“No, it’s fine Dad. I will go over there after dinner,” she replied.
“Y’know I also remember the Christmas of ‘95…daddy can I have this hair brush, daddy can I have this lip mascara, daddy…” Stephanie’s face creased and she stopped listening. Her father continued to recount the ‘good old days’ to himself as he checked the cookbook. ‘Lip mascara’ she thought, her ‘daddy’ didn’t have a clue. As he rambled on to himself she rolled her eyes.
“I’m gonna go and drop the gifts over to Gunther. Save me going back outside later,” she hollered from the front door.
“Oh… yes good idea,” he said. Stephanie was already treading snow.
Gunther was very pleased with all the gifts. As he did every year he gave Stephanie an expensive bottle of champagne to thank her for her effort.
Barely a word was said over the dinner table. Stephanie was famished after her long day and so her father studied Gunther’s gifted bottle of Champagne with his reading glasses; a trendy pair that Stephanie had picked out. At around nine o’clock Stephanie showered and then walked back down to the living area. Her dad was watching the American football highlights from yesterday’s games.
“Have you seen my bag?” she asked, leaning into the room with her body still in the hallway.
“I put all your things on the kitchen table, sweetheart,” he replied, sipping on a glass of Jack’s.
For the first time that day Stephanie was able to check her phone. She knew that there would be a few missed calls and messages but when she saw a message from Lindon her heart skipped a beat. His name was saved as Ben on her phone. On their second date he had told her that he had been born with the name Ben but had changed it. She called him Lindon as he asked, but saved his phone number under Ben as it suited him better, she thought.
Questions rushed through her mind. He’s back in Sweden? Catch up? We haven’t spoken in years, why is he contacting me now? She stood unable to move for a moment. Stephanie didn’t know how to respond or even if she should. Lindon disappeared and hadn’t bothered to contact her, but he had been very clear when they first met that his job meant that he could be here one day and gone the next. Years ago this had sounded exciting but today all the thrill of dating someone with such a chaotic approach to life had faded, but she had missed Lindon. He had a charisma and charm that made her smile and although she hadn’t thought about him for a while he still remained in her heart. After ten minutes her father called from the living room.
“Princess, could you bring me the rest of the bottle if you’re still in the kitchen?”
Stephanie snapped bolt upright “Yeah, no problem.”
After bringing in the bottle she sat on the sofa whilst her father sat in his recliner chair, complete with cup holder and a compartment for snacks. Stephanie watched a few highlights on the television. The Broncos were scoring a touchdown and the fans were going wild. Stephanie looked back at her phone. She had received a couple of other messages that she was yet to read. One was about work and could wait until tomorrow and another was from her work colleague that had left early thanking her for covering.
“Do you remember a guy I dated a couple of years back by the name of Lindon?” she asked. Her father paused and stroked his chin. He muted the game and looked upwards at the ceiling whilst pinching his index fingers together.
“Yes, I think so. American guy with good table manners,” he said.
“How do you know he has good table manners?” Stephanie smiled like a little girl.
“I remember you kept saying over and over again that he had great manners. Even walked on the road side of the path like a true gentlemen, said please and thank you, was very well mannered to strangers and left good tips for waiters. These are the details dads like to hear… and we remember!” he enthused.
Stephanie was amazed at his memory. Last week she had asked him the name of the cat they owned when she was six. He couldn’t remember the name, he couldn’t remember having a cat, he couldn’t even remember their old house address; but he remembers that a guy she dated left good tips at a restaurant. Stephanie was tempted to accuse him of spying but knew that he would laugh off such an accusation.
“Yeah well… he messaged me today. He’s back in Sweden,” she said.
“Hmmm,” was the mumbled reply. As nice as this man may have been he hadn’t bothered to call or write to his daughter for over a year and that was no way to treat his little girl. “Good time of year to vacation I suppose.” He unmuted the TV but kept the volume low as he anticipated a response.
“He wants to meet with me.” The screen muted again as a player licked his thumb with the ball on the floor in front of him.
