Agent for a Cause (The Agents for Good) (13 page)

“Please God let them speak English!”

She whispered to herself as she undid her seatbelt.

The Italians she came in contact with were particularly unhelpful and even rude. To them she was just another American tourist. Finally she found someone who could speak English and would work with her. From him she found out were to rent a car and exchange money.

Anna sat in the seat of the little car clutching the wheel hard. She glanced in the rear view mirror at Kevin buckled up in the back.

Oh God don’t let me kill him or anyone else! She pushed the clutch in and turned the key. She’d had to drive a friend’s Jeep that was a standard for a while, but it hadn’t been a good experience. The experience had abruptly ended with the Jeep wrapped around a telephone pole. She’d sworn that day to never drive another standard. Apparently some promises were made to be broken.

She put it in gear and in an effort to not ride the clutch she let it out too fast. The car gave a weak attempt at movement and then died roughly. She gritted her teeth together. Hatred couldn’t even describe the level of apathy that she already felt for this little box on wheels. She started the car up again and this time she gave it more gas. The little car took off with an uncomfortable lurch that was repeated moments later as she shifted into second gear.

Five hundred feet further she had to stop for traffic, which necessitated starting the painful process of driving a standard all over again from a dead stop. The navigation device had far too many hours listed until destination reached. What did they do to tourists guilty of vehicular manslaughter in Italy?

It wasn’t so bad when she got out into the country and didn’t have to stop often. That is the views weren’t so bad. She couldn’t say she’d ever been on more curvy narrow roads before then she was now, but at least there wasn’t much traffic.

She was pretty sure that she was lost. The navigation had her going on and on and it only seemed to become more rural with every passing moment. She entered a private drive that seemed to drag on and she was just about to despair of an ending when the villa appeared.

Tyre’s friend must be as fabulously wealthy as Tyre seemed to be, if not more! She pulled up short of the giant columned carport. Somehow it seemed silly to park so mundane of a little bucket of bolts in so prestigious of a spot. Shaking in apprehension with what was left of her already frayed nerves she got out and unbuckled Kevin, who had been blessedly asleep for hours. He had been so good and she felt an upsurge of pride over how her son was handling this new experience.

She stepped up to the inlaid old wooden doors of the villa and reached up to hammer the knocker down a few times. She stood waiting with her hands on Kevin’s shoulders. She heard voices and then steps and then one of the big doors opened. The figure she saw was not what she had been expecting.

Her expectation had been of some short rotund Italian guy, who would give her the eye over and then ask her if she knew or was part of the ‘Family’. Instead she found herself looking upward to meet the piercing eyes of perhaps one of the most strikingly beautiful women that she had ever seen in life.

“Can I help you?” The beautiful woman asked with guarded curiosity.

Anna stuttered to say what she had been rehearsing the entire trip here, but failed to get out a single word of her speech.

Something in her failure to perform must’ve convinced the woman that she was no threat because she opened the door wider and stepped gracefully off to the side and gestured for them to come in, “Won’t you come in please.”

She asked courteously.

Kevin actually moved first, which gave Anna the impetus to follow. The big door closed and Anna half turned to keep an eye on her capable looking hostess, which is when she saw the gun.

Anna’s eyes grew big and she clutched onto Kevin tighter unsure of how she could protect him in this situation from such a potential foe. Her tall hostess gave her an apologetic smile as she slipped the handgun into a drawer of an ornate table near the doors.

“We don’t get many visitors and it pays to be careful.”

The tall woman walked closer and it was hard not to step back from her approach. She made Anna feel even more acutely aware of her somewhat diminutive size. Anna met her eyes through an act of will and was relieved once again to see no malice there for her.

“What is your name?”

“Anna and this is Kevin.” Anna finished quickly in response.

The woman’s smile was genuine as she took them both in visually. “My name is Lisa. Won’t you have a seat?” She said gesturing towards a sitting room off to one side of the massive foyer and Anna directed Kevin towards it.

