A/N: I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter as it is but I leave tomorrow for a week to do some work for my company. So it's close enough now. I didn't want to wait another week before finishing it. I hope you enjoy it.
A Time for Honesty
Chapter Eleven
We walk into the hotel room we just obtained. Ellen, a beautiful but older version of Sarah and Mary practically drag Sarah to the Victorian era couch in the lavishly decorated room and place her between them. I follow behind still shocked and confused even though we spent fifteen minutes in the terminal, fifteen minutes in the cab to the hotel and five minutes in the hotel lobby talking about our serendipitous meeting.
Both of the women I've just met can't seem to keep their hands off of my fiancé. They each have said, 'I can't believe it's you' at least ten times apiece. Either her mother is touching her arm or her sister is grabbing her hand to hold. I feel privileged to be a part of this. I know how I would feel if my mother miraculously ran into me at some random airport in Europe. Or, maybe I don't have a clue.
When the excitement level in the room finally ratchets down to that of running with the bulls at Palermo, Ellen looked at Sarah and then me. "OK, tell me everything," she said smiling at her daughter.
Sarah looked at me and silently asked for help. I smile sheepishly telling her she's on her own.
Sarah took a quick glance at her mother then to her sister and finally looked at her mother again. "Well, you know Chuck, my fiancé," she said and hesitates.
"When are you getting married?" Ellen said. She looked at Sarah and then to me.
"We haven't set a date yet, that's complicated for us." Sarah was struggling.
"Complicated? What do you mean?" Mary said.
"We have a lot going on right now, don't we honey?" Sarah said looking at me.
I nod my head in agreement.
"We're just so busy with work and Chuck going one way and I'm going another. It's just really difficult right now."
"Oh, come on, Sarah. You don't let that stop you. Set a date and get married," Mary said moving her hands in animated excitement.
Sarah gave me a shy smile. I love to see that smile. I think that that is her real smile. Not any of the smiles that seem too dazzling. For some reason I think they've been cultivated by the CIA for their effect on the opposite sex. And even though I suspect the origins of those other smiles, they still have that same effect on me.
"OK, how did you two meet?" Ellen said.
"How did we meet, sweetie," she said clearly wanting help now.
"We met at work," I said simply. It was the closest thing to the truth I could think of. Besides, I don't see a reason to keep what we do from these two women. They don't need to know details.
"What is it you do, honey?" Ellen said.
"What is it I do, sweetie," Sarah parroted to me with a goofy look on her face and a tilt of her head.
She was more at ease with me speaking the truth about what we do than she was doing it herself. I doubt if she's ever told anyone outside the agency what she does.
"Ellen, Mary, you should be very proud of your daughter. She works for the United States Government and is very good at what she does. At first, I thought it was my imagination but as I studied the two women on each side of Sarah, I realized, for sure, that they had tensed up with my announcement.
"The United States Government…well isn't that something, Mary. Sarah works for the Government." She looked at the daughter most familiar to her as she spoke. It was obvious to Sarah and I that she was nervous about something.
"What is it you do, Sarah?" Mary asked her.
Sarah looked at me and almost pleaded for me to continue for her. I couldn't help myself. I had to step in.
"Sarah works for the CIA."
Ellen had been toying with her cell phone but at my announcement she dropped the phone on the floor. She was certainly not trained in hiding her feelings or emotions like her daughter because she had to try three separate times to pick it off the floor, due to her anxiety.
"Ellen, what's wrong?" Did I say something wrong?" I ask her.
Mary stepped in. "Mom, if we can't trust Sarah…who can we trust?" she said with real conviction. "Sarah might actually be able to help."
Ellen looked at me. "You met at work you said. Do you work for the CIA too?"
"Chuck's my boss," Sarah said.
"That's not true. I'm not Sarah's boss. I have a higher level but that doesn't make me her boss." I didn't realize she thought that.
"So you both work for the CIA?" Sarah's mother said almost as though it were an accusation.
I look at Sarah and I'm a little confused at her mother's tone but nod my head. "Sarah's worked for them for ten years. I just started a couple of months ago."
"Officially, but you've worked with me for almost three years now," Sarah said setting the record straight.
It occurs to me how meaningful that statement was by Sarah. She wanted the facts on table. She didn't want there to be any half truths. I smile at her letting her know that I love her.
But I notice that Ellen is upset.
"You know, I'm really tired. I think Mary and I need to get some sleep."
"No, Mother. I know what you were told before but if you can't trust Sarah who can you trust?" Mary's voice had risen in pitch as she repeated her question.
