“Thank you,” Jack said as he stared blankly at the documents.
“She’s doing okay, you know.”
“Who?” Jack mumbled as he continued to stare blankly down at the file.
“Amelia. She is doing okay. They aren't too hard on her.” Greyson stated as he noticed Jack gazing at the documents and stack of papers he held in his hands. He could tell Jack cared for Amelia Petrovich more deeply than he let on.
Jack often kept his thoughts and feelings hidden to stay in control. He’d never admit fault nor let his guard down, but somehow Amelia got the better of him. She was as opinionated and stubborn as he was and she made him take a good hard look at himself and forced Jack to make a choice between what he was afraid of and what he wanted. Greyson wasn’t sure which choice Jack made anymore.
For a while there, Jack was getting better. For the first time in years, he had a smile on his face and managed to express a few greetings to others when he passed when he wasn’t bickering with Amelia, of course. Either emotion, however, had made Jack more expressive the past several months than Greyson had seen him in several years. As Greyson looked at him now, he knew a person wouldn’t believe that such a man could be capable of those things. At least not the way Jack looked now. He was in pain all over again.
“They finished today’s interrogation about an hour ago. I was able to talk to Amelia, and she asked about you.” Greyson said solemnly.
“You did what?” Jack said as he awakened from his dreamlike daze. He now held an expression Greyson knew all too well. The face of a scorned man. A hardened man. An angry man.
“Look Jack…”
“What gives you the right to…?” Jack enraged as he slammed the file on his desk.
“To what? To talk to the woman you obviously have too much pride to admit you, love? Why don’t you just go talk to her and fix things with her? She deserves that much from you!”
“Don’t you dare mention her name to me or talk to her about what transpired between her and me! You do not know anything about what has happened. You do not know her. She’s…she’s connected to the KGB!” Jack shouted as he stormed out of his office.
“And you do?” Greyson chased after him. “She’s in there right now being buried alive with endless waves of questioning from relentless agents, and you are just standing there letting it all happen.”
“She worked for Baladin!” Jack argued.
“They will indict her! That woman that YOU claimed to love did what she had to do. She did what she thought was right despite the consequences. She was helpless and had no other choice.”
“She was an accomplice. She had the option to tell me. If she did, I would have found a way.” Jack said.
“If you couldn’t find a way, what then? If you had pursued her parents and there had been bloodshed instead, she would have hated you for that.”
He could handle her hating him. It was far better than being burned again by someone he trusted and loved. Probably still loves but he refused to continue thinking about it. He did not want to allow himself to fall down that rabbit hole again.
“What did she say to you about me?” Jack sighed.
“She said she missed you terribly,” Greyson said as Jack looked away. Greyson saw loneliness in Jack’s eyes and knew Jack felt the same about her. “She also wondered how you were doing and I told her that you were back to your old, grumpy self. She said that it was just like a man to go back to his old habits when left alone too long.” Greyson said as he chuckled.
For a minute there Greyson could have sworn he saw a smile on Jack’s face. Only Amelia could bring it out of him.
“She’s doing okay?” Jack asked humbly.
“Yeah, she is. She hasn’t been mistreated so far. You know, if everything works out in her favor and her information checks out, she has a chance of being released. It’s a slim chance considering everything that you had stacked against her when you had her brought in. It looks virtually impossible for her. It may be suggested that she receive the maximum term of life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted. We need to do something, Jack, and you need to go in there and talk to her before it’s too late and you miss your chance.”
“I couldn’t, not after everything she did.”
“Jack, she’s not the enemy. Don’t treat her nor let anyone in the agency treat her like she’s Aleksandr Baladin.”
“You know as well as I do that even if I did try and do something to save her, it’s too late. I don’t have enough clearance anyway.”
The CIA Linguistics Field Office, as well as every agency department building, had a 10 level security clearance system. The higher your rank, the more access you had to different floors within each facility and information you had on case files. Everything throughout the agency was provided on a need-to-know basis, and Jack didn’t know who within the agency had Level 10 clearance. Anyone in Level 10 was a ghost. All anyone knew was that they existed and had all the power in the world. They could be anyone including your next door neighbor. They gave case file orders for all agents and personnel to follow.
Although Jack was in a senior position within the CIA, he only had Level 6 clearance and did not have enough say within the organization to make a case for Amelia. Greyson was merely Level 3. Jack still had to try, though.
“Do you think she will ever forgive me?” Jack asked.
“I bet she will say to you that there was nothing to forgive. You turning her in was a part of your job, and she wouldn’t expect any less of you.”
“That’s what she said to me.” Jack chuckled.
“What do you mean? Did you talk to her?”
“No, not directly. I received a letter this morning from Amelia. I’m not sure how she did it, but somehow it made its way to my office. She’s that good.” Jack smiled to himself.
“You should go talk to her before it’s too late.” Greyson laughed.
“I will.”
“Okay. Good luck.” Greyson said and patted Jack on the back as he headed towards the freight elevators.
