by Dawn Kunda
They all knew how this procedure worked. The dinners grabbed their attention for the next quarter hour.
Pushing his plate forward and nodding to Borland, Duchaine said, “I think it’s time to retire.”
Without a word, Dean Borland and Tom Duchaine left their seats and headed for the lobby.
* * * *
Eben dropped his napkin on his plate. Bossy Red headed his way, and he tipped his tall glass to her.
“Where’d your friends go?” She rested her forearms on the bar and leaned toward him, flipping her braid behind her back. Her red lips parted wide, exposing polished teeth. She tapped his beer. “Another?”
He held up a finger. “One more.” She winked. She liked to do that. “How ’bout you?”
She twisted to the side, probably glancing at a hidden clock under the bar. Her button-down blouse gaped. Eben couldn’t help but notice a plump mound of pale flesh stare him in the face. She’ll be easy. Hopefully she has something to tell me.
“I’m actually done now. I’ll join you, if you’d like to move to a table.” She rolled her eyes. “Employees can’t sit at the bar.” He nodded, dug into his pant pocket, and left a couple bills on the counter.
She filled two freshly cooled glasses, skirted the end of the bar, and followed him to a booth along the wall. They settled opposite each other. Eben leaned back and threw his arm over the back of the booth.
He decided to get her interested and make her feel special before digging into hopeful information. “Didn’t you win Miss Sweden last year?” He barreled his chest, looking deep into her eyes as she squeezed her breasts between her arms and leaned onto the table.
“No, that was the year before.” She dipped her head and giggled. “That’s a good one. Haven’t heard it in at least a couple weeks.”
Eben realized she was totally hot but not totally stupid. He’d have to give her a little more credit. “Sorry. You are pretty.” He paused, letting his sincerity strike her. “What about Americans interests you so much?”
After a big gulp, she answered. “Hmm…I’d say it’s their confidence. Not that many men aren’t confident, but Americans have more of an honesty.”
Eben tried not to laugh. “I thought you liked their guns?”
“Oh, yeah, that too. I suppose that’s more of a fantasy when I think of—hey, are you laughing at me?”
“No, not at all.” He forced a serious demeanor.
Another bright smile, and she launched into a recent history of the men she meets on the job. Eben began to get bored, thinking she didn’t have any clues worth prying from her. He might as well just get her to take her clothes off for him. He didn’t think he’d be in Sweden long, but a guess was all he had and he didn’t like to not have a date for long.
“…I thought that was odd.” She finished her dissertation. “Don’t you?”
“Huh? Ah, sorry, I didn’t hear what you last said. Kinda noisy in here.”
“I said”—Bossy Red reached out and flicked her index finger under Eben’s chin—“do I look like a ‘Kat’? That’s what he called me.”
Eben knew he had time to be her friend for the night after that comment. His evening work was done. Grant’s sister was Kat.
Chapter 12
Vic jerked awake as the alarm on his watch buzzed. He made it the whole night on the couch, if you could consider four in the morning a whole night. He wanted to get his things, thoughts included, together before he awoke Alina. He could give himself a gold star for that. If he hadn’t been so tired, he was sure he’d have attempted to check on Alina and might have stayed a little too long in her bedroom.
Sitting up, his bare chest flexed in response to the chill with the knit throw tossed to the side. His legs formed a V while his knees touched the edge of the coffee table.
“Hi.”
Vic looked up and saw her standing tentatively against the frame of the hall. She had combed her hair away from her face, which left soft cheeks, pale lips, and brownish-green eyes highlighted out of the shadows.
“Hey. You don’t have to be up yet. Did you sleep well?”
She shrugged. Guess she wasn’t a morning person for talking. He appreciated that because he intended to get her on the plane before she found a reason to back out. He’d now included her in his plan, and he didn’t want to have to refigure his mission.
He stood wearing only his briefs. Looking down, he apologized, “Sorry, I’ll get dressed.” He grabbed his jeans slung over the arm of the couch. “Didn’t expect to see you up, yet.” If he hadn’t precisely timed this morning to spend as few minutes under airport surveillance as possible, he’d be tempted to pull the barrette from her hair and unzip her fitted plum jeans with his teeth. “Not to tell you what to wear, but I’d suggest finding something less…hip, or whatever women call it.” She swung her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. Don’t make her mad. “We don’t want to attract attention when we arrive in Egypt.”
“I thought we were stopping in Austria.”
She had been listening. “Right. Austria first, then we’ll find you something to wear. Sorry.” He felt he’d be apologizing a lot along the way.
“Don’t worry. I already figured that out. I know I have to wear attire in accordance with the country. I have traveled before.”
He refused to say “sorry” again. “Okay.” He pulled his jeans on. “I’ll take a shower and get our things together.” He quit watching her. It only caused him to want to skip the mission and stay in a warm room with nothing but skin between them. He walked around her with his head down and entered the bathroom.
Forty minutes later, they left his parking spot.
“You’re going the wrong way to get to the airport. We are leaving out of Arlanda, right?”
He glanced at her and caught a nervous twitch on her lip. “Yes, but I need to drive past my old apartment.”
