“All I can tell you is what we found,” answered Shields, “which was nothing.”
“And you searched them thoroughly?”
“Not a strip search, of course, but as thoroughly as we could.”
“My people will take care of that. Let me know when you arrive at the interrogation site.”
“Yes, sir.”
At the same moment Shields and his team were leaving San Francisco International Airport, a Gulfstream was parking in front of a corporate hangar at the southern end of Oakland International Airport. On board the Gulfstream were Xin Li and Straw Sandal, plus the twelve Shí bèi fighters.
Their diversionary plan had been simple. Allow surveillance cameras in Washington to capture them purchasing tickets for San Francisco. Allow surveillance cameras to capture them passing through airport security. Allow surveillance cameras to capture them boarding the aircraft.
Except the two women boarding the aircraft were not Xin Li and Straw Sandal. They were imposters.
What the cameras did not capture was an identity switch inside the women’s bathroom near the gate, where Xin Li and Straw Sandal exchanged clothing and wigs with two Chinese women waiting there for them. Ten minutes later, after makeup adjustments, the imposters boarded the San Francisco-bound aircraft looking like Xin Li and Straw Sandal. As predicted, Federal agents took the two imposters into custody when the aircraft landed.
Xin Li’s phone chimed as she was leaving the Gulfstream. It was a text from AK in Hong Kong, who, like Charlie, had been trying to locate an address for the Quiet Waters Community Center. Unlike Charlie, AK had been monitoring Talanov’s internet and cell phone usage for more than three months, as ordered by Xin Li, who wanted a backup plan in case she was not able to extract the needed information from Wu Chee Ming. As expected, Talanov was taking precautions to not reveal any identifying information between him and Babikov, including use of their names or where they were located. However, AK’s search also involved generic internet and cell phone usage involving specific combinations of keywords in both Russian and English, such as Colonel, Major, Andrea, Spetsnaz, Russia, Wilcox, and Gustaves, and their frequency of usage, along with several KGB-specific codewords that only a former KGB agent would know. The result was a San Francisco IP address in the Hilltop Community Center.
With a cold smile, Xin Li led Straw Sandal and the Shí bèi fighters toward a pair of brown Suburbans parked near the hangar. Before long, they would arrive at the Hilltop Community Center. Before long, Talanov would be hers.
Before long, she would have her revenge.
CHAPTER 18
Talanov, Ginie, and Su Yin were the only people left in the kitchen. The big meal was over and the kids were gone, although their excited shouts could be heard in the gym. Talanov was rinsing the last of the stockpots when a lanky Hispanic teenager named Manuel appeared in the doorway dressed in basketball gear.
“Hey, Mr. Talanov,” said the boy.
“Hey, Manny, what’s up?”
“After practice, a few of us will be hanging around for a game of HORSE. We thought maybe you’d want to join in. You know, maybe bet a few bucks on the side?”
Talanov feigned a steely glare and Manny grinned.
“Is that a yes?” asked Manny.
“It’s a yes, but if I win, you’re doing dishes around here for a year.”
Manny ran back into the gym. “He’s in!” he shouted to resounding cheers from the other kids.
Talanov looked over at Ginie with an exaggerated glare. “This is your fault, you know,” he said. “You and that sucker shot of yours.”
While Ginie laughed, Su Yin finished putting the utensils away in a drawer and came over to position herself directly in front of Talanov. She was still in her pink leotard and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. “There’s nothing ignominious in losing, Alex, especially when you gave it your best. Besides, if you’d won, Ginie would have done the cooking and she’s nowhere near as good as you.”
“Hey!” protested Ginie, flicking water at Su Yin.
Su Yin giggled, gave Talanov a hug, then turned and ran from the kitchen.
“She certainly adores you,” said Ginie.
“What eleven year-old kid uses words like ignominious?”
“The three of them – Jingfei, Kai, and Su Yin – were homeschooled by their parents, who were eccentric geniuses, according to Jingfei.”