Ellen had put her hand over her mouth. She was obviously distraught and fighting back tears. I didn't know what to say or do since I really had no idea why she was upset.
"What is it Mom. I don't understand what's going on?" Sarah had put her hand on her mothers shoulder seeing her state of mind.
Ellen looked at Mary for a very long time and then at me as though she was afraid of me. She then smiled through honest tears at her long lost daughter.
"Mary's right. If I can't trust you…then none of this has been worth it anyway."
Ellen took a deep breath and began to speak.
"Jack and I separated in August of eighty nine. You girls were seven years old. But shortly after that, he skipped town with you," she said looking at Sarah. "I had the police look for you and I even hired a private detective when the police failed. Bet we never had any solid leads."
"We went to Cleveland and then to Wisconsin and finally California. Dad was always good at hiding his trail," Sarah said grabbing her mother's hand.
Ellen nodded her head in acknowledgement of the information. "Anyway, time went by and I finished my education and I had an interview in Washington with Senator Berston."
I watch Sarah's brow furrow at the mention of Senator Berston's name. Even though it means nothing to me, I see that it is meaningful to Sarah somehow.
Ellen continued. "What I didn't know at the time was that Senator Berston's assistant called Mary to reschedule the interview but Mary forgot to give me that message. So when I go to speak with the senator, I give the security officer my interview letter as a pass as I was instructed and he let me in." Ellen took a look around the room to see if we were all listening. That was unnecessary at this point since everyone knew that something extraordinary occurred.
"When I get back to the Senator's offices, I notice the place is empty. I feel odd about this but I'd never interviewed for a senator before so I didn't know if this was unusual or not. I've often thought if I'd have just turned around right then and there none of this would have happened."
She took a deep breath and I see that she was reliving whatever had happened to her on that day.
"Anyway, I walked to the large reception area and from there I can see the senator's offices. I saw the senator struggling with a man and then the senator dropped like he had been drugged or something. I screamed and when I did, the man saw me. We locked eyes but he must have known that I could reach the security guard before he could reach me. I ran out of the offices and told the security guard what I had seen."
Ellen took a drink of water that Mary had just sat in front of her. I notice just how close mother and daughter are at this moment. I catch Sarah's eyes and see that she notices too. And although Sarah tried to hide it from me, I know her too well. I see the faint and quick look in her eye that said she knew she had been robbed of that same closeness years ago. Robbed by the choice of a fourteen year old girl to stay with her father instead of going with her mother and sister.
"The security guard investigated and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. In fact, he told me that my interview had been rescheduled and that there was no one in the office today. He completely dismissed my report."
"The next day I heard that Senator Berston had died of a heart attack at his home. I went to the police to tell them what I found and they dismissed the case as well. The autopsy showed clearly that there was no foul play."
Sarah and I exchange looks and I see again that this story is more meaningful to her than to me. I've seen that look in Sarah's eyes. I know that she is deep in thought. I know that there is much more to the story at this point.
"You saw who killed Senator Berston?" Sarah asked her mother.
"You say that as though you know for sure he was killed," I say to her.
She looked at me dismissively and then back to her mother.
"Did you get a good look at the man in the senator's office?" she asked. Agent Sarah Walker was on the job now.
"I still see that face in my dreams. I'll never forget that face."
"Mother, what did he look like? Describe him to me."
"He was big, maybe six foot two and two hundred and twenty pounds. He was black and the thing most notable about him was his narrow set eyes. But here's the main thing. Two days later, I'm moving this large mirror out of my bedroom to the storage closet when the mirror just shatters. It just disintegrated in my hands. That's when I hear the bullets hitting the wall. I don't know how he missed me but he did." Ellen grabbed a Kleenex from the box sitting on the coffee table.
Sarah had grabbed her mother's hand again in support. It was obvious that retelling this story was reviving old emotions for Ellen.
"I reported it to the police and there was a huge investigation. The next day I was contacted by an agent Whitley of the FBI. To make a long story short, Mary and I were placed into the witness protection program."
"Witness protection! What on earth for?" Sarah asked. As she did she stood and walked over to me and sat down on the arm of my chair. I grabbed her around the waist to steady her. She held my hand and squeezed it. I knew that Sarah had come to me for support. That somehow she suspected that what she heard next was going to be difficult.
"Agent Whitley believe that our own government was responsible for assassinating the senator. It had something to do with his support of Cuban relations. The FBI suspected that the CIA was involved. That this man I saw with the senator worked for the CIA.
