Dreamspinner Press Years One & Two Greatest Hits

by J. M. Colail

  Jack looked up at him. “I need to sort this out, Lucas. I can’t let her turn this into a sideshow. So we’ll need to lay low for a while. Can we do that?”

  Lucas’s heart cringed at the intense sadness in Jack’s eyes. “Haven’t we been discreet all this time?”

  Jack moved to kiss Lucas; his eyes closed and Lucas could almost see the tears building up behind his lover’s eyelids. “Please give me time and space to solve this, baby?”

  Lucas could only nod as Jack left him sitting on the couch. As he heard the front door close, he pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, suddenly feeling the cold.

  “THANKS FOR meeting me here.”

  A few days after the fight with Maria, Jack had called Sean and invited him for drinks after work. They went to a café in the inner City of Brussels, far enough away from the European district that they wouldn’t bump into anyone from the other embassies.

  They were both nursing their third beer and had been talking about the old times, when they were still anonymous junior staff members, being sent to whatever embassy needed their particular expertise.

  Sean knew that even though he and Jack were old friends, these days time was too precious for both of them to waste it getting plastered in a bar.

  “I can’t believe you asked me here just to talk about the old days, so shoot; what is it you really wanted to talk about?

  “Well, I need your expert advice on something, Sean,” Jack sighed. “Something personal.”

  Sean chuckled and took a swig from the pint. “So you figured, let’s ask the guy who’s made a total disaster area of his own private life. You’re the one who always used to give me advice, remember?”

  Jack didn’t smile. “I asked Maria for a divorce.”

  Sean looked up at Jack and the smile left his face as he saw his friend wasn’t kidding. “Christ, Jack. I always figured you two were perfectly matched. What happened?”

  Jack shrugged. “We were pretty good together, but far from perfect, Sean.” He didn’t know how much he could tell Sean. Would his old friend understand?

  “Well, no marriage is perfect, mate, but you and Maria always made it look so effortless and she is a better diplomatic wife then all three of mine put together.” Sean chuckled and then added, more seriously, “What went wrong?”

  Jack sighed. He couldn’t just blurt it out, no matter how close they were, not everything at once anyway. “I met someone else.”

  “Come on, Jack,” Sean’s smile returned. “Is it that redhead that works at reception? She must be quite something if you’re willing to leave Mrs. Perfect for her.”

  “It’s not her.” Jack got out his wallet to pay for the beers. “Listen, Sean, I was wrong to come here. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

  Sean grabbed Jack by the arm as he tried to get up. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t very clever of me. Just sit down. You obviously want my advice, and I am clearly saying all the wrong things.”

  Jack let himself fall to the chair again. “Well, you are the master where foot in mouth insertion is concerned.” A brief smile crossed his face.

  “One of my many talents.” Sean showed his most disarming smile. “So I gather she wasn’t amused when you told her there was someone else?”

  Jack shook his head, still staring at the table. “She won’t give me a divorce.”

  “She can’t stop you now, can she? I know she can’t, my first wife tried. Just file for divorce, cite irreconcilable differences and that’s it.”

  Jack looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “She’ll drag us through the mud, hang us out to dry. The press will have a field day.”

  Sean looked directly at Jack, who was still avoiding his eyes. “Us? You and your girlfriend? She’d better get used to the scrutiny if she’s going to fill Maria’s shoes, Jack.”

  “Me and him, Sean.” Jack looked at last, seeing Sean’s face change from amusement to astonishment.

  “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?” Sean’s astonishment grew as Jack slowly shook his head, “You’re serious? Jack! A man? Christ, you really know how to screw up a career, don’t you? I mean, are you sure about this? Have you thought of the consequences?”

  “Well, if I’d planned it, don’t you think I would have done it slightly differently?”

  “Yeah, but hell, mate, a bloke? I mean, you’ve never said anything….”

  Jack shrugged. “It’s not the kind of thing you just casually tell your best friend, now is it?” Jack grew a bit quieter, more pensive. “After all, I didn’t want to lose you as a friend, Sean.”