“Is that why you run a homeschool program here at the center?”
“It’s what started it,” Ginie replied, “which has now grown into a charter school for more than twenty kids, with Jingfei and several parents lending a hand. We get to tailor our courses to what kids actually need, with greater one-on-one, and courses that include life skills as well as the basics.”
“What happened to Jingfei’s parents?” asked Talanov.
“Car crash. Jingfei doesn’t think it was an accident, but the police report said differently. So the case was closed and social workers were brought in to find the kids a foster home. When that didn’t work out, there was talk about splitting them up. So the kids took off and have been on their own ever since. Jingfei and Kai were pretty angry when they arrived here at the community center. At God, the police, adults, the whole system. Which explains why Kai keeps getting in trouble, although Jingfei, who went through her own rough patch, seems to have stabilized. I’m not sure what caused her to straighten out, but she did.”
“And Su Yin?”
“She’s always been the sunny little moral compass of the three. And she certainly has taken to you.”
“My cheering section of one,” said Talanov with a chuckle.
“The kids all love you, Alex. I mean, sure, they love me more. Who wouldn’t?”
Talanov laughed.
“So, if you ever get tired of that boring life of yours down in La La land, move up here. We could use another basketball coach.”
“For what, comic relief while you keep suckering me with more of those crazy shots?”
“Sounds good to me,” replied Ginie.
With a laugh, Talanov finished rinsing a stockpot and placed it upside down on a rack. With a grin, Ginie picked up the pot and began drying it.
“Besides,” added Ginie, “how else am I going to keep feeding all of these kids?”
Talanov laughed again and dried his hands on a towel.
“Seriously, you were great,” said Ginie. “So many of these kids have never had an adult male in their lives. Especially one who’s such a good sport.”
“It was fun being . . . normal.”
“Alex, you are anything but normal.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve never had much of a normal life, so when you finally get a taste of it, you really don’t want it to stop. Has Zak told you much about us?”
“He said you were in the military together, and that you’re working now as a consultant in Washington. That’s about all I know.”
“Zak gave you the sanitized version. The unadulterated version includes us being in the KGB, which was the Soviet Union’s secret police, which means enemies from those days sometimes come calling to try to even a score. And others get caught in the crossfire.”
“It can’t be as bad as that.”
Talanov continued to absently dry his hands while images of his wife’s death slashed through his mind. Then the death of Larisa’s friend, Jade, who had been a trafficking victim like Larisa. He could still see Jade’s blood flooding the floor after she had been shot by the Russian mob.
Then another image, this one of a window exploding into a thousand pieces when Wilcox was gunned down in a hotel room.
“Alex, are you all right?” asked Ginie.
Talanov refocused and smiled. “I’m good. Are we done?”
Ginie laid aside the stockpot and looked up at Talanov with her dishtowel still in hand. “Okay, so maybe Zak did tell me a little more than I let on. He said your wife was killed.”
“She wasn’t just killed, Ginie, she was assa
ssinated, and died in my arms. So did someone named Jade, as well as a good friend of mine named Bill, who almost did, except Larisa and I got him to a hospital and saved his life.”
“Who’s Larisa?”
Talanov looked away and thought about what to say. Was sending Larisa away the biggest mistake of his life? Or had it indeed saved her life, even if no one but he appreciated that fact?
“Alex?”
Talanov looked back at Ginie. “Point is, I’m the common denominator in everything that’s happened. I’m the reason people get shot. I’m the reason people die. That’s why I find it easier and safer to withdraw.”
“That’s a lousy way to live.”
“I know, which is why I started driving up to see Zak. He says I need to start living again. That I can’t keep living in fear of what might happen.”
“Sounds like good advice.”
“Maybe. But Zak’s not the one who keeps getting people killed.”
“Then why do you keep driving up to see him?”
Talanov frowned and again looked away.
“Is it because you want to believe him, and that down deep you know he’s right?”
