Chapter 5 – Bewilderment
I left on a mission the next week. We had worked out a buzz phrase that allowed me to indicate that I would be going off the grid for a while. As I was flying to Rota, I had to push all thought of LaSalle out of my mind.
This was going to be a difficult mission. I never realized how tough until nine days later when I returned with the bodies of two dead team members in the hold of the plane. I was just stunned to learn that our informant had turn on us and set us up in an ambush. The hatchet men thought I was a spouse and spared my life after gunning down Frank and Marty. I went over the strategy over and over again in my head as we flew back to the states.
I called Merrie as soon as I got back. I cried for a whole hour. I knew she would tell Chris and sure enough he called ten minutes after I hung up from her. "I can't tell you anything Chris" I kept saying. I was thankful that I had the two of them to lean on though.
Much to my surprise Chris somehow found out about a couple of routine military flights to Joint Andrews Air Force Base from New Orleans. I ignored the buzzer the first time and drug myself to the door on the second, persistent ring. Looking through the peep hole I saw my old partner.
"What? How? Why are you here" I asked? "For you Sonja. I know you're scared and hurting. I want to be here for you. I have 72 hours to get back on the plane."
I knew that I looked a wreck. My eyes were puffy from crying. I didn't even bother with the makeup and wore ratty sweat pants and a tee shirt the whole time that he was there.
We watched a lot of movies with me parked in his lap. Once again we talked about our life experiences. I had endured two years undercover and had stories that no one but someone else in the business could even understand. We talked about our hopes and our dreams and our pain and our sorrows.
For the first time Chris opened up about Savannah. I listened intently and wiped away some of the many tears that fell down his checks. At one time he looked at me and pulled me so tight that I could hardly breathe. "Thank you Sonja. Thank you for listening and thank you for not judging me."
"For what Christopher? That pain is in your heart? I am glad that I can be here for you."
The next morning we were at Andrews before the sun came up. I already knew that I had an overseas mission in late December and saw the sadness in his face when I told him that I could not see him during the holidays. "We'll find a time" he said softly as he hugged me once again.
With tears in my eyes I expressed my thanks again. "Thank you for coming Chris. I don't know if I could have gotten through this without you". At that he gave me one more intense hug and a hell of a kiss goodbye causing me to cry even harder.