Everyone sat down and an awkward silence ensued. Lisa smiled at someone behind Anna and Anna turned to see who it was. A toddler that couldn’t be much older than a year had stumbled into the room rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“All done with your nap Taleah?”

The little girl saw her mother and gave a gap toothed gurgle of joy and took off for her at high speed. Anna smiled taken in by the sight of the mother with her child.

She felt herself relax a little more around her hostess. It became readily apparent what the little girl was after and with a soft laugh Lisa through a small blanket over the toddler and began to nurse her discreetly.

The sight of the nursing child didn’t bother Anna, but instead it sent a pang of longing through her to experience doing the same with a child of her own again. She had loved nursing Kevin, but with all the stress of working two jobs and sometimes three to make ends meet she had lost her milk after only a couple of months. She had always felt like she’d cheated Kevin out of something good by losing her milk supply so early. She looked up from the outline of the baby under the blanket to see Lisa watching her.

“You’re safe here Anna. It’s okay to let your guard down a little. No one here would ever hurt you or your son I promise!”

Anna nodded as tears slid down her face and she relaxed her tight grip on Kevin. The woman was genuine and Anna knew it was okay. Tyre had been right to tell her that this was a safe place to come to.

“I’m so out of my league! I’m not good at any of this…… stuff!” Anna breathed out in a rush, already trusting the other woman.

“I know just where you’re coming from honey!” Lisa responded with emphasis.

Anna twisted her hands in her lap together, “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve dropped in on you so unannounced?”

Lisa smiled, “Now that you mention it I am rather curious as to your appearance here. Why have you come Anna?”

Anna looked down, “A man….” She stopped.

She looked up and met Lisa’s eyes squarely, “The man that I love told me that if I was ever in need of help that I should come here. In specific he told me that I could find a man named Flint here who would help me.”

Lisa’s eyebrows rose slightly and then she glanced off to the side, “It would appear you have a visitor darling.”

A man stepped into the room smoothly from a place beyond it where he had been evidently listening from. Anna swallowed hard; this man very much looked like he could take care of trouble both big and small. The question was would he help her?

“Anna this is my husband James a.k.a. Flint. James this is Anna and her son Kevin.” Lisa looked at Anna directly, “Do you need privacy?”

Anna raised her hand quickly, “Oh no please don’t move on my account! It’s nothing secretive that I’ve come here about.”

James sat down beside his wife his eyes reflecting his wife’s curiosity as to their strange visitor. “So Miss Anna what is it you need help with?” James asked inquisitively.

“It’s not Miss, its Mrs. Nikolai Gravitausky.” Anna said softly, as she intently watched his face for a reaction to her words.

Her words brought a shocked expression to James features that had his wife looking now at him with genuine curiosity. “While I’ll be!” James breathed out under his breath.

“What?” Lisa asked of her husband, as her look of curiosity started turning partially to concern.

He turned to her, “Nikolai Gravitausky is Tyre’s real name.”

Lisa’s eyebrows rose expressively, “Wow!” She said exclaiming softly giving Anna a new appreciative glance.

James’s face had switched from shock directly to concern. “Where’s Tyre?”

“I don’t know.” Anna replied.

“When did you see him last?” James asked.

Anna looked down, as she unconsciously felt at the diamond rings on her finger, “Our wedding day.”

Lisa and James looked at each other meaningfully, as a short sob shook through Anna. Lisa smoothly transferred a sleeping Taleah to James and moved over to Anna.

Lisa gave Kevin a comforting smile as she slid around behind Anna and enfolded her with her arms. Anna didn’t resist the hand that eased her head back to rest against Lisa’s shoulder.

Anna just kept crying, “I want him! I need him!”

Lisa just held her tightly and kissed the top of her head softly, “I know honey!”

Kevin just watched what took place a silent witness to the scene of raw emotion. James disappeared with Taleah and then he was back alone kneeling before Anna.

He took her hands into his grasp, “Anna I’ll help you anyway I can. Can you tell me a little more what happened?”

Anna nodded, as she tried to stifle her emotions down. Lisa pulled the baby blanket off of her shoulder and handed it to Anna.

