18. Truth Takes Time
We drove to a private airfield near the canal and boarded Arvin’s private jet. Our destination would be Europe. After takeoff, Arvin and I faced each other. I changed clothes, wearing something a little more comfortable. Julian was sitting across the aisle working on his lap top.
“Do you have any operatives left,” asked Arvin.
I think he wanted to add them to his own group. No one, not even Sark, knew about my lieutenants and what I told them. The Man was no longer in business. I shut everything down. I let my friends, my comrades, continue if they wanted, otherwise they would retire. I did keep three operative intact, because I knew Sloane would ask. I had two others, but he wouldn’t know about them..
“I still have operatives in St. Petersburg, Madrid and Cairo.”
“How reliable?”
“Reliable,” I said.
“Good.” He looked at me. “Are you all right?”
“The extraction went well,” I said. Of course, I had other thoughts.
“I’m asking about you, Irina.”
I knew what he meant. He knew I’d been interacting with Sydney, my daughter, as well as Jack. He was probing for my regrets, but he wasn’t going to get them.
I’d made my choice. “I’m happy to see you again.” Big lie, but I was using all my charm that dazzled men before this to make him believe it. I knew he didn’t know yet about Nadia and I wasn’t going to tell him until the time was right, if then.
“I was thinking the same thing myself,” he said. “What about the genetic database?”
Sloane was in hiding unable to show himself. His picture was plastered in every police station all over Europe, the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Far East. I’m sure they were even in the bigger cities of those continents not thought of. Part of his plan was to obtain the genetic codes of millions, especially those located in Europe. I wanted those genetic codes for something else...a possible lead on Nadia’s whereabouts.
“Sark and I will meet you back in Zurich. As soon as they are acquired, you’ll have the files.”
“Good. I’ll be in Tuscany with Emily.”
“How is she?” I was genuinely concerned. Sydney told me Emily had died of cancer, but I did know different. It was all a part of his scheme to divest himself of The Alliance, Emily was alive.
“She’s in remission. The hard part for her now is missing the people she had to leave behind, especially Sydney. You know how much we loved her, as if she were our own.” He smiled.
I looked at him and was not amused. I turned to Sark. “Excuse us.” I waited as he stood and left; then I leaned forward. “I see through you. You must know that.”
“This is who I am.”
What the frack is he talking about? “You may need to think of yourself as an honorable husband, a father figure, but I don’t. I will never see that man in you, which frankly is why we have this agreement.”
“You need to get some rest,” he almost sneered.
“Never talk to me about your love for Sydney again,” I warned.
He stood, “get some rest.” He turned and left
I leaned back in my seat thinking. I would have to proceed with care if I was to attain my goal. He wasn’t going to know about Nadia either. Not if I could help it!
Several hours later, we landed in Stuttgart. I’d changed clothes wearing a business type suit. Sloane handed me a briefcase and Sark was given a package. We left the plane which would soon take off to fly to Tuscany where Emily waited for Sloane. We were to call him when we successfully concluded our mission.
Brucker Biotech was my objective. I’d set up an appointment with one of its officials while in the air. He was to meet me in the reception hall. I was planning to offer him a substantial sum of money for some of their work. Of course that would not happen as I would take what I wanted once I had him in the computer room where the data was kept.
We met and began walking down a hall to the elevator. “Like many pharmaceutical companies, the firm I represent has closely monitored your work mapping the human genome. We are interested in licensing that work.”
“We’re in the process of fielding many such offers. I’m afraid your firm, Schtat Pharmaceuticals is one I’m not familiar with.”
We took the elevator to the third floor. When we exited, I handed him a card. “Oh we are a small Scandinavian consortium, but I will not have come all this way if I did not believe my offer was significant.”
He looked at the card, nodded and said. “I will show you where the data is processed. Right this way.” He was impressed by the dollar signs.
“Thank you.”
Just then I heard Sark’s voice on our COM link. “Servers are located on sublevel E. Beyond radio contact. When you’re prepared for extraction, I’ll be standing by.”
Minutes later, we entered the server room.
“It took fifteen years of analysis, but we finally assembled all the information in a high-resolution DNA map of equal detail.” The official led the way past the working computers.
