He only had one day before he left for Washington. He couldn’t tell the cops who he was or what he was doing in the motel.
Reanna was stunned
that Jim never returned home. She left the house early in the morning and drove to the hospital. When she entered the parking lot, she drove up and down the aisles until she spotted the black Pontiac with the rear window broken out. She parked next to Anatoli’s car. When she didn’t see anyone nearby, she exited her car and approached the Pontiac, unlocked the door and sat in the driver’s seat. She searched the glove box and back seat area but everything was clean except for the shattered glass in the rear seat and floor. There were several splotches of blood on the inside driver’s door and dash panel. She reached under the driver’s seat and pulled out a .40 caliber Browning High Power semi-automatic pistol with a mounted silencer. She held the pistol close to her stomach, covered it with her purse and carried it back to her car. She opened the trunk and wrapped the weapon in a towel, placed it inside, then locked the trunk. Reanna looked around and saw some employees walking to work but they were not nearby. She smiled while she walked with a swagger to the hospital for another day in surgery.
Multiple surgeries throughout the day kept Reanna busy, but thoughts of Jim and Anatoli plagued her all morning. Reanna went to Anatoli’s floor after the lunch hour. The floor nurses were having a meeting in the conference room. With most of the nurses off the floor, she went to Anatoli’s room.
When she entered his two-bed room, Anatoli was lying in the only occupied bed with bandages on his face and shoulder.
“Hi, how are you feeling?” asked Reanna with a smile as she walked to his bedside.
“Okay, I guess,” he said in a low but flat guttural voice. “I’m awake,” he mumbled. Who are you, do I know you?” His eyes searched for the answer.
“Not officially,” said Reanna in her soft-spoken voice. Her heart began to beat a little faster, but she managed to remain calm on the outside.
“Well, you do look familiar.”
Reanna shot him a look and then smiled. “Well, your face I will never forget.”
With squinted eyes, Anatoli studied Reanna’s face. “I don’t understand…who are you?”
Reanna smirked and said, “I can see your face behind that .40 caliber Browning pointed right at me before you sped away a few nights ago.”
“That was you?” he answered, his eyes shot open and his mouth fell. He tried to shout for help but was too weak to utter more than a hoarse whimper.
“You should know better than using a pistol to shoot somebody from that distance across the street. Shame on you, who are you working for?” asked Reanna.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as he glared at Reanna. He lifted himself up on by his elbows, and made a lunge at her but she jumped back.
“Look Anatoli,” said Reanna, “I’m not a patient person. This could get ugly very quickly. I would suggest you cooperate; you might not enjoy the consequences if you don’t.”
“Big bluff, lady,” he rumbled.
“Don’t try me. Now, who are you working for, and what is his name?”
“You’ll never find him.”
Reanna pulled her fist back then jammed it into his operated shoulder. His eyes went wide as he winced in pain. “His name is Yuri. There, now you know and now you can leave me alone.”
“What’s his last name?”
“Go to hell, lady.”
“Okay, if that’s the way you feel it’s okay with me. I got the information I wanted. Just relax. Here, you might be more comfortable with two pillows instead of one. Let me help you.”
Reanna crossed the floor to the other bed and picked up the pillow and returned to Anatoli. “Here, this will help you sleep,” then slammed the pillow down over Anatoli’s face and pressed down with both arms with all of her weight. Anatoli’s one arm began to thrash and his feet began to kick at the sheets. His weakened body squirmed but Reanna maintained a tight grip on the pillow while she looked back at the doorway. Reanna took in deep breaths and kept heavy pressure on the pillow.
This’ll teach you to try to take my Jim away from me. Come on, Ruski, die…die.
The only sound in the room was his muffled cries for help which soon stopped. His one arm fell to his side and his body became quiet. Reanna raised the pillow and felt his carotid - no pulse. She stood up and returned the extra pillow to the second bed.
She looked at Anatoli and said in Russian, “Go to hell, you bastard,” then walked out of the room and headed for home.
