Chapter XVI

Wildwind, Pine Valley, PA

Erica sat in the study of Wildwind; drinking a hot cup of coffee that Stella had brought her. It was 6am and the sun's rays were slowly starting to filter though the window of the study. Dimitri was upstairs in the shower. Neither of them had slept last night.

Erica heard the door of the study creak open and saw Max's head peek inside. She was about to ask him what he was doing up already but then realized that if he had indeed flown in from the United Kingdom yesterday, the time difference would make it feel like noon for him.

"Good morning, Max," Erica told him. "Come on in. Dimitri will be down soon." She stretched out her hand, "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself yesterday, my name is Erica I'm Dimitri's…" she was about to say 'fiancée', but stopped herself not sure whether it was because she figured it was a word he wouldn't understand or because she was afraid he would. "I'm Dimitri's…friend."

He let her shake his hand, but said nothing, merely looking at her with his big, beautiful eyes.

"Aren't you shy?" Erica remarked. "That's certainly something you didn't get from your mother. She was never at a loss of words with me." Erica was about to say something else when she saw Dimitri enter the room.

"Well, look who's awake," Dimitri said to Max when he saw him next to Erica. "Come lets go upstairs and see if you have any more clothes in that huge knapsack of yours and then we'll have some breakfast, and go look at those horses, alright?"

"Ok," Max nodded and was about to follow when something caught his eye and made him stop dead in his tracks. It was a wedding photo. Max picked it up and stared at it.

Dimitri observed him, wondering what was going on in his mind, as he stood in this foreign house, far from home, with two people that were complete strangers to him. "That's you and Mum," was all he mumbled, as though shocked to see a photograph of them together.

Max's surprise made Dimitri realize that it probably was indeed the first picture he had seen of his parents together.

"It's our wedding in England," he explained. " We were so happy that day, Max. We loved each other very much."

Max's face lit up at the words, "You and Mum were married? Like a husband and wife?" He asked the question with caution, like it was an inconceivable notion.

Dimitri grinned, "Yeah. Like a husband and wife…Come on, let's go upstairs and get you dressed and washed."

Max hesitated, lingering by the photograph.

"Here," Dimitri handed him the picture in its frame. "Take it with you, we'll put it in your bedroom."

Max took the photograph gratefully and Dimitri thought he saw the first hint of trust in his eyes.

From inside the sitting room, Erica observed the interaction between them and shakily took another sip of her coffee. Seeing them together made her realize that, from now on, nothing would be the same anymore.

Brynn Wydd, Wales

When Alex returned to her mother's office at Brynn Wydd, at Justin's gunpoint, the first thing she saw was an obviously distressed Heidi, pinned into a chair by two agents. Heidi's long curly hair was in disarray and parts of her dress were torn.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to tell her," was what exclaimed as soon as Alex entered the room. She was crying. "I'm so sorry, Alex. She said she would kill him…" Her words were interrupted by great racking sobs, "She said she would kill Philip!"

"Oh Heidi…it's okay," Alex wanted to comfort her but Justin held her back. Alex knew there was a possibility that Charlotte would realize how much Heidi had helped her in smuggling out Max and that she would try to interrogate her. It was for that reason that Alex had insisted that Heidi not look at Max's flight tickets or go up to the airline counter with him. Heidi still believed Max had gone to New York City when instead Alex had him fly to Chicago and arranged for him to drive to Pine Valley via pre-arranged limousine from there.

"Aren't you at all disappointed that your friend didn't hold out long enough for you to arrive here before telling me all the details of your son's flight schedule? You'll be happy to know my men waited for him when he arrived in New York," Charlotte baited Alex.

Alex took comfort in the fact that she knew Charlotte was bluffing.

"You're quite the pair the two of you, aren't you? You're small and pathetic," she glared at Alex. "And you," she looked at Heidi with disgust, "You're more like a whale than a human. Morbidly obese, grotesque really…"

Alex watched the effect Charlotte's words had on Heidi and wondered how anyone could relish inflicting misery in another being the way her mother did. "Fine words coming from someone with almost no semblance of humanity. I don't think I've ever met a more revolting person than you, 'mother'," Alex tried to rile her in return. "And I do use the term loosely…"

Charlotte reached out and slapped her hard across the face.

Recoiling, Alex felt the taste of blood on her lips. "It's easy to be the bully when you're in a room full of men with guns on your payroll, isn't it?" she shot back, anger fuelling her bravado.

"Stop it Alex! Don't do this for me!" Heidi pleaded, her face a mask of fear. "Please, Alex, don't…"

"I don't have much to lose, right 'mother'?" Alex prodded her, afraid that it was the truth.

"Let's just say I won't be enlisting your services anymore."

'It's not hard to be brave', Alex thought, 'When you have nothing to lose.' Part of her wanted to beg Charlotte for one more chance to prove herself, to throw herself down on her knees at her mercy, to promise to kill again if necessary, to do anything…just for one more chance to see Max again.

The thought that she would never see her beautiful son again, filled her with so much sadness, it was a physical ache, like someone reaching into her chest to wrench out her heart. "This doesn't involve Heidi," was what she said instead, "She knows nothing about anything to do with Brynn Wydd."

"She knows you, that's her unfortunate luck," Charlotte shot back. "Take her up to room number six and wait until you receive further instructions from me," Charlotte instructed two of the men in the room.

They left with Heidi, dragging her out, as she called out to Alex.

Justin Black looked at Charlotte with painfully obvious anticipation. Alex had a feeling that she knew exactly what it is he wanted from Charlotte.

