FAMILY MATTERS
Eyghon
Chapter 9: Closing the dealIrina gave her alias to the security guard and watched as he called Doctor Varnina's office. This time she did not have an appointment so she needed the approval of the person she was visiting to get past the lobby.
"Doctor, a 'Natalia Barstow' is here to see you. She's not on the list, should I let her up? Yes Ma'am."
The man nodded at Irina and handed her a visitor's pass. Everything was going smoothly. The woman was waiting for her at the elevator door on the seventh floor. She looked like she had aged ten years in four days.
"Hello Doctor," said Irina pleasantly, aware that they weren't alone in the area.
"Where is she? Where is Tanya? I know you have her!" She started, outright panicked.
"Please, Amelia, I think we should discuss this in private." She took the woman's arm and led her to her office. She sat down in the same chair she had occupied only days ago and waited for the doctor to settle in her own chair. "Did you call the police?"
"No. The note you left to the nanny said not to."
"What about her?"
"She works for me, I paid her an extra month's salary to make sure she spoke to nobody about what she saw. I took her to the hospital and told the doctor she had broken her nose by falling from a ladder while cleaning my windows."
"Good," praised Irina, genuinely admiring the woman's genius. "So you do love your daughter after all."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Why didn't you give me those files the first time I asked, knowing I had access to your children?"
"I wanted to…I couldn't…I love my children, but I couldn't live with myself knowing what I did…it's too dangerous. I couldn't give you the means to kill millions of people, not even to save my baby girl…I still can't."
Irina pursued her lips. "I have something here that may change your mind." She repeated the process of laying three photos side by side on the desk. The woman grasped them avidly with a worried expression that softened as she zipped through the pictures.
The first one was a shot of Tanya asleep in their bed, showing the space around her: a nice bedroom stuffed with toys, TV, and books. "Yesterday she went to sleep at 21h00 and the day before at 20h00. She's a very easy child."
The second picture was of a smiling Tanya in the kitchen as she ate French fries while someone's arms could be seen cutting her chicken into pieces. 'Pika-Pika' was seating next to the girl's plate. "She takes it everywhere with her and pretends to feed him. But I suppose you knew about that already."
The last shot showed Sydney and Tanya holding hands at the beach, soaking wet as they made their way out of the water. Sydney held a green inflatable crocodile under her arm and seemed unaware of anyone watching her, let alone taking pictures. "She loves water, you should sign her up for swimming classes next summer," said, Irina, bringing the woman's attention back to her. "She told Nina she'd like to go to the beach with you when you come to get her. She misses you."
The doctor burst into tears, her eyes roaming lovingly over the set of pictures. A spark of jealousy lit up as she glanced at the last picture again. "She seems so happy. Your friend is nice to take care of her like this." She was taking the time to be with her, to play with her. Amelia devoted very little time to Rafael and Tanya, too busy with work. A stranger, a kidnapper was doing a better job with the child than her own mother was.
Irina shifted forward in the chair, feeling an opening. "But it's not her place. You should be the one to do that," she said, pointing to Sydney in the picture she appeared. "Doctor, think hard before you give me your answer. And you need to know, I don't want those files to manufacture the virus."
"I know who you are," Dr Varnina said accusingly, "I know what you did to Thomas…you are evil Ms. Derevko. I know exactly what you plan on doing with his research."
"Where did you get that name?"
"Thomas told me whom he was working for. He said you were dangerous; he said not to approach you or let myself by approached by you."
"Doctor Varnina, I never met Thomas Frankel. Who do you think I am?" Asked Irina, getting angry.
"Elena Derevko," replied the woman, equally annoyed.
Irina stood up, furious. "You have me confused with someone else, Doctor. Elena was my sister."
"Was? Then…why…"
"She infected my daughter with the virus and I killed her for that. I want Frankel's files to create an antidote, not to engineer more of this plague!"
The woman looked at her, stunned. "Wha…"
"I am not known for my patience, Doctor," snapped Irina. "Will you give me those files or should I send you your daughter back in a shoe box?" Irina stared with an icy glare. The mention of her sister always brought out the worst in her. She regretted her words the moment she said them but stood her ground.
