Thanks Kathy! I will.
Chapter 5
A chill raced down Jason's skin despite himself. Last time he'd seen Sierra, she'd smashed a pistol into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. Of course, she was only doing her job—taking Gray back to prison. And Jason had interfered by keeping her from hurting Gray. Before that, they'd worked together to keep Gray and Will from destroying the town in their search for powerful secrets. Sierra had rescued Jason and had tortured Gray with him….interesting memories he had of that expert, flamboyant bounty hunter. A fight at a warehouse. Scars that told a tragic story of pain Jason could never begin to imagine. A farewell letter that said, basically, "I hope there's no hard feelings for bashing you over the head."
Jason didn't hold anything against her. But he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive at her appearance. What could she want? He didn't want anything to come between him and Connie that could potentially endanger the foundation they were rebuilding. But he also couldn't help but feel a twinge of excitement...
He sat down at their table, forcing himself to focus. He could find out about Sierra later.
"You know who that was, don't you?" said the man beside him. Jason looked to see that he was talking to his companion, a young woman with blonde hair and a green dress.
"I'm not sure that I do," she said.
"The famous Muldavian movie star Zef Kane, of course. Just a few minor roles in Hollywood, and one somewhat substantial speaking part. But over there, he's a huge celebrity."
He turned to Jason. "Why, hello! Fancy meeting you here."
For a moment Jason didn't recognize him. Then the image of a face in his mind coalesced with the face before him—he looked older, heavier than he'd last seen him, but he had the same twinkle in his eye, the same hearty manner. "Max! Good to see you." Jason shook hands with him. "It's been a long time."
Max laughed. "Seems like yesterday. And who's this pretty little lady you have here? You always did have the knack for picking up the loveliest dates. Not that I didn't suspect your real motive—making Tasha jealous." He laughed again.
Heat suffused Jason's face. He wasn't the same person that he'd been back then. "Max, this is my wife, Connie."
"Wife? Haha! You mean it? Or is it just a cover? Not that you'd say."
"We're married. Just a few months ago."
"Really. I'd never have thought you the marrying type. But then, none of us agents are."
"It's nice to meet you, Connie. This is my date, Maxine. Haha! No, it's actually Lisanne. She's a secretary at the Agency."
"It's nice to meet you all! Call me Lisa."
"How do you like all of this so far?" said Jason.
"I hardly ever heard of Muldavia before this. It sure knows how to throw a party!"
"We do," said the man across from her. He had curly dark hair and a solemn, earnest face. He looked very familiar…. "In fact, this is nothing compared to the celebrations going on back home right now."
"Maybe I'll head over there next," said Max. "If there's an assignment there I can scrape up."
Then it came to him with a jolt. "Saul Amir?" said Jason.
"Hello, Jason. It's good to see you again."
"Well, you recognized me right away."
"How could I forget? You saved our country. To you, we're just another country you helped."
"No, no, on the contrary, that was my first real mission. It's just—you've grown up since I last saw you."
Saul smiled. "Yes, I suppose I did. This is my wife, Leila."
"Hello," she said. "It's good to meet all of you. Thank you, Jason, for what you did. We wouldn't be where we are today without you."
"My wife and I are with the diplomatic corps. Officially, if you know what I mean."
"You mean, unofficially you're…"
"Let's just say we help keep our country safe. After Von Warberg's fall, I wanted to do something to help my country. To do what you did, behind the scenes. And so I went into the gutted security service as it was being rebuilt from the ground up. It wasn't hard to rise through the ranks back then. It was there that I met Leila. We've been married sixteen years now."
"That long? Wow. Here I'm older than you and I've only been married a few months. Makes me wonder what I've been doing all my life."
"Keeping the world safe, I'd guess." Saul took a sip from his glass.
"Still, I can't believe I spent so long without her."
"I know what you mean." He looked at Leila, and she smiled back at him as if they had their own secret, silent language. Jason wanted that kind of relationship after sixteen years. More, better, stronger, always deeper in love.
"I think that we found each other at just the right time," said Connie. "We were friends, and then it just blossomed into more. The past is all part of how beautiful everything turned out."
