to make their cover more believable.
“What do we need to from the prop room?” Alex asked.
“You need to pick out your wedding rings,” Brad responded.
So much for taking things slow.
About the Author
TERRY TOLER is the author of the Jamie Austen and Alex Halee book series along with The Eden Stories. He is a minister, public speaker, counselor, and retired entrepreneur. Impacting the lives of people worldwide through storytelling has become one of his passions in life. He can be followed at terrytoler.com.
