Vanished Without A Trace

by Nava Dijkstra

  "Probably" Daniel said.

  "Did you ever think maybe there is a possibility I'm just looking for a temporary adventure with you and he was actually my guy?"

  At least that clears my conscience, Daniel thought. After all, to sleep with your partner just because you want to have a good time with her or take revenge on her boyfriend sounds pretty dirty.

  His face was calm and peaceful and revealed nothing about his thoughts. She tried to absorb it, but she failed. She regretted her words and was afraid he might not talk to her anymore. She already had a hard time dragging him into a conversation. Moreover, she feared he might not touch her after she insinuated Odi was her serious choice and he was just a part-time adventure. Actually, she came all the way here just for him to embrace her and kiss her just like he did this morning, but now she ruined everything.

  "Come here," Daniel got up, "we will go to the balcony. I'm suffocating here." He sat down on the tanning bed and she lay down beside him, just like the day in her hotel room. He barely spoke, only occasional comments about banal things like the weather and the heights of the waves a few days ago. He found himself comparing her and Neta. Neta was married, and Karina remained as some sort of an option, at least until he could find someone more suitable, but if he waited longer, Karina would eventually marry Odi, and he would end up with the neighbor next door. He shuddered.

  "What?" Karina asked, when she noticed he was staring at her with a mysterious smile.

  He straightened the back of the arm rest cursing the timing in which Odi decided to call.

  "Yes Odi, I believe I will leave here in an hour, okay?" She closed the phone and turned to Daniel, "It was Odi. He wanted us to go to the club today."

  "What does a man of his age have to do in clubs? Did he not pass the age yet? He might even get himself into a fight."

  "You really don’t like him," Karina said, "You know, honestly, you also don’t have much sympathy for me."

  "Wait, wait, about Odi, I really don’t have any sympathy for him. But for you ..." He moved to the edge of her bed and held her hands. "You're an amazing woman. I have known you for almost seven years. You were about my age when we first met. You've always been impressive. Because of you, I am where I am now."

  "I never thought you would remember."

  He put his lips to her lips and kissed her, melting her. He was the only one who could kiss her and make her body shiver with pleasure. She put her hand on his neck, closed her eyes and enjoyed the blissful feeling. Daniel kept his eyes open, he loved to see her submissive, she was so much in love. He was flattered. He unbuttoned her blouse, and couldn’t ignore the thought Odi was waiting for her in the hotel. He dropped her shirt on the floor. He opened her bra at the back and slowly released it from her shoulders. She wanted to scream she loved him, but she did not dare. He probably wanted sex with her today, and she didn’t care. He released her for a moment while he took off his shirt, but then she felt her body touching his body. She had been longing for this moment for years.

  He carried her into the bedroom, which was illuminated with candle light had been lit in advance. ‘He knew I wanted to sleep with him, a thought crossed her mind. However, she could not stop her weakness. The fact he just wanted to fuck her made her angry, but it made her want him more. She felt him inside her, enjoying every moment. No one had ever pleased her like this. Daniel was everything for her. He heard and understood what she enjoyed. He knew when to finish. Her moans maneuvered him.

  He lay down next to her, leaned on his hand and kissed her face again and again, but now, after the scene, the feeling of being victimized took control over her. She could not get rid of the thought she was just a sexual object to him. She wanted more but presumed she couldn’t have it. "Well, I must go," she said when she could not disengage from her thoughts.

  "Where? To meet Odi and go to the club?"

  "Yes," she ignored the sarcasm in his voice. She lifted the sheet and covered herself to go to the bathroom, but he pulled the sheet from her to make her smile a little bit, leaving her naked. But she continued to walk towards the bathroom.

  Then she picked up her clothes and began to dress, while Daniel was lying on his stomach. He looked at her with a smile which she couldn’t understand the essence.

  "Don’t you take a shower? You’re going to Odi without taking a shower?"

  "What do you want, to humiliate me more?"

  "Why? When was the first time?"

  "Come on, Daniel." She continued to dress.