"It's not here," she finally admitted, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Then where is it?"
"How do I know you won't kill my daughter once you have what you want?"
"I want to make something clear Doctor, whatever happens, I would never hurt Tanya. But I can keep her away from you for a very, very long time. I could give you my word but I doubt it would suffice."
"We have to go to Thomas's grave. I wanted this horrible thing to die with him. It cost him his life and thousands of others, I didn't want to be next. I didn't want anybody else to suffer because of it."
"It can help someone stop suffering ."
"The cemetery is only a half hour drive from here."
In the car, Amelia started to ask questions about her daughter, about what she had been doing for the last four days. Irina patiently answered them, and the doctor felt confident enough to move on to another topic.
"Who is she? The woman on the pictures, the one who came to my office…Nina Myers? I can't imagine what she's doing with someone like you."
"You're right. She's a good person. She's my eldest daughter. She's a lot like me, even though she won't admit it. But she would do anything for her family."
"Was she like that? Your other daughter, before being infected, was she like Nina?"
"Yes." Irina knew very little of Nadia actually, only what people told her. And what she had learned for herself on the plane back to Los Angeles; then on the mission to Sovogda, but that was none of the doctor's business.
"Can I…Can I talk to Tanya please?" Asked the doctor, her eyes full of hope.
Irina hesitated but there wasn't any reason not to let her talk to her daughter. She dialed Sydney's cell phone. "Hey, sweetheart, where are you?"
"At the beach. Where else?"
Irina smiled, nodding to herself. "I thought so. Doctor Varnina has finally come to her senses. We're on our way to get the files. She wants to talk to her daughter."
"Okay, I'll put her on."
"All right. I'll call you after I'm done here."
"Okay, bye."
"Goodbye sweetheart."
Five minutes later Irina asked for her phone back. They had arrived at Highland Cemetery, where they quickly located Thomas Frankel's grave. They waited until it was dark and no one was around.
Irina dug up the man's coffin on her own. Amelia watched her, impressed, but didn't offer her help. She realised the woman was not someone to joke with and that she had done well to give her the location of the files finally. She turned away when Irina opened the coffin and only glanced back when the other woman returned the earth to the grave.
"We don't need anybody to know someone took something from that coffin," Irina explained on their way to the car. She quickly examined the coloured folders but the file was thick. She would need a specialist's help to go through them and understand them properly.
"You have what you wanted; now please return my daughter, or tell me where she is. Please."
"Of course. I'll take you to her and you can bring her home yourself."
Twelve hours later, they arrived in Irina's house on Aalapapa Drive in Honolulu. It was night when they stepped into the quiet house. They went to the living room where they found Sydney sprawled on the couch, a children's book on her lap, with Tanya curled up at her side. Both were sleeping soundly, which made a very cute picture from Irina's point of view. Sydney felt a presence and slowly opened her eyes, and, albeit caught off guard, smiled in greeting at her mother and her guest. The woman hesitantly approached the couch and kissed her little girl whom she hadn't seen in almost five days.
"Hey. What time is it?" Asked Sydney of her mother.
"Eleven."
"God, I'm too young to be asleep at this hour on a Friday night." To the frowning doctor, she explained, "she had a nightmare so she crashed here, didn't want to be alone. I read her a story and she fell right back asleep." Sydney quieted as the little girl stirred against her. She settled in a new position and went back to sleep. "You're lucky, she' so sweet," she continued, smoothing the girl's hair away from her face. "You should take her to her room. First flood, third door on your left." Amelia nodded and picked Tanya up, leaving Sydney and Irina alone.
"How did it go?"
"Good. I have the files but we may need Doctor Varnina longer than we thought."
"What do you mean?"
"Thomas Frankel had a PhD in Chemistry. I don't."
"You can hire somebody who does."
"Yes but they won't be familiar with the orchid formula. Dr Varnina is and she has a PhD. She even has Frankel's job."
"Mom…"
"We need someone competent to analyze the files for us, Sydney."
Sydney sighed, knowing it was fruitless and unnecessary to argue. Her mother was right. "Can we talk about this tomorrow? Give her a room, let her be with her kid just for tonight?"
