A Dark Place

by Keith Yocum

  CHAPTER 8

  I’m throwing up, and I can’t stop. What should I do?”

  Dennis sat in the lobby talking to Fred on the phone and was stressed; he was waiting for Judy to come downstairs, but he had Fred on the line, complaining of a terrible hangover.

  “Jeez, Fred, if I wasn’t busy right now I’d take you to an ER. You want me to come over? You sound like you have the flu or an E. coli infection.”

  “No, stay where you are,” Fred said. “I’ll call the front desk and ask them to call a cab to get me to an ER. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  “Will you call me from the ER?”

  “Sure. Just my friggin’ luck.”

  Dennis hung up as Judy came out of the elevator. He waved, and she hustled over, smiling gently.

  “Feel like taking a walk?” he said.

  “That would be brilliant,” Judy said.

  And so they walked in the late afternoon through the bustle of an early rush hour. Judy was hoping that Dennis would start the conversation they both dreaded.

  Instead, he acted like an excited adolescent; he held her hand and tugged her through the crowd until they found one of the many small parks in London, where they slowed their pace and talked nonstop.

  He kept talking about work and would hardly let up. While she and Dennis were not strangers, much of their relationship existed around a series of dramas in Australia and one brief period in Arlington, Virginia, involving a shooting. Her prior experience with Dennis had swirled around emergencies. Their romance had grown exponentially around these incidents, but it had also fallen off precipitously after they were separated by distance.

  Her memories of him did not exactly coincide with the reality of the man holding her hand. She remembered him as taciturn, rebellious, confrontational and moody, though also vulnerable, charming, and a little self-conscious.

  This Dennis would not shut up and kept chattering about his new assignment, a funny fellow investigator named Freddie, a visit to a government electronic listening post in the north of England and even his new boss.

  “And what’s this you said about dogs?” Dennis asked, as he stopped at an empty park bench.

  “Oh that,” Judy said. “Well it started out as a routine search of a salvage yard — I think you Yanks call them junk yards.” Judy spent the next twenty minutes reciting in precise detail the dog attack, the shooting and the aftermath. She was surprised at how much emotion she brought to the story, and as an afterthought, wondered whether she had been downplaying the trauma to herself.

  “That’s awful,” Dennis said when she finished. “Can’t say I’m surprised about poor intelligence. You’d think with our multibillion budgets that our folks would know where the hell a deputy chief of station disappeared to. It’s all the same; guesswork and luck. They’d have you believe it’s technology and science, but to me, it’s just guesswork and luck.”

  The late afternoon weather was pleasant, with a mild breeze from the east, rustling the bare branches. The sun — a rarity, Dennis noted, for London during his stay — had moved behind the buildings and cast long shadows.

  “So, Judy,” Dennis said, “what do you think of us?”

  “Us?”

  “Us as a couple? What do you think of the chances of us being a couple?”

  Now that he had brought up the subject, Judy froze. She had rehearsed a couple of variations of the ‘there’s-a-good-time-to-end-a-relationship’ talk, but now she couldn’t make her mouth work. It was not that she had lost her nerve, it was just that she found Dennis so engaging and comforting. He engulfed her two hands in his on a London park bench, using those damned blue eyes to penetrate her defenses.

  “Dennis,” she said, slowly, flickering her head sideways to remove a wisp of her hair from her mouth, “we simply can’t be a couple this far apart. I think we’ve been over this on the phone. I can’t move until Trevor goes on to uni. And I feel unsettled about leaving my mum and dad and sibs. And you don’t seem interested in leaving the States. I mean, honestly, how can we be a couple? I’m not saying I don’t miss you or want you; that’s not the case at all. But we can’t do this any longer. It’s not fair to either of us.”

  As the words tumbled out, more or less like she’d hoped they would, Judy found herself feeling immensely sad. She stared down at the ground to avoid his blue eyes.

  There, I said it, she thought. God, that was awful.

  “Well, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem going forward,” Dennis said. “I’ll just move to Australia.”

  Judy frowned in disbelief. It had never occurred to her that Dennis would really join her in Australia. She considered every other option, but she never seriously thought he’d move so far away from his home.

  “You’re joking,” she said. “That’s not funny, Dennis.”

  “No, I’m serious. I’ll leave the States and see if I can get a transfer to Australia. Won’t be the same job, but I think I can swing that. Someone important has offered to help me get assigned there.”

  She sat looking intensely at his face, seeking a clue to what was happening. He beamed a smile back at her, though the longer she remained silent, the more his smile wilted at the edges.

  “Isn’t that what you wanted?” he said. “Or has something happened in the meantime that I don’t know about?” He let go of her two hands. “Never occurred to me that you’d meet someone else. Jeez, what a dope.” Dennis leaned back on the bench and stared off across the park.

  “No! Dennis, that’s not what I mean. There is no other man in my life. I just didn’t expect you to want to move to join me. I guess I’m shocked. But in a good way.”