  “Forget that, mate, as if it would bother me… but…. You’ve been married for what? Fifteen years? You have the perfect diplomat’s wife and a very senior position in the diplomatic service.”

  “Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Well, it isn’t.”

  “Now all of a sudden you’ve decided you fancy blokes and you’re going to throw away fifteen years of marriage and your career for some guy?”

  Jack thought Sean’s voice was a bit loud so he lowered his own, not wanting to draw attention to them. “It’s not all of a sudden and it’s not like I decided this. Look, Sean, forget it, all right.”

  “C’mon, you’re kidding me, right? Who the hell is it anyway? One of your security guys, makes you feel safe in these nervous times or something?”

  “No, it’s not a security guy.” He probably thinks I fancy Mark, Jack realized.

  “Hey, maybe that’s it? It’s a symptom of stress. You’re overworked; you need a break.”

  “Oh, I need a break all right. Forget it, Sean. Stress doesn’t make you fancy guys. I’ve always….” He sighed. “I’ve always liked men. I just never… acted on it.”

  “And you choose now? Brilliant timing, mate. And who the fuck is it then? Anyone I know?”

  “It doesn’t matter who it is, Gallagher.”

  Sean narrowed his eyes and looked at his friend. “I think it does.”

  “Why?” Jack realized his voice was steadily increasing in volume and toned it down. “Just to satisfy your curiosity?”

  “I know you too well. There’s something more here; you’re hiding something.”

  Jack sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t very well tell Sean it was Lucas. Sean was Lucas’s boss and would probably fire him over this. Perhaps he wouldn’t, but he couldn’t just come out with it, not without discussing it with Lucas first.

  Sean narrowed his eyes. “It’s like when you knew that Shannon was seeing that journalist. You tried to tell me, to warn me. Prepare me for the fallout. You’ve got the same look on your face now.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Sean. I can’t…. Just trust me on this one, okay?”

  “Why do I have feeling of déjà vu here, like I’m missing an important point again? At least, I know it’s not my bloody wife you’re fucking around with.”

  “That’s the Gallagher I know. Brilliant strategist, but always in the dark when it comes to feelings.”

  “Okay, you’ve told Maria about this guy, so I guess you’re really serious?” Sean looked at his friend sympathetically.

  Jack wished he could trust him with it, could trust him with the knowledge he was in love with his liaison.

  “Yeah. I guess I am… serious. Didn’t tell her, though. She found out.”

  “And now she’s well pissed off?”

  “As you can imagine…. You know her, Sean.”

  “Jeez, mate, you’ve sure made a pig’s ear of this one. What the hell is Washington going to say?”

  “Well, I can certainly kiss this job good-bye. Last time he ever picks a Democrat, I suppose. We’re all a bit too liberal for his taste anyway and here I am making that abundantly clear to him.” Jack shrugged.

  As Jack looked up he saw Sean’s eyes glisten with mischief. “Although I suppose once the job goes… well, Maria isn’t going to hang around, is she? I presume you’re going to resign? Rather than let them push you….”

  Jack looked a
t Sean, his face serious. “So you think she’d leave if I quit this job? Well, I’m not a quitter, Sean! I got where I am by sticking to my guns.” Jack sighed as he said the words.

  “Well, look at it objectively, mate. Maria’s a great diplomat’s wife, that’s for sure, but if you’re no longer a diplomat, and you’re telling me things aren’t so great between you anyway, what’s she going to stay for?”

  “Somehow I don’t think she cares how badly we’re doing, Sean. She’s holding on to her lifestyle. She says this is what she’s been working for all her life and she’s not about to let me take that away from her.”

  “I know it’s not your style, mate, but there’s quitting and there’s being thrown out in a blaze of publicity—which would you rather have?”

  “I could definitely do without the publicity. But Maria’s threatening to make it a media circus anyway.”