Suddenly the door opened and Sark entered. I was surprised as he calmly shot out the camera. Then he turned and shot the official in the chest, sending him backwards into a chair, dead. I was in shock. What had happened?
“There’s a CIA tactical team in a van out front. We’ve been tracked. I’ve swept myself, I’m clean.” Sark explained, taking out a bug sweeper. He ran it down and up my body. It beeped in front of my breasts.
“Jack,” I said, remembering now the sharp pinprick pain. Jack tagged me! He’d known I was going to leave.
Sark took out a small medical kit. “I don’t understand; when we extracted you from the CIA, we scanned you for transmitters.”
“It must have been on time delay.” I opened my business suit jacket, revealing my chest. Sark took out two electro medical paddles, looking at me as though unsure about proceeding.
“Do it!” I snapped. I leaned up against the wall, bracing myself. Sark shocked my chest, scrambling the signal.
“Unnhhh!” I grunted in a painful response. I knew the signal would be lost wherever it had been transmitting to.
Buttoning my jacket, I walked to the computer and took out a disk I’d brought. “This will get us into the hard drive.”
“Is the file on the network?” Sark asked.
“Yes, but it’s encrypted. I’ll transfer the file and we can decipher it later.” I stood watching.
“How long will it take to download?”
I looked at the computer. “Five minutes. Make sure there’s no evidence that we were here.” I knew the CIA did know, but they might not know what we were after or why.
He moved to the door, “All right, I’ll take care of it. I’ll set the detonation for six minutes. Meet me at the extraction point.” He was gone.
I glanced at my watch. I probably had two minutes after the disc was completed to get out of the building.
When the computer was done the download, I grabbed the disk and hurried out. I didn’t even look at my watch. I was lucky, the elevator was open. I jumped inside and hit the button for the first floor. I was out in thirty seconds. Now, glancing at my watch, I saw I had a minute. I hurried toward the exit. There was a commotion behind me. I glanced back. Oh God, it was Sydney with Vaughn. She was headed the other way.
“Sydney!” I screamed, turned and ran. I knew Sark was waiting with the car at the foot of the stairs. I jumped in and he sped off. I didn’t even want to look back. I could only hope Sydney had seen me and had come racing after me.
The explosion rocked the car. I glanced at Sark. “How much C-4 did you use?”
“Enough,” was his only comment.
I sat back in the seat and opened my briefcase. The disk rested inside. We had a drive to get to the border between Germany and Switzerland through some lower mountains. It would probably take us until dark. Sloane was in Tuscany with Emily, but I also knew he kept his plane ready. Perhaps it was at the Zurich air field, but in any case we would need to get away until we knew whether or not Sloane had been compromised. I had to call him. I called the airfield and learned that Sloane had sent the plane back for us.
“Who are you calling?” Sark asked.
I was punching in Sloane’s number in Italy. “Sloane. He has to know what happened.”
The phone rang a few times; then I heard, “Hello?” It was Emily.
“May I speak with your husband,” I asked.
“Just a moment.” Sloane must have entered whatever room she was in, because I heard Emily say, “It’s for you. A woman.”
“Yeah?”
“I recovered the file, but I was tracked.”
“By whom?”
“CIA.” I answered not wishing to elaborate on how it was done. “Until we know otherwise, we have to assume you’ve been exposed as well. You better leave the house until we know for sure.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Meet me at the airfield. We’re going to fly from Zurich in your plane.”
“Okay.” Arvin hung up.
We took Arvin’s plane from Zurich to the airfield outside Florence. I was sure Arvin had persuaded Emily to come with him. I took the opportunity to change clothes. I was also preparing myself to see Emily, who thought I was, as Laura Bristow, dead. I knew Jack and Arvin didn’t tell her who I really was, but now she would know.
The plane landed and taxied to a hanger where small, expensive private jets were kept. As we neared it, I saw a black limousine parked. Arvin was here. The plane came to a stop and moments later the two of them came on board.
“What do you mean, you own this?” Emily sounded oddly disconcerted.
“It’s my plane, sweetheart. It’s ours.”
