Chapter 29 – In the Dark of the Night
It seemed like it had been hours since Lee had lain down on the couch to try to get some sleep. The fire that he had left going in the fireplace caused shadows to dance along the walls and on the ceiling. Lee concentrated on them to try to shut off his mind so he could rest, but it seemed futile.
Lee found himself overwhelmed with emotions. Being told one day that Eva was dead and then the next to have her be resurrected in front of him was almost too much to endure. Of course he was thrilled that she was alive, but she was married. Lee could only be happy that she was alive. Seeing her happy with her husband though was killing him. If only he hadn't waited to ask her to marry him. If only he had at least told her that he loved her. All of that was too late now though.
Lee closed his eyes and really tried hard to fall asleep. He finally decided that just resting his body would be better than no sleep at all. As his body started to enter a restful state, he heard a noise. He immediately picked his head up to listen. A second later, he heard another noise. It was coming from the hallway, near the Spinelli's bedroom. Lee quietly got off the couch and grabbed his gun from the coffee table. He removed it from the holster and started walking down the hallway. As he neared the bedroom, he could hear a voice that sounded like Eva's. As he leaned against the bedroom door, he realized that her voice was coming from the bedroom next to theirs. He wasn't sure what he expected to find when he opened the door and lunged inside, but he was relieved to see she was alone. Having spent time in Italy, he knew enough Italian to be able to tell she was talking to a doctor. He couldn't help but be confused why she would be calling a doctor at 3am.
Eva had ended the call just as Lee burst in on her. She gestured for them to go out to the family room and Lee agreed. She explained that she was calling Angelo's old doctor in Milan as he was showing signs of depression like he had in the past. Lee's training instincts took over and he immediately questioned whether she told the doctor where they were. She assured him that she would not have done that.
To change the subject, Eva asked if she could put on Lee's sweater. He agreed and then she asked him for a cigarette. He had to remind her that he was not a smoker.
As they stood staring at each other, Eva began telling him how she had thought about him often during the past two years. As Lee began to interrupt her to talk about this new information, Eva walked away from him. She stood facing the fire as she struggled to share her emotions with him. She then continued by explaining to Lee that she admired and respected Angelo, but she didn't love him.
Lee could barely believe what he was hearing. Eva continued by suggesting that she might not stay with Angelo. In disbelief, Lee interrupted her, but she continued to explain that she would stay with him until she made sure he was safe and happy. Then, almost as an afterthought, she backtracked and admitted that she might never leave him. Lee found himself back on that roller coaster again. Just when he didn't want to hear anymore, she came back to stand in front of him. As she looked up into his eyes, she confessed to him that she loved him. She had loved him for the past two years. He couldn't believe she was telling him this now. For a moment, his heart leaped with joy as he stared lovingly into her eyes. Then in the next instant, he remembered that she was married and this was a job. He had no business being involved in this case. He had crossed the line and was allowing his personal life to interfere with his duties. Billy had been right all along. He reluctantly turned away from her so he could avoid her pleading eyes. For the next few seconds, he struggled to find his voice. This whole thing was tearing him apart. Eva was a married woman and he had taken on this case while knowing full well that he shouldn't have. Now it was all blowing up in his face by her admitting that she loved him. As he had his back to her, he reluctantly told her that he shouldn't be involved and he would have himself removed from the case the next day. Lee continued to struggle to keep his emotions in control as he realized that removing himself from the case was the right thing to do. Desperately, Eva began pleading with him to admit his feelings. She suggested that things might be so different right now if only he had told her how he had felt back then. The comment tore him apart since he had pondered that same thing so many times over the past two years. He slowly turned back toward her. "How do you feel?" she asked him while pleading with her eyes for an answer.
Lee couldn't express his feelings in words. To tell her now was just too hard. As he stood staring into her tear filled eyes, he found himself lost more than ever in his emotions. His heart took control and he pulled her into an embrace and began passionately kissing her. He let his kiss express all the words that he could not. The memories of making love to her come flooding back to him. He wanted so much to just swoop her into his arms and carry her to the bedroom to make passionate love to her for the rest of the night. Luckily his head took back over from his heart and he realized that they had to stop. By this time, both of them were breathing heavily and it took all of Lee's willpower to abruptly stop kissing her. As he stared with desire into her eyes, he slowly began pushing her away from his chest.
"Did I do something wrong?" Eva asked.
"No, but I almost did," Lee answered as Eva continued to look at him with pouty eyes.
"Lee? You didn't answer the question. How do you feel about me; about us?"
"No, I didn't. Eva. Does it really matter? At the moment you are married to Angelo. I have done a lot of things wrong during my life, but having an affair with a married woman is not one of them. I'm sorry Eva," Lee answered as he swiped his hand through his hair. He had turned away from her again so he wouldn't have to look at her sad eyes anymore. He continued struggling to keep his emotions in check and not do something that he would regret later.
