CHAPTER THREE
Alexandra had been wandering aimlessly around town. Her mind too
filled with the ramifications of her discovery. Torn between the hurt
her lost lover must have gone through and the need for a new plan.
She decided that staying around Washington wasn't going to clear her
head anytime soon, best to draw a thick black line under plan A and
start rapidly coming up with a plan B.
In the elevator at her hotel she impatiently pressed the floor button
several times as if it would carry her up faster. The corridor was
quiet as she made her way to room 406. A pleasing number as all the
digits consisted of even numbers. She slipped the room key card into
the lock and waited while the light decided to turn green.
All she needed to do was to throw some clothes in her hold all and be
out of there to catch the first plan out of Dulles International
Airport. Destination? Anywhere.
She walked to the bed and clicked the over head light on. A soft warm
yellow engulfed the room. She pulled out the top draw of the bedside
cabinet and empted it contents onto the freshly made quilt.
A random collection of lacey underwear, travel clocks (she always
travelled with three, time was never to be taken for granted.) And a
couple of well used note books. If anyone was to find them they
wouldn't be able to transcribe a word that was written within their
pages. Alexandra had developed her own code system based partly on
secretarial shorthand and various other hieroglyphics she'd picked up
along the way.
Something in the room made her hair stand on end. She reached for her
10mm Glock which was sticking out her jean's waistband and swung it
round to sweep the room.
A dark silhouette was sitting in the corner furthest away from the
windows. She flicked another light switch and two standard lamps
illuminated the figure.
'Auggie?' she was relieved to see that there wasn't a threat, she
still had more time and relieved to get a final chance to speak to the
man who had stolen her heart many years ago and failed to return it.
'You sound surprised?' his voice was smooth and seductive, whether he
was aware of it or not. It hit its target, right in the middle of
Alexandra's solar plexis.
'I...I just wasn't expecting you. I suppose I should have.'
'I waited an hour.'
'Oh sorry about that, I was hung up elsewhere.'
'Bullshit, you took one look at the blindman and ran for your life.'
Auggie stood up and walked towards her.
Alexandra was on tender hooks looking around to see if she needed to
clear anything from his path. His confident movement, head up,
shoulders square belied any evidence of his blindness. Perhaps it was
just a front, perhaps it was only partial.
He reached within touching distance of her and stopped. So close, so
utterly tantalisingly close that she could almost feel the heat from
his body.
'You sounded... stressed on the phone. You said you needed help. Well I'm here.'
'Auggie that was before I found out...'
'That I was blind,' he spat the words out with disgust.
'Yes,' she replied quietly.
Auggie seemed to be staring right into her eyes. They looked just the
same as they had done all those years ago, the only differences were
that they held no light within them, no emotion, they were dead.
'Alexandra, why are you here? Why did you contact me? Forget that I'm
not quite as you expected me to be; as you remembered.'
Alexandra took in a deep breath and lowered herself slowly onto the
bed. If she was to tell him now he would be drawn into something that
there was no turning back from and if she didn't tell him she would
have to find a way of solving a near impossible situation. She
swallowed nervously. Her mind too slow in coming to a conclusion.
Auggie stared down, reached out his hand and made contact with her
shoulder. With his other hand he touched the bed and lowered himself
next to her.
'Tell me Alex, if I can help you I will,' his voice was much kinder.
'I need an extraction. I can't do it myself as the subject is being
watched 24/7. They're being used as bait and don't even realise it.
The situation is so delicate.'
'Why are they after you?'
'I don't want to go into that right now. I need to focus on getting my
son out of the UK. I can protect him here. I can go deep under, hide.'
'It won't be that easy to hide with a child.'
'I know but I have to try. I can't leave him behind Auggie, he has no
one there.'
Auggie shook his head slowly. 'I don't know about this Alex, where he
is now is safe. A boarding school with near on 24 hour supervision.
Perhaps it would be wiser to leave him where he is. Wait till the heat
has cooled a bit.'
Alexandra reached out and held onto Auggie's forearm as if holding
tightly to a life line.
'Auggie this is my son we're talking about. How can a few doddering
old teachers keep him safe from the world's best trained espionage
agents? You know it is only a matter of time. So far I've been lucky.'
'Alex it doesn't make sense to put him at such risk.'
She lowered her hands and clasped them tightly on her lap. Squeezing
them together until the pain out weighed the heavy feeling in her
chest.
'Auggie, would it make a difference if you knew that Andy was your son also.'
Auggie jumped up off the bed. He balance shaky, he reached out for
something solid and found a wall. He leaned against it.
'W..w..what?!' he asked into the wallpaper.
'Andy is yours. It is so obvious if you saw him - oh sorry. I mean he
is so bright, athletic, cheeky and he has your smile. Scary isn't it
to think of another mini Auggie out in the world,' her voice was
joking but it was too soon for Auggie to go there.
'Did you know when you left me?' He turned slowly round, his hand
still rooted on the wall.
'Yes.'
'Why didn't you tell me?' there was no reply. She'd probably shrugged.
Christ this blasted darkness. 'Alex, I'm not so hot on reading body
language these days,' his expression was sheer frustration. He had
given in trying to match his gaze to an approximation of her's and
knew he was just staring wildly into the infinite blackness of his
world. He hated the lack of control, he hated her seeing him as a
blindman.
'I didn't tell you because I found out that you were just playing me;
reeling me in just like you would with any other asset. There wasn't
really anything special between us. It was just a facade until you
managed to get the information the agency needed from me.'
'That's crap. I loved you Alex, more than anything, anyone.'
'I saw your computer Auggie. I saw the file you stole from me.'
'How? Why didn't you delete it if you saw it?'
'I don't know, perhaps I was punishing myself for being so bloody
gullible. Perhaps I loved you so much I wanted you to have the
information, even if it possibly meant my life. I knew then that I
would have done anything for you. But I had the baby to think about.
Suddenly it was more than just me. I had your baby inside me and I
was... happy.'
Auggie could hear the emotion in her voice. He could hear her battle
to keep it at bay. With his arms outstretched to feel for obstructions
he shuffled slowly back to the bed. He felt her hand touching his,
guiding him to her side.
'Alex, you had to know I didn't send it. I couldn't. I destroyed the
file beyond salvage. There was no way I would have done anything to
harm you.'
'Why did you have it in the first place?'
He needed to see her, her expression. He lifted his hands to touch her
face. He must have been slightly off as again her hands met his and
gently placed them on her soft, moist cheek. He stroked her skin,
unbelieving that it was his precious Alex there beside him.
'Yes, it started off as just an assignment but then it grew into
something much more. I fell in love with you Alex. I was planning to
leave the CIA. I was going to try and talk you into leaving MI6. We'd
escape, live together somewhere quiet,' more quietly he added. 'Have a
family together and raise our children.'
'Auggie, will you help me to get our son and keep him safe?'
Auggie dropped his hand. It was too much information to take in. For
eight years he had a son he knew nothing about, living, growing,
learning on the other side of the world. He had missed so much. How
could she have kept this from him?
'Does he know about me?' He regretted how weak his voice came out but
he didn't have any energy left for false bravado.
'No, I thought it was safer not to have any connection between the two of you.'
'I would never of harmed him.'
'Not you sweetheart. If anyone knew you were his father they would be
able to use that information against you or find a trail to find me.
Also our kid is a smart ass and it wouldn't have taken him long to
trace you if I had given him any information.'
'A smart ass hey?'
'Yes, like father like son.'
He smiled for the first time. He had a son.