  She reached out quickly and now grabbed his two hands in hers. “Look at me, Dennis. There is no other man. You’re the one I wanted, but you caught me off guard. I’m still processing what you just said. Can’t you see that?”

  Judy leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth.

  He turned. “We’re okay? As a couple?”

  “Of course we are,” she said, kissing him again. “But Dennis, you exhaust me sometimes! You’re so unpredictable. But like I said, in a good way.”

  ✦

  Fred’s face was yellowish, and his thinning hair looked almost translucent.

  “You still look like shit,” Dennis said, pulling up a chair.

  The emergency room was more cluttered than what he was used to in the States, but Dennis was able to find someone to direct him to a bed where Fred was being kept in a curtained-off area.

  “Flu. Can you believe it? Friggin’ flu in London.”

  “Were you making out with the Serbian or Lithuanian model?”

  “No, we just danced. And drank vodka.”

  “When are they going to let you leave here?”

  “They pulled some blood and are running tests. Have to wait to see that I don’t have bubonic plague or ebola.”

  “Have you told anyone back at Fort Meade that you’re in the hospital?”

  “Yeah. Told my boss. I called him an hour ago. He’s all in a tizzy. Wants me out of here ASAP. If they keep me over, he’s going to get me moved to the Royal London Hospital. Says they have a special unit there for idiots like me who should be protected from themselves.”

  “I’m sure it’s fine,” Dennis said. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No. You should go. You got your old girlfriend here, right? The one you said you were going to break up with.”

  “We’re not going to break up after all.”

  “Ha. I’m shocked.”

  “Well, it just happened. I’m going to move to Australia after we wrap this one up here in London.”

  “I guess congrats is in order, then. Am I going to meet this Judy?”

  “Sure, but get your ass out of the hospital first. Is there anything I can get you before I leave?”<
br />
  “Nothing. Actually, you can bring back one of the models to snuggle up with.”

  “I thought you’d be looking for a bridge game.”

  ✦

  Dennis spent the night in Judy’s hotel room. They had dinner in the hotel restaurant then a couple of drinks at the hotel bar and barely made it through the door before the clothes were ripped off and they went at each other.

  Afterward, Dennis lay on his back staring at the ceiling while Judy turned on her side, toying with the hair on his chest.

  “You’re serious about moving to Australia,” she said. “Right?”

  “Of course,” he said.

  “But you didn’t tell me when.”

  “When would you like?”

  “Tomorrow?”

  He laughed. “When this assignment is over, I’ll put in a request. They’re treating me with kid gloves, as it were. My guess is that they’ll want to keep me happy, and if I request it, they’ll just move me over to operations and then post me to Canberra. But I’ll work out of Perth.”

  “They’ll just do that? Just because you ask?”

  “Well, if you remember, the Australia event and the aftermath was a huge embarrassment. And it appears I have another benefactor, an influential congressman.”

  Dennis explained how he was attached to the current case and the role that Representative Barkley played in it.

  “I’m impressed that he picked you out,” she said, yawning and resting her head on his shoulder.

  Dennis could feel her thighs and breasts press against him.

  “Did you notice something?” she said.

  “Notice what?”

  “You didn’t notice then,” she said.

  “Did you get your hair done? Did I miss that?”

  She laughed. “No, not that. I got a tattoo.”

  He gently pushed her off his shoulder and sat up on his elbow.

  “A tattoo? You?”

  “Yes, but you didn’t notice.”

  “Where is it?” he said.

  She turned away from him and pointed to the base of her spine, just below her panty line. Dennis bent forward and laughed.

  “It’s a rising sun, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it’s the Australian military badge. I did it to remember my dad. Couldn’t think of anything else. Just thought I’d be daring. I lead such a dull life.”

  She turned back around and snuggled against his shoulder.

  “I think it looks cute,” he said.

  “It’s silly, but a woman has to be silly every now and then.” She yawned.

  “You going to sleep?”

  “I’m exhausted,” she said, her voiced muffled with her face pressed against his chest. “You fly in sardine class halfway ’round the world and see how you feel.”

  Dennis had not felt a naked woman pressed against him under the sheets since the last time he’d slept with Judy nine months ago, and he was having trouble hiding his arousal.

  “God, Dennis,” she said. “Don’t men ever get tired?”

  “Apparently not tonight,” he said.

  “Before I acquiesce,” Judy said, “can you tell me how much longer you’re going to be on this case here in London? I’m hoping it’s not going to be for long.”

  “At this rate, I’d be surprised if this thing isn’t closed up in a couple of weeks. I keep thinking we’re stumbling onto something, but they’re all dead ends.”

  “In that case,” she said, reaching for the light, “game on, as you Yanks say.”

  CHAPTER 9

  No, sir, he checked out late yesterday. He’s been transferred to another hospital, but I’m not at liberty to disclose it to you,” the woman said.

  “Was it the Royal London?”

  “Please, sir, I’m not able to provide any further information.”

  Dennis hung up and wondered who he could call to find out where Fred was but realized he had no contact information for anyone at the NSA, including Fred’s boss, Stephen Manfort.

