by Edward Klein
Nutwing was starting to hyperventilate.
“Again, let me repeat: who gives a damn?” I told him. “None of this has anything to do with me and Taitsie.”
“Higgy, please! We want you and the entire Tchaikovsky Circle to come back. We need you. We want you to do what only you can do: save America from Barack Obama!”
Just then my GlobalStar GSP 1600 satellite phone beeped. I looked at the LED screen and didn’t recognize the number.
“Yes?” I answered.
“Please hold for the director,” said a female voice on the other end.
A click—and Leon Panetta, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, came on the line.
“Mr. Higginbothem, do not—I repeat do not—acknowledge me by my name or my position. If you understand this just say, ‘Hello, Dad.’”
“Hello, Dad,” I said.
Taitsie refilled Nutwing’s iced-tea glass and began some meaningless chitchat with him about equestrian riding. That was a laugh. If Nutwing ever got up on a horse, he’d break the nag’s back. I walked up to the bow of The Escape so that I’d be out of earshot.
“Mr. Higginbothem,” Panetta said, “Higgy, if I may…this is a delicate matter. The CIA needs you and your Tchaikovsky Circle back as soon as possible. However, after dispatching Whitney Nutwing to persuade you of the urgency of the matter, it dawned on me that he, not you, may be the real impediment.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Here is what I’m offering you,” Panetta said. “I’ll retire Nutwing at once and relocate him to his beloved Rome, where he can speak Italian to his heart’s content. You’ll never see him again. And, Higgy, I am offering you Nutwing’s job. You will oversee all our clandestine domestic political activities, reporting only to me. Your Tchaikovsky Circle will remain intact and report to you.”
After Whitney Nutwing was back on the USS Annapolis, Taitsie and I stood, hand in hand, exchanging light smooches, and watched the gigantic nuclear submarine disappear under the sea.
“Taitsie,” I said, still holding her hand, “that satellite phone call was from Leon Panetta, urging me to return to the CIA and offering me Nutwing’s job.”
“Sounds tempting,” she said. “Are you tempted?”
“Taitsie, there are three things I believe in,” I said. “First, you and Vier. My love for you and our son means everything to me. During those years of separation, I realized I couldn’t live without you.”
She squeezed my hand a bit harder.
“Second, I believe in God,” I said. “I wouldn’t be alive and here with you today without that faith. I would be a useless, selfish, aimless alcoholic. Believing in a Higher Power has humbled me. And, believe me, I needed humbling.”
I paused for a moment and then continued.
“And third, I believe with all my heart in the United States of America. Whatever may be wrong with our country, whatever may be wrong with its corrupt and venal politicians, we are privileged to live in America. When I joined the CIA, I thought it was the best way to serve my country. But after recent events, I wonder if I made a huge mistake.”
Taitsie and I watched three seagulls glide gently over The Escape. The Atlantic was calm. The sun was hot. And there was a light breeze.
“Bottom,” Taitsie said at last, “you still haven’t answered my question. Are you tempted to go back?”
I looked at this beautiful woman, who still filled me with excitement and passion after more than twenty-five years of marriage.
“As I told you when we recommitted ourselves,” I said, “there will be no more secrets between us. So whatever I may want to do will only happen if we want to do it together.”
Taitsie scoffed at that sentiment. “Bottom, I never had a problem with your working for the CIA,” she said. “It was the not knowing why you were away, the not knowing why you would not tell me what you were doing or where you were going. The not knowing who you were with and when.”
“I understand.”
“So,” she said, “what will it be? Sail the seven seas? Or go back now and serve your country?”
For a moment I could not reply. I’d become used to wandering aimlessly over the seven seas, not shaving, not primping, allowing the total lazy bum inside me to ride this horse. At the thought of going back, I wanted nothing more than to heave the weighty cares of the world into the rocking waves.
“Who knows?” I said. “Now’s not the time to decide such matters. Now’s the time for Sie müssen aufhören!”
THE END