“Oh, and you’re planning to meet him?” The answer was carefully guarded so not to sound too positive or negative. Many years of parenting had taught him that if he said she shouldn’t do something he only made it more tempting. Stephanie had always had trouble with men. Boys at school were too immature and her heart had been broken in college as a junior. Stephanie rarely dated despite her stunning good looks. Men were constantly asking for her phone number but she declined to give it. She was waiting for the right guy, but had no real idea who the right guy was.
“Well I’m not sure, it has been quite a while,” Stephanie said quietly.
“Mmm yes it has.” Her father tried not to sound too disapproving but couldn’t help it.
“But he did explain this would happen… to be honest I was upset when he left,” Stephanie admitted. Her father didn’t need to be reminded of when she was upset, he could recount every occasion in her life she had been happy and sad.
“Yes I remember,” he said with one eye on the television.
“Well I think I kind of hoped he would contact me again, but I wasn’t waiting for him or anything,” she said.
“No, I’m sure you weren’t.” There had been a few tears when he had left, one of the reasons Lindon was easy to remember was that he was the last guy Stephanie had dated past the first outing, and the last man she had shed a tear over.
“Well I mean I suppose it would be good to catch up… as friends. I’m sure he’s been busy and so have I. We could have a nice catch up. Two friends just catching up with each other’s lives.” Stephanie was smiling and her dad noticed.
“Sweetheart, if you want to meet with him then you should. At the very least it’s a break from your routine. You know how many times I’ve told you to break your routine, have some fun, enjoy life, like me and your mother used to… every weekend before you were born we would head off to the ski slopes or a beach. Go rock climbing or go for cookery classes. We had fun, and so should you.”
Stephanie had to admit to herself that she had allowed her life to get stuck in a rut. She could get any job she wanted and could live anywhere she liked, but she liked the charity work. Although it had been very demanding recently with the increased number of refugees needing support in Sweden. Her job was rewarding. Helping people less fortunate gave her a great sense of achievement at the end of every workday, but the charity was chronically understaffed. Long hours had become part of her life. Stephanie always felt she couldn’t do enough. The world had too many problems for one individual to solve, and too many people were wrapped up in their own lives to help.
“Yeah I know, dad, but you know how work is. If I could go away every weekend I would,” she said, looking down at her phone screen.
“If it’s money you need, I’m happy to pay, sweetheart. Don’t feel like you’re taking it from me. It’s your inheritance after all and I know that you could do a job that paid you handsomely but you choose to do something selfless in a world filled with greed. That work you do makes a difference but you have to remember to take care of number one sometimes.” The recliner chair clicked into the upright position as her father leaned forward onto his knees to give Stephanie the ‘I know best eyes’.
“It’s not the money, dad. I know you wouldn’t begrudge me spending thousands on beach holidays
and ski trips but if I go away then what happens to all the people that need help now?” Stephanie exhaled heavily and let her head fall forward a little, then raised it swiftly. She looked over to her dad who remained in his ‘I know best’ position on the recliner. He stared at Stephanie. A few seconds passed.
“Right. Fine. I’m going to take time off. I have helped a lot of people this year. Maybe you’re right, I deserve some ‘me’ time. It’s Christmas in a couple days. Time to relax. I will tell them tomorrow I’m taking a month off. In fact even better I will email the manager now. They will understand, right?” Stephanie’s hand shook at the thought of some excitement in her life.
“Of course they will. Stephanie, you’re their best worker. They are lucky to have you, and what are they gonna do, fire you? Haha. Book some time off. Book a trip somewhere. Get some sun and go and meet this Lindon guy, but keep your guard up. You haven’t seen him in quite a while,” he warned with a frown.
“Thanks daddy. You’re always there with your great advice when I need you… and yes I will be cautious.” They hugged and Stephanie walked to the hallway. “Don’t wake me up the morning, I’m having a lie in!” she said.