“Arvin, I’ve been more than patient. It’s enough.”
I thought I’d better make my entrance and leave. “Hello.” I said standing and moving toward Emily who was staring at me in shock.
“I don’t understand...” she said.
I came up to her and gave her a hug.
“Laura...Laura, I thought...”
I smiled. “Arvin will tell you.” I looked at him. The disk, as promised.” I handed it to him walking past them to leave them alone. I did not envy him. Emily was obviously upset when she saw me. I’m sure Arvin didn’t confess and I certainly was not either.
The plane took us to Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, which was about 21 miles from Rome itself. We took a taxi into the city and rented rooms at a small hotel. I was tired and wanted to sleep. Sloane was checking on the villa to see if anyone who wasn’t expected showed up. There had been no activity and Sloane felt that Emily should return for safety and comfort.
I went to their suite. I wanted to find out if Emily had come to grips with my return to life. Knocking at the door, I waited. Someone came to the door and opened it. It was Emily, who looked at me coldly.
“May I come in?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, please do.”
I touched her arm, but she flinched and stepped away. Emily led the way into the sitting room. “May I sit down?” Again I asked politely.
“Just who are you,” she said, sitting down in a chair. She nodded to the other chair.
“My real name is Irina Derevko. When I knew you, I was...was a spy for the KGB.” I decided not to elaborate, especially about the special assignments I did.
“Arvin told me that,” she said. “I just can’t fathom how you could do it? Jack is a wonderful man and good friend of ours. You even had a child with him.”
I nodded. “I love her, Emily. I imagine you cannot believe it, but it’s true. I know this is hard for you, but I want Sydney to be free of the CIA. I want her to get married, have children, maybe teach also.” I kept my eyes focused on her face. “I’m afraid she will not give it up now.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think she will until she has both Arvin and myself in custody or dead. She thinks I betrayed her again.”
“You brought it on yourself.” She said coldly.
“Yes,” I said, lowering my eyes and looking away. I stood. “I just came to see if you had any questions. I know Arvin must have filled you in on everything about me that he knows.”
“Yes...” She answered. “I know all that I want to know.” She said it without emotion or even caring. Laura Bristow was still dead to her.
“Good. Then I’ll leave. Tell Arvin I’ll be in my room until morning. I’ll probably take a run then, before breakfast.” I strode out of the room, biting my lip. I’d lost the friendship of Emily for good.
The next morning I was told Emily was back in Florence. Sloane learned the villa had not been under watch by anyone, so he sent her back and gave her the disk to put in their safe. I knew that was a relief for him as he wanted to keep her from harm and not involved. I thought he was being a fool. Emily was not stupid. I’d learned he’d told her about The Alliance and the part he played. When she agreed to play dead, she became involved.
We stayed in Rome while Arvin made contact with friends in Washington DC to see how far the investigation was going and if the CIA had made further plans to locate and capture him. I made contact with my own personal mole and wanted to know what Sydney was doing. So far, nothing. She had returned from Stuttgart and been debriefed. She and Vaughn had gone home together afterward.
About four days later, I was into the third mile of my morning run when my cell rang. I stopped and pulled if off my belt. “Yes?”
“Irina?” It was Sloane.
I told him. “I’m meeting with a man this afternoon who can get us six hours in a KRX1 computer. It should be able to decrypt the genetic database.” There was silence. “Are you there?”
“What if I told you that I wanted you to buy me out? That I’d be willing to sell you the breath of my assets, my contacts, all the Rambaldi artifacts I’ve acquired over the last thirty years, everything?”
I gasped. He would sell me everything? I knew I had more than enough money to do that. What was he up to? “I’d say that either you’re setting me up to kill me...or I underestimated your love for your wife!” I meant the first part as a joke.
“Well, I’m going back to Tuscany tomorrow to see Emily. The house is safe. Emily’s meeting me there. You can pick it up the database from me there. I can’t blame Emily, she’s right. I want out.”
I was stunned. He wanted out...not to pursue Rambaldi, his theories and his predictions? I had no wish to prolong anything. I wanted that database. “Why don’t I just go with you. I’ll arrange for Sark to pick me up by helicopter. How about payment? I don’t have cash to bring with me. I have to arrange for the sale of some assets. You haven’t told me your price.”