Talanov shrugged.
“But that it’s taking a little more time to adjust than you thought it would?”
Talanov shrugged.
“Are those shrugs a yes?” asked Ginie, elbowing Talanov playfully.
“They’re maybes,” Talanov replied.
“Then, how about we practice those maybes?”
Talanov responded with a quizzical look.
“Pizza, tonight, with Zak and Emily. My treat.”
Talanov shuffled uneasily.
“Don’t tell me you don’t eat pizza?”
“Of course I do. Who doesn’t?”
“If it’s an issue of wheat, they offer gluten-free as well as genuine organic sourdough. Awesome flavor. Perfect crust.”
“It’s not that, it’s just . . . you know.”
“Let’s see, now, what was it Zak said again?” Ginie asked, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, as if struggling to recall what Zak had said about Talanov needing to start living again.
Talanov rolled his eyes.
“Look around you,” said Ginie. “You’ve been playing basketball in a community center, which is about as public as it can get. You just cooked a huge meal for sixty neighborhood kids, who have been talking about you all over the place. Has anything bad happened as a result? No. You’ve been teaching martial arts, too, and going to the store, and doing all kinds of things. Don’t you see? You are living again. You’re taking Zak’s advice.”
Talanov was still unsure and his face showed it.
“We’re talking pizza in a cafe down the hill,” said Ginie. “A local joint. Now, hurry up and wipe down the kitchen while I make a reservation.” She laid down her dishtowel, picked up a dishrag and tossed it Talanov’s way.
“How come I have to wipe everything down?” asked Talanov, catching the rag.
“Because you lost the bet.”
“You can be a real smart ass, you know that?”
“My middle name,” Ginie replied.
CHAPTER 19
Ten minutes later, Talanov and Ginie left the kitchen, crossed the basketball court and pushed through the double doors into the foyer. To their right was a large window that looked into an office. Behind a front counter were four desks, two of which were occupied by counselors Amina and Ramona. Their heads were down and their eyes were focused on their computer screens. Ramona had spiked black hair and metal studs in her nose, and her arms were covered with tattoos. Amina had auburn hair matted into dreadlocks, and was dressed in a tie-dyed T-shirt. Both girls were in their early twenties. Both were former prostitutes and former drug addicts who had made successful new starts in life.
Ginie rapped on the window and the girls smiled and waved.
Across the foyer was Emily’s office, which was really an office within an office, with a small, windowed office built into one corner of a larger office. The inner office was where Emily had her desk. The outer office was like a waiting room, with a front counter, sofa, two chairs, a tall plant, and a wall of books.
The door into Emily’s inner office was closed, but through the windows Talanov could see Zak and Emily on each side of Kai, who was staring at the floor, his shoulders slumped, his hands in the pockets of his baggy jeans. Zak was on one side of Kai, his hand on Kai’s shoulder, talking earnestly, while Emily, angry and exasperated, kept throwing up her hands while lecturing Kai from the other side.
“What’s happening in there?” whispered Talanov.
“Kai keeps getting in trouble, but the cops all know Zak, so when they catch Kai, they bring him here rather than throwing him in lockup. So Zak pays the damages – or Emily does, as she constantly reminds everyone – after which she and Zak lecture Kai.”
“How’s that working out?”
“Take a wild guess. Personally, I’d let Kai sit inside a jail cell for a few days before having him assigned to a work detail somewhere. Once his actions start costing him, he’ll figure things out.”
Sitting huddled on the sofa, Jingfei looked up from her phone and saw Ginie and Talanov. She hurried out of the office and ran over to them. “Can we talk for a minute?” she asked.
“Sure,” answered Ginie.
“I’ll head back into the gym,” said Talanov.
Jingfei grabbed him by the arm. “Actually, it’s your help I need.”
“Mine? Okay, what’s up?”
“You’ve got to talk to Zak,” Jingfei said. “They’ve been in there for, like, two hours, and Zak needs to lighten up.”