Charlotte turned towards Alex. "He wants to kill you, Sasha," she told her, confirming her speculation. "Because you killed his friend, his mentor, and one of my best agents, Guy Donohue. Give me one reason why I shouldn't let him."

'Because I'm your daughter? Because I've killed for you? Because I so desperately want to live to see my son and husband again?' There were so many reasons to plead with Charlotte but she knew it would have been pointless, that her pleas would only serve to amuse her mother.

Charlotte's eyes pierced hers, waiting for a reply. Waiting for the pleading she expected.

Alex knew she looked as weary as she felt. That there were dark circles under her eyes and that she wasn't particularly adept at hiding her fear of what was to come. She desperately wanted to live. But she wouldn't give her mother the satisfaction of knowing that.

"Don't hold your breath if you're waiting for me to beg for my life," Alex said softly.

"You disappoint me Sasha, but that's nothing new." She moved towards the chair where she was sitting and cupped Alex's face into her hands. She kissed her daughter on the forehead, "Goodbye Sasha."

Then she raised her chin in Justin's direction. "She's all yours. Just make sure you don't leave any traces."

Wildwind, Pine Valley, PA

Dimitri held up Max, so he could feed the horse. "That's Calipha, my brother, Edmund's horse. She is getting old now, so we don't ride her much anymore. Do you like horses, Max?"

Max nodded, "I like horses. Our neighbour down the road had ponies and sometimes I went to feed them too."

As he looked at him, Dimitri realized he knew absolutely nothing about his son. What were his likes? His dislikes? Did he have any allergies? When did he learn to walk? How did he do in school? What does he want to be when he grows up? What is he afraid of? What makes him laugh? What makes him cry?

'I missed everything,' he realized. The thought filled him with a deep regret.

"Will you tell me about you and your Mom?" Dimitri asked him.

"Sure. What do you what to know?" Max asked him, petting the horse as he spoke.

'Everything,' Dimitri thought. "How is she, your Mom?"

Max shrugged, "She's fine, I guess. I'm sure Heidi is there with her, back home."

"Who's Heidi?" he asked.

"She's Mum's friend and my nanny. She's from Switzerland so she speaks English in a different way, kind of like you."

It made Dimitri smile to think his son thought he had an accent. Then he was serious again, "Did anyone ever…hurt your Mom?"

Max shook his head at the odd question, "No. Why do you ask me that?"

As he looked at Max's face, Dimitri was suddenly overcome by an awful sense of urgency and dread. He had to find Alex; he had to find her soon, before it was too late. He couldn't explain it but he felt it and he knew he had to trust his feelings this time. Alex's life might depend on them.

"I need you to tell me where you lived, Max. Can you do that?" He knelt down next to him, on the hay in the stable, so that he was at eye level with Max.

Max shook his head. "I can't. Mum made me promise not to tell you."

'Of course she would,' Dimitri thought. "Did she tell you why you couldn't tell me?"

"No, she just said I couldn't tell and that I can't break my promise."

Dimitri put his hand on Max's shoulder, "Let me tell you something Max, I know why she told you not to tell me. Because she knows how much I love her and she knows I'll go looking for her, even if it's dangerous for me."

"Why is it dangerous for you to look for her?" Max asked him, and Dimitri thought he saw a trace of doubt in the boy's eyes.

"Because she's in a lot of trouble for sending you here. It's why she sent you here, because she was afraid someone would take you away from her or someone might hurt you."

Max looked at him skeptically, "How do you know that?"

"I know because…because I know your mother," Dimitri didn't know how to explain it to him or to make him understand that he meant no harm. All he knew was that his sense of urgency kept getting stronger. "Please Max, you have to tell me where you and your Mom lived. Tell me the name of the town or they city? Or better, do you know an exact street address? You have to tell me."

"If I tell you, Mum will be angry with me because I didn't keep my promise," Max tried to explain.

"Max, she didn't want you to tell me because for some reason she thinks my life and my safety are more important than her own. Do you think that too, Max?"

Max looked at him wide-eyed. "No," he said softly. The answer seemed to have made him feel uncomfortable as if he wasn't sure whether it was the right one, or the one Dimitri wanted to hear.

Dimitri embraced his son, "Good answer, Max, because I don't think so either. That's why I need you to help me find her. Help me bring her back to us."

Dimitri saw Max's struggle.

"Fine, I'll tell you," he finally decided. "But only if you take me with you, and you explain to her that you made me break my promise."

Dimitri wanted nothing more than to keep Max here at Wildwind, where he would be safe, but at the same time he admired Max's resolve. "Alright, you can come with me, but we're going to leave tonight. Are you up for that?"

"That's okay," Max told him, without the slightest hesitation.

When they arrived back at the house, Erica was about to leave.

"We're flying to Wales tonight," Dimitri told her. "I've called my pilot and asked him to fuel up the jet immediately."

Erica didn't look like she was ready for any more surprises, "Wales? And who's 'we' ?"

"Max and I."

She looked at him in disbelief, "You're taking the boy back to England? Are you crazy? Do you want to get both of you killed?"

Dimitri's eyes told her he didn't approve of her choice of words. "Of course not," he whispered to her, "He'll stay wherever we land, with the jet's flight crew."

She looked at him with a mix of hurt and determination, "Fine. I'm coming along too then."

He held up his hand in protest, "No, I won't let you be…"

She moved her own hand to his lips, "Yes, I am. You have no idea what you're going to find, darling, you might very well need a friend with you, and besides you need someone to look after Max."

His sense of dread was growing stronger and he knew he didn't have time to argue, "Fine. Let's go."