He did. It wouldn’t be a hardship. “Cash or negotiable bonds?”
“Cash will fine and I’ll have you transfer it to my bank.”
“Good. I’ll make some calls. When do you want to leave?”
“Nine. It will take us about four hours to get there.” He hung up.
We didn’t say much on the trip back. He gave me a list of his assets in various cities and banks. What I was really interested in was where he kept the Rambaldi artifacts, which included those he’d robbed from the DSR which had them stored in a Nevada warehouse. He’d said he thought he had everything needed to put the machine together that Rambaldi designed. I made calls and arrangements based on my obtaining the disk.
We arrived at the villa mid-day. Emily was inside waiting for him. The Mercedes pulled up and we got out, including two bodyguards. He told me that once I had the disk, I could leave by a secret tunnel that led to the field just outside the perimeter of the villa. Evidently the previous owners had a need for it.
“Where is it?”
“The entrance is in the kitchen. I’ll show you after I see Emily.”
We entered the house. He pulled a card from his pocket. “The genetic database is in a safe in the study. It’s just off to the eft. This is the combination.”
“Are you certain about this?”
“Yeah, yeah,” and he disappeared down the hall.
Arvin had given me directions to the study. I moved quickly to it. I opened the door and pulled out the disk, just as shots, a lot of them, were fired from outside and inside the villa. There was the sound of glass crashing. I ran quickly to the kitchen. I was pressed against the wall when Arvin and Emily came running past me. Arvin hit a button and a door slid open, revealing the secret passage.
“Come on,” said Sloane, pulling Emily.
I knew he meant me, but I had to get word to Julian. “Go!” I said to them. Then on the Com link, I said, “I have the disk and am ready for extraction.”
“Copy that,” said Sark.
I ran into the passage. Arvin and Emily were out of sight. I heard a sound behind me. Someone else was coming. It had to be a CIA agent. I pulled my gun. I ran around a corner, down a short corridor, and around another corner just as shots were fired at me. Holding the disk in my left hand, I fired my gun. As I ducked back I caught a glimpse of the agent. Oh God, it was Sydney.
She fired again. I returned fire, hoping it would keep her back long enough for me to climb the ladder to get out. Perhaps she wouldn’t shoot me, but in a fleeting instant, I knew that wouldn’t happen. I ran to the ladder, climbing as fast as I could. I was almost at the top when...
“Freeze! Don’t move.” It was Sydney.
I looked down at her briefly. She wasn’t fooling, but I had to take the chance. I could hear the helicopter which meant Sark was there and would provide covering fire. I moved up the ladder; then she fired. The bullet struck my left upper arm. I dropped the disk, but managed to pull myself up and over.
“Ugh! Ow...ahhh...” The pain for the moment was bad, but I had to get up and moving. I saw the helicopter. Sark was in the doorway with an AK-47. Just then I heard a shot from a rifle. I glanced to where Arvin and Emily were running. Emily dropped to the ground, wounded or worse.
Holding my arm I hurried over to Arvin who was bending over Emily, crying. She was dead. I grabbed him and practically dragged him toward the helicopter. Sark had fired at Sydney when she came up out of the tunnel, driving her back. It gave me time to get Arvin on board..
“Go, go, go!” Sark yelled at the pilot.
Arvin and I watch as Sydney ran toward Emily. She was crying.
“Do you have the disk?” asked Sark.
I shook my head, holding my arm, and looked down as the helicopter moved off. Sydney was holding Emily and crying. I felt a terrible loss and I knew Arvin did even more so. The only comforting thought I had was that Sydney was down there...with Emily. She would take care of everything.
We flew north to a small heliport outside Florence and then took Arvin’s jet to Zurich. I was taken to a hospital for surgical care of my wound. I spent two days in the hospital, but asked Sark to bring me the broach I’d given him earlier. It was well after midnight. Everyone was asleep. The staff was not going to be coming to check on me.
I took the broach and began tapping it. Would she hear it and would she know that TRUTH TAKES TIME?