I felt Sarah's hand go limp in mine at that statement. Her expression was one I had never seen before. That was something rare to me at this point.
Sarah stood from the arm of my chair and began to rifle through her wallet. She pulled out a picture and looked at it longingly. As if, in just a few seconds everything she thought she knew about whoever's image was on that picture, would change irretrievably for the worse.
Sarah walked over to her mother. "Is this the guy?" she said holding out the picture to her mother.
The gasp we heard was answer enough. Ellen looked up at her daughter trying to speak.
"How do you know-?"
"His name is Arthur Graham. He's the man responsible for bringing me into the CIA," Sarah said looking from her mother to me.
I see that she is affected by this more than I would have thought. I didn't realize until just this moment how highly she regarded her former boss and mentor.
She pitched the picture into her mother's lap as though she was pitching away a favorite piece of clothing that she had just discovered had an irremovable stain.
"I always thought he was one of the good guy's," she said.
"Sarah this is the man that we have been hiding from for ten years. You cannot say anything about our meeting," Mary said to her sister.
Sarah and I look at each other in amazement. I realize that I need to close my mouth.
"Mother, Mary…Art Graham has been dead for almost a year. I would have thought your FBI contact would have informed you. I doubt seriously if there's a need to stay hidden."
Ellen stood and looked at everyone around the room. "This man is dead?" she looked at the man in the picture.
"Yes, I attended his funeral." Sarah looked at me realizing that I didn't know this. "But I don't want to take any chances. Let us make sure your problem died with Arthur Graham. I will look into this. Don't call me until I let you know it's OK," Sarah said realizing that they had already exchanged phone numbers.
"Sarah, I'm in a better position to make those inquiries. If there are more people involved, having the daughter of the woman in question asking questions isn't to smart. I can do it without attracting as much attention." I am rewarded by a show of teeth the shines unfettered love.
"You know, this answers a question I've thought about ever since I first joined the CIA. Why did Arthur Graham choose me? I mean, almost every one of my peers are hand picked out of college. I always wondered why I was different. Now I know."
"What do you mean?' Mary asked.
It hit me what Sarah was getting at and to be honest, I always assumed she had gone on to college like Bryce. But now after hearing the story, it was clear what Graham was up to.
"Graham chose me to join the CIA so he could be close to me in case my mother or sister ever contacted me. In that case he would have finished the job and I would have never known anything about it."
There was silence in the room as we all considered what kind of individual that would be to befriend someone with the intent to kill their mother.
"OK, enough of this. You have a lot more to catch up on. Let's table all CIA talk and move on to something else," I say as everyone got quiet.
"That's right. I want to know everything there is to know about my daughter," Ellen said looking much more relieved and relaxed than before.
"Like what?" Sarah again looks to me for help.
"Tell her about high school or…" I realize that Sarah didn't have that much she could speak openly about. Her whole adult life had been lived in and around the world of espionage. "Tell her about High School," I said again.
Sarah told her mom where she went to school and what she did in San Diego. I learned a few new things as well. But not that much. Again the conversation stalled.
"Mary, would you take Sarah and get us something to eat. I don't want any hotel food. There's a lovely Chinese place I saw on the way here. Did you see it?"
Mary nodded her head and grabbed Sarah's hand and pulled her to the door.
"We'll be right back," Mary said smiling at me.
"Uh, see that you are," I said feeling as though I was about to go before the inquisitioner.
After the sister closed the door, Ellen looked at me warmly. She was silent however, as she choose what she wanted to say.
"Tell me about my daughter, Chuck. I'm guessing you know her better than anyone."
"Sarah's a good person. But she's lived an unusual life and that life has had an impact on her. She finds it very difficult to trust people. To be open and honest with them."
"You two seem like an unlikely pair. How did you gain her trust?"
"I came across some information a while back. Information that the government thought was valuable. So they sent their top team to protect me. We started working together under those conditions."
"I don't understand. Are you saying Sarah was sent to protect you? Like, physically protect you?"
I nod my head in response. "Sarah is one of the best people the CIA has." I watch as Ellen takes this information in.
"So, am I to understand she's like Arthur Graham?"
"I won't deny that Sarah's had to do things in the past that might make some people afraid of her. But Sarah has a good sense of what's right and what's wrong. In her line of work and this is something I've come to appreciate recently, she has to make choices between what's good for the many against what's good for the one or the few."
"I know a lot of her issues stem from leaving with her father," Ellen said.