  He jumped out of bed and grabbed her. "I will never humiliate you. You are one of the people who are most precious to me in this world."

  'He did not say he loves me. He uses anything except this', she thought to herself. She grabbed her bag and walked towards the door, she did not want him to see the tears in her eyes that threatened to break.

  "Karin," he shortened her name. It was the first time someone called her that. She stopped at the door. He approached her, hugged her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Stay with me."

  She turned to him, "I can’t."

  Daniel couldn’t understand what happened to her. "Karin, I enjoyed this moment with you and so did you, we are not supposed to separate this way."

  "I have a meeting with Odi. Bye, Daniel." She tried to escape from his arms.

  "Karin, I'm asking you to stay with me. I want to get up in the morning and see you next to me in bed."

  She closed her eyes and gave herself a moment to think.

  "Why?" she asked.

  "Because that’s what you want."

  His answer annoyed her very much. "No that's not what I want. What I really want is to marry Odi." She wanted to retaliate, to take revenge on him for not being able to tell her that he loved her, that he wanted her.

  Daniel felt a knife stuck in his heart. "Okay, I do not want to spoil you. Go to your meeting with Odi." He released her arms and opened the door for her. She kept standing by the door, considering whether to stay anyway. "What will I tell Odi?"

  "I do not know," he said, and moved away from the door towards the living room. He couldn’t believe she came back in and explained to Odi on the phone she had to stay at Daniel’s house because they had an urgent trip tomorrow at six in the morning. Odi insisted with his disagreement, but Karina raised her voice and explained it was a business trip and he had to respect it.

  "Did he believe you?" Daniel mocked.

  "Enough, Daniel, I don’t really feel comfortable fooling around on him. Seeing you pleased with yourself makes me feel worse." She saw a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. She picked up the dishes from the table and went to wash them in the sink. She felt his arms wrap around her and his lips were on her neck. He undressed her while she was washing the dishes. He carried her to bed with a gentle touch of love. Karina felt Daniel was acting different from last time. He coated her with small kisses again and again, and when her eyes met his eyes, there was something deep between them.

  She was glad he fell asleep a few minutes later, so she could watch him for hours.

  In the morning, when she woke up, she put her shirt on without a bra and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

  "I thought the house was on fire. It’s the first time something is cooking in this kitchen," Daniel laughed, enjoying the smell coming from the kitchen. He got out of bed. The table was set for breakfast; coffee, salads, and an omelet. 'She should be here more often', he thought. He lay on the sofa, looking at her going back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. When she finished serving the toast, she smiled at him and he joined the table. She spread butter on the bread and served him. If there was a moment Daniel understood the full significance of the pleasure of living together, this was the closest. The woman sitting across from him had an inexhaustible sharing ability. He brought his lips to hers and kissed them. "I love your lips. They are always pink and sensual."

  "You love everything in me, just not me."

  He slipped his fingers to h
er feet that were on his knees, and released a smile that made her wonder what was running through his mind.

  "What?"

  "You remind me of my mother."

  "I'm not sure I like that."

  He touched the ring on her toes. "She was actually very impressive. She also loved to put rings on her toes, not to mention she did it even before it was fashionable."

  When she left his apartment, she couldn’t resist inviting him to her parents' wedding party. She knew Odi and her family would not like it but every minute with him was significant for her. When Odi heard Daniel was also invited, he argued with her for a long time. He noticed Karina was acting completely different towards him when Daniel was around. There were hot looks between them. "I'd prefer that he didn’t come.”

  "Stop being jealous, it's just a friendly gesture. After all, I'll be with you and not with him."

