Into the light and back part 10

Auggie had a hard day in Langley and it was good, since it distracted him a little from the events of the past day. At noon, Annie appeared in his office. She was back from her latest mission and he told her what had happened.

„Do you have any idea who could have done that to you?" She asked after she had pulled him into a long embrace and had kissed him.

„No, I have no clue, who the person is" Auggie answered. But he avoided to tell Annie how scared he really was. On one hand, he was a soldier, a tough guy, but he was also blind and when the place he was comfortable, safe and well acquainted to was not secure anymore, it bothered him more than he would let on.

„I am glad that Barber will stay with you" Annie said. She worried for Auggie´s safety, too. Even more so because of his handicap. She had witnessed twice how her best friend and lover was attacked and not able to defend himself. Once in Barcelona and then again in Medellin. She did not want him to get hurt again. She could not bear the idea of Auggie being injured or even worse. But she did not want him to know how concerned she was.

Auggie felt for his cane in the desk drawer, took it out and asked

„Do you want me to invite you for a snack?"

„Yeah" Annie smiled and offered him her arm, touching his hand with the back of hers.

At the cafeteria, Auggie chose two chocolate muffins and a cup of coffee and Annie opted for a mixed salad and a coke. Annie loved to watch Auggie eating. She knew it was not easy to eat blind and therefore she admired the smooth little gestures of Auggie when he slowly assessed the food on his plate with his hands before he started eating.

„You are staring at me" Auggie remarked.

„I definitely do" Annie said smiling „I love to watch you eating. Your hands are so beautiful and I like the way you assess what´s on your plate. It looks so elegant"

„Well, I honestly do not know what it looks like" Auggie smirked and took the first bite of his muffin before he sipped on his caffé-latte.

And then Auggie continued „After my accident, and after I lost my sight, I also had to learn again how to eat. It is not so easy when you cannot see what´s on your plate. Fingerfood, sandwiches and so on are quite easy to handle. But eating with fork and knife, cutting meat, is not easy when your eyes do not the beginning I felt like a toddler." He explained and Annie looked at him and her expression showed that she was deeply moved. She had no idea how hard it had been for her friend to adapt to being blind.

A few hours later Auggie and Barber were back in Auggie´s apartment. Auggie was just taking a shower and Eric was sitting on the couch watching a soccer game when suddenly another envelope was pushed into Auggie´s room from underneath the door.

Eric took the envelope and called

„Hey Auggie, it looks like you have a new message from your visitor"

Auggie had just finished drying himself with a white towel and called back

„Go ahead, open it and tell me what the message is"

Barber opened the envelope, took the sheet out and read aloud, so that Auggie could hear it:

Tomorrow 12:30 Lincoln Memorial

You need to come alone

See you then

Auggie was shocked and surprised. He had not thought that the intruder would get in touch with him so soon.

„I need to go there tomorrow" Auggie said „I have to find out what this person wants"

„But I will come with you and watch you from the distance" Barber said

„I would appreciate that" Auggie replied, glad, that Barber was the one suggesting that. He did not want to admit that he was scared.

And then Barber continued „I suggest you wear a GPS tracker in case something happens and a bug that enables me and Hollman to overhear the conversation.

„That would be the best" Auggie said. He was glad to have the support of this two closest colleagues and friends.

The next day:

Tic tac, tic tac...at 12:15 Auggie made his way to the Lincoln Memorial. He had been there often enough to know the way by heart. As usual his long white folding cane helped him find his way around. Auggie checked his watch and opened the glass lid to feel for the time. He was not sure, whether the person he was meeting, knew that he was blind.

After a while, Auggie heard footsteps come closer, female steps, the sound of high heels and then he noticed the scent of a sweet perfume. When the steps were finally close enough, he felt the person stop right in front of him and then a voice with a strong Russian accent said

„This is interesting, I did not know you were blind" and then the person waved her hands in front of Auggie´s face. Auggie stood still, showing no reaction. Well feeling the motion in front of his eyes, the little wind that told him something was moving. He did not even try to turn his head towards the voice of the woman.

She was middle-aged, had long black hair and was dressed in an elegant dark-blue suit with a light-blue blouse. Around her neck she wore an expensive pearl necklace. The Gucci handbag in her hand showed, that she belonged obviously to the upper class.

„What do you want from me"? Auggie asked in a cold and distant tone.

„I want you to give me some information" The woman said whilst examining Auggie with a curious look from head to toe. And finally, her curious and a bit depreciative look remained on Auggie´s hands, that rested on top of his white cane that reached up to his chest. She obviously had no respect for people with disabilities.

„And what type of information would that be?" Auggie asked in return

„Well, let´s say we have a mutual friend and I need to find that friend"

Now Auggie was confused „I don´t know who you are talking about" he said with a questioning look on his face.

And with an ironic undertone the woman replied „Now, don´t tell me that you have never heard of Natasha Petrovna"

Auggie flinched. Now he had an idea, where this conversation was going. Natasha had always been talking about the Russian Mob following her, threatening her and now they were coming after her for whatever reason. Auggie was scared. He wanted to protect Tash, his ex-lover but he also wanted to protect himself.

His mind was spinning. If he told her, that he did not know who Natasha was, they would not believe him. But he had to tell them, that he did not know where she was. And in addition, it was true. He had not been in touch with Natasha for more than two years. He had no clue, what she had been up to in the meantime.

„I have no idea where she is" Auggie replied.

„I do not believe you" the woman said quietly with a slightly threatening undertone. And then she hissed „Tell me where she is and nothing will happen to you"

And then Auggie felt her pressing something against his side, and he knew it was a gun.

Auggie tried to collect his thoughts. He had gone through similar situations as a spy. He stayed calm and replied again. „I already told you, that I don´t know where she is. I have not seen her for two years, even a bit more than that."

„Why should I believe you?"

„Because it is the truth, I have not seen her for a long time." Auggie said and his heart was racing. He knew that Hollmann was watching him from a distance, sitting on a bench and reading a newspaper and he was sure that Barber was not far away either.

The woman sneered „Seeing might even be the wrong word in your case don´t you think?"

And then she added with a dangerous undertone in her voice. „Let´s assume that the blind cripple in front of me tells me the truth. I want you to contact her and arrange for a meeting with her as soon as possible. You´d better do it quickly otherwise..." and then Auggie noticed, that she pushed the gun a bit further into his side.

„Arrange for a meeting with Petrovna blind man and wait for my further instructions" The woman said again in a condescending and depreciative tone before Auggie heard the click of her heels when she left.

Auggie took a deep breath. Now he knew what the person was after, but he was also glad the woman was gone. He had been scared, his blindness made him vulnerable and this woman had no respect for others, particularly not for people with disabilities. Her tone had been mean and disrespectful. Auggie hated people with this sort of behaviour. He moved his cane a bit to the side checking for obstacles and started walking. After a few steps, he heard the voice of Hollman

„Hey Auggie, that was a tough situation but you did well. Congrats my friend. I don´t know if I would have stayed so calm. This lady was a real bitch." And with these words Hollman patted Auggie´s shoulder.

„Yes she was a bitch" Auggie said. Recalling the way, she had spoken to him. She had called him a blind cripple. Even after so many years of living without sight, words like these hurt him more than he could bear.

After the encounter with the Russian lady, Auggie, Hollman and Barber decided to read Joan in. The whole thing could have bigger consequences and so it was better to tell Joan, what was going on.

Joan paced in her office between her desk and the door. She was concerned. She did not want something to happen to Auggie and she did not want the agency to suffer any losses in general. Dealing with the Russian Mafia was a really dangerous undertaking. She knew that very well. The stakes were high.

„And how do you want to proceed now?" Joan asked turning towards Auggie, Barber and Hollman.

„We wanted to discuss that with you" Auggie replied turning his head a bit into Joan´s direction.

„It is good that you have informed me guys" Joan Campbell said and stopped pacing. She took a seat again behind her desk and said.

„Auggie I don´t want you to be alone, it is too dangerous"

„I am not alone" Auggie answered „Barber is staying at my place"

„That is a good idea but not safe enough. „Joan explained „I want you to go to a safe house"

„I don´t think that this is necessary" Auggie said. He hated new places. It meant, that he had to get acquainted with a new room layout and with many other details. Being blind made these things more complicated for him but it looked like he had no choice.