Reanna was surprised
when she entered an empty house. She had expected Jim to be there when she arrived. He needed to leave for Washington. She began to organize a few personal items for her upcoming trip. She went to the kitchen and filled two glasses with her favorite white wine and placed them on the coffee table in the living room, their favorite chatting spot. She turned on the radio to their favorite easy listening station and returned to the couch. After waiting for an hour, she began to pace back and forth; she knew something had to be wrong. She picked up the telephone and called S & S Engineering. Her brow wrinkled as she listened to the ringing of the unanswered telephone while she twisted several strands of her hair around her finger.
Then she dialed Carl at home and he answered on the second ring.
Without waiting for Carl to speak, Reanna said, “Carl…Reanna. Have you heard from Jim?”
“No, why?”
“He said he would be right home, but that was hours ago.”
“I haven’t heard from him, but if and when I do, I call you right away. You sound worried; don’t be. You know Jim can take of himself.”
“Yeah, okay thanks,” and Reanna hung up the phone.
She could look for him but this was a big city. She’d never find him.
She walked to the door, grabbed her pistol and returned to the couch. For a few more hours, she reclined on the couch but the pistol remained clutched in her hand.
* * *
The following morning, Reanna awoke on the couch and still no Jim. If Jim was hurt, the best place to look for him was at the hospital. She showered and put on clean whites and left for the hospital. She walked directly to Emergency then the admitting office and with the clerks, searched the records for Jim but came up empty.
With reddened eyes, Reanna proceeded to the OR’s employee lounge, took off her jacket and poured herself a cup of coffee from the coffee station. She was still early for work so she sat down at a table to think.
This wasn’t like Jim at all. Something was wrong. She assumed he was probably okay but not knowing was tough. She felt helpless.
She reached over to the counter and retrieved the morning newspaper from the short stack that was delivered every morning. She laid the paper out flat on the table while she held the cup in her right hand and sipped her coffee. She perused the first page then turned the page. Her eyes shot wide open and she said, “No, no,” as she slammed her cup down on the table splashing coffee as she did a double take at a mugshot of Jim with the caption, ‘Jim Wilson, local businessman caught breaking and entering at the Sleep Tight Motel.’
“No, no,” she said, shaking her head as she slapped the paper back down on the table. Her cheeks were burning. This couldn’t be true. She’d go to the station and get him.
Another nurse walked into the lounge and said, “Reanna, there’s a telephone call for you at the nurses’ station. I think—”
Reanna jumped up from the table, ran to the nurse’s station and saw the black telephone off the hook lying on the counter. She grabbed the phone and said, “This is Reanna.”
“Carl here—“
“What happened to Jim? What’s going on?”
“Calm down, Reanna. Jim couldn’t make a telephone call from the jail until this morning. Knowing he only had one phone call, he called Mac’s twenty-four-hour number. Mac called me.”
“What did he say?”
“Mac said he would handle this with the police commissioner and Jim should be released shortly. What was he doing at the motel?”
“Um…I don’t know. All I know is that he didn’t come home last night. I guess we’ll both find out today. I’ll be here—available to get Jim.”
“We’ll see, I’ll let you know. Talk with you later.”
“Thanks, Carl,” and she hung up the phone, sat down at the desk, her shoulders slumped forward. She couldn’t believe this.
Reanna received a
telephone call from Jim when he was released. Reanna was relieved and quickly drove to the police station to pick him up. She saw Jim standing on the front steps when she arrived and she pulled up by the curb. Jim got in and said, “Let’s go, let’s get out of here.”
Reanna, with a huge grin, leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Although she felt like celebrating, she immediately sped away. She looked at Jim, “Welcome home, sailor. What happened?”
Jim placed his hand on her thigh and shook his head, “I found a box of forty caliber bullets in the motel room. I was also able to decipher a telephone number from a notepad. Then I called the number.”
“Great, who was it?”
“Hold on to your seat, hon. It was the CIA.”
“Are you kidding me…the CIA?” exclaimed Reanna.
“Yes, this character had apparently been in contact with the CIA. I think there’s a mole in the Agency and I don’t have a clue as to who it could be. What a helluva time to go on a mission. I’ll be looking over my shoulder every day looking for a hit man. This sure makes our lives more complicated.”