  23

  Daniel arrived a little bit after Karina and Odi arrived. Irena, Karina’s sister, opened the door and there was no need for any further explanation of her sister's desire to invite him. She led him to the table where he was reserved and he felt bad he had to sit across from Karina and not by her side where he would have held her hand. The meal was elaborate. He ate too much homemade food lately, he thought. During dinner he tried to hide the direct glances to Karina and concentrate on those around him. Karina's mother was beautiful and she looked young for her age. Her father's face looked serious and not smiley, but seemed to be full of love for his daughters. When he talked to them, he used expressions of support all the time. But most of all, he enjoyed talking with Odi about the big business he owned while everyone around the table was listening to his detailed explanations on the successful glass business in China, and how they were affected by the bird flu. Odi really fascinated them. Only Daniel and Karina looked at each other and seemed to be fascinated by something else.

  After the meal, another five couples came and Irena played music. Odi invited Karina to dance, and she was a little embarrassed and threw an apologetic look towards Daniel. Odi put his hands on Karina’s hips and she put her hands on his shoulders carelessly. All the while, Odi was kissing her lips while she tried to avoid Daniel’s gaze. Daniel couldn’t understand why he felt annoyed about it. He convinced himself it is because he don't like Odi and not because his attraction to Karina.

  Around midnight, he apologized he had to leave. He parted with everybody and headed towards the door. Karina ran after him, "I’m sorry." She said.

  Daniel raised his eyebrows a bit and disappeared into the darkness. She stood a few seconds in the doorway looking at her mother beside her. "I know what you want to say. Spare me, I'm a big girl."

  "You’re in love with him," her mother said.

  "What's wrong with that?" Karina defended herself.

  "Nothing," her mother answered and added, "As long as you make the right choice and marry Odi."

  "You don’t need to worry. Your daughter has no choice in the matter. The guy doesn’t want me, so everybody can calm down."

  "Good", she said.

  Karina looked straight into her eyes. "Listen to me, don’t ever dare to choose a man for me again. You have done this once and once is too much."

  "Well, look at which level you are living now?" her mother said in a sarcastic voice.

  Karina went away. She knew her mother pushed her to get married just for financial motivations, but she did not want to drift into a conversation wherein somebody would think she was not satisfied from her marriage to her husband. After all, he treated her with great respect.

  Daniel did not see Karina for two days. And during those days, the image of Karina dancing with Odi never left his mind. However, he believed she would try to contact him after the Passionate night they had together. But when she didn’t call, he felt a weird feeling of disappointment and decided to call her. She answered him quietly and he presumed Odi was standing next to her but he continued. "Karina, I miss you, I need to see you before you fly back."

  "I can’t talk right now," she replied, and closed the phone.

  He sat in the living room and opened a bottle of vodka, thinking it might help him sleep, because his strong thoughts and yearning for her were suddenly intolerable. Even the thought she was sleeping with Odi during the night bothered him. This was the first time he felt jealousy and anger towards him, and he was quite surprised. It was ten o'clock at night when Daniel heard a knock at the door. He was filled with joy at the thought Karina came somehow, but when he opened the door, the neighbor was standing there.

  "Yes?"

  "May I come in?"

  Daniel stepped away from the doorway and allowed her to come in. Anyway, he didn’t have anything better to do and there was nothing better than a friend who would take these thoughts away from him. When he found himself in bed with her, he did not totally resist, though this neighbor was the last woman on earth whom he wanted to get into. Neighbors are not good, he thought. But after three glasses of vodka, and the thoughts about Karina lying next to Odi after having sickening sex, he did not feel he had to be faithful to her.

  In the morning, he woke up with a terrible headache, angry at himself when he saw the neighbor lying beside him. He thought he was incredibly stupid and now he would also have a problem with how to get rid of her. He heard the front door open, the ticking of a heel on the floor was coming closer to the bedroom. He looked at the door and his eyes were dimmed. Karina was standing at the door. Her smile quickly turned into shock. He quickly jumped out of bed, naked, retraced his steps, put a towel around his waist and ran after her. He got hold of her in the car. He tried to open the door next to her but it was locked. "Karin, Karin! Wait a minute!" he shouted, but she drove off in a squeal of tires and he was hurdled backward, releasing a curse into the air after she nearly hit him.

