Undercover (28 page)

Johnson said, “It’s weekend. You won’t get a judge to set bail for days.”

The lawyer looked amused. “Do you even realize where you are? Nothing ever happens here. They’ll be ecstatic to have an actual case.”

Chapter Thirty-One

They took Alex’s fingerprints and put him in a cell where Jenny couldn’t go. She refused to leave the station and sat in a corner, staring straight ahead, trying not to show how scared she was. Her lawyer came to see her every now and then. He seemed very pleased, and she thought he should be; she paid him well. He whispered, “I’ve talked to Judge Hill, he’s having a field day with all this. Now, I don’t trust Tom Johnson. When we get your husband out of here, I hope you two will do the responsible thing and go underground until the trial.”

The word “trial” made her grimace, and he smiled. “Keep your chin up. I haven’t looked at all the evidence, but people get acquitted on less than being a nice guy.” Then, he was gone, off to arrange for the bail.

Jenny counted the number of chairs in the room to keep herself occupied. Then, she counted the number of ceiling tiles, and wondered if she should start on the bricks in the wall too. She thought days passed, but it was probably only hours until Cooper came to escort her to the lobby. She worried he would throw her out, and when she saw Alex come through a door on the other side, escorted by two guards, she ran over to him and threw her arms around him. Having him hold her was heavenly.

Cooper followed them out the front door, and Jenny thought he seemed uncomfortable. He said, “I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”

She probably had him to thank for a lot. Neither of them answered, and he added in a very quiet voice. “Mr. Roshenko, I think you are guilty, but for what it’s worth, I wish you the best of luck. If I were you, I would hurry away from here, and I will deny saying that until the day I die.”

Alex flashed a smile. “I will take your advice into consideration, Mr. Cooper. Have a nice day.”

Jenny clung to her husband all the way to the car. She didn’t know if she dared talk or not, and she was superstitiously afraid he would disappear if she let go of him. Once they reached the old Chevy, he kissed her tenderly, holding her face cupped in his hands. He mumbled, “I thought I would never see you again. When they brought me into that room and you were there, it was like walking into the sunshine after a long day in the cold rain.”

She teased, “Aren’t you quite the poet,” but couldn’t keep it up; she pulled him tighter and pressed her lips against his. She knew exactly what he meant.

*****

Jenny sat in the passenger seat outside her mother’s apartment, her thoughts wandering. She was relieved to have Alex back by her side, but she knew what it meant. Her attention circled the fact she’d somehow have to persuade her mom to keep the cat. It was a random thought, and she suspected her mind focused on something small to avoid handling the big picture. It would be the last time she saw them, both her mother and the cat, and she didn’t know how to handle it.

Alex leaned back in the driver’s seat, but didn’t turn the engine off. “Are you ready for this?”

She didn’t have to ask what he was talking about, and shook her head ever so little. “No. But I don’t think I will ever be. As long as I have you, I’ll be alright.”

He took her hand and lifted it up to kiss it. “We don’t have to do this. You know I am guilty of many crimes. Maybe… Maybe I deserve to be put away. You could stay at home and raise the children.”

He probably
wanted
to say she could find a new man, but knew she would hit him if he did.

“You could teach them to write me letters.”

If Johnson got his way, Alex wouldn’t end up in the kind of prison that accepted letters. It would be the kind that occasionally was on international news for abusing the prisoners, and her eyes filled with tears at the mere thought. No matter what material things she left behind, it was just stuff. A lifetime worth of things, but still just things.

She was about to leave her friends and relatives, very likely forever, and it broke her heart, but it wasn’t anywhere near how it would feel to lose her husband. She knew; she experienced it earlier in the day. Besides, hadn’t he done the same for her a few years earlier? He left his country, left the world as he knew it, and went with her. He committed the very crimes they now hunted him for, just to save her from living out the rest of her life in Gulag. “Yeah, that’s not happening. You are the light in my life, and wherever we’re going, it will be together.”

He grimaced, “It is very flattering that you say that, but I am ruining your life.”

It was her turn to lift his hand and kiss it. “No, love. Without you, I am nothing.”

It sounded melodramatic, and she tried to shake the mood. It was difficult to sound cheery. “Come on, let’s get this show on the road.”

Alex nodded and turned the engine off. She still didn’t leave the car. “I love you. No matter what happens, we have to do it together. Promise.”

He said obediently, “I promise,” but she wasn’t sure he even believed himself.

*****

Alex entertained the idea of him disappearing and Jenny and the children staying at home, but discarded it. Apart from the fact that she’d never agree to it, it was much too easy for all his enemies to figure out how much his family meant to him. The very thought of someone snatching them out of the house to use them against him sent cold chills down his spine. They would have to stay together, or go together.

He might be able to buy himself free with information. He knew too much about everything. That’s what got him into this mess in the first place. It wasn’t really an option. He was too afraid of what his own people might do to the ones close to his heart.

They went hand in hand to pick the children up, and Lindsay screamed and threw herself at him in a fashion that reminded him a lot of her mother. Alexander hardly seemed to notice they’d been gone. His eyes were tired and he stared at the TV, almost spellbound by it.

Jenny’s mother, on the other hand, sensed what was up. She pulled them into the kitchen. “The bad men are still after you, aren’t they?”

He wrapped an arm around Jenny’s shoulders. “Yes. Yes, they are. It’s my fault. Please forgive me for bringing your daughter into this.”

He had no right to ask for forgiveness, but it still seemed to be the right thing to say. The old woman looked into his eyes. “Just take care of Jenny and the kids. If anyone comes here, I won’t even remember your names. I’ll be a confused old lady who puts salt in the coffee.”

There wasn’t much to say, and Jenny was about to cry, so he just nodded. He didn’t trust Johnson, and he expected the man to come after him with full force any second. “I wish we could stay for a bit, but I don’t think it’s wise to linger.”