  “Listen to me. If you are really serious about this… whoever, you’ll leave now while you’re at the top. If you quit first, then the papers aren’t going to be so excited about it all. Get a job back in Washington, something that’s not so exciting; she’s not going to be so keen to hang around then, is she?”

  “I can’t just walk out in the middle of all this mess, Sean. I have loose ends to tie up. After that… I don’t know. Sometimes I think I want to see this through and then sometimes I think I can’t do this to him.”

  “What do you mean, do this to him? What are you worrying about him for? You’re the one losing the job, the career, the partner….”

  “It’s not just me, Sean.” Jack looked up at the ceiling and murmured to himself, “Jeez, three marriages…” and then directly at Sean. “There’s two of us in this relationship!”

  “You’re not telling me this bloke is married with some kind of high profile career too?”

  “I’m not telling you anything more, Gallagher!”

  “No, you’re not… and that’s what’s worrying me. So what are you going to do? And what can I do?”

  “I’ll have to get back to you on that one, Sean.”

  “Because you don’t know, or because you’re not telling?”

  “I have to try and sort it out with Maria first, then if I really can’t make her change her mind….”

  “She’s one hell of a determined woman, Jack. Reminds me of our dear old Maggie, the lady’s not for turning and all that.”

  “I might need your support in the talks with the Belgians.”

  “Well, I’m sure Lucas will help you there. He’s quite the up and coming star at our Embassy, you know. If only he had a wife like Maria….”

  Jack tried to keep a straight face. The last thing he wanted was Sean picking up on his reaction to that last statement. “Listen, I better go home before Maria has the locks changed.”

  “Thatcher would have done it the moment you left!”

  “Well, technically I haven’t left yet.”

  Jack got up and threw ten Euros in Sean’s direction.

  “Ten bloody Euros? Fine, I won’t take it personally. I guess I always knew I was a cheap date.”

  Jack couldn’t help but smile. Sean was a good friend. He just hoped it would stay that way.

  ALL WEEK long, Lucas arrived early for work. He’d been having trouble sleeping. He missed Jack and found that burying himself in work was preferable to lying there mulling over their relationship. It didn’t ease the ache, but at least it occupied his mind.

  Jack had told Lucas he loved him and proved it numerous times, but now Maria knew and the doubts crept in after Jack had asked him to lay low. So this was what it was like sleeping with a married man.

  Lucas finished a lengthy report on his liaison duties and the Anglo-American alliance concerning the war and realized he had time for a cup of tea before presenting the paper to Sean. The drinks counter was behind all the secretaries and above it was a TV screen that was usually muted but invariably tuned to show the BBC World broadcast. Lucas’s eye was drawn to the CNN logo and the news ticker. Although the crawling words were just moving out of sight, he read “KIDNAPPED IN BRUSSELS.”

  Lucas stared at the TV, wondering how long it would take for the item to roll across the screen again, but when it didn’t re-appear within a few seconds, he turned to one on the secretaries.

  “Who has the remote? Can you turn up the volume, please?”

  One of the young girls dipped into her drawer and produced the remote control. “We can’t turn it up too loudly, and it should really be tuned to BBC World.”

  She pointed the controls and clicked one of the buttons making the busy CNN screen disappear and the much calmer background of the BBC World News desk come into view.

  “No!” Lucas snapped at the girl. “There was something on the news ticker I wanted to know more about, change the channel back!”

  She raised her eyebrow at him, clearly not impressed, but turned the TV back to CNN anyway. The volume was up now and the reports were all about car bombings in Iraq and suicide bombings on buses in Israel. Lucas watched the news ticker intently, waiting for the Brussels item. Lucas was unsure why reading those words had made him so anxious and he tried to tell himself it was probably nothing, but something in the back of his mind reminded him that Mark had told him there was a reason for all the security around the American Embassy. He just wanted to be sure, he wanted to be able to go back to his office with his cup of tea and laugh about it, maybe later tell Jack on the phone what had happened.