“No problem, sweetheart,” he called as the TV screen flashed up with an action replay. Stephanie could hear her father groan as the player on the screen missed his kick towards goal.
Stephanie booked herself a flight to Thailand that night. It departed on Boxing Day. Stephanie also planned on going to Madrid or Rome before New Year’s day. She had seen so little of Europe since moving from the USA. It felt like time to start exploring. Just after midnight Stephanie picked up her phone and sent a message to Lindon:
Yeah, we should catch up some time. I will message you
Chapter 34
Christmas day brought about a mix of celebrations.
James and Bill both celebrated at home with their families. Warren had spent the night with his girlfriend. The agents guarding him were ever present and ever vigilant. Christmas was just another day for them. Patricia had stayed the night at her son’s house and woke up at 5am, said a prayer for her two boys Tom and Ben and then began preparing the Christmas dinner. Tom’s wife was now half way through her pregnancy and Patricia insisted she was only to do light duties. Roger sat at his desk in the White House. All departments had skeleton staff in for the day, except the secret service. The president was not in the office as he was spending a few days away in his home state. Kioshi was in Japan with his team. Searching, hunting, spying, nothing new had been found for days and Kioshi was furious.
Lindon awoke on Christmas morning to the snow falling in thick clumps outside the window. At least two feet of snow surrounded his cabin. Lindon wanted to call his mother and brother but knew doing so may put them in more danger, but he had a plan. Lindon called in a favor from Chris who was happy to help.
At 10am in America Chris had called Tom’s home phone. Tom’s wife answered.
“Tom or Patricia, please.” The voice had an accent but she wasn’t sure where from. She quizzed the caller on his identity. He answered “a friend”.
“Honey, there’s a man on the phone. He wants to speak to you or your mum. He said he’s a friend?”
Tom jumped from his seat and took the receiver from his wife. He walked into the family room and shut the door behind him. Chris had set up a complex connection routing his call through England just in case someone was listening. The line crackled and buzzed.
“Good morning Tom. Your brother asked me to call. He wishes you all a Merry Christmas. He’s sorry he won’t see you all but sends his love,” the man said.
Tom asked a few questions, Chris answered with little detail. “Yes, Lindon is fine.” The mention of the name Lindon confused Tom.
“You mean Ben?” he said.
“Yes,” Chris answered. Tom asked as many questions as he could but the answers were short. “Yes, he will get in touch as soon as he can.” “No, he’s not able to receive or make calls at the moment.” “Unfortunately I can’t tell you where he is.”
Tom couldn’t think of any more questions so decided to break his big news. “Please tell him that he’s going to be an uncle. I want him to be Godfather as well. Dad would have wanted it that way.” Tom stood in the middle of the family room with one hand on his hip looking at a photo of him and his brother as boys. Their dad was in the middle with a big smile and his hands around the boys’ shoulders.
“I will pass on the message,” was the answer from the mystery man.
Tom repeated the conversation to his mother word for word as she chopped vegetables and checked the oven. Chris attempted to call Lindon, but there was no answer.
At 3pm the sun was already hugging the horizon in Sweden. Lindon was shoveling snow, forging a path to his outbuilding, when he heard footsteps in the distance. He quickly ducked down and wrapped his hand around a gun holstered to his ankle. He was one hundred feet from his garage and the footsteps were becoming louder. It was too dark in the forest to see anyone. Lindon began to control his breathing, every time he exhaled a puff of mist appeared. He eased his breath in and out to not give away his position.
“Lindon! Lindon! It’s Chris, you out here?” came the call in the distance.
Lindon didn’t answer the first time and didn’t plan to until he could see it was Chris and he was alone.
“Lindon?” “You out here mate?” Chris crunched his feet through the thick snow. “I made the call. Tried to call you but there’s no answer.” The footsteps were getting closer. Lindon had a tight grip of his pistol latched to his ankle. Chris was carrying a shotgun, just in case he encountered trouble. Lindon finally caught sight of a lone figure. He noticed the gun and waited for the figure to take a few more steps.