They hugged their goodbyes, and for the first time, he saw how much alike the women were. He had no family of his own, not even one person. He surprised himself with asking, “Do you want to come with us?”

“Oh no. I’m too old to go on the road. And one never knows, you might need someone here.”

He carried Alexander to the car, and Jenny held Lindsay’s hand. He guessed what his wife was thinking: who would take care of her mom? “She’ll be fine. She’s stronger than you think.”

Once they were in the car with the children securely strapped in the generous back seat, he turned to Jenny and ran a hand over her cheek. “You will see her again, I promise.”

He didn’t know how to live up to the promise, but he was determined to find a way to return his wife to her life. She bit her lip and nodded.

“You don’t have to do this.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be silly.”

He sighed and nodded, and started the engine.

*****

Alex didn’t take the shortest way, and at first, Jenny didn’t understand the purpose of all his crisscrossing. They circled the same block over and over again. He probably wanted to make sure no one followed them. There might be some form of tracking device on their car too, but it wouldn’t matter. He glanced over at her and winked, and it made her feel a little better.

He drove to a garage Jenny had heard of but never seen. She knew he rented it under a false identity and parked a car there, but never thought much about it. They had bank accounts, credit cards and passports, social security cards, insurance, and everything one might ever need under at least half a dozen different names. She just never expected to
need
any of it.

She moved the kids to a sleek, black Dodge Charger while Alex searched both cars. She thought they were done, but when she was about to sit down, he reached out for her and gave her shoulders a little squeeze. “Your phone.”

She didn’t get it. What could her phone have to do with anything?

“I’m sorry. One more thing you love I have to take away from you.”

It was one of the last things she had from their old life, and even though she understood the need to give it up, she didn’t want to.

“It has a GPS. They can track us through it.”

Looking into his warm eyes, she remembered what was really important in life and nodded.

“I’ll get you a new one. I promise.”

From this point on, there could be no electronics from their old life, no e-mail, postcards, or any other trace of them. They were being erased from existence, and for Jenny’s inner eye, someone had erased their faces from every photo ever taken of them. It made her want to weep.

Alex seemed to drive around randomly, heading north. She assumed they’d be going south, but she trusted him too much to ask. He pulled into a parking lot and tossed her phone into a trashcan, and she clenched her jaw, fighting down an urge to run out and retrieve it. The last trace of them was gone. She was grateful it was summer and still daylight. She put her sunglasses on and stared out the window, pretending she wasn’t crying.

When they reached the next town, he pulled up at a McDonalds drive through, and Chicken McNuggets, Coke, and fries seemed so normal. All Americans ate it, and everything seemed better with the comfort of fast food in her mouth and stomach.

*****

Alex pulled up outside a gas station that still had an old-fashioned payphone. “Stay in the car, I’ll be right back.”

They long since decided if it came to this, he would have to make the call. She wouldn’t be able to.

He fed coins into the machine and listened to it ring. They should make these booths larger. He was a giant in Lilliput land about to accidentally crush something.

The phone rang and rang, and he hoped the person at the other end would pick up. Finally, a voice answered, “Hello,” and he smiled in spite of all.
Something
good would come out of all this.

“Nori, my friend, it’s Alex. You know that house you always liked. It is yours. I’m sorry it’s a little messy. You know where the key is, and all the documents for it are in my desk, ready for you to sign. Take care of yourself, you mean a lot to us all.”

He hung up before she could bombard him with questions. Someone might try to confiscate the house, but he made sure it wouldn’t be easy.

All immediate practical things were dealt with, and he had no more reasons to stall. It was time to start the long drive south.

The car was equipped with a video system and a pile of movies, and he heard the kids giggle from the back seat. They would soon be sleeping. Jenny sat in silence. Knowing her, she would soon be sleeping too.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Jenny woke hours later, when Alex pulled in under the yellow lights of a gas station. She yawned and stretched, trying to get some life back into her body.

“We need gas. You want anything?”

It was tempting to curl up and go back to sleep, but she should at least try to be interested in their great escape. “I’ll come with you.”

Both Lindsay and Alexander slept, heads tilted towards each other, and she didn’t think any great harm would come to them from being alone in the car for five minutes.

On the way into the store, she stopped and reached out for him, pulling him close. He seemed surprised at first, but hugged her willingly enough when he realized what she wanted. She enjoyed holding him and resting her head against his chest. There had been a portion of the day when she thought she’d never be able to touch him again, and she cherished the moment.

When she pulled back and looked at him, she could see the tension just under the surface. If she had a bad day, his was worse. She ran her hands over his face. “Hey, this stubble feels good. It’s sexy.” His smile came out a little pale.

“Are you okay, lover?”

He made a grimace. “Yes. It’s just been a long day.”

She always expected him to be there, to be strong, calm, and reliable, and never to tire. It was time for her to man up. “Let me drive for a bit, okay.”

He said “No,” but still handed her the keys, and once they were back out on the road, he fell asleep within minutes.

It was difficult to stay under the speed limits, but she did her best. They might survive being pulled over, but risking it seemed stupid. The night was endless. They had been on the road for hours, but covered such a small portion of America.

A couple of hours later, Alex woke up and yawned. He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands, ran his fingers through his hair, and asked, “How are you doing, my darling?”

“I’m okay. How are you?”

He smiled, and it looked a little more real now than at the gas station. “I had a good rest. I’m fine. Why don’t you pull over somewhere, and I’ll get us some coffee. I can take the wheel for a while.”

*****

Alex drove his family farther into the night, still going south. Was it safe to continue in the same car, or should he try to change it for something? He couldn’t think anymore. Jenny dozed in the passenger seat, and he eventually stopped in a parking lot outside a motel.