by J A Heaton
But he couldn’t stop hugging Tina.
“Jenny told me you were by my bed at the hospital every chance you could get,” Tina said. “Thank you.”
“What can I say? It was the least I could do. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to find you still alive—”
“And why didn’t I find you?” Tina said with mock rage. “I was looking for you and nearly got myself killed.”
“Sorry. I know. Thank you.”
Despite the bruises and bandage on her left arm, Daniel still thought Tina was beautiful, even in a grungy shooting range.
“You want to shoot a few rounds?” Tina finally asked. She nodded towards the targets behind Daniel.
“Of course,” Daniel said.
“If I remember correctly, you could still use the practice,” Tina joked as she walked past Daniel.
“Hey now,” Daniel said defensively. “I shot that Russian mafia who was about to kill you in the courtyard. I even used somebody else’s rifle.”
Tina returned a blank look.
“I don’t remember that,” she said. “I must have forgotten it due to my injuries and trauma.”
“What? Seriously? I saved your life with that shot.”
Tina looked at the guns to choose from and said, “Sorry, I don’t remember.”
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
Daniel couldn’t tell if Tina was serious or not.
She looked at the rifle and said, “Take some shots with that rifle and prove to me you could have saved my life.”
“It was a different rifle,” Daniel pointed out.
Tina paused and then cracked a smile that made Daniel’s knees go weak.
“I’m just joking. I remember somebody shooting from the balcony and saving me. I couldn’t see it was you, but Rex told me.” Daniel thought he caught a flirty wink.
Daniel hadn’t thought it was possible, but he was happier now than when he had hugged Tina just moments earlier.
Tina stepped towards him, hugged him again, and kissed him on the cheek.
Daniel felt like he was heaven, but Tina turned away and said, “Let’s shoot.”
Daniel emptied several more magazines with the Swiss rifle, and Tina even gave it a try. Daniel was concentrating on his last few shots when Tina stepped away.
Daniel pulled the trigger one last time.
Crack.
“Oh, man,” Daniel groaned. He knew Tina was going to make fun of that last shot.
“Where’s your famous Glock?” Tina asked. She was standing by Daniel’s bag at the back table. “In here? I want to see the famous Glock that was finally responsible for capturing the Wolf.”
“It’s in there, but maybe we should put it in a trophy case,” Daniel joked.
Tina looked through the bag, but instead of pulling out the Glock, she grabbed a small case and held it in her hand.
Daniel realized what was happening just as Tina opened it and nearly dropped it back into the bag. Her hand covered her mouth, and she muffled a shriek. Her hand immediately went to her aching side.
“Daniel?” Tina demanded while giving him a look. “Is that what I think… Is it for me?”
“No,” Daniel said quickly. He ran to his bag to put the diamond ring away safely.
“Then who…?” Tina asked, her voice laced with suspicion.
“I’m so sorry,” Daniel said, “but it’s not for you. It’s for, well, it’s not my ring. It’s a long story, and I can’t really explain.”
Tina stood frozen to the floor.
“Oh, I didn’t think it was for me,” Tina said.
“No, of course not,” Daniel quickly agreed. “I mean, not of course, but it’s—”
“I didn’t think our relationship was like that, and I wasn’t expecting…” Tina said, finishing Daniel’s statement but trailing off.
“Well, I think I’ve had enough target practice for now,” Daniel said. “I need to get home. I promised my mom I would be there.” Daniel was embarrassed to use his mother as an excuse, but it was true, and just as badly as he had wanted to be with Tina moments before, he now wanted to get away.
Daniel grabbed his bag and hurried towards the door.
“I’ll put the rifle away for you then,” Tina called after Daniel as he left the range.
Daniel realized he had wanted Tina to be disappointed that the ring wasn’t for her.
24
The dog was barking at Daniel long before Daniel reached his mother’s front porch.
“Quiet, Pepper,” Daniel said as the dog waited expectantly, wagging its tail. Daniel saw Rex and Jenny walking together from the opposite direction. They held hands, and Daniel had to admit that the changing color of the leaves in the old D.C. neighborhood made for a pleasant stroll. Daniel wasn’t sure how he felt about two teammates dating. He never would have guessed that Jenny, the goofy computer nerd, would fall for a SpecOps man like Rex.
How would the others feel if Tina and I…? Daniel began to wonder, but then he saw Tina arrive in a taxi.
Other than a quick hello, Tina ignored Daniel and showered her attention on Pepper, the dog. The awkwardness from the previous night at the shooting range still lingered.
Rex and Jenny arrived and said their hellos to Pepper, and Daniel opened the door to lead them into his mother’s house for dinner. Rex and Jenny went in first.
Tina paused before entering. “Your mom said she has a surprise,” she said to Daniel.
“You’ve been talking to my mom?” he asked.
“It’s funny how I’ve bumped into her,” Tina responded.
Daniel felt his face turn pink as he imagined his mom trying to win Tina over for him. For once, he couldn’t disagree with her choice. He just felt slightly immature relying on his mom to find a girlfriend for him, especially one who could beat him in a fight, with or without her gun. Daniel shut the door behind him and followed Tina and the others towards the kitchen.
