Ghosts
The story finally ends. Thanks for reading, and thanks especially for reviewing. Loupie.
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Chapter 4
Leon lifted his shirt and inspected his abdomen. A large bruise was already setting in where he had fired a bullet at himself.
Garcia was sitting with him in the room where Leon was being detained for questioning. His official role was perhaps a kind of chaperone or even guard, but Leon knew he was mostly here as a friend. He trusted Garcia for the most part, but however trustworthy he was, he was ultimately a company man. Leon no longer trusted company men.
"Looks bad. Sure you don't wanna see a doctor?"
Leon shook his head and let his shirt drop. "It'll heal," he said.
"Unlike some other wounds."
They exchanged a glance. Garcia looked genuinely sympathetic.
"I didn't believe it when they first told me. Even with Unser mouthing off, she just seemed on the level to me. I guess you got sucked in too."
"So what changed your mind?" Leon asked.
"They have evidence. Photographs and recordings."
"You've seen them?"
"No. But I'm not gonna argue with Taylor, am I?"
"Not if you want to stick around."
"Guess it makes sense. When you work undercover as long as she did, it's hard not to turn to the dark side."
"I take it you're not lining up for the ghost squad."
"Hey--I've been tempted. But...." Garcia shook his head. "I don't know. You become who you pretend to be, you know? You gotta be careful who you pretend to be."
"Wise words."
"Ripped it from somewhere, I'm sure."
Garcia studied him for a moment. After a silence, he asked, "She break your heart?"
Leon smiled wryly. He was glad he could give Garcia an honest, albeit out-of-date, answer. "Yeah."
"Women do that."
Leon chose the easiest thing to say. "They sure do."
"God knows mine's been broken time and again. You just gotta hang in there."
"I will." It amused Leon a little that Garcia, 4 years his junior, was giving him brotherly advice in matters of the heart.
Garcia stood up. "I better go. Taylor'll be here any minute. I'll see ya later."
He headed towards the door.
"Hey," Leon suddenly said.
Garcia stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"
Leon hesitated. He wondered if asking his question was the best idea, but since he'd been reckless all night, he decided to stay on track.
"Between you and me, you think they're right about her?"
Garcia took his time to answer. "I don't know."
"What does your gut say?"
Garcia lowered his eyes and considered for another moment. Then, he looked Leon in the eye. "Be smart, Leon. Some things are bigger than us."
Leon nodded knowingly. "Take care of yourself, Garcia."
There was a quiet, mutual understanding that somehow they would probably never see each other again.
"Right back atcha," Garcia said. "Been an honor, Kennedy." Smiling sadly, he slipped out. The door closed heavily behind him, emphasizing the finality of their acquaintance.
Leon leaned back on his chair and sighed. His mind was swirling with the myriad of unthinkable reasons that explained the current circumstances. Amongst the chaos, one thing was clear: Ada was being used as a scapegoat.
She was, after all, the easiest target. As Garcia had said, it made perfect sense that the ex-uncover agent was in fact working against them. In playing the enemy, she had become the enemy. It didn't take any stretch of the imagination to believe that explanation. But Leon knew by logic as well as instinct that Ada was not the one. Even though he wasn't prepared to openly admit it, Garcia agreed with him. That meant the real traitor was still in their midst.
Leon wasn't sure what the best course of action was. He felt a duty to find the mole but there was a growing part of him that wondered if some things were bigger than they were. He wondered what Garcia meant exactly. That there was a larger conspiracy that he wasn't even close to seeing? If that were indeed the case, he wasn't sure he wanted to be part of it.
Time was ticking. Taylor was due at any moment and Leon wanted to resolve a few things before he arrived. He wished Ada was here to make things clear for him. For the foreseeable future though, he was on his own.
She would, he knew, contact him as soon as it was safe, but that could mean days, weeks, months--who knew how long? Leon was beginning to think a more active approach on his part was preferable. He'd lost six years already, six years he could never get back. He was damn well not going to waste any more time being apart from the woman he loved.
He suddenly knew what he had to do. He had to leave here and get to her. But he also knew that once he left, he could never come back. It wasn't as easy a choice as it seemed. Although being a government agent hadn't been exactly what he'd set out to be, it had turned out to be a perfect fit for him. Yet as much as his job was part of him, he knew now it wasn't what made him who he was. That honor belonged to Ada.
Leon made his decision. By the time Taylor was ready to knock on the door, he would not be here to answer it.
----
As Leon stood on the platform at the train station in central Geneva, he smilingly marveled at the amount of confidence Ada had in him. Somehow, she'd trusted him to decipher her cryptic utterance.
Paris, twenty-oh-four was a train.
And somewhere among the dwindling crowds in the station was Ada.