"Not as sorry as I am. I understand though," Eva said sadly as she began to turn toward the hallway. She had only taken a couple of steps and then stopped. "Would it be so bad to just talk though? I have missed you and I would love to hear about what you have been doing since I last saw you. Besides, I'm not tired and I don't want to keep Angelo awake with my tossing around."
Lee hesitated, but in the end he gave in. "Why don't we sit on the couch then?" Lee suggested as he sat down so there was no sign of welcoming her to be close to him. Eva took the hint and sat facing him from the other end of the couch. Lee noticed that she was shivering so he offered her the blanket and she quickly wrapped herself into it.
"So? What do you want to know?" Lee asked.
"I don't know. Do you still like your job?"
"Yeah, I do. It keeps me busy and most of the time, it keeps me out of trouble," Lee said with a grin.
"I'll bet you could get into some trouble with Amanda though," Eva countered back.
"Amanda? Why would you say that?"
"I don't know. I think she likes you."
Lee chuckled while explaining "Amanda wants to be helpful. She likes the intrigue and the excitement of the job. I will admit that she does have some good instincts at times though."
"So she is your partner, yes?" Eva guessed.
"Um, no. I think she believes she is, but you know that I only work alone. The agency called her in for her every day real life skills to help Angelo settle into his new life. That's all."
"I think you protest too much." Eva said with a smile. "Are you sure there isn't anything between the two of you? You seem very comfortable with her."
"Well we have worked several cases together. Trust me; we still fight like cats and dogs most of the time though," Lee admitted as if that as proof enough.
"That sounds like she is your partner then."
"Amanda my partner? No, she is definitely not my partner. She's a divorced mother of two. Billy enjoys making me work with her. We have nothing in common at all," Lee insisted.
"Isn't there an old saying? I recall something about opposites attracting." Eva continued to pump Lee for information.
"Eva! We are complete opposites for sure. Amanda is not interested in me. Look, can we please change the subject?" Lee pleaded while trying to keep his voice sounding normal.
"Oh, okay. So have you found anyone to make you happy Lee? Surely there must be some woman out there who you spend a lot of time with?" Eva continued to try to get him to open up to her.
"No, I really haven't had a lot of time for dating. Besides, not many women would want to become serious with someone in my line of work."
"True but sometimes it is worth the bumpy ride to have the happiness. Don't you agree?" She asked.
"Oh, I don't know. Most of my bumpy rides haven't been much fun, if you know what I mean." Lee reminded her.
"I'm truly sorry Lee. I loved both of you for different reasons. Angelo would tell me all the time that he loved me. I tried to get you to tell me how you felt many times. Unfortunately, you would never tell me. So when Angelo pulled out the ring, I couldn't believe it. I even ran all the way to the café to tell you. I had hoped that if you heard that he had proposed, you would beg me not to marry him. Instead you told me that you were happy for me and congratulated me. As you left the café that day, I was so full of mixed emotions."
"You were? Well you didn't seem it at the time. I really think we should talk about something else." Lee suggested.
"I'm sorry Lee; I didn't mean to upset you."
"Oh, you didn't upset me. Not really." Lee said unconvincingly. Eva had managed to touch on subjects that he wasn't prepared to talk about. Before she could begin something else that would put him on the spot, he realized he needed to put a stop to their conversation. Looking out the front door, he observed, "Well it looks like it is going to be light soon."
He was relieved that she took the hint and responded reluctantly "I had better go back to bed." She paused for a moment and then continued "Where I belong."
Before she could get up from the couch, there was a sound of smashing glass from the back of the house. Then a man burst through the front door with a gun aimed at both of them. Lee had reached for his gun and drew it at the intruder in front of him. Suddenly two more people came out from the back and Lee knew he was out gunned with no chance against all three of them. He was quickly disarmed by the woman in charge. She ordered one of the men to find Spinelli. A few seconds later, he came back out and announced that Spinelli was gone. When Lee wouldn't tell them where Spinelli was, one of the corporals belted him up side the head.
"Did that help your memory?" The Sergeant asked. "Or should I let Corporal Danilov make mincemeat out of your face?"
"Please don't hurt him." Eva begged. "When I left the bedroom, Angelo was asleep in the bed. Lee and I have been in the living room since around 3 am. Neither of us saw Angelo leave. He must have snuck out the bedroom window."
"You expect me to believe that?" Sergeant Magovich asked with a sneer. "We can do this the easy way or the painful way. It is up to you. Your man in the van died quickly with little pain. Wouldn't you rather that kind of death instead of a long and painful one?"
Lee sat glaring at her rebelliously.
"Very well. You leave me no choice." The sergeant declared. "Corporal Zuchov, tie him up."
Just as the Corporal started to pull rope out of his pocket, there were voices coming up the path and onto the porch. The three Russians looked at each other and the Sergeant whispered "Let's get out of here. We'll find Spinelli another way."
As they disappeared down the hallway, Lee couldn't honestly remember any time that he had ever been happier to hear Amanda's rambling cheerful voice.
TBC
