The Memoir of Johnny Devine (35 page)

“
Yes,” Eliza
whispered.
And the woman searching is
…?

“
Now I ask who
you
are,” the man went
on, “or do you still have questions for me?”

“
One more. What is the
name of your mother’s friend?”

“
Katerina
Petrovich.”

Eliza gasped. “She’s my—I mean, she never
married?”

Vlad let out a sigh. “No. She was promised
to my uncle Anatoly—my mother’s brother. They were all childhood
friends, you see, very close. But my uncle died same winter. I was
only infant. I never knew him.”

“
So you never knew Vasily
and Lara?”

“
No.”

Eliza’s heart sank.

“
Now, may I ask why you
also want to find Vasily and child?”

“
Vasily and Lara are my
parents. I am their second daughter. The first daughter, the one
born in New York, is my sister.”

“
You
are Vasily’s child?” Vlad exclaimed something in Russian.
“Your parents and sister, they are well? I must send telegram to
Katerina at once. She will be overjoyed to find
brother!”

Eliza’s eyes stung with tears. “Vlad, I’m
sorry, but my parents died in a train accident many years ago. My
sister and I are the only ones remaining.”

A pause stretched for several seconds. “I am
so sorry to hear this. You must miss them very much.”

“
Yes.”

The super passed through the lobby and gave
her a slit-eyed look. She turned her back to him and lowered her
voice. “Vlad, my parents didn’t tell us where they were from. Or
why they left Russia. I would very much like to speak with Katerina
and to know why my parents came to the States and changed their
names. They never spoke of it to us.”

“
You do not
know?”

Eliza stilled. “No. Do you?”

“
Da.”

She gasped. The truth was here. Now. It
would either set her free or add to her troubles.

“
My mother told me story.
During Russian Civil War, commoners were cold and starving from
fuel and food shortages. The harsh winter claimed many lives and
famine continued. Since payment for military service was rations
and fuel, Vasily joined Red Guard. Lenin fooled people with talk of
new regime. But after Bolsheviks took over Petrograd, Red Guard was
used to wipe out imperialists. It was a time of much terror and
bloodshed. Vasily witnessed atrocities he never imagined. He wanted
out, but deserting Red Guard meant execution for Vasily and entire
family, as well as relatives, friends—all people connected to
him.”

Entire family
...

“
There was an infant son.
Do you know what happened to him?”

Vlad sighed. “Da. They had son named Ivan.
But sadly, the child became sick and died.”

“
That’s what I was afraid
of,” she said, her voice breaking.

“
Vasily was desperate to
save family and break ties with Lenin and communist regime. But the
only way was to take wife and leave country. If he told any family
where he was, they would be in danger. Deserters and those
harboring them were executed. To protect family, Vasily took
pregnant wife to Switzerland, on foot and under cover of night.
Katerina arranged for Vasily and Lara to go from there to America
hidden on cattle boat. To protect him and family, Katerina told
Vasily to change name and disappear forever. She did not want to
know this new name so she could not … be forced to give her brother
away.”

You mean tortured.
Eliza let the story sink in, stirring up new
images of her parents and the heartbreak, cruelty, and injustice
they had suffered. Her parents were not communist spies. They were
two people who abhorred violence and injustice and risked their
lives to protect their loved ones. They were grieving, young
parents who fled and began a new life in a strange, new land where
they knew no one. How hard they must have worked to conceal their
nationality, all to protect those they loved.

“
Thank you, Vlad,” Eliza
said. “You don’t know how much this means to me to finally know
their story. I am greatly indebted to you for this.”

“
No owing, no debt. I am
pleased to find you at last. There is someone else who will also be
most pleased. May I send telegram to Katerina? She must know you
and sister are alive and well.”

“
Yes, I would be very
grateful. Thank you so much.”

“
I am certain she will
send telegram, but she does not speak or write English. If you
permit me, I will call you and translate her message for
you.”

“
Yes, please.” She felt no
reason not to trust him with this information. He had just given
her the most precious gift—the last pieces of the puzzle of her
parents’ lives.

The pieces she had challenged God to
provide.

As soon as she ended the call, she phoned
Betty. As she told Betty the story, she could hear her sister
crying.

“
Betty, this was no
coincidence. All these things leading us to the story of our
parents and to our aunt. I think … maybe God is helping
me.”

Silence. “Well, it doesn’t matter how it
happened, I’m just glad it did. Promise me you’ll tell me just as
soon as you hear any word from Aunt Katerina, won’t you?”

“
Yes, of course. And now
that I know why our parents were hiding their identities, I can put
a stop to this HUAC harassment once and for all.”

“
Oh, darling, I hope so.
What a nightmare!”

Eliza glanced down at the ring on her finger
and smiled. She had one more important piece of news for her
sister. But perhaps Betty had heard enough for now. Eliza’s
engagement news could wait one more day. Tomorrow would come soon
enough.

Eliza went back
to her room, still reeling from what she had
learned. Telling Betty she would set the HUAC straight was just an
impulse, but the more she thought about it, the more certain she
felt. The truth would prevail, as John always said.

She returned downstairs and phoned John.