TBC hmy:
We drove to a private airfield near the canal and boarded Arvin’s private jet. Our destination would be Europe. After takeoff, Arvin and I faced each other. I changed clothes, wearing something a little more comfortable. Julian was sitting across the aisle working on his lap top.
“Do you have any operatives left,” asked Arvin.
I think he wanted to add them to his own group. No one, not even Sark, knew about my lieutenants and what I told them. The Man was no longer in business. I shut everything down. I let my friends, my comrades, continue if they wanted, otherwise they would retire. I did keep three operative intact, because I knew Sloane would ask. I had two others, but he wouldn’t know about them..
“I still have operatives in St. Petersburg, Madrid and Cairo.”
“How reliable?”
“Reliable,” I said.
“Good.” He looked at me. “Are you all right?”
“The extraction went well,” I said. Of course, I had other thoughts.
“I’m asking about you, Irina.”
I knew what he meant. He knew I’d been interacting with Sydney, my daughter, as well as Jack. He was probing for my regrets, but he wasn’t going to get them.
I’d made my choice. “I’m happy to see you again.” Big lie, but I was using all my charm that dazzled men before this to make him believe it. I knew he didn’t know yet about Nadia and I wasn’t going to tell him until the time was right, if then.
“I was thinking the same thing myself,” he said. “What about the genetic database?”
Sloane was in hiding unable to show himself. His picture was plastered in every police station all over Europe, the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Far East. I’m sure they were even in the bigger cities of those continents not thought of. Part of his plan was to obtain the genetic codes of millions, especially those located in Europe. I wanted those genetic codes for something else...a possible lead on Nadia’s whereabouts.
“Sark and I will meet you back in Zurich. As soon as they are acquired, you’ll have the files.”
“Good. I’ll be in Tuscany with Emily.”
“How is she?” I was genuinely concerned. Sydney told me Emily had died of cancer, but I did know different. It was all a part of his scheme to divest himself of The Alliance, Emily was alive.
“She’s in remission. The hard part for her now is missing the people she had to leave behind, especially Sydney. You know how much we loved her, as if she were our own.” He smiled.
I looked at him and was not amused. I turned to Sark. “Excuse us.” I waited as he stood and left; then I leaned forward. “I see through you. You must know that.”
“This is who I am.”
What the frack is he talking about? “You may need to think of yourself as an honorable husband, a father figure, but I don’t. I will never see that man in you, which frankly is why we have this agreement.”
“You need to get some rest,” he almost sneered.
“Never talk to me about your love for Sydney again,” I warned.
He stood, “get some rest.” He turned and left
I leaned back in my seat thinking. I would have to proceed with care if I was to attain my goal. He wasn’t going to know about Nadia either. Not if I could help it!
Several hours later, we landed in Stuttgart. I’d changed clothes wearing a business type suit. Sloane handed me a briefcase and Sark was given a package. We left the plane which would soon take off to fly to Tuscany where Emily waited for Sloane. We were to call him when we successfully concluded our mission.
Brucker Biotech was my objective. I’d set up an appointment with one of its officials while in the air. He was to meet me in the reception hall. I was planning to offer him a substantial sum of money for some of their work. Of course that would not happen as I would take what I wanted once I had him in the computer room where the data was kept.
We met and began walking down a hall to the elevator. “Like many pharmaceutical companies, the firm I represent has closely monitored your work mapping the human genome. We are interested in licensing that work.”
“We’re in the process of fielding many such offers. I’m afraid your firm, Schtat Pharmaceuticals is one I’m not familiar with.”
We took the elevator to the third floor. When we exited, I handed him a card. “Oh we are a small Scandinavian consortium, but I will not have come all this way if I did not believe my offer was significant.”
He looked at the card, nodded and said. “I will show you where the data is processed. Right this way.” He was impressed by the dollar signs.
“Thank you.”
Just then I heard Sark’s voice on our COM link. “Servers are located on sublevel E. Beyond radio contact. When you’re prepared for extraction, I’ll be standing by.”
Minutes later, we entered the server room.
“It took fifteen years of analysis, but we finally assembled all the information in a high-resolution DNA map of equal detail.” The official led the way past the working computers.