“Oh no I’ll get stuff on it!”

“That’s what washing machines are for. Blow your nose honey.”

Anna took the blanket and wiped at her face and sat up a little straighter.

“What do you want to know?” She asked.

James shrugged, “Start wherever you like.”

Anna looked pensive for a moment about where to start. “I met Tyre at a bar I was working at. I’ve had hard times for a while.” She quickly added, as if in a way of an excuse for being a barmaid.

“One night I noticed this guy at the end of the bar watching me. It was all he did for hours. He kept coming back at intermittent times over the course of a year and a half. At first I was a little creeped out by it, but as time went on I got more curious about him. Finally one night I decided to confront him and rattle his cage some. To my surprise he stuck around. We had a date and things really heated up. I liked him and he seemed to find contentment from just watching me breathe. We got closer and I saw the genuine person that he was even though he tried to hide it. Things got even more serious and we decided to marry. My past stepped in though. I’m something of an activist in conjunction with autism matters, because of my son and what caused him to become autistic. I’m scheduled to appear before the Senate in a little under two months. If things go well some very wealthy private companies could lose huge amounts of money and become liable to be sued. One company in particular wanted my movement stopped. I think they killed some of the members of my team and they scared the rest of them off, but I refused to stop. They sent assassins and if it wasn’t for Tyre I would be dead and Kevin would be alone. Tyre killed the men they sent and stayed with me until I was better. He was gone most of the next day and when he came back he told me I was safe and that I didn’t have to worry about them coming for me ever again. I don’t know what he did to guarantee that but I believe him. The next afternoon we were married. We left the courthouse and started back to my apartment to….” Anna glanced at Kevin.

Lisa smoothly interjected, “To have fun.”

Anna nodded her head with a rosy tint to her cheeks. “Tyre must’ve seen someone or sensed something was off. All I know is that he hustled us into a bistro across the street from our apartment complex and called a security guard at the apartments. The security guard checked my room and then Tyre’s. The whole floor exploded, when he checked Tyre’s apartment. I imagine you saw or heard something about the fire in Philadelphia a month ago?”

James nodded grimly.

“I said something I shouldn’t have as I watched those people die. I asked Tyre, ‘I thought you said I was safe?’ I was still too caught up in the moment of how I had almost died to comprehend in that moment that I wasn’t the target, but that Tyre was instead. He said as much, as I watched him putting stuff together in his mind almost knowing what he intended to do before he did it. He kissed me and told me he loved me and then he ran away. I understand what he was thinking. I know he just wants to keep me and Kevin safe, but I don’t want to be safe! Truly it’s impossible to ever be safe from any form of mishap. You could be nothing but safe conscious and still be taken out by a drunken driver or a falling meteor. I want to find Tyre and have the life it was intended for us to have together! I do not want to live in fear, but neither do I want to live life alone! I’ve weighed the risks. Yes, if Kevin and I are with Tyre then we are more in the line of fire, but it’s a risk I’m willing to make in order to experience the life I know we could have together. It’s worth the risk and there are no guarantees with either route that is chosen. I want to tell him that to his face! Please if you can will you tell me where he is?” Anna asked imploringly.

James’s face was nothing but kindness, “Like you said there is a higher risk with being together. I’ve had to face that reality in my own life. But you’re right living life to the fullest always comes first otherwise you might live physically longer, but not really experience what living should be about. Tyre is a very emotional kind of guy believe it or not. Sometimes he lets himself act on something in the emotion of the moment before he’s considered all the angles. I think he’ll come to the same conclusion as you have, even as Lisa and I have.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Anna asked in concern.

James looked down and then back up, “Anna I’m not sure I can find Tyre for you, but I’m going to try don’t fear! Why I said what I did is to give you hope that he might figure things out and return on his own.”

Anna shook her head no, “Even if he did figure it out he would be too embarrassed to come back, because he would think he had failed me and that I hated him now. He’s fragile like that emotionally. He really doesn’t think anyone can truly love him. He won’t come back, not on his own!”