  “What’s wrong?” Judy asked, buried under a comforter in bed.

  “Oh, my pal Freddie got sick, and they moved him to another hospital and won’t tell me where he went. Ridiculous. And I don’t know who to call.”

  “He’ll be fine, I’m sure,” Judy said, pulling back the covers. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept completely naked before. Dennis, you sure make a woman do strange things.” She jumped up, grabbed some clothes from the bureau and went into the bathroom. “I’m going out for a jog. I need some exercise.”

  “I thought we had enough exercise last night,” he said.

  She opened the door several inches and said, “Well, I need more exercise then.”

  “I’m going to head over to my hotel,” he said through the closed bathroom door. “I’ll call you after I take a shower. I may need to do some work. That okay?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  ✦

  His cell phone rang while he was shaving in his hotel room. He walked out of the bathroom and looked at the number. It was an agency number he recognized.

  “Hey, Louise,” he said.

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in my hotel room, why?”

  “The same hotel as Kaczka?”

  “Yeah, same as Freddie’s.”

  “Pack your clothes and get out. We’re taking you somewhere else.”

  “Wait! Louise, give me a second. What kind of place are you taking me to?”

  “A safe house. There will be some medical personal and technicians waiting for you. They’ll explain everything. Hurry, the hotel you’re in is being shut down.”

  “Wait! I don’t understand. Can you at least—”

  “Damnit, Dennis, will you please just do as I say and quit asking questions. Go now. There is a silver utility van waiting outside for you with the company logo of Wilshire and Sons, electricians. Just knock on the back door and they’ll open it. Get in and do exactly what they tell you to do. Got it?”

  “Got it, I guess.”

  ✦

  Dennis hurriedly packed and left the room. In the lobby he saw several policemen and two men in white overalls behind the counter talking to one of the employees. As he approached the receptionist, she said, “Oh, Mr. Cunningham, no need to check out. We’re all set. Your stay was on us. Goodbye.”

  The two men in overalls stared at Dennis.

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, but the hotel is being closed unexpectedly and will not be charging our guests for their stay. Thank you and have a good day.”

  Dennis pulled his roll-on suitcase to the entrance and pushed through the revolving door. He spotted the utility van but stood still while he called Judy.

  “Hey, it’s me. I know you’re out jogging, but something has come up and I’m being moved out of this hotel. Not to worry. Will contact you soon. Please don’t stress about this stupid change of hotels. Hope you had a good run.”

  Dennis put the phone in his pocket, went up behind the van and knocked.

  The two doors opened. Inside sat a woman and a man on one side of the van, both wearing what looked like Tyvek overalls that covered their shoes. They wore caps, breathing masks, goggles and purple medical gloves. They pointed to where Dennis should sit on the other side of the van. The man closed the door and the woman tapped on the Plexiglas shield to signal the driver, who took off.

  The woman held a white instrument the size of a cigar box in one hand and a long wand with a wire attached to the instrument in the other hand. She leaned over and ran the wand slowly over Dennis’s body, starting at the soles of his shoes, up to his crotch, down the other leg, up the outside of legs, then across his chest, his face and hair.

  They never spoke.

  “What are you doing?�
� he asked the woman.

  She shook her head, which he took to mean, “Don’t talk.”

  But he was in no mood.

  “Come on folks, talk to me. What are you doing?”

  “Shut up,” the man said through his mask.

  “No,” Dennis said. “Tell me what you’re doing.”

  The man and the woman looked at each other, with, Dennis determined, a can-you-believe-this-dope look.

  The woman raised the forefinger of her right hand over her mask-covered lips in a universal sign of “shush.”

  Dennis sighed and leaned back in disgust as they used the same device to go through his suitcase and belongings.

  Dennis’s cell phone rang in his inside jacket pocket, and he pulled it out. He saw that it was from Judy and was about to accept the call when the man across from him plucked it out of his hand and turned it off.

  “Hey!” Dennis yelled, reaching for the phone.

  The man held it over his head out of reach, and Dennis stood up to grab it. In a surprisingly quick maneuver, the woman jumped forward with all her momentum, hit Dennis in the chest with her outstretched arms in the middle of his chest and slammed him back onto the bench. Dennis flashed with anger and was about to jump up when he noticed the man now held another device that Dennis recognized as a Taser.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dennis said.

  The man and woman simultaneously shook their heads back and forth in the universal sign of, No, we’re not fucking kidding.

  ✦

  Judy had mapped her run beforehand using an app for her smartphone. She stretched in the hotel room, took the elevator downstairs, and then started to run paying close attention to the street signs. She did not see any other runners until she got to the large park, where she encountered several other runners and commuters flying by on bikes.

  She ran faster than her normal pace, but it did not bother her because she was so happy. In the nine months or so she had struggled through so many issues that happiness had seemed a thing of the past. But today she was thrilled, and the exuberance took her by storm as she swept past commuters and mothers pushing strollers through the park.