"That's a wonderful way to put it," said Leila. She swept back a strand of her dark hair.
"Ah, I remember that honeymoon phase," said Max.
"You mean you were married?" said Jason.
"Yes, married, past tense. Actually it was so long ago sometimes I even forget it happened. One night we decided to elope…probably not the best decision. Actually, I don't see how I could spend my life with just one person. Although—" He looked at Lisa. "Who knows."
A waiter served some hors d'oeuvres on a gilded tiered plate. Another waiter came around with a bottle of dark red wine.
"Ah, this is more like it," said Max.
"One of our biggest exports," said Saul. "Even that is a rather well-kept secret."
"All the more for me, then," said Max, and laughed.
The waiter came to Connie with the bottle.
"No, thank you," she said.
"Are you sure?" said Max. "You don't know what you're missing." He raised his glass and took a sip.
"I don't really drink," she said.
"Suit yourself. Oh, you're not—you two aren't expecting, are you?"
Connie's face paled. Pain shot across her eyes. Jason reached for her hand beneath the table, grasped it, hoping to keep her from shattering again.
"No, we're not," said Jason, saving Connie the pain of having to answer.
"Of course, my wife was lucky and didn't get pregnant—I say lucky because a kid would've made the divorce much messier.
"You really do look like you belong together, you know. There's something—magical, even seeing you this short amount of time. Of course, me and Lisa are pretty magical together ourselves." He took Lisa's hand. She smiled back at him.
"So do you have any kids?" Jason asked Saul and Leila.
"We have five, actually," said Leila. "The oldest is sixteen now. The youngest just turned three. She was our surprise baby. She brings such joy into our lives. It is hard, living the lives we do, but we try to find a balance."
"As important as our work is," said Saul, "they are the most important thing to us. They are the reason we have for protecting our country. It is personal.
"Do you two intend to have children?"
"I—I'm not sure," said Jason, chagrined that the topic had backfired on him. He needed to get on a subject that was less difficult for Connie.
"Well, it's not for everyone. And sometimes it's good to wait until you have a strong foundation of marriage before you think about bringing another person into the world."
"That's what we are thinking," said Jason.
The foundation part, anyway, he thought, hoping Connie didn't object to the half-truth. Hoping that, at least someday, she'd reconsider.
A waiter came and gave them plates of salad with chicken, spread with olive oil and garnished with tomatoes.
"Looks good," said Connie, seeming to have recovered. Love for her spread through him and he wanted to protect her with all his heart.
Jason tried the salad himself—it was very good. For salad, anyway. He didn't recall having anything of the sort when he'd visited—of course, it had been a long time ago, and he had been pretty busy. He hardly remembered eating anything during the time he'd been there, though of course he must've.
"What's this about you saving the country?" said Max. "I don't know that I've ever heard that story."
"It was classified. It still might be, who knows."
"Since the wall fell," said Saul, "I'm not sure how much it really matters, and we are among friends."
"I didn't exactly save the country. In fact, it wasn't my most successful mission."
"You sparked a revolution and toppled communism. I'd say that was a success."
"But any good that happened was either by accident or because of someone else. I try not to think of all the ways I blundered. I nearly got myself fired—in fact, when I got back, Donovan practically did fire me. He ended up putting me on probation."
"All that matters is that because of your efforts, our country is a free one."
"It might have become free anyway—communism was on its last gasp as it was. And you were creating a revolution long before I got there."
"But without that spark, it might not have flared into a flame. Von Warberg had an iron grip on the country. Without the King's uniting presence, our country could have fallen into civil war."
"He may have come back on his own."
"That's not what he says."
"You never told me this story, Jason," said Connie.
"I'm sorry. I tend not to talk about my past missions. But now that we're married, we should be able to share such things, as long as they're not classified and can get you in danger."
"You actually knew a king?"
"I haven't personally heard from him in years…"
"You mean he talked to you since?"
"He wanted to thank me for saving him. But I always felt ashamed, guilty. I didn't really do all that much."
"You're too hard on yourself, Jason," said Saul. "It was your first mission. Of course you would make mistakes. And our country didn't exactly make it easy on you. You risked so much, you and Tasha."