“What do you mean?”
“He needs to quit telling Kai the courts are going to take us kids away.”
“Is that true? Is there a danger of that happening?”
“I suppose.”
“You suppose?”
“Okay, yes, there is,” Jingfei conceded. “But you don’t understand.”
“Understand what? What is it that Kai keeps doing?”
“Break-ins, shoplifting, stealing stuff. Kai’s really good at stealing stuff, and he almost never gets caught, until lately, and now it’s become this big issue.”
“Seems like an easy fix. Kai stops doing what he’s doing. Zak then stops the lecturing. Everybody wins.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“Because Kai won’t stop, and before you ask why, it’s because Kai thinks the courts are going to take us away, so why quit, because Zak keeps saying they’re going to take us away, which to Kai is the same as Zak saying he’s going to let the courts take us away, which means Zak is deserting us in spite of all that I-will-never-desert-you bullshit of his.”
Talanov responded with a look of bewilderment at Jingfei’s rambling sentence.
“I don’t understand,” Talanov said.
Taking Talanov by the arm, Jingfei turned him around and pointed at the 13:5 sign above the doors into the gym. “See that sign up there?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a reference to a Bible verse – Hebrews 13:5 – which says, I will never desert you. So when Zak tells Kai the courts are going to take us away, he’s saying that sign up there is a lie because Zak’s the same as letting the courts take us away, which makes Kai want to keep breaking into places and stealing stuff because he wants the courts to hurry up and take us away since it’s going to happen anyway, so why not get it over with now rather than later, before he starts liking it here, which he doesn’t want to do because it would be too painful to start liking it here and then get sent away, you know what I mean?”
That is absolutely the longest sentence I think I’ve ever heard, Talanov wanted to say. But he didn’t. Instead, he said, “I don’t know much about the Bible, but I do know Zak, and if Zak says he’ll never desert you, then he won’t.”
“Look, I’m not saying Zak’s a bad guy – okay? – or that Kai doesn’t need to s
top what he’s doing. And I know Zak is, like, trying to let Kai know how serious this is, and that there are consequences for his actions, but he’s got to quit telling Kai about the courts taking us away. Talk to Zak. You know him better than anyone. Maybe he’ll listen to you.”
“Are you saying this is Zak’s fault?”
“Yes!”
“Seriously?”
“Okay, no, maybe not entirely, or maybe not at all, but if Zak wants Kai to stop, then he’s got to stop first, and that’s just the way it is, like it or not, and you’re the only one who can make him stop.”
Talanov opened his mouth to reply but Jingfei cut him off.
“Please! I already told you how long Zak and Emily have been in there with Kai, which is, like, for two hours. Would you listen to anyone yelling at you for that long?”
Talanov remembered being yelled out for hours on end when he was sixteen and in the military, where he was made to stand in line with other recruits while drill sergeants at their training camp in Siberia took turns marching back and forth in front of them, yelling insults and dousing them with freezing water. The only way he made it through those sessions was by thinking of a warm beach somewhere, which was precisely what Kai was doing right now: tuning out.
“You know I’m right, don’t you?” said Jingfei. “I mean, look at them. Emily and Zak don’t even listen to one another, and believe me, I’ve heard them yelling and fighting, so how can they expect Kai to listen when they don’t listen? Kai didn’t even get to eat with us, so I brought him some food because they wouldn’t let him leave, and he’s still in there, getting hammered. You’ve got to do something!”
Talanov opened his mouth to reply but Jingfei cut him off again.
“I’m right, aren’t I, Ginie? Go ahead and tell him. Tell Alex to do something. Tell him to talk to Zak.”
With a grin, Ginie made a sweeping motion with her hand toward the office for Talanov. It was a gesture that said, “Over to you.”
Talanov responded with a, “Gee, thanks a lot,” scowl before returning his attention to Jingfei. “What kinds of things do Zak and Emily fight about?”
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