“Why, did you leave something behind?”
She wouldn’t quit with her curiosity. He couldn’t blame her since she agreed to leave the country with a near-stranger and false passports. “Everything I do for a reason.” He took a deep breath to relax and not torment her with the unknown. “I’m always careful to watch for followers. I’m sure it’ll amount to nothing, but I’m going to swing by and make sure no one is staking out the apartment I just moved from.”
He also considered it might be better to skip this part of the drive, but he never liked to leave any loose ends. If someone was watching his old residence, at least they hadn’t caught him and he’d have the advantage by knowing.
“Thank you.” She looked over at him. “I appreciate that you include me in your plan.”
His heart felt heavy. If she only knew what he hadn’t told her. “We’re in this together now, and it’s better for you to know your part. It’ll keep us both alive.”
He turned onto the narrow street two blocks behind his former residence. He drove as if it was any other day and this was a normal path to take. He didn’t miss a thing.
Yellow overhead lights lit the still-dark streets. Dispersed unevenly along the curb, vacant compact cars held spots on the first block. With glowing eyes, a mangy cat sneaked behind a front tire of a dark and rusted vehicle, which probably belonged to a college student. Students and people in between life and a career found this area of Gamla attractive. A reasonable rent allowed the landowners to spend minimally on the updates and interior decorating. The buildings could stand another century without interference of the modern sprawl.
“Look.” She pointed to exhaust running from the back of a charcoal, small car, possibly an Ikea, on the other side of the street. “That car’s running.”
“Yeah, I see it.” Vic slowed, yet kept moving. “Look away from that car as we pass. I don’t want anyone to recognize you.”
“How could—?”
“Just look away.” He saw her cringe when he turned his face to follow her motion. He only swiveled his neck thirty degrees so he could still drive. “I don’t
think you realize how much danger you could be in.”
* * * *
She did realize the danger they planned on intervening. When she had traveled for her work as a chemical analyst, her country and the designated work-country had a secure agreement for the safety of the scientists in exchange for a non-political analysis. The plan Vic and Alina, actually Vic, put together to return to Iraq had nothing to do with an agreement on safety between the two countries. Every move could be their last.
“Shit.” Vic tipped his head down, looked straight ahead, and aggressively drove to the next intersection. He didn’t stop for the sign and turned right, accelerating down the thoroughfare. Something had gone wrong when he’d glanced at the running car.
“What’s wrong?” Alina looked behind them.
“Don’t look back.” She whipped her head back to the front and fidgeted in her seat. “That’s them.”
“Who’s them—?”
“They happen to be old colleagues of mine, and they’re looking for me.”
She wasn’t an idiot. If his colleagues were looking for him and he didn’t stop, they weren’t on friendly terms. Vic took another turn, then another. “Are they going to follow us?”
He looked her way and then said, “They looked at us when we passed them. I hope not.”
They entered a winding street, causing him to slow down. She couldn’t help but peek back again.
“Stop looking.” He careened around a group of students lugging their backpacks across the street. “I’m sure I saw the same car behind us.”
Her nerves began to jump into action. They hadn’t even gotten out of town, and danger came close. Too close for what she had envisioned. Her fantasy world of saving her cousin Christa had been a game. She’d imagined an uneventful plane ride to Iraq, subtly visiting the chemical factory where she’d assumed Christa occupied a meek hostage boarding room, requesting an innocent visit, and taking her back home.
What a fantasy.
That’s why she’d so readily accepted Vic’s partnership in this venture. He had connections and knew the bad side of people and how to get around it. That’s the impression she’d gotten.
She jerked against the hard armrest of the door as he whipped the car around another corner. “I did see them,” he informed her. “We have to get rid of them one way or another.”
“Which way will work?” She shouldn’t have asked. She knew, if from nothing else than news reports, how the good and the bad ended their relationships. She wasn’t even sure which side she really represented.
The evening of her escape over three months ago from the Iraqi regime blasted through her mind along with the sounds of pops from rapid-fire machine guns and deafening explosions of bombs, not always the homemade variety.
The first bullet was the worst. It scared the bejesus out of her and caused her to knock over a few flasks of chemicals as she jumped and stumbled all in one. The sound had sent a shock that made her whole body tremble. The next weren’t as alarming, but more dangerous as the sound searched her out in the building. It all became a roar that she tried to leave behind.
It sounded nothing like the bullet that pinged at the trunk of the car. Vic swerved as Alina gasped. She grabbed the edge of her seat, glancing his way. His face froze into harsh lines, those of a person deep in active thought. She had to get a hold of herself. She’d survived before and she’d do it again.
“Vic, take a left at the next intersection.” He looked her way, raising his eyebrows. “Just listen to me. I know how to get out of here, or else let me drive.” She pulled on her strong side. There wasn’t any turning back at this point, and she needed to leave the quietly controlled woman behind.
He took the designated turn. “Follow that curve, then turn on the one-way street.”
“It’s the wrong way.”