"Tasha was there too?" said Connie.
"We were partners from the start."
"You two go pretty far back…." Her entrancing eyes took on a faraway look. He hoped she wasn't jealous of Tasha. How could she be? She had him, heart, body and soul. Tasha was only a shadow of the past. His romantic feelings for her were no more significant than ashes from a fire. But how could he make sure Connie knew that?
"She was an exemplary agent as long as I knew her. I eventually learned a lot from her ….But on that mission, I was pretty clueless." He cringed when he thought of his failures back then. He'd been irresponsibly reckless.
"It couldn't have been that bad."
"I was the one who messed up the mission in the first place. I—" He struggled to remember; after learning his lessons from that mission, he'd tried to put it out of his mind. "We were supposed to be undercover as communist reporters. One day we were covering the speech of the dictator, and I saw a soldier beating a man for holding an umbrella for his wife—it was supposedly disrespectful to the premier or something. So I—intervened."
"You hit the soldier?"
He nodded. "I should've just ignored it—it wasn't like this kind of thing didn't happen all the time there. I wasn't thinking of the big picture, I just wanted to help that man. But you just don't do something like that in a communist country if you don't want to get thrown in jail."
"Is that what happened?" Connie looked horrified.
"A young woman who worked at the paper helped us escape, flee the country. On the way I…fell for her."
Connie's eyes narrowed. "What was her name?"
"Elena."
"I never heard you mention her."
"That's because…she happened to be a double agent. A mole sent by the head of the security service, Zahl." It was all coming back to him now. The fear, the shame, the tang of adventure…. "And then we found the prince hiding out in a cabin on the border with Czechoslovakia. I led the traitor right to him. They captured him, and they captured me, and Elena shot Tasha. So I wouldn't exactly call that a success."
"It wouldn't be if that's how the story ended," said Saul. "If it makes you feel any better, I also…fell for Elena. She had that magnetic quality…and of course she was a good actress."
"You never told me about her," said Leila.
"I forgot all about her as soon as you came along."
Leila smiled. "Good answer."
"She's still out there, isn't she?" said Jason.
Saul nodded. "Like her father, you might say she's a 'slippery character'. But it's been a long time. And Muldavia's not going back to communism anytime soon, so I don't think we have to worry about her."
A waiter came with their food: smoked salmon, rice, asparagus, ribs, vegetables, cheese, bread. It all looked and smelled wonderful—he was hungry.
"Anyway, you eventually escaped, right?" said Saul after the waiter left.
"With Tasha's help. She sacrificed herself so I could get out of that prison…" Memories shot across his mind—Von Warberg beating Tasha with his cane, Zahl humiliating the prince, trying to crush his spirit, the fire in the emaciated prisoners' eyes as they rose in defiance, the sharp sting of the gunshot across Jason's shoulder as he ran….
"In the end," said Saul, "the King made a speech on the scaffold, entreating the people to be free. Just as they were about to hang him, Jason jumped up on the stage and took Zahl hostage—and Elena shot at Jason even while he held her boss in front of him. But just as she did it, the King stepped between her and Jason, taking the bullet."
"James was the true hero," said Jason, emotion welling up inside him from all those years ago.
"He was. But so were you and Tasha. You risked your lives for our country and we'll be forever grateful. Even though you were outsiders, you fought for our freedom and showed us we could take charge and take down the oppressors. Without you, our country wouldn't be what it is today. In fact, none of us would be here, and we wouldn't be enjoying this party right now."
"I always see my success back then as an accident….but even though I made mistakes, seeing the people suffering firsthand made me want to do something. I—I couldn't just stand by and let it happen."
"That passion is what we admire," said Saul. "It may have gotten you in trouble. But you were also willing to sacrifice your life for us. That is nobility on level with the King himself. I know he wouldn't protest that description. I only wish we could have honored you formally."
"You know us spies. We don't expect any kind of honor. It's enough to know that what I did made a difference."
"And that was just your first mission," said Max. "Most of what you did was classified, but you're pretty much a legend around the Agency. Many of your actions looked like mistakes, but then your missions always turn out to be incredible successes. I'd put it down to luck if I didn't know better; you can't be lucky that many times."