"Of course. But this issue won't go away overnight. You need to start thinking about going back to Los Angeles. You have a job, and responsibilities. The longer you're away, the more they will scrutinize you and your activities."
"I know. We'll see how tomorrow goes, but I'll be gone by the next day. I'm going to miss you, Mom, and Tanya. I like having you around. I like taking care of her, playing with her. She makes me want to have kids of my own. A boy and a girl, I think."
Irina smiled and sat down on the bed, passing her arm around Sydney's shoulders. "With Michael?"
"That's what I had in mind when we were on our way to Santa Barbara."
"And now?"
"I don't know. I haven't spoken to him. I plan to, but first, I need to get my life back together. I want to get Nadia healthy before I decide anything about Vaughn."
"I understand. I won't mention it again then."
"Thanks. Mom. What about Dad?"
"What about your father?"
"When are you going to make up with him?"
Saying that Irina was shocked was an understatement, but she didn't let it show. "Sydney, your father and I are very different than you and Michael. Agent Vaughn is not a terrorist; he has been cleared of all suspicion. You can see him without risking jail. You can't compare our situations, Sydney."
"I'm not. Not exactly. I just wonder when you are going to hook back up together."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm not naïve, I know when you looked for me that you…got all chummy with each other. You weren't afraid of the consequences then, so why be now? You were willing to take risks because you loved each other."
"Sydney, you were dead. At first, we were looking for your killers, not for you. There's no worse feeling on Earth than to have your children die before you. Whatever happened between your father and I during those first few weeks was out of grief. We had nothing left but each other. We didn't care about the consequences. You were dead and we mourned you." She turned her head away, a sorrowful look on her face, unable to find the words to convey her sorrow.
Sydney clutched her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'm here, Mom. I'm alive and well."
Irina nodded, returning the gesture. "Back then, we got closer as parents, not as lovers, even if sexual intercourse was involved."
Sydney rolled her eyes and made a face. "I didn't need to hear that, but thanks for lightening the mood."
"When I turned myself in, your father tried to have me killed, Sydney. He hated me, because he thought I was trying to manipulate you. Then when he 'killed me' in Vienna, I hated him when Elena told me. Maybe I still do. I don't know if we can recover from that." Irina closed her eyes and turned away for a moment.
"Sorry. I won't talk about it again then."
"Thank you."
"I need your advice…about Vaughn…once we're past talking…I'm not sure what to do. I'm not willing to take the risk to be hurt again, so that must mean I don't love him."
"Don't you? Sydney, you must know for yourself whether you love a man or not. It's normal not to want to go back to him, but that doesn't mean you don't have feelings for him. Start by talking to him, letting him explain, and then you'll go from there."
"But don't we say that actions speak louder than words?"
"It's just a saying. No cats have been seen to die and come back to life eight more times. It's better you distance yourself at first. Don't rush things. Talk on the phone; then in a private place. Don't jump a step, don't go too far until you are sure, until you have all your answers."
Sydney nodded pensively. She had the feeling Irina was referring to that time she had told her about. In Liberty Village, when Vaughn and she had just gone back together and had ended straight into bed. Or rather, in the shower, before even going out for coffee. "I won't. That passion that pushed me to kiss him in the bathroom…it's gone."
"It will come back."
"How can you know?"
"I know."
"Thank you Mom."
"Goodnight." Irina was about to leave to go to bed herself, but Sydney cut her plans short.
"Mom?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Can I ask you something? Now that I confessed to my most deeply hidden feelings?"
"You know you can ask me anything anytime Sydney."
"Why did you kill Bill Vaughn?" Irina stayed silent, her face a blank mask. Sydney decided to insist. "You said you met him at the KGB academy and that you had something to settle with him. What was it?"
"There are things a daughter should never now about her mother, Sydney. I'm sorry, I can't answer your question." She left before Sydney could ask more or even wish her goodnight. She would have gone after her if she had thought it would give her answers. She was intrigued and vaguely worried, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.
TBC
Next in Family matters, Syd discovers the true reason Irina tortured then killed Bill Vaughn, aka Adrian Mikailovich (a clue: it's not about Nadia)