“I know. There shouldn’t be much for traffic at this hour. Those guys chasing us will be left behind.” She saw the doubt cross his features, but he did as she instructed. “Now, wind up the next street to the right. They’ll never have a clue to this maze of streets.”
“I hope when we come out they aren’t waiting at the other end.”
“The only other way to get to this neighborhood is to take a long way around, which would be a minimum of fifteen minutes. That’s a two-way street, and we’ll get there well ahead of them, if they even find it.”
Within five minutes they arrived at the other side of the neighborhood. The street she had indicated would put them back on course, without a tail.
His hands relaxed on the wheel as he resumed a normal pace, always watching in the mirrors. “You must’ve been a tour guide here, or something?”
“No, but when you know the area, this group of streets is easy to distinguish.” She wasn’t aware that he knew where she’d grown up. “It’s a popular visiting spot, because of the universities and architecture. I’ve been here many times before I moved.” He listened. He looked interested. He had too many good qualities. She definitely would continue on her own at the right time.
Chapter 13
“Damn it, didn’t you get enough sleep last night?” Duchaine snarled and turned to Eikem in the backseat.
“Hey, you didn’t give me a good shot.” Eikem defended himself out of pure surprise. “I am one of the best, but without an angle it doesn’t happen.”
“Let’s give a call to our other men, let them know Grant’s on his way.” Borland pulled into a half-full parking lot occupied by overnight vehicles.
Eikem’s pride took a beating. His favorite way to counter that happened to be a great defense accompanied by a dose of anger. “Listen, what’d you want me to do? Shoot out the window and kill him?”
The pause before the answer sparked a nerve in Eikem.
“No, of course not.” Duchaine made light of the questions. “We just want Grant back in DC.”
A tremor of unease rippled through Eikem’s chest. “Right. The boss, Kreis, told us to bring him back from his assignment.” He shouldn’t have said that. He felt like he admitted to something not entirely true.
* * * *
“Maybe we could stop for a break?” Alina felt fatigued after the short, but intense chase.
“Not a good idea.” Vic steered onto the main route to Arlanda Airport. “Did you also forget that you’re the last patient your doctor saw before she was killed?”
Alina stroked her thigh, feeling a sheath of sweat sprout on her palm. “You don’t think I had something to do with that, do you?”
“No.”
The car hummed over the dry pavement. “Am I going to be in trouble for leaving?”
“I’m sure the police will want to talk to you.”
“Maybe we should’ve waited for them, then left?”
“We wouldn’t be leaving then.”
The man she shared the car with had so many faces. One minute she’d love to spend all day in bed with him, another he organized and thought out details to an extreme that left her clueless as to her part, and yet a third side didn’t appear to have consideration of the law.
She had to think fast. “I do wish we could stop for something to eat before we fly out. I haven’t eaten anything since early yesterday.”
“We can do that closer to the airport.” He was all business now.
The sun began to lighten the landscape. Mounds of snow curved up and down the swells of land, interrupted by tall conifers decorated in white. Normally, she could enjoy being the passenger and marveling at the scenery. This morning the colorless cold didn’t sparkle and shine off the rays of reflecting sun. She shivered in spite of the heat blasting from the car vents.
With the airport in sight in what appeared faster than possible, she pointed out the exit marked for their airline.
“Keep an eye out,” Vic warned. “Our last escort had a reason for not taking care of business, I’m sure.”
“But they shot at us. Didn’t we lose them because of the path we took?”
He
shook his head. “Partly, but if they really intend on getting us.” She could tell he chose his words carefully. “Either they’re still on our trail, or more likely, others will be waiting along the way.”
Eyeing the upcoming food joints, she spotted a contender. “Pull into that restaurant, The Burnt Nickel.” She indicated a mid-sized establishment to their right. Another ten or twelve businesses, mostly places to grab a bite, lined up next to the chosen one. She picked The Burnt Nickel because she noticed plenty of distraction and other people to camouflage their entrance and exit. She began to think like a spy, or maybe a thief? Her goose bumps doubled.
* * * *
“I wonder who the chick was with him.” Eikem whistled and pushed back against the bench seat in the rear of their car. “Guess it’s just as easy to get a woman in a foreign country.”
Duchaine turned to the backseat with a glare and then returned his attention to the streets. “Eikem, is your aim off this morning?” The sun barely had topped the horizon. “That’s why you’re with us.”
Eben bunched his shoulders at the continued cynicism and condescension. “If I had any type of shot, I would’ve been able to hit my target. Maybe you need driving lessons.”
The chilled air outside the car didn’t keep the heat from rising within. Borland jumped in. “Let’s cool it, okay. Unless Grant’s gotten himself into some other type of trouble since he’s been in Sweden, he’s going to suspect that we found him and that’s not good.” He had called the southbound unit. “Grant and his, uh, over-nighter, at least I hope that’s all she is, will think we’re behind them. They’ll get another surprise when they arrive at the airport. Where else would they be going in such a hurry in the middle of the night?”
“True.” Duchaine settled down. “No one gets up this early unless they have a destination and have to be on time.”
The car remained silent for the next few turns in the road, back to where they started at Grant’s former residence.