"Did you two have a mission together?" said Lisa.
"I saw what Jason can do firsthand, and that the man fits the legend. It was a pleasure to watch him work. Even I, who was an agent long before he was, learned a thing or two from him.
"Of course it wasn't all work. There was that wild party in—well, I can't divulge the location. It was undercover, and so we had our roles to play. I got quite… into my role, I guess you could say. And Tasha—she did her job, though she's not exactly a party girl."
"What about Jason?" said Connie, leaning forward, interest sparkling in her eyes.
"The funny thing about Jason, even though he's got kind of a…cowboy reputation where missions are concerned, he has this code of honor. Even if a mission requires it, there's only so far he'll go. He has this way of treating people with respect, even if they don't deserve it. Even if they're asking for it, if you know what I mean."
"I…don't really know."
"Let's just say that you don't have to wonder about Jason's behavior before you were married. He's always been honorable, even during his career as an agent…something some of us let slip. He may have been James Bond in some ways, but not in others. In case you ever had reason to doubt him."
She shook her head. "It's just nice to hear from someone he worked with."
"It does make sense, actually…he believes in freedom, justice, all of that, and he's never become cynical like some people I know. He was a good agent. And a good man. Those two don't always go together, believe me; I've been around the block." He turned to Jason. "You were such a natural at it I was surprised you gave it up. You were doing real good in the world like you wanted. I'm still somewhat mystified as to why you left."
"That part of my life is over. I've got a life in Odyssey now with the one I love."
"Still, I don't see how someone like you can be content with a quiet life for long."
"I've actually had quite a few adventures lately. Danger isn't always what it's cracked up to be."
Max looked into his eyes searchingly. "The Jason I know wouldn't have said that. What happened?"
"I can't—" Jason wouldn't have said anything even if he could; he didn't want to go digging into wounds that were still not totally healed.
"But of course, you can't discuss it. I know that song and dance all too well. Speaking of song and dance—it looks like people are heading out on the floor. Shall we?" He took Lisa's hand and they wove through the tables. Saul and Leila took their leave and joined them.
Connie wasn't done with her salmon and Jason still had some rice left. "How are you doing?" he asked her.
"Good. This is really good food."
"I've kind of been talking about myself a lot. It's better than…the other subject, though."
"I like hearing the stories of the old days. How everything just confirms what I already know—how amazing you are."
"I'm…not that amazing."
"Yes you are. You put a king on the throne? I'd say that's pretty amazing." She swept a lock of hair back from his forehead.
"I kind of blundered through it; I don't care what they say. That's how I remember it."
"It's not just what you did. It's why you did it. You cared so much you fought for them, risked your life…You've always been the Jason I know and love. I can't believe someone like you chose me. I need to do something for you. To be more…to be worthy of you."
"Connie, I'm the one that's not worthy. Despite the good I may have done, there's darkness I can never make up for. I—I'm not even worthy to touch you."
"I don't see how you can see me that way. I'm nothing special."
"You are. In everything you do you show it, your compassion, your grace, your beautiful soul… I long for you every day and yet you're so much more than I can possibly hope for…. I am in awe of the astounding person you are, Connie. Please, don't ever doubt that."
"I just…want you to feel special too. I don't know how to give that to you. Give you something when you've given me—all of this." She swept her arm around to indicate the room, and then back to touch the necklace over her heart.
"Well, maybe we should dance."
She smiled. "I'd like that very much."
He took her hand and they walked alongside the white columns toward the dance floor. Before they reached it, though, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
"Hello, Jason," said Sierra. "It's good to see you again."
Apprehension struck him—he didn't want to be hit on the head again, although he doubted that was her purpose this time.
"Hi, Sierra. This is my wife, Connie."
She looked at Connie. "We've met briefly. She gave you the message?"
"Yes. I wasn't sure what you meant by it."
Sierra smiled. "I've found that cryptic messages pique curiosity. Anyway, I have a proposition for you."
"What is it?"
She took his arm, pulled him into the shadows with her. "My employer needs another freelance operative. You in?"