  There it was on the screen, while the news anchor was still talking about all the extra money the US President was asking Congress to support his war effort:

  - US AMBASSADOR KIDNAPPED IN BRUSSELS –

  Lucas gasped audibly. Oh my God! Jack. Then he turned to the young girl and ripped the remote out of her hand.

  “Mr. Carlton, really!”

  He felt his stomach turn and all the blood drained from his face as he flicked the channels in a desperate attempt to get more information. The Flemish Belgian TV was showing repeats of the nightly news, but nothing more. The Walloon Belgian channels were not showing any news at all. No news either on the Dutch channels, so he went back to BBC World, not even aware he was muttering “fuck, fuck, fuck” each time he pressed the button without finding anything.

  “…just minutes ago. Eyewitnesses report two or three shots being fired. The Ambassador was accompanied by his driver and a Secret Service man. We will be updating this story in the course of the morning as more information becomes available.”

  Lucas was stunned, unable to think clearly. Jack had been kidnapped. Who? Why?

  What if the shots fired had been aimed at him?

  Call the US Embassy.

  Lucas turned around and grabbed a phone, dialing Gertje’s number from memory.

  “United States Embassy, how may I help you?” This wasn’t Gertje, this was the front desk.

  “You’re not Gertje, eh… Mrs. Claessens.”

  The friendly voice returned. “No, sir. All calls are directed to the front desk. Who may I say is calling?”

  Lucas knew he had to try. He took a deep breath, trying to control himself. “My name is Lucas Carlton. I am the British Liaison Officer for your Embassy. I would like to speak to Jack’s… Mr. Christensen’s secretary, Gertje Claessens.”

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t redirect you. Can I take a message?”

  It was like talking to a bloody answering machine. “No, you can’t take a message. Forget it!”

  He dropped the phone on the desk, making the secretary closest to him jump as he stormed off in the direction of Sean’s corner office.

  He threw open the door and marched into the room without knocking. Sean took one look at his liaison officer’s tense features and realized that something was very wrong.

  “They won’t talk to me at the US Embassy and the news isn’t telling us anything more, either,” Lucas blurted out without preamble.

  Sean gave the young man a stern look and then nodded at the m
en around the table. “We can resume this tomorrow after your report is finished. Thank you, gentlemen.”

  Lucas froze as he realized he had burst into Sean’s office in the middle of a meeting.

  As the men left the office Sean turned to Lucas. “Close the door, and you better have a damn good explanation for disturbing this meeting!”

  Lucas inhaled deeply and licked his lips before answering. “Someone has kidnapped Jack.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “MARK?”

  “Mark, are you okay?”

  “Mark, wake up.”

  Jack sat close to his bodyguard on the dirty floor of what looked like a garage. He was sore from being roughly shoved down after Mark had fallen against him, unable to defend himself, with his hands tied behind his back. He moved his shoulders a bit and then his hands, to promote circulation, but they were constantly tingling from lack of blood supply. He had some trouble breathing, but he didn’t think it was a major problem. As long as he didn’t inhale too deeply, he was fine.

  Mark was another matter, though. The Secret Service man had managed to get his hands untied and when the two masked men noticed, one of them pointed his gun. Jack was in the line of fire and Mark did what he was trained to do: he jumped in front of Jack. Reflex made the younger assailant fire and Mark had taken the bullet for his Ambassador. Jack could only hope that Mark’s Kevlar vest had taken most of the impact, but he was sure he had seen some blood splatter across the agent’s perfectly white shirt.

  Also… Mark wasn’t moving, but Jack hoped he was still alive. He couldn’t hear Mark’s breathing and that worried him, because it was nearly quiet enough to hear his own heartbeat. Jack tried to move so he could place his ear against Mark’s chest and sighed in relief. He could hear a faint heartbeat and quick shallow breathing. Mark was alive.

  As Jack lifted his head from Mark’s chest, the wounded man stirred and opened his dark eyes. The agent looked disoriented and frightened and his breathing, now clearly audible, was still very fast and shallow.