“
Ah, Eliza, thank
goodness. I was half afraid last night was only a
dream.”

Eliza smiled. So she wasn’t the only
one.

“
I love you,” he said,
deep voice thrumming across the line. “In case I forgot to mention
that.”

She caught her lower lip
with her teeth, but that did nothing to contain her smile. “I love
you too. And you
did
tell me, but I don’t mind hearing it again.”

“
That’s good,” he said.
The line went quiet for a moment. “Say, I spoke to Nathaniel this
morning. Nothing has changed. Millie is fading, sweetheart. I don’t
think she has very long.”

Her stomach twisted. She was so helpless,
just like the day she learned about her parents. Was there nothing
she could do to keep from losing Millie too?

Eliza told him what she had learned about
her parents, and how she hoped to hear from her aunt soon.

“
That’s excellent news,”
John said. “You can rest easy now.”

“
I’ll rest a lot easier
when I see the look on Agent Robinson’s face after I tell him he
was wrong about my parents. In fact, I have half a mind to go to
HUAC headquarters and tell him.”

“
Is that so?”

The amusement in John’s tone sealed the
deal. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go right now. Why not
put a stop to all this bullying?”

Another stretch of silence. “I’ll come with
you.”

“
But aren’t you afraid of
them seeing us together?”

He laughed. “With you armed and ready to do
battle? I’m not afraid of anything.”

“
Meet me at the Shattuck
in two hours,” she said, grinning.

Eliza waited outside the Shattuck Hotel for
John’s cab to arrive. A small army of photographers were camped
around the hotel’s entrance. Had they somehow learned John was
coming? She went to one of the men and asked what was going on. The
man, wearing a press badge, told here there were rumors that the
HUAC was preparing to make an announcement, and he was there to get
the scoop.

She went inside the hotel lobby to wait
where she could see the street from the windows, out of sight of
the cameras.

John’s cab pulled up out front. When he
exited, several of the photojournalists rushed the cab and snapped
shots of him.

John smiled and waved at them, ignoring
their questions. He met Eliza in the lobby and hurried her toward
the stairs.

A kiss would have to wait.

At the reception desk outside the
Whitecotton Room, Eliza asked for Agent Robinson and was directed
to the lobby on the mezzanine, as the panel was in session. She and
John waited at the far end of the smaller upper lobby, as far out
of view of passersby as possible. Being with someone as
recognizable as John would take some getting used to.

Finally, a clerk called Eliza’s name and led
her and John inside. Four men were seated at the long table today,
but only two of them were from the day before. And no sign of
Robinson.

“
Eliza Saunderson?” one of
the men asked.

“
Yes. I’m here to see
Agent Robinson.”

“
Agent Robinson is not
here.” The man took a folder from the other man and spoke in low
tones, then turned to Eliza. “What is the nature of your
visit?”

Disappointed she couldn’t tell the agent
directly, she went ahead. “I was here yesterday and was questioned
at length about my family. I’m here today because I’ve just learned
the truth about my parents and the reason for their name change and
move to the United States from Russia. I would like to go on record
with this information.”

The men studied her.

One of them spoke to John. “And you
are?”

“
John Vincent.”

“
Also known as Johnny
Devine?”

“
Yes.”

“
What is your interest in
Mrs. Saunderson’s case?”

“
I am here for moral
support.” John smiled at Eliza.

As one man shuffled through a stack of
folders, the other one told Eliza to proceed.

She told them the story of her father’s
desertion from the Red Guard, her parents’ risky defection, and the
reason for changing their names. She explained that her father
wanted nothing to do with communism after seeing Lenin’s regime
firsthand.

One man wrote, while the other continued to
look through folders.

Finally, the one writing looked up at Eliza.
“Do you have anything else to say?”

“
Yes.” She glanced at John
to bolster her courage, then faced the men. “I want to say that, as
an American citizen, I am appalled by the way this committee has
handled these investigations. This is a country for which freedom
and liberty were hard-won by the lives and deaths of patriots, and
yet a branch of our own government makes false accusations and is
prepared to pronounce guilt on its own people, which is both
damaging and unwarranted. If I have a political position, it is
that I am revolted by injustice. But that revolt makes me neither a
dissident nor a communist. I am a proud American patriot who has
something to say and nothing to hide.”

Breathe. You did it.

“
Mrs. Saunderson,” one man
said, “I will make a note of this in your file. You may be
interested to know that Agent Robinson is no longer with this
agency. Our new field director, Charles Hamilton, will be reviewing
Agent Robinson’s case files. If we need any more information from
you, we will contact you. But at this point, you may consider
yourself no longer a person of interest in these investigations.
You are dismissed.”

Eliza drew a sharp breath. “And my
sister?”

“
What is her
name?”

“
Betty
Cunningham.”

The man peered at the folder in front of him
and shook his head. “Your sister is of no interest to us.”

She heaved a sigh and turned to John. “It
looks like God answers prayer.”

“
He certainly does.” John
smiled. “Shall we go?”

“
Mr. Vincent?” The other
man held a thick folder in his hand.

“
Yes?”

“
We do have a few
questions for you. If you please.”

Oh no. What had she gotten him into?