16. weird, world.
“We’ve gotten a hit on the brother’s passport,” Alyosha announced, looking up from his laptop. “At the Mexican border.”
“How cliché of them,” Elisabeta said. “What does the security footage give us?”
“The target, the brother, and the girlfriend in a car registered to the girlfriend. A ’67 Monte Carlo.”
Elisabeta whistled appreciatively. “I’m beginning to like this girlfriend-not even in her thirties and she already owns a business and knows her automobiles. I hope we can get this all handled without being too forceful with her. It’d be a pity to-” She broke off as her phone began to buzz. “Privit. Ah, Ygor. Yes, put her on.” Her voice dropped from stiff and authoritative to a warmer, gentler cadence. “Good morning, baby. Are you having fun with Tanta Katenka and Ygor? You did? Did you really? Goodness. Yes, I remember how yummy Tanta’s pancakes are-did she give you extra chocolate chips? Well, be careful that you don’t eat too many of them, else you won’t fit in your new dress for the recital next week. …Oh, darling, I’m not sure if I’ll be home in time. Yes, I’m very busy with work right now. But I’ll do my best to make it back in time-I know how much you’ve practiced. Even if I’m not there, Ygor will be sure to film it all so I can watch it later. And I’m sure he’ll be happy to take you out for dessert after. Are you doing your homework like a good girl? Brushing your teeth before bed without argument? Saying your prayers every night? Good, good. You must be on your very best behavior while I’m away, and not give Tanta any trouble. Dušana, I need to get back to work now, but I promise to call soon, alright? Alright, baby. I love you as big as the moon. Tell Tanta to give you an extra hug and kiss from me. Bye bye.”
She set the phone on the table and glanced at him, catching the bemused smile that had crept over his face. “Yes, Alyosha?”
“Oh, it’s only… I never could have predicted what a good mother you would be. Before, you were always too passionate, too reckless. The thought of you responsible for a child-a sobering cause for concern.”
“Motherhood is a great catalyst for maturity. We all have our wild days. Except, perhaps, you. Try as I might I can’t imagine you doing anything even so mild as willfully breaking the speed limit.”
“No, I’ve always been a boring and dusty professor,” Alyosha agreed amiably. “And when you came along, all spark and little temperance, I had to ground myself further just to give you an anchor to tug on. You were whirlwind enough for the Order.”
“And why is it you’ve never settled down and started a family, darling? You’d be a consummate father. I haven’t a single doubt on that count.”
“The timing was never right,” he said simply. “I’ll call Jaswinder and have him meet us at the border. I only hope we aren’t still leap-frogging each other after this. And I’ll speak to Llewellyn at Branch 5.”
“…How long has it been since you’ve been there?”
“Oh, a decade at least. Closer to two.”
“That was just before we started our partnership, wasn’t it?”
“Just before.”
“…If you’d rather not, Jaswinder and I can go in to reconnoiter-”
“No. I’ll be fine. It’s a new building, new city. Nothing to trigger old memories. And it was a long, long time ago…”
Elisabeta said nothing, but he saw it all on her face. She knew they were empty words, and that regardless of a new location and new faces, he would still be thinking heavily on Branch 5 as it used to be. She’d been all of twenty when it had happened, fresh from her qualifications for field duty and still largely innocent of how bloody things could be in real world operations. And, he had little doubt, she must have seen the security footage and investigation photos of the aftermath-her father had been High Dracul at the time, and had not believed in sparing his heir the harsh realities of their work. No, Elisabeta knew exactly what he saw when he closed his eyes and thought of Branch 5. In the early days of their partnership, when he woke in the night drenched in sweat or gasping for breath, she had been understanding and supportive in her unquestioning silence, because she had known just what his nightmares were about.
There are some things no amount of time will ever dim or erase, and walking into an office building to find the rooms splattered with blood is one of them. Discovering the bodies two days later in the desert, worried by animals and swollen from the heat, was another.
He had only been at Branch 5 for six months, but that had been more than enough time to meet everyone, to learn their stories and grow to like and admire them. Good men and women, capable agents and researchers-all gone in a single night. And he had been forced to walk away without resolution; the man responsible had been too thorny of a problem to remove at that juncture, their manpower already stretched and then even further depleted. It was one of the few times in his memory when the Order had retreated, leaving the ground to the enemy without enacting retribution. He had put in a request to be transferred and reassigned, the sole stipulation being that he would not work in Mexico again. So he had been given the task of breaking in a rookie-the High Dracul’s daughter. Most would have seen it as a demotion, or a penance, but for Alyosha it had been nothing but an honor. A truly welcome change of pace after what had happened.
Strange, to look back with the hindsight of twenty years. How much had changed around him while, inside, he still felt like the same man. A bit more haggard in the mirror and more easily tired, perhaps, but still the same Alyosha Kovalenko.
And tomorrow he would walk back across the border into a land he had hoped would remain as inaccessible as the past. Well, no one ever gets everything they wish for. And he was well accustomed to having his hopes dashed.
“Any theories as to where precisely they’re bolting to?” Elisabeta asked, jarring him from his ruminations. “Or do you think they’ve watched too many Hollywood films and think a random gang will gun us down before we can catch up to them? Perhaps they intend to lead us into a dramatic crossfire.”
“Why does anyone go to Mexico? The food, the drugs, and the cheap weapons.”
“I find it hard to imagine Ramsey Beechum’s offspring toting automatic weaponry.”
“You also didn’t think the family had enough spirit to resist our demands.”
“Touché. I’ll thank you not to point out my mistakes,” she grimaced.
“But if I don’t, Elisa, who will?”
“God, I suppose. Any progress on the girlfriend?”
“Ah, well, that’s where we’ve hit a strange block.”
“Strange? How strange? Suspicious strange?”
“Perhaps. We know she has a brother-Pawson found cards from a ‘Benji’, which would match up with the photos in the living room. But beyond school records and some income tax paid for a job at Radio Shack in Maine several years ago, the boy seems to have disappeared. I have Pawson and Nila concentrating their focus on him.”
“What about parents?”
“They seem to be estranged, or just not a serious presence. Mireille called them, posing as a friend, and they seemed honestly confused by the news that their daughter had run off-though the father did say he wasn’t surprised, that Charlotte is a “free spirit” who likes to travel. He also admitted that they hadn’t seen her in almost a year. They clearly can’t help us with information, and I doubt they would make good leverage.”
“Noted. Well, I’ll let the driver know we’ll be leaving within the hour while you notify Jaswinder. God willing, this chase will be over soon.”
“Yes-it would break Dušana’s heart if you missed her recital.”
“Perish the thought. I can’t see this dragging on, though. These children have to sleep at some point.”
“But, unfortunately, so do we.”
“I’m sure we have more practice at this, though.”
Alyosha thought of the articles Mireille had dug up on this mysterious brother. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that…”