“OK Chris, stop there.” Chris stopped in his tracks. Both men were looking in each other’s direction. There were a few seconds of tension as Lindon asked himself why Chris would bring a gun.
“I’ve got a shotgun,” Chris yelled in his broad Scottish accent. “Y’know, just in case. You all OK?” Chris said, still standing still in the cold.
“Yeah Chris. Sorry. I’m a little on edge. I wanted to make sure it was you before I said anything.” Both men were now only a few feet apart
“What are you doing out here?” Chris asked.
“Just shoveling a path to the car. Just in case I need a quick escape.”
Chris looked at the ground, the snow was still falling but had eased in speed and size since the morning. “Give me that little one,” Chris said, pointing to the smaller shovel. “We’ll get it done in no time. You do the center and I’ll do the edges,” Chris said, propping his shotgun on a rock.
Lindon handed him the small snow shovel and ten minutes later the path was complete. “Rum?” Lindon asked, knowing the answer. Chris grunted and they headed for the warmth of the cabin. “You didn’t have to come all this way,” Lindon said, stamping on the ground to dislodge the loose snow from his boots.
“When you didn’t answer the phone I thought you would probably just be outside but with how you’ve been acting lately I thought I’d better check on you,” Chris said, taking off his winter jacket and woolly hat.
“Thanks. Any messages from my mom?” Lindon asked as he poured drinks.
“I spoke to Tom. Everyone is well and you’re going to be an uncle. They’re halfway through her pregnancy.”
Lindon lowered himself to his seat, staring at Chris. Both of them were now down to their shirts and under layers as the fire roared. “Wow…girl or boy?” Lindon asked.
“He didn’t say, but he wants you to be the Godfather. Said something about that’s how dad would want it.” Lindon paused and stared at his glass. Seconds of silence passed. Chris looked at the fire.
“Oh and he’s still calling you Ben. Seemed a bit annoyed that I called you Lindon,” Chris said after taking a sip of rum.
“Yeah, it annoys him for some reason. He doesn’t like change, never has,” Lindon said, staring
at the golden brown colour of his drink.
Chris decided to ask who or what Lindon was hiding from as he had kept everything so secret recently. Lindon knew Chris was one of the few people that would understand his story. He began slowly. It took half an hour to fully explain, but there were gaps Lindon couldn’t fill in. Who had been shooting at him on the rooftop and why the authorities were snooping around his mother and brother so much recently. Chris said he thought the call he had made to Tom was being listened into. Chris had heard the additional pitch in the phone line. His SAS training had taught him how to spot when a line is tampered with. Someone was definitely listening to his conversation. He assured Lindon that he shouldn’t worry. Chris had kept it vague and the best trace in the world would take it as far as a buddy he had from the Special Forces who now lived in Yorkshire.
Chris left after an hour. His sister and her kids were still at his home as they had extended their trip until New Year’s day. Chris couldn’t wait for his peaceful life to be returned to him but secretly he enjoyed the company. Lindon walked with Chris through the pitch black outside for a couple of hundred feet through the forest to reach Chris’s car, which had a fresh powder of snow covering it. Two minutes with the brush and the car was clear. The men shook hands.
“Anything you need, Lindon, just call.”
“Thanks Chris. Send my regards to your family.”
Chris got into his Saab and slowly pulled away. The fresh snow was thick and demanded cautious driving. As Lindon trudged through the snow back towards his lodge, he thought of his family. He was going to be an uncle and he was going to be a Godfather. Alone in the forest he didn’t feel like much of an uncle. He threw a blanket over his legs and stared at the fire. Loneliness was beginning to set in.
Stephanie sent a message to Lindon around 9pm that night (Happy Holidays, hope you’re enjoying the snow up north x). The kiss on the end of the message was a new feature. Lindon reciprocated in his reply (Happy Christmas. Get anything nice? x). The text messaging helped fend off the loneliness.
The Shadow's Code Page 25