Talk to her? He’d never be able to do it. He couldn’t look her in the eye after what he did. A person just doesn’t do that to someone that he is supposed to love. He should have never turned her in after he found out what Amelia had experienced but if they knew, they would indict her.
He pressed the up button to the left of the elevator doors and stepped inside. Jack allowed the control panel to scan his badge and retinas before it beeped a positive confirmation. A small access panel opened up and revealed a single, unmarked gray button that secretly led to the hidden interrogation rooms. Hesitantly, jacked pressed the button that chugged the elevator up again.
A few minutes letter the elevator shook as it reached its destination and the doors screeched open. Jack walked a few feet into an empty room before pushing through swinging double doors as his heart beat rapidly. He walked anxiously through the long and silent corridor that led to the holding cell that encompassed Amelia Petrovich.
What would he say to her? He didn’t know. He’d probably tell Amelia that if she cleared the charges, then she would be released sometime in the next few days but he didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was a very slim chance. He could just head back now, find a way to clear her name and let her do what she intends and disappear once released without talking to her.
She said that she didn’t deserve forgiveness, but he knew that once he laid eyes on her, he’d end up begging her for forgiveness. He’d never be able to go through with it that would be admitting defeat. Something Jack never did. He didn’t like being vulnerable, but for the first time, it seemed worth it. She was worth it.
Jack West was now standing before the doors to the room that contained Amelia’s holding cell. On the other side of the door were two security agents keeping a watchful eye on her. They were taking precautions. Jack mustered up all the courage he could without backing out and opened the door.
She looked beautiful sitting on the
cell room floor, reading a book. That’s when she looked up and saw Jack with an expression akin to comprehension. For a while, neither said a word and just simply stared at each other until she smiled.
“Can we have a moment, please?” Jack said to the security agents that were separating Amelia from freedom.
“Yes, sir. We will just be right outside those doors.” one of the agents said as he pointed towards the outer door.
“Thank you.”
“What are you doing here Jack?” Amelia finally said as the agents left the room. It sounded more like a statement than a question.
“I came to tell you that if everything checks out, then you will be released.”
“That’s great.” Amelia said and surveyed Jack up and down, “You look terrible. You haven’t gotten much sleep have you?”
“No.” was all he could say.
“I can tell. You always had a hard time sleeping. You worry too much.” She said and smirked.
“I can’t hide anything from you can I, Amelia?” he said placing his palms against the glass.
“You were never too good at hiding things, Jack.”
After eyeing him for a few seconds, “What are you doing here?”
“I wish I knew. I guess, I just wanted to see if you were okay. To see-”
“There is nothing to forgive, Jack. I’m supposed to ask for your forgiveness. I’m the one that betrayed your trust. I’m the one that kept everything a secret. If I had told you what was going on, we might have found a way to capture Baladin.”
“No, you couldn’t. It would have compromised everything. You did what you believed was the right thing. I’m sorry I reacted the way I did, Amelia. I pushed you away when I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have turned you in…I could have…”
“Don’t blame yourself, Jack. You can’t always take the punishment for me. You have to stop trying to protect me from the world. The only way anyone can learn is if you let them make mistakes, even if it means getting hurt.” Amelia said.
“It’s not your fault either.”
“Yes, it is. I had conscious control of my life, but I was stubborn and chose to handle everything on my own instead of getting help. It was too big of a burden to handle. Being here is what I deserve.” Amelia said.
“Everything is no more your fault than mine,” Jack said.
“Everything is my fault. I knew what I was doing and believed I was doing the right thing. If convicted let me accept it, do not try and appeal. Let me pay for my sins.”
“Amelia, you do not deserve to be in there. If you did, I should be there right along with you. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure nothing happens to you. I am sorry for all of this; it’s my fault.”
“So what does this all mean Jack?”
“I don’t know.”
Chapter Two
6 Months Earlier.
Revenge drove Amelia home. After hearing the news about her Uncle Nicolai’s death at the hands of the CIA, she took off on a chilly night towards Langley, Virginia. She started out in a rage in Moscow and flew towards the United States with no plan. Not at first. It just felt good to go, with her need to inflict pain and thoughts of sweet revenge blasting in her mind.
Before taking off, she had not notified anyone of her departure: not family, friends or even her godfather Aleksandr. It was a mistake, of course, her family was highly overprotective. Her parents insisted on, especially Aleksandr, knowing everyone’s whereabouts, especially hers. They didn’t trust her, and she was resentful of the notion. She spent the past several years proving herself. The Petrovichs and the Baladins were a family of petty criminals in the country of Russia, and despite being entirely successful at it, Amelia believed they were genuine people despite their behavior.
From what she knew, everyone said it all started with Aleksandr being framed by the Sledkom (Russia’s version of the CIA/FBI) to find a scapegoat to case files that the Central Investigation Department couldn’t solve. Someone needed to go down for past crimes, and Aleksandr was it. Fortunately for him, he was a free man but has been watched ever since, and anyone affiliated with him was watched too. Because of such, he and anyone affiliated were unable to lead a normal life and had to turn to petty crime to survive. Amelia didn’t blame him, what else was Aleksandr supposed to do?