Suddenly the door opened and Sark entered. I was surprised as he calmly shot out the camera. Then he turned and shot the official in the chest, sending him backwards into a chair, dead. I was in shock. What had happened?
“There’s a CIA tactical team in a van out front. We’ve been tracked. I’ve swept myself, I’m clean.” Sark explained, taking out a bug sweeper. He ran it down and up my body. It beeped in front of my breasts.
“Jack,” I said, remembering now the sharp pinprick pain. Jack tagged me! He’d known I was going to leave.
Sark took out a small medical kit. “I don’t understand; when we extracted you from the CIA, we scanned you for transmitters.”
“It must have been on time delay.” I opened my business suit jacket, revealing my chest. Sark took out two electro medical paddles, looking at me as though unsure about proceeding.
“Do it!” I snapped. I leaned up against the wall, bracing myself. Sark shocked my chest, scrambling the signal.
“Unnhhh!” I grunted in a painful response. I knew the signal would be lost wherever it had been transmitting to.
Buttoning my jacket, I walked to the computer and took out a disk I’d brought. “This will get us into the hard drive.”
“Is the file on the network?” Sark asked.
“Yes, but it’s encrypted. I’ll transfer the file and we can decipher it later.” I stood watching.
“How long will it take to download?”
I looked at the computer. “Five minutes. Make sure there’s no evidence that we were here.” I knew the CIA did know, but they might not know what we were after or why.
He moved to the door, “All right, I’ll take care of it. I’ll set the detonation for six minutes. Meet me at the extraction point.” He was gone.
I glanced at my watch. I probably had two minutes after the disc was completed to get out of the building.
When the computer was done the download, I grabbed the disk and hurried out. I didn’t even look at my watch. I was lucky, the elevator was open. I jumped inside and hit the button for the first floor. I was out in thirty seconds. Now, glancing at my watch, I saw I had a minute. I hurried toward the exit. There was a commotion behind me. I glanced back. Oh God, it was Sydney with Vaughn. She was headed the other way.
“Sydney!” I screamed, turned and ran. I knew Sark was waiting with the car at the foot of the stairs. I jumped in and he sped off. I didn’t even want to look back. I could only hope Sydney had seen me and had come racing after me.
The explosion rocked the car. I glanced at Sark. “How much C-4 did you use?”
“Enough,” was his only comment.
I sat back in the seat and opened my briefcase. The disk rested inside. We had a drive to get to the border between Germany and Switzerland through some lower mountains. It would probably take us until dark. Sloane was in Tuscany with Emily, but I also knew he kept his plane ready. Perhaps it was at the Zurich air field, but in any case we would need to get away until we knew whether or not Sloane had been compromised. I had to call him. I called the airfield and learned that Sloane had sent the plane back for us.
“Who are you calling?” Sark asked.
I was punching in Sloane’s number in Italy. “Sloane. He has to know what happened.”
The phone rang a few times; then I heard, “Hello?” It was Emily.
“May I speak with your husband,” I asked.
“Just a moment.” Sloane must have entered whatever room she was in, because I heard Emily say, “It’s for you. A woman.”
“Yeah?”
“I recovered the file, but I was tracked.”
“By whom?”
“CIA.” I answered not wishing to elaborate on how it was done. “Until we know otherwise, we have to assume you’ve been exposed as well. You better leave the house until we know for sure.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“Meet me at the airfield. We’re going to fly from Zurich in your plane.”
“Okay.” Arvin hung up.
We took Arvin’s plane from Zurich to the airfield outside Florence. I was sure Arvin had persuaded Emily to come with him. I took the opportunity to change clothes. I was also preparing myself to see Emily, who thought I was, as Laura Bristow, dead. I knew Jack and Arvin didn’t tell her who I really was, but now she would know.
The plane landed and taxied to a hanger where small, expensive private jets were kept. As we neared it, I saw a black limousine parked. Arvin was here. The plane came to a stop and moments later the two of them came on board.
“What do you mean, you own this?” Emily sounded oddly disconcerted.
“It’s my plane, sweetheart. It’s ours.”
“Arvin, I’ve been more than patient. It’s enough.”