  He lifted his hands over his head, struck with shock. Only now did he notice the towel fell down and he stood naked in the driveway. He lifted the towel back. "What?!" he yelled angrily at the guard who was watching him, and then he took the elevator.

  "Who was she?" the neighbor asked.

  "My wife."

  "Are you married? I did not know."

  "I’m sorry, but you should leave now because I think she'll be coming back."

  The neighbor left and he tried to call Karina, though he knew there was no chance she would answer him.

  Karina drove the car to the hotel. She did not think Daniel had to be faithful to her or be a monk who didn’t go out with women, but she wanted to believe she was important to him. She was not disappointed with him, but disappointed at her expectations. She didn’t even seem to be hurt. He didn’t promise her anything. He never told her anything made her believe or even think he owed her loyalty or dedication.

  She even recalled she also kissed Odi while dancing right in front of Daniel’s face. He probably felt what she was feeling right now. This thought bothered her and she couldn’t concentrate on driving.

  24

  Alon was happy to get to the office, actually any place that would distant him from the smelly room of the motel. He put some hot pastry from the bakery shop near the office, on the receptionist’s table; seductive moments in the form of good-smelling high-fat food. As expected, he heard her constant complaints about obesity and unsuccessful dieting. In an unexpected switch, she asked him who died. Alon presumed the next question would be about his tired look. He replied with a joke. "Me. Slowly, slowly." Just when he entered and saw the round bouquet sitting in the corner, he realized what she meant. ‘This is a comment as well', he thought.

  "Who is this for?" he heard Gideon from behind.

  "Natalie sent them to me."

  "I thought it was over between the two of you two months ago."

  "That is exactly the significance of the bouquet," Alon said, "I tried to contact her to get myself some more comfortable housing."

  "You have a lot of courage if you tried to call her after you cancelled the wedding. I really coul
dn’t understand what made you cancel the wedding at the last minute."

  "It’s not her, it’s me," Alon replied, while laying the bouquet next to the trash can and sitting down to tell Gideon about all the things he heard from Deborah, as well as, the things he had gone through the night before.

  "It’s not easy. Do you want a short break to sort things out with Natalie?"

  "I need a lot more than a short break. I need to buy half of the mall to get her back. Finding Julia is far easier, believe me."

  "Speaking about Julia, Karina could be right. When I checked a month ago, I did not find any entry or exit by a woman named Julia, and I assumed Karina’s story was not true. But apparently, based on what you said, Deborah’s story reinforces Karina’s claim. If so, we need to check if Julia is in the country under cover or if maybe someone interrupted her plans to leave. Second, we should examine the relationship between Julia and Kowalski, and if Daniel is indeed his grandson. Deborah provides reinforcement of the existence of such a connection, right? "

  Alon looked at him. "Are you not getting carried away too much? Why would anyone want to interrupt Julia’s plans? Who would gain if Julia would die?"

  "Leave this for now. I am just outlining the options. With investigations everything is open, as you know." Gideon thought for a moment. "I think you should fly to New York to the office of Benjamin, a friend of mine, and ask him any information on the existence of Kowalski's son, Naor, from the time he arrived in America, until today. I will stay here and collect information about him in this country, and I’ll see if there is something interesting could connect him to Daniel."

  "Why do I need to go? It can be done by phone, you know."

  "Why don’t you take the opportunity for a vacation from all the hassles you have here, clear your head and come back to us? After all, we have a woman who pays all the expenses. Enjoy it!"

  Alon arrived in Benjamin’s office in Rockefeller building in Manhattan. Although Benjamin was a good friend of Gideon, Alon did not know him personally. The only identity he had was the logo stamped on the documents he had received from him. Alon was thrilled by the large, impressive office was very sophisticated in design, yet small with regards to the number of employees who shared small cubicles with low walls and lacked privacy between them. There had been a great feature in the office. The place looked more like Wall Street than an Investigation office. Alon felt all the major investigation cases he did in his country were nothing compared to what was happening in this office. He wanted an office like this, or more of a right to say he wanted to get to a level where he would be able to stand working in this kind of office.