Because he was #1 on the watch list, he went into hiding, and it was a rare sight to see him face-to-face, but you heard from him one way or another especially when it came to the next job. Those that doubted he existed and failed to complete his requests suffered a vicious and horrible death. Her parents, Denis and Natasha, insisted she would never be able to live a normal life but refused to let her participate in anything other than errands since she was subjected to less scrutiny than the others.
This infuriated Amelia. She has always wanted to be a part of something bigger but was refused, because she was too much of a risk. She wasn’t ready.
But after flying into JFK airport at midnight and driving aimlessly for a few hours along freeways she never knew existed, Amelia found herself in Virginia just a few miles from CIA headquarters. After that, she developed the plans she wanted to execute on autopilot.
In the dark and during the middle of the night and without anyone knowing her whereabouts, she drove the rental car up to the home the family owned for several generations on the outskirts of town. She knew the house would be empty and was glad that she didn’t have to see anybody. The last thing she needed was to have a conversation with someone. Amelia just wanted to be alone.
The sky began to lighten, and the sun was starting to rise as she turned into the long driveway marked by two brick posts and started up the descent under a canopy of century old cypress trees. The air was quiet. Magical, really. A mystical white mist eddied upward from the body of water nearby and engulfed the rental car in an eerie cloud. Anyone who didn’t know the area might have crashed into trees or driven into the embankment, but even though she had not been here since she was a child, Amelia turned confidently. Her heart was still beating with anticipation about how she will make up for what happened to Nicolai.
The rental car’s tires crunched and ground the gravel into a sandy dust as it spun until at last the car burst out of the eerie mist, and the rooftop of the family home appeared through the trees.
The family home was a grand place – a winter wonderland, and the site for lavish entertaining and gatherings – and a few romantic legends. When she was young, they used to string holiday lights throughout the surrounding cypress trees and feast on whatever her babushka (бабушка – grandmother) managed to cook up. Cook up was an understatement. Whenever babushka was around, she would always put together a magnificent feast. She was an artist in the kitchen. Once, they hosted a wedding out on the veranda, and a band of eight played long into the night.
Amelia caught her first glimpse of the chimney, and her heart jumped. Visiting the home now brought a lot of heartfelt memories she hadn’t remembered in years. It was no matter, Amelia thought. There was work to be done, and she did not have any time to waste on silly memories. After a good night’s rest, she would continue devising her plan and avenge Uncle Nicolai and the family.
A few weeks later.
“Ah, fuck!”
The field agent’s overhand punch landed her square in the jaw as she tried to swing at him with a shaky hand, and suddenly there was no sound as the lights went out. Nothing but silence and darkness.
“Mel? Mel? Can you hear me? Wake up. Are you okay?”
Amelia’s eyes fluttered open as she woke up in a groggy haze several minutes later and tried to sit up quickly until she felt a wave of dizziness and laid back down. Amelia tasted blood and felt her cut lip. She slowly tried to sit up again as the agent who had punched her tried to stop her.
“Woah, take it easy, partner.”
“Not bad, Greyson.” she said to the field agent as she felt her jaw as she cautiously stood up and walked over to the wall mirror near t
he training room entrance.
Greyson Clarke, two levels her senior, was the field agent assigned as Amelia’s partner when she first enlisted with the Central Intelligence Agency, weeks ago. Amelia had moved through the screening and background check faster than anyone in agency history. The standard application and investigation process took about a year on average, but Amelia was skilled at computer networking systems belonging to high-level government agencies and was able to alter records to speed up the process for herself and left no tracks. She was one of the best in the world, and nobody even knew it. A talent very few people in the world possessed, yet it was something that naturally came to Amelia.
She was able to undergo the thorough background investigation where the agency examined her life history, character, reliability, and her sound judgment. She also went through coercion, a polygraph, physical fitness tests and medical examinations all in a matter of a few weeks.
As far as the agency was concerned, Amelia was ‘Mel Antonov,' a Russian-American born in Brooklyn, New York with dual education in Linguistics and Forensic Psychology from Kings College London. Her falsified records also stated she was the adopted daughter of Art History professor, Maria Antonov. None of it was true, of course, but it was all a part of the plan she developed when she first arrived in the states. It was her plan.
Looking into the mirror now, she muttered to herself, “As usual, you do everything in a big way, Petrovich.
“Hey look, I’m sorry Mel, but it’s all a part of rookie training. You have to undergo constant physical training. The bad guys out there are extremely tough, and you have to learn how to disable them quickly and efficiently.” Greyson said as he walked up to Amelia.
“It’s alright. I understand. Do you mind if we call it quits early today? I’m just not really feeling up to it. We can do double duty tomorrow if you have the time.” Amelia sighed.
“It’s no problem. I have time tomorrow. We do need to connect later today, we have to go over a case file that I want you to shadow me on so that you learn how a case file develops and closes.” Greyson instructed.
Break Away Page 27