Daniel slowed because something seemed… off.
After a moment, he realized what was wrong. He noticed the house didn’t have the typical aroma of baking. It wasn’t like her to order out for dinner with guests.
Daniel’s mother stepped into view, welcomed her guests, and invited them to continue into the kitchen.
Daniel’s mother spent a little extra time with Tina.
“You decided to get those shoes?” Tina asked, looking down at Daniel’s mother’s feet.
“Everybody should get a pair,” she gushed.
Daniel hadn’t noticed new shoes on his mom.
She hugged Tina, who went into the kitchen.
They sure have hit it off well, Daniel thought.
“Thanks for having us all again,” Daniel said to his mom.
But she was no longer smiling. Her lips were slightly pursed.
“What’s wrong?” Daniel asked in a lowered voice. “Do you need to tell me something?”
Instead of hearing an answer, Daniel saw his father come down the stairs.
Daniel froze, unsure of what to do, let alone feel.
The man was nearly Daniel’s twin, except for the age difference.
And your father doesn’t have that cute birthmark on your neck like you do, his mother had always said.
“Hi, son,” his father said.
“I’m celebrating with friends tonight,” Daniel said, before his temper got the best of him. “Leave. Don’t ruin things.”
“I’m not leaving,” his father said. “I need to have a word with you in private.”
Daniel’s mother silently turned away and shuffled into the kitchen to join the others. Daniel stayed behind with his father, unable to speak.
A million angry questions poured into his mind.
Why is he here now?
How could he treat me and mom the way he has?
And many more.
“You’re older now,” his father began. “It’s not easy to understand, but you don’t know my side of the story. I’m sorry my work has hurt
my family—you and Diane. You need to understand that, without people like me, it wouldn’t be safe for any families.”
“Maybe so,” Daniel said. “But why mine? Why couldn’t I have a normal family with a normal dad?”
“I don’t know,” his father said. “I was good at getting the bad guy.”
Daniel guessed his father was telling the truth about that. So many of the old hands in the intelligence community had told Daniel they knew his father, and they all clearly respected him.
“But I’m not the only one good at catching the bad guy,” his father continued. “So are you, my son. You got the Wolf.”
“Are you forgetting that I washed out of the military?” Daniel retorted. “What an embarrassment to you. The mighty Mister Knox had his son kicked out before even qualifying.”
“I made sure you got kicked out,” his father said.
“What?” Daniel stared at his father. “That’s ridiculous.”
The only reason Daniel wasn’t yelling was because of his friends in the kitchen.
“I didn’t want you to end up like me. Besides, I knew you were much smarter than me. You have your mother’s mind. Diane is intelligent in a way I’m not. I knew you could—”
“And you’re the reason I got the grant to study in Central Asia?” Daniel guessed.
His father gave a slight nod.
“I’m here to tell you that I’m done meddling in your life behind the scenes. But you’ve done a lot of good. You can’t deny it. Don’t let your relationship with me get in the way. Your MDF team is a good one. We’re going to save a lot more American lives and do a lot of good. You wanted into the military because you wanted to do your part to pay the price for our country’s freedom. We can do that better on the MDF team.”
“What do you mean, ‘we?’” Daniel retorted. “The MDF team is my team, and you have nothing to do with it.”
Daniel’s father continued calmly. “That’s part of why I’m here. Peters has assigned me an advisory role to your MDF team.”
Daniel’s revulsion prevented him from arguing or asking a question.
“Peters said the Wolf you captured was connected to a Russian who goes by Misha. Let’s just say that Peters, I, and some others, go way back with Misha.”
“Back to the Cold War?”
“Back to ‘Nam. Don’t throw away your work with the MDF team because of me. It will take time, but we can work together.”
Daniel knew his father was right; he didn’t want to resign from his MDF team. He hated that his father had worked behind the scenes to manipulate his situation in the past, but refusing to work with his father wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team. But before Daniel could respond, his father continued.
“I’ve done and seen things I wish I hadn’t. I can’t undo any of those things. You will probably have to do and see such things as well. A lot of those things you will carry with you to the grave. It’s a heavy burden to carry. But you need to know that before this starts. Don’t blame me. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Americans won’t even know they should thank you. Can you live with that?”
“So, you want me to work with my absentee father to acquire a mental illness?” Daniel’s voice had an edge to it.
“Always the clever one,” his father remarked. “It might feel that way at times, I don’t know. But I do know that with you on this team, the bad guys won’t know what hit them.”
Daniel searched his father’s eyes. He detected sincerity. It was the first time Daniel remembered hearing his father say something encouraging to him.
Somehow, it went a long way towards healing his hurts from the past. At least, it was a start.
“But don’t get me wrong,” his father said, “Misha is a spymaster who has survived in this game for a very long time. There’s a reason for that. He’s dangerous. We can’t afford to underestimate him.”
Daniel’s anger had lowered from burning to a smolder, and so when his father held out his hand, Daniel slowly accepted it.
“Come on. I’m thirsty.”