"Jack has his faults but I know he loves his daughter."
"You sound like you know him."
"Yeah, I know him. We've met."
"I'm sorry. I'm sure that was an experience."
"Jack is one of a kind."
She smiled but her expression quickly grew serious. "Chuck, I want to be in my daughter's life. I don't want this to be a fleeting thing. I'm worried that because in many ways we're strangers, that she won't be willing to reach out to me."
"Ellen, I know Sarah. One of the things that drew her to me was how close I am to my sister. I know that she's longed for what I had, a family. This is her chance. She will not give up on this opportunity. She's always known that with her father she would never have that. But now…she has a chance for family. I don't think you have anything to worry about."
Ellen smiled warmly appreciating my support. I marvel at the person who created the woman that I love. We talked about a number of things mostly just what Sarah liked and disliked. I told her about olives and there's no way she will eat sushi. But I had to admit that even after three years with Sarah; I still knew comparatively little about her.
In the middle of my story about a hiking trip that we went on, in walked the two sisters. They each carried take out bags from the Chinese restaurant and laid them on the table in the kitchen area.
"What do want sweetie?" Sarah asked me. She looked at me and smiled.
"I don't know, what did you get?" I said walking over to her.
"Orange Beef, Shrimp Egg Rolls and an order Crab Rangoon."
I put my arms around her waist and kiss her on the neck. She almost jumped out of her skin. "Not in front of Mom," she said.
I looked at Ellen who didn't care in the least that I kissed her daughter's neck. I thought for a split second that Sarah didn't care if I kissed her neck in front of her mother but I was distracted by the silly smile that Mary gave me.
"You two make a really great couple," Mary said.
"Thanks," Sarah and I said in unison. I look at her quizzically because we almost never say the same thing at the same time. Sarah always thinks about what she's going to say before she says it.
The food was good and it felt great to see Sarah loosen up with her family. After we finished eating, Sarah sat on the arm of the chair that I sort of reserved for myself. She occasionally rubbed my neck and slid her fingers through my hair. I love it when she does that. We talked late into the night and had a wonderful time.
Finally, Sarah stood and grabbed my hand pulling me out of the chair. "Take me to bed, fiancé of mine," she said.
I looked at Ellen and Mary a little embarrassed. This wasn't really like Sarah to be so demonstrative. Especially in front of other people. But Ellen just smiled at us and Mary looked at me with a rather intense smile. She had done that all night long.
We had the adjoining room and Sarah went into our room first after kissing her mother and sister on the cheek and telling them goodnight. We had made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning but everyone had to catch our flight out then having postponed it as long as we could.
After saying my goodbyes, I followed Sarah into our room and closed the door between our rooms. It was late and we were both tired. She went into the bathroom to get dressed for bed. I was a little surprised when she came out with one of the teddies I had bought for her to go on the trip.
Although I had no intention of starting extra curricular activities as tired as I was, seeing her in that outfit gave me some ideas.
She got into bed and smiled at me invitingly.
"OK, I'm going to get ready, I'll be out in a minute," I said and hurried off to change.
When I came out, Sarah was asleep. OK, I thought. I guess I misinterpreted the situation.
I crawl in bed and roll over to get comfortable. In a moment, I feel Sarah drape her arm around my waist and scrunch up next to me. She starts to rub my chest and I get back in the mood quickly. I roll over and begin to kiss her when I hear Sarah's voice in my ear.
"Hey stud, are you really gonna take my sister to bed?"
I had completely forgot about the wireless plugs still resting comfortably in my ears.
My eyes pop open wider than I think they ever have as I look into the eyes of apparently Sarah's sister, Mary. She's smiling from ear to ear. Her lips not a quarter of an inch from mine.
"Sarah and I have always been able to fool anyone. Apparently, that includes you as well." Mary giggled in complete delight at the charade.
I hear a knock on the door and I can't get to it soon enough. I open it and see both Sarah and Ellen looking at me with wicked smiles.
"There's something seriously wrong with all of you," I said as I went back to the bed and got under the covers.
The three of them stayed for about ten minutes rubbing it in but just before leaving, Mary and Ellen apologized for the prank and asked me to forgive them. I couldn't say no.
Afterwards, Sarah made it up to me.
During her apology I found myself wondering if this was my fiancé or was it the first blonde that was in my bed tonight.
I realize that marrying an identical twin might have it's complications…as though I need that.
A/N: Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to review. It is such a rush to read them. I also appreciate the honest critiques. Thanks again.
LeeCan