Jim inhaled deeply then said, “When I was leaving that motel room, a group of cops with drawn weapons were waiting for me. The motel clerk reported me as an intruder. Even after Mac called the chief of police, the cops still didn’t want to release me. They wanted to know more of why the CIA was involved and my involvement with the CIA.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him as little as possible. The commissioner dug in his heels even after he talked with Mac…unbelievable.”
“You should decline this mission; it’s too dangerous.”
“I can’t,” answered Jim. “We could actually prevent another war but we can’t take anything for granted. It might not be too safe for you at the house either. You should find a quiet motel someplace, just temporarily.”
Reanna paused for a moment then smiled, shook her head and said, “No, I can protect myself at home better than at some strange motel. I’ll only be at home for two days anyway until I travel to meet up with you.”
Jim observed Reanna’s determined look and said, “Okay, but be careful. What did you find out at the hospital?”
“Anatoli said he worked for a Yuri.“
“I’ll press Anatoli for more information when I get back,” said Jim. “I’ll get him to talk.”
“Umm…I don’t think that’s possible.”
“Not a problem, I’ll get it alright,” said Jim in a non-wavering voice, waving his hand nonchalantly.
She cleared her throat, “Honey, that won’t be possible. You won’t be able to get
any
information from him. He spoke his last words today.” Reanna glanced at Jim, then back to the road. “Sorry, but I couldn’t take the chance. He recognized me and well…I guess he just quit breathing.”
“Uh-huh. Did you help him?”
“Um…well a little,” she replied. “I had to. I couldn’t afford him knowing about me. It wouldn’t have been safe for either one of us.”
“Was there a hassle?”
“No, I just quietly put him to sleep…never to wake up of course.”
“What did you say to him?”
“I told him to ‘Go to hell,’ in Russian I might add. And guess what…I think he did.”
“Well, there’s no trace of me at the motel. I was arrested for breaking and entering…nothing to do with a Russian spy.”
“And there’s no trace of me in Anatoli’s room either,” responded Reanna.
After a few moments of silence, Reanna said, “Oh by the way, in all the excitement I forgot to tell you about Anatoli’s weapon.”
“What was it?”
“It’s a Browning semi-automatic pistol with a long silencer. The silencer was longer than the barrel itself.”
That’s a good weapon,” said Jim, nodding. “Where did you find it?”
“In Anatoli’s car in the hospital parking lot, it was under the driver’s seat. The balance of the car was clean except for a little blood on the driver’s door and dash panel. Of course, the rear window was blown out. The magazine holds thirteen rounds but mysteriously, it only contained ten. Isn’t that surprising?” They both grinned.
After they arrived home, Reanna said, “I think we need to start pulling back our involvement in the Agency. You have a good job at S & S Engineering and we should be happy with that.”
Jim shook his head no and said, “Even though S & S manufactures microwaves, it’s just a front for the CIA research activity on the second floor.” He began packing his suitcase.
Reanna crossed her arms and blew out a noisy breath. “When we quit the Agency, maybe we can settle down like normal people. A normal life like you promised me when we got married…remember?”
“That’s my goal, hon, to settle down and enjoy life with you.”
Jim closed and locked the suitcase, stood up and said, “I need you, Reanna. I need more of you in my life. My life seems empty when you’re not around.”
“I feel the same way. We’re perfect for each other. Although the life we have is wonderful, I guess I just want more.”
Jim carried the suitcase to the front door, a practice he always followed in case of an intruder. He placed the case next to the door so it would be knocked over if someone came through the door.
“Reanna, I’m going to shower, then relax this evening. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
“Come on, Jim, I’ll go with you, I too need a good evening.”
As they undressed in the bedroom Jim admired Reanna’s perfect body and porcelain face. He realized how lucky he was to be married to her. She was perfect in every way and yet so dainty. Just the same, she could be a real tiger when threatened. They entered the shower, sharing the same warm water, lathering up each other’s bodies.
“I love you, hon,” said Jim as he continued to gently apply soap suds over her silky smooth skin, then he moved behind her and soaped her abdomen but slowly lingered over her breasts. After a few moments, Reanna turned, faced Jim and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his athletic body.