I thought I’d better make my entrance and leave. “Hello.” I said standing and moving toward Emily who was staring at me in shock.
“I don’t understand...” she said.
I came up to her and gave her a hug.
“Laura...Laura, I thought...”
I smiled. “Arvin will tell you.” I looked at him. The disk, as promised.” I handed it to him walking past them to leave them alone. I did not envy him. Emily was obviously upset when she saw me. I’m sure Arvin didn’t confess and I certainly was not either.
The plane took us to Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, which was about 21 miles from Rome itself. We took a taxi into the city and rented rooms at a small hotel. I was tired and wanted to sleep. Sloane was checking on the villa to see if anyone who wasn’t expected showed up. There had been no activity and Sloane felt that Emily should return for safety and comfort.
I went to their suite. I wanted to find out if Emily had come to grips with my return to life. Knocking at the door, I waited. Someone came to the door and opened it. It was Emily, who looked at me coldly.
“May I come in?” I asked quietly.
“Yes, please do.”
I touched her arm, but she flinched and stepped away. Emily led the way into the sitting room. “May I sit down?” Again I asked politely.
“Just who are you,” she said, sitting down in a chair. She nodded to the other chair.
“My real name is Irina Derevko. When I knew you, I was...was a spy for the KGB.” I decided not to elaborate, especially about the special assignments I did.
“Arvin told me that,” she said. “I just can’t fathom how you could do it? Jack is a wonderful man and good friend of ours. You even had a child with him.”
I nodded. “I love her, Emily. I imagine you cannot believe it, but it’s true. I know this is hard for you, but I want Sydney to be free of the CIA. I want her to get married, have children, maybe teach also.” I kept my eyes focused on her face. “I’m afraid she will not give it up now.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think she will until she has both Arvin and myself in custody or dead. She thinks I betrayed her again.”
“You brought it on yourself.” She said coldly.
“Yes,” I said, lowering my eyes and looking away. I stood. “I just came to see if you had any questions. I know Arvin must have filled you in on everything about me that he knows.”
“Yes...” She answered. “I know all that I want to know.” She said it without emotion or even caring. Laura Bristow was still dead to her.
“Good. Then I’ll leave. Tell Arvin I’ll be in my room until morning. I’ll probably take a run then, before breakfast.” I strode out of the room, biting my lip. I’d lost the friendship of Emily for good.
The next morning I was told Emily was back in Florence. Sloane learned the villa had not been under watch by anyone, so he sent her back and gave her the disk to put in their safe. I knew that was a relief for him as he wanted to keep her from harm and not involved. I thought he was being a fool. Emily was not stupid. I’d learned he’d told her about The Alliance and the part he played. When she agreed to play dead, she became involved.
We stayed in Rome while Arvin made contact with friends in Washington DC to see how far the investigation was going and if the CIA had made further plans to locate and capture him. I made contact with my own personal mole and wanted to know what Sydney was doing. So far, nothing. She had returned from Stuttgart and been debriefed. She and Vaughn had gone home together afterward.
About four days later, I was into the third mile of my morning run when my cell rang. I stopped and pulled if off my belt. “Yes?”
“Irina?” It was Sloane.
I told him. “I’m meeting with a man this afternoon who can get us six hours in a KRX1 computer. It should be able to decrypt the genetic database.” There was silence. “Are you there?”
“What if I told you that I wanted you to buy me out? That I’d be willing to sell you the breath of my assets, my contacts, all the Rambaldi artifacts I’ve acquired over the last thirty years, everything?”
I gasped. He would sell me everything? I knew I had more than enough money to do that. What was he up to? “I’d say that either you’re setting me up to kill me...or I underestimated your love for your wife!” I meant the first part as a joke.
“Well, I’m going back to Tuscany tomorrow to see Emily. The house is safe. Emily’s meeting me there. You can pick it up the database from me there. I can’t blame Emily, she’s right. I want out.”
I was stunned. He wanted out...not to pursue Rambaldi, his theories and his predictions? I had no wish to prolong anything. I wanted that database. “Why don’t I just go with you. I’ll arrange for Sark to pick me up by helicopter. How about payment? I don’t have cash to bring with me. I have to arrange for the sale of some assets. You haven’t told me your price.”