The clock on the platform declared it was 20:01. He didn't have a ticket for Paris. Instead, he had purchased a ticket to Berlin and was in fact standing at the platform opposite to the one where the Paris train was sitting. In the attempt to to make himself as hard to follow as possible, he was going to leave it until the last possible moment before boarding the Paris train.
He had spent the last sixteen hours hiding out on a boat at the dock. The boat wasn't empty, so he hadn't gotten much rest. Lying there on the stern watching the stars, he'd imagined being with Ada in some place somewhere they could be free. With sadness, he acknowledged that it was a fantasy. He'd resigned himself to a turbulent future with Ada--it was just how things were going to be. There would be moments of peace and liberty, but they would only ever be moments.
As long as she was there though, he would be happy with moments.
20:01 became 20:02. As if on cue, the Berlin train pulled in. He waited patiently for the passengers to alight before casually strolling in.
He had a minute and half to kill so he sat down and pretended to settle himself in for a long ride. A mustached man Leon had noticed on the platform came into his carriage and sat down behind him. Within seconds, he felt the scorch of the man's gaze on the back of his head. Perhaps he was just imagining it, but he wasn't about to ignore his hunch.
Keeping a close tab on the clock on the platform, he calmed his heart, and waited for precisely 63 seconds.
Then, Leon turned away from the window and looked up and down the carriage, seemingly for the washroom. With 22 seconds to go, he got up and trudged towards the front of the train where the washroom was supposed to be located.
It took him exactly 8 seconds to get through the carriage. As he turned to shut the door behind him, he saw the mustached man out of the corner of his eye entering the carriage he'd just left.
Leon quickened his pace, but not so much it would raise suspicion. He made it through to the next carriage in 6 seconds but the man was closing the gap on him. He didn't seem to care whether he blew his cover anymore.
5 seconds later, Leon was stepping off the second carriage . The washroom was in the next carriage, but he wasn't going in there.
He heard a whistle. The adjacent train started to move off. Paris, twenty-oh-four, with Ada inside, was leaving.
From his pocket, Leon withdrew an object and clapped it onto the door he'd just closed. It was a magnetic device that would hold the lock in place indefinitely, as long as it wasn't shot off. He didn't need forever though. Just a few more seconds.
The Paris train was picking up speed. He had to get on it now.
He took a breath, and went for the gap between the penultimate and last carriages. He hoped he'd timed his jump exactly right.
----
Six minutes after the train departed, Ada started to second guess herself. She'd been supremely confident that he'd understand what Paris, twenty-oh-four meant, even though he'd appeared confused when she first told him. She simply believed in him.
But now, as the train rushed headlong towards the French capital, the first doubts started to creep in. She didn't allow herself to think about all the ways he could have been prevented from getting here, nor did she spend any time debating whether or not he had decided to come. She refused to allow insecurity into her life. In her line of work, self-doubt often led to death. Emotion of any kind for that matter.
Ada was sitting in a busy carriage. The young man sitting opposite her, his confidence no doubt bolstered by a drink or two, was babbling something at her. Her French was not fluent, but she caught enough of what he said to know he was suggesting she partake in vulgar acts in the washroom with him. Curbing her desire to kill him, she turned away from him to face the window as politely as she could.
It was then a pleasant and familiar scent drifted over to her.
"Excusez-moi, monsieur. Ce siège est occupé."
The utterance came from behind and it was heavily accented with American. It caused a warmth to flood Ada's heart.
Leon.
Instead of turning around like she desperately wanted to, she glanced at the young man. Apologizing profusely, he stood up and slithered away. He must have been burned with a hell of a glare.
Using all of her will power, Ada kept her eyes averted as Leon sat down beside her.
"French, huh? I'm impressed."
"Had to be done," Leon said. "Didn't want a repeat of Spain. People yelling things you don't understand while they're trying kill you. It's hell."
"I remember."
"Only thing that kept me sane was a girl who spoke my language."
"Ashley?"
Leon let out a breathy laugh. "Did I tell you I'm marrying her?"
A smile sneaked onto Ada's lips. "Congratulations."
They were quiet for a moment.
"How are you?" asked Ada, turning serious. She was genuinely concerned that he may be hurt. She knew what their organization was capable of when they wanted information, especially when overseas.
But Leon's pithy answer not only put her at rest, it elevated her to a state of bliss.
"Ecstatic," he said, clutching her hand.
Ada looked at him finally. His clear, blue eyes were already on her, shining.
She squeezed his hand and smiled. "Me too."
THE END
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*Garcia's line, "You become who you pretend to be, you know? You gotta be careful who you pretend to be" is a variation of what Kurt Vonnegut writes in the introduction to his novel Mother Night.