Daniel followed his father into the kitchen and saw the others joking with his mom.
“Your dad and I are staying in for dinner tonight,” Daniel’s mom said with a wink, “but you kids should go out and talk about secret spy stuff.”
They all took the hint and filed out past Pepper, who desperately wanted to join them but had to remain on the front porch.
The walk to the pub with Rex, Jenny, and Tina was a blur to Daniel because he was too busy thinking about his father. He couldn’t believe his father was trying to mend his relationship with his mother.
But it was more than that.
Daniel realized that he was slipping deeper into the world of intelligence.
Will I end up like Officer Carter, with nobody in my life?
Or will I become my father, with broken relationships that spread over the decades?
And what are the odds of Tina and I working out if we’re both in intelligence?
Is it better to never know?
Daniel recalled how Officer Carter had responded when he gave her the ring from Dmitri’s safe upon his return from interrogating Edwards. He wasn’t sure if he could risk such pain in his life.
In the end, Daniel resolved to not be like Officer Carter or his father.
25
Sevastopol, Ukraine.
A few weeks later.
Nigora exited the limousine, leaving her bodyguards in the vehicle. They had strenuously objected, but in the end, only her word mattered. She entered the building and passed the guard beside the private elevator without a glance. The elevator arrived, and she waited for the doors to shut before pressing the button for the top floor.
The meeting had come on short notice.
That wasn’t a problem. What made her nervous was that she was unsure of its purpose. She fingered the pearl choker around her neck. One benefit of getting rid of Isaac was that she felt justified in replacing the jewelry he had given her. This choker was the newest addition.
When the private elevator’s doors opened, Nigora took in the refined surroundings of the penthouse suite. The marble floors stretched to glass walls that extended from floor to ceiling, and rich wooden furniture adorned the otherwise spartan interior. Animal furs spotted the floors and furniture, adding a unique texture to the interior design. It was simple, yet every detail was an expensive one to the eyes that knew what small things could cost. Nigora wondered if more wealth was contained in this penthouse than in the rest of Sevastopol.
At least Misha’s taste for luxury matches mine, Nigora thought to herself.
“Have a seat,” a man said in Russian. He was seated on the couch with his back to her. She couldn’t tell, but it looked as though he was staring out one of the windows that overlooked the city.
As Nigora walked confidently to sit in the chair perpendicular to Misha, he continued. “The loss of my best-informed agent troubles me.”
Nigora sat with her legs crossed, refusing her expression to betray anything. She wondered if he would lay the blame at her feet, though that would be unfair. But she decided he was only trying to unsettle her.
“It troubles me as well,” Nigora said, not accepting blame nor blaming another.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your husband,” Misha said. “Do you not grieve for him?”
Now he looked her up and down, taking in her ivory-white business suit accented by the pearl piece around her neck.
This is the second most powerful man in Russia, Nigora thought to herself. He craves luxury, but does he have other appetites?
She again decided to neither give nor take anything.
“He’s more useful to me dead than alive. As with you, I suspect.”
Misha held her dark brown eyes for a few moments.
“I don’t grieve either,” Misha said. “Your predecessor—” Nigora noted he neither referred to him as her husband now or by name— “had grown too unwieldy for my purposes. Besides,
I expect you to exceed him.”
“I won’t disappoint.”
Why am I here? Nigora continued to wonder. She had already decided to sleep with him if she had to. What was one more man she would eventually overtake?
“But let me show you this,” Misha said as he got up from the couch. Nigora watched him walk to a console cabinet and open a thick book. It was a photo album, and from under it, he removed a photograph. Misha walked back to the couch, now on the end closer to Nigora, and sat down while dangling the photograph before her.
“Do you recognize her?” Misha asked.
Nigora shook her head slightly while studying the black and white photo.
“I thought you might notice the resemblance,” he said. “That is your late husband’s mother. I’ve kept a close eye on her. What about your family?”
“They’re all dead,” Nigora said. “In Afghanistan.”
That’s why I’m here, Nigora thought. He wants to make sure he can control me like he did Isaac. If Isaac had ever crossed Misha, his mother would have paid for it.
Misha studied her face with his gray eyes for a few more seconds. She felt him searching for the truth. If she had relatives tucked away in an obscure corner of the world, she knew that he would find them and use them to his advantage.
But she didn’t flinch. It had been the truth.
He believed her.
“No loved ones?” Misha asked.
“Nobody but myself,” Nigora stated. For a second, she allowed Daniel to flash through her mind. When she was young, she had nearly thrown herself at him in the way she thought an American desired, but he had scorned her. But that was then. Now, she sensed Misha was searching for leverage on her. If he found none, she feared he would be forced to create some.
Nigora finally decided to give Misha something.
“I love only myself and my business dealings. They’re in the bank in Moscow. I can provide you with details.”
Both Misha and Nigora understood that he was free to investigate her financial holdings. He could also use them as collateral for her cooperation if he needed.
“Good,” Misha said with a thin smile. “I’m confident you can handle my dealings on the ground in Uzbekistan. But I know you lost many of your guards in the last altercation. Allow me to send you some of my best men.”