He did. It wouldn’t be a hardship. “Cash or negotiable bonds?”
“Cash will fine and I’ll have you transfer it to my bank.”
“Good. I’ll make some calls. When do you want to leave?”
“Nine. It will take us about four hours to get there.” He hung up.
We didn’t say much on the trip back. He gave me a list of his assets in various cities and banks. What I was really interested in was where he kept the Rambaldi artifacts, which included those he’d robbed from the DSR which had them stored in a Nevada warehouse. He’d said he thought he had everything needed to put the machine together that Rambaldi designed. I made calls and arrangements based on my obtaining the disk.
We arrived at the villa mid-day. Emily was inside waiting for him. The Mercedes pulled up and we got out, including two bodyguards. He told me that once I had the disk, I could leave by a secret tunnel that led to the field just outside the perimeter of the villa. Evidently the previous owners had a need for it.
“Where is it?”
“The entrance is in the kitchen. I’ll show you after I see Emily.”
We entered the house. He pulled a card from his pocket. “The genetic database is in a safe in the study. It’s just off to the eft. This is the combination.”
“Are you certain about this?”
“Yeah, yeah,” and he disappeared down the hall.
Arvin had given me directions to the study. I moved quickly to it. I opened the door and pulled out the disk, just as shots, a lot of them, were fired from outside and inside the villa. There was the sound of glass crashing. I ran quickly to the kitchen. I was pressed against the wall when Arvin and Emily came running past me. Arvin hit a button and a door slid open, revealing the secret passage.
“Come on,” said Sloane, pulling Emily.
I knew he meant me, but I had to get word to Julian. “Go!” I said to them. Then on the Com link, I said, “I have the disk and am ready for extraction.”
“Copy that,” said Sark.
I ran into the passage. Arvin and Emily were out of sight. I heard a sound behind me. Someone else was coming. It had to be a CIA agent. I pulled my gun. I ran around a corner, down a short corridor, and around another corner just as shots were fired at me. Holding the disk in my left hand, I fired my gun. As I ducked back I caught a glimpse of the agent. Oh God, it was Sydney.
She fired again. I returned fire, hoping it would keep her back long enough for me to climb the ladder to get out. Perhaps she wouldn’t shoot me, but in a fleeting instant, I knew that wouldn’t happen. I ran to the ladder, climbing as fast as I could. I was almost at the top when...
“Freeze! Don’t move.” It was Sydney.
I looked down at her briefly. She wasn’t fooling, but I had to take the chance. I could hear the helicopter which meant Sark was there and would provide covering fire. I moved up the ladder; then she fired. The bullet struck my left upper arm. I dropped the disk, but managed to pull myself up and over.
“Ugh! Ow...ahhh...” The pain for the moment was bad, but I had to get up and moving. I saw the helicopter. Sark was in the doorway with an AK-47. Just then I heard a shot from a rifle. I glanced to where Arvin and Emily were running. Emily dropped to the ground, wounded or worse.
Holding my arm I hurried over to Arvin who was bending over Emily, crying. She was dead. I grabbed him and practically dragged him toward the helicopter. Sark had fired at Sydney when she came up out of the tunnel, driving her back. It gave me time to get Arvin on board..
“Go, go, go!” Sark yelled at the pilot.
Arvin and I watch as Sydney ran toward Emily. She was crying.
“Do you have the disk?” asked Sark.
I shook my head, holding my arm, and looked down as the helicopter moved off. Sydney was holding Emily and crying. I felt a terrible loss and I knew Arvin did even more so. The only comforting thought I had was that Sydney was down there...with Emily. She would take care of everything.
We flew north to a small heliport outside Florence and then took Arvin’s jet to Zurich. I was taken to a hospital for surgical care of my wound. I spent two days in the hospital, but asked Sark to bring me the broach I’d given him earlier. It was well after midnight. Everyone was asleep. The staff was not going to be coming to check on me.
I took the broach and began tapping it. Would she hear it and would she know that TRUTH TAKES TIME?
TBC hmy: