Chapter VIII

Five months later

Brynn Wydd, Wales

It was almost midnight, and Alex was sitting in the living room of the cottage reading the latest portfolio Charlotte had given her. It was the modus operandi of all of Charlotte's agents; they investigated their targets thoroughly before killing them.

Alex checked the time on her Omega watch, and continued reading.

Her target, Dr. Yuri Malenkov, was a Russian molecular biologist who worked out of Murmansk. His medical specialty was everything obscene, grotesque and unimaginable. Alex had seen highly classified photos of bald, emaciated Russian prisoners, some of whom barely looked older than sixteen, and they had made her physically ill. There was a man with a huge lump on his cheek and upon closer examination, Alex had seen that the lump was a human ear, another prisoner had a thick, infected hand that sported eight fingers and another one, Alex couldn't tell whether it was a man or woman, had a severed nose with three nostrils.

'How could anyone do something like this, in the name of science?' Alex asked herself. If anything, the photos would make the task of killing him easier. After looking at the photographs, Alex had wanted to see him dead. Both Malenkov and her previous target, a Russian chemist who had come close to developing a new toxin for use in chemical warfare, were easy targets to loathe.

Still, Alex knew she was horrible at her job.

After killing the Russian chemist, she had been unable to eat or sleep for a week. Then came the nightmares. Nightmares in which her target's face haunted her in every corner and which nearly made her question her sanity in the middle of the night.

She had spent half her life helping people cheat death, and now she was hastening their demise. Killing for a living. It was the ultimate irony.

Had it been only her own life at stake she probably wouldn't have made it to her second target. But every time she thought of what Charlotte would do once she no longer had use for her, Alex reminded herself that there was no other way.

Charlotte will kill me once she no longer needs me. And where will that leave my son? In her clutches, that's where.

The only way she could protect Max was to be an asset to Charlotte. As long as Charlotte needed her, Max was safe. The deal she had struck with her mother to save her unborn son had now become a much bigger monster than she had ever envisioned. It had been almost two years since she made the deal and Alex knew it was time to start planning a way to escape it. She had waited sufficiently long to make Charlotte believe that she would no longer try to flee.

Alex heard Heidi get up and turn on the bathroom light, interrupting her thoughts. Heidi went to use the bathroom exactly four times a night, every two hours, nearly on the minute. 'Swiss precision timing', Alex thought with a smirk.

"Are you still working?" Heidi asked her with sleepy eyes, "You should get some sleep, you look tired."

Alex nodded in agreement. "I will. Soon."

It suddenly occurred to her then that her next mission would take her to a molecular biology forum in Geneva. She stopped Heidi when she came back out from the bathroom.

"Hey…how would you like to take a little vacation back home in Switzerland?" Alex asked her, an idea forming in her mind. .

Heidi's eyes were wide open now, "Really, Switzerland? I would love to but I don't want to leave you and Max, I know you said you have to go away in a couple of weeks. Who will look after him?"

Alex closed the portfolio and smiled at Heidi, "It turns out I have to go to Switzerland on business and I just realized you haven't had a vacation since you started working here. I would fly ahead to Geneva, and then you and Max can join me."

Heidi beamed, "Oh that sounds wonderful! I could take Max to meet my family."

"It's a plan then. I'll speak to my boss tomorrow." Alex got up and locked the portfolio in a small safe that Charlotte installed in the cottage. Then she went to check on her sleeping son one last time, before going to bed.

Pine Valley Inn, Pine Valley, PA

Dimitri, Erica, and Bianca were seated at the best table in the Pine Valley Inn's fine dining room.

Erica read the new menu with excitement. " I can't believe they managed to snatch up Chef Jean-Charles Montand! Did you know he ran the Russian Tea Room for three years? I think I'm going to try his version of Lobster Thermidor. Shall I order that for you as well, Bianca?" she asked her daughter.

"Mom, I told you I'm a vegetarian now. Do you even know that they boil lobsters alive?" Bianca protested.

"Oh, it's a shellfish, darling. It doesn't feel anything."

"It's a crustacean, and it does have the ability to sense pain," Bianca corrected her.

Dimitri watched the exchange between the two of them with amusement. They were so different in so many ways, yet so alike in others. Erica often told Dimitri that she felt she had nothing in common with her feminist, lesbian and, as of two weeks ago, vegetarian daughter, but she also freely admitted that her daughter had inherited a bull-headed strength in her convictions from no one but herself.

Mother and daughter continued their discussion of animal rights and seeing them made Dimitri remember the last time he and Alex had talked about having children.

"What do you think if we were to become parents?" she had asked him lazily, lying in his arms one hot afternoon.

"You know I would love it. Just think of the amazing kids we would have, with your brains and my good looks."

She had been eating a grape and almost choked while laughing in response, "Yeah, but what if they end up with my looks and your brains?"

"Heaven forbid. We'll have to put them up for adoption."

The only other thing he remembered was kissing her. The sweetness of her lips mingling with the juice of the grapes.

The ringing of Erica's cell phone brought Dimitri back to the present. He heard Erica raise her voice on the phone, in obvious frustration. "What is it?" Dimitri asked her after she hung up.

"It's a minor crisis at Enchantment. I'm so sorry but I have to leave you and take care of it."

She got up, and so did Dimitri. He kissed her on the cheek. "No worries, I'll take a rain check."

"Definitely," she agreed with him, and bent down to kiss her daughter before leaving.

"I guess it's just you and me then." Dimitri told Bianca.

Bianca gave him one of her most charming smiles, "That's fine with me, as long as you don't make me eat the steak."

Dimitri smiled back at her, "I wouldn't dream of it, as long as you don't make me eat a salad."

"Deal. Uncle Dimitri, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, always."

"Are you in love with Mom?"

It was an easy question to answer. "I love your Mom very much, and you too. You are two of the most incredible women I've ever met."

Bianca looked at him earnestly, "That's not what I asked you. I know you love us, but are you 'in love' with Mom?"

Dimitri admired Bianca. She had to endure so much in her young life and it had given her a great instinct for detecting half-truths. "You know I would never lie to you Bianca."

"I know. That's why I asked."

"Then don't ask me to answer that question. Not yet."

Her eyes told him she knew exactly what he was trying to tell her. "Ok, I won't." Dimitri knew she loved him too, and, that she, of all people, would appreciate his honesty. "But I will ask you again in the future."

"Fair enough. He nodded in silent agreement, "Let's talk about something else. I'm going to Budapest and Zurich in two weeks, how would you like to come along with me?"

Bianca laughed, "Oh I'd love to but I would also be missing my exams, and Mom would have a fit."

"And how is that different from usual? Sigmund, Bela, and Karol would all love to see you, and I would love to take you around the countryside," Dimitri tried to persuade her.

"And I would love to see them, but I can't. I love you for asking though."

Dimitri saw the waiter approach them, ready to take their orders, "Anytime, Bianca. Anytime."

Geneva, Switzerland

Alex sat on a quiet, park bench, along the shores of Lac Leman near downtown Geneva, and, after a short prayer of thanks, she remembered what had brought her here.

A day ago she had met Dr. Ivan Kolchin at the Palais du Congres convention center.

Dr.Kolchin was one of Malenkov's associates. "Dr. Alexandra Devane," she had introduced herself, before she started to flatter him in perfect Russian. "It would mean the world to me if I could spend just a few minutes with you and Dr.Malenkov discussing your views on Illmensee's latest experiments."

He'd been eyeing her in a way that suggested his interest in her wasn't limited to the scientific theories she had to offer him. "The pleasure would be all mine, Dr.Devane you said it was? However, I'm afraid I have terrible news. No one attending the conference is aware of this yet, in fact, I have the task of announcing it at the Gala dinner tonight, but Dr.Malenkov died this morning on the way to the airport in Moscow. It was a terrible accident, both Malenkov and the taxi driver that hit him died on impact."

Alex had to hide her sudden elation and it tested acting skills. "Oh no…I'm so very sorry. What a terrible loss to the scientific community of Murmansk. To the world, really."

Dr.Kolchin had sighed, "It is indeed, I don't know we will recover." He leered at her, "But perhaps after the dinner, you and I could talk alone. About Illmensee, of course."

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly, not with such upsetting news hanging over us. But, thank you for your offer."

"Perhaps, tomorrow, after Savorini's seminar…?" Kolchin had called after her, but Alex had already made a beeline for the exit of the convention center.

Now that she sat in the park, watching the famous Jet D'Eau in the distance, she realized she'd been given her a rare stroke of good luck. Malenkov was dead, without her needing to kill him. Charlotte would still receive her payment as she took credit for the car accident, and Alex managed to get all of them some much needed time away in Switzerland. Time she could spend without being haunted by her latest dead target.

She didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but today she'd been given a reprieve and Alex felt something she hadn't felt since arriving at Brynn Wydd; relief mixed with joy.

Charlotte had forced both Alex and Heidi to wear a tiny, satellite operated, tracking device that would let her know of their whereabouts at all times, but even that minor nuisance didn't dampen her spirits.

Heidi and Max had flown into Zurich yesterday and would stay in a hotel until Alex was to pick them up and drive them both to Heidi's hometown, a tiny hamlet high up in the mountains in southeast Switzerland, where they would spend a week being spoiled by Heidi's family.

"It's almost like something a normal family would do," Alex thought with a smile. "Vacationing with relatives. Max deserves that, a little bit of normalcy."

Leaving the shores of Lac Leman, Alex walked to the car rental agency where Charlotte had arranged a vehicle for her.

The clerk was about to hand her the keys of the when Alex took a good look at it and shook her head in disappointment. "Excuse me, monsieur, I'd like to exchange that for something a little larger. More comfortable. And also a little faster."

The clerk handed her a list of other models available and Alex didn't take long to choose a silver Mercedes SL 500. She knew Heidi would be more comfortable in that, than in the Opel the clerk had tried to give her and, besides, it would get her back to Max a lot sooner.

"But, Madame, that is considerably more expensive than the Opel."

"That's fine. Where do I sign?"

Normally the journey from Geneva to Zurich took four hours. Alex made it in just under three. She had been to Switzerland often during her days as a medical researcher because so many pharmaceutical giants were based in the small, Alpine country. She felt comfortably familiar with its geography and liked its clean, well-maintained highways. Highways that were designed for speed in spite of the mountainous terrain.

As she drove into Zurich, she thought of Dimitri, and how her love for speed, whether it was on a horse or in a vehicle, had caused more than one argument among them.

"As long as you're married to me, you're not going to drive any vehicle of ours! Just watching you is going to give me a heart attack," he had told her angrily one night.

"I know you like to think you can control everything I do, but I'm not a child, and being your wife hasn't changed that fact. I happen to be an excellent driver, if anyone is going to die behind the wheel it's you, being pushed into a ditch by a speeding Lada because you drive so damn slow!" she had retorted, not giving in to his innate machismo.

"I'm not discussing this. I don't want to have to go to the morgue and identify you, just because you can't resist the urge to pass everything in sight."

And so it had gone on, and, like most of their arguments, they had ended it in bed, making love.

Making Max.

'What I wouldn't give to have another argument with you…'she thought.

Alex smiled at the thought as she approached the hotel where Heidi and Max were staying.

Budapest, Hungary

"Are you sure you don't mind me dropping the car in Zurich?" Dimitri asked his cousin Bela for the third time.

"The only thing I mind is you asking me one more time. When you're in Zurich leave the car at the airport. The attendant in long-term parking will take the keys and I'll pick it up when I'm there, ten days from today. He'll probably recognize the license plate," Bela assured him with a grin. "Now go. Drive safely, and don't wait another five months before coming back to see us." He gave him a firm hug and kissed him on the cheeks twice.

Normally Dimitri would have flown to Zurich from Budapest, but for reasons he couldn't explain, he had a sudden urge to drive this time and decided to ask his cousin if he could borrow his black Mercedes. The drive from Hungary to Switzerland was beautiful, stretching from Hungary's rolling flatland to snow covered Alpine peaks.

The drive would give him a chance to finally slow down his hectic pace.

Zurich, Switzerland

The next day Heidi, Max and Alex left Zurich and headed southwest.

It was a beautiful day, with brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies.

Alex saw Max's face in the rearview mirror, and, as though he saw her watching him, he gave her a goofy smile, making her laugh. Heidi handed him a toy to keep him occupied in the car seat. "I would like to stop and take some pictures along the way. It's so beautiful outside," she told Alex.

"Sure."

Heidi's happiness together with the sunshine and Malenkov's accident had lifted her spirits and she felt better today than she had in a long time. They traveled for a couple of hours before pulling over at a busy highway rest stop.

Dimitri Marick was on the same highway, traveling in the opposite direction. He too saw the sign for the rest stop and decided to pull over.

Like so many rest stops in Europe, it was an immense building. There was a gas station, a full-service restaurant, take-out snack bar, pick-nick tables and, of course, a grocery store. Both directions of the highway merged over a bridge and led into a single entrance to the rest stop.

Dimitri noticed a silver Mercedes, the exact same model as his own car, cutting off the car in front of him and he shook his head at the impatience of European drivers.

While Alex, Max, and Heidi went inside the building, Dimitri went to fill up his car at the gas station.

"I'll take Max upstairs to the change room, if you need to get some food," Heidi suggested.

"Alright."

Alex went to buy sandwiches, chocolate croissants, fruits, and coffees, and when she was finished, Heidi came back down with Max. Alex handed him a banana, "Look what I got for my little Count. It's your favorite." She looked at Heidi, "I guess I should use the restroom as well."

"Hurry up, I think an Italian tour bus just pulled in," Heidi told her.

As Alex sprinted up the stairs, Dimitri walked through the congested front doors of the building. The building was crowded with vacationers and tourists, and Dimitri didn't notice the little boy that was at his feet and he accidentally knocked a toy car out of the boy's hand.

He bent down to pick it up, and when he came face to face with the boy, Dimitri froze. He had a pair of warm, brown eyes; a head of thick black hair and a lopsided smile that lit up his whole face.

Heidi noticed him staring at Max. "Sir, are you alright?" she asked him in German.

Dimitri was mesmerized the boy. "I'm sorry," he said, "I don't speak German."

Heidi smiled, "That's ok. I speak English too." She said it with a hint of an English accent.

Upstairs at the women's restrooms, Alex waited as two dozen little, old, Italian ladies, mostly dressed in black, stood in front of her, talking loudly. Patience was not Alex's strong suit, and she considered going back downstairs again.

'What's the point,' she told herself, deciding against it. 'You'll just have to wait elsewhere.'

So she waited. Impatiently. Feeling as though she should have been elsewhere.

"Your son is beautiful," Dimitri told the large, blond woman with the crystal clear, blue eyes.

"Thank you," she replied, "He's a sweetheart, but he's not my son. His mom is beautiful too."

Dimitri nodded, "I'm sure she is." He realized he was staring at the boy, and apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually…like this."

"That's okay. Max seems to like you," Heidi reassured him.

"I should go," he put his hands on the boys shoulder, "Good-bye, Max."

The boy's eyes were captivated by him and, with Heidi's help he put down his toy car and waved him bye.

Dimitri walked up to the snack bar, strangely shaken, and bought himself some food before leaving the rest stop.

As he went out the door, Alex sprinted down the stairs. "Wow, for a while I thought I'd have to spend the rest of the day up there."

Heidi grinned at her and looked at Max, "We didn't have to wait, did we? Timing is everything, isn't it?"

Alex picked up Max, "I guess you need to be Swiss to figure that out. Let's go and enjoy the rest of this sunshine."

As they pulled out of the rest stop, Alex noticed a black Mercedes slowing down the exiting traffic. She was about to honk her horn when she saw the Hungarian license plate and she stopped herself.

She saw the car head in the opposite direction of the highway, and smiled as she thought about Dimitri.