There was a hell of a row at the table. A lot of yelling and tears, and more than a few slaps. Sandy grabbed Tina and they went to another table. He wasn't loud, but he had a finger in her face and she was crying pretty hard. Finally Marge, the bartender, told them to either leave or tone it down. They trouped out, all but Tina and Sandy. She timidly came up to me. "I'm sorry," she said, with lowered head and avoided eye contact. Then she gathered her courage and looked up. "It just that we thought you were the best of us. You guys seemed really happy. I didn't believe it when you split up, and I figured once you calmed down you'd talk it out and get back together. I'm guessing everyone, especially Becky, didn't expect your reaction. You're really through with her, aren't you?" "Yes, Tina, I am. You're wrong, though. You and Sandy are the best of us. Use this as a learning experience. Choose your friends a little more carefully in the future. Go home now. Love each other. And if n
"Well, call and tell her now. Tell if she's interested, I'll call next Thursday." "I will, I will. I wasn't thinking." I thought later many times about my next statement, and how true it turned out to be. "Relax, Cindy. She's your friend. Of course you want to protect her, help her be happy. I understand. Gotta go." She was still talking when I hung up. I did call Thursday, and she chattered happily. We made a date. She wanted to go to a movie and then back to what she called 'our' club. I threw in dinner. We had a really great time. The movie sucked, one of those vapid tearjerkers some asshole was making a fortune writing, but the dinner and the dancing was great. By the time we left the bar she was firmly under my arm. I surprised her by not coming in when I dropped her off. She looked disappointed until I explained why. "I'd love to, honey, but Allan and I are working tomorrow. We're almost over the hump. This account and another we're courting will make us pretty secure, s
I can't deny it hurt. It did, a lot. I wrote it off as a life lesson and started to leave, before I remembered the remark about being out with the girls. I got the waitress, had her take them a round of drinks in exactly five minutes, giving her a twenty dollar tip. She had the radar of a good cocktail waitress or bartender. "There's not going to be any trouble, is there?" I assured her, saying I was leaving, they were friends of mine, and I felt foolish not noticing before. The drink was an apology because I had to leave and hadn't talked to them. She bought it, kind of. I waited a minute and dialed her number. The band was on break, and I heard it ring from where she was sitting. She looked at it, said something to her companion, and took it. "Hi, honey. Change your mind?" She sounded so sincere. "NO, I'm beat. It's bed for me. Say hi to the girls for me. Where are you? It sounds awfully quiet." The band's on break, and the girls had to go potty. I'm guarding the drinks." T
She kept up her patter as she showed her the house, three bedrooms, nice big lot, small patio. "Excuse me for just a moment while we confer, will you?" she said to the realtor, before grabbing me into the living room. "Look honey, a fireplace." She wasn't going to be distracted. She backed me against the mantle. "What the fuck is going on here?" "Really, Beck, isn't it obvious? We're house hunting. I don't want to start married life in an apartment. Besides, when we have kids we're gonna need the space." I don't think she heard much past married life, before she launched into my arms. I scraped the back of my head on the stone mantle, and didn't care at all. Then she cried. Then she giggled. Then she got serious. "Where's my ring?" "I haven't got it yet. I thought we'd pick it out together." The realtor came looking for us, and heard the last. She laughed. "What did I tell you, dear. Clueless. I swear, if we didn't guide them, the species would disappear. Are you up to lookin
His name was Johnny Walker, and he hated scotch. "I should have been named Jim or Jack, I'm a bourbon man through and through." He came highly recommended to me as one of the best in his business, so I hired him. It only took two weeks to get me everything I wanted. He met at a bar owned by one of his friends. There were rooms for private parties, and we used one of those. I didn't want to be seen going into his office, or him coming into mine. He agreed totally. I'd even bought a burner phone I kept locked in my desk to use to communicate with him. I know, it sounds paranoid. After all, if it was nothing, I didn't want Becky getting wind of the fact that I had her investigated. It would not lead to good things. "It's all here," he said, giving me a small briefcase, "pictures, video, interviews with friends and coworkers. Some of them didn't even know she was married. Apparently she doesn't wear her rings at work. They weren't particularly careful. I'm sorry." I handed him a chec
"Please, girls, I'm begging here. This is his place of business as well as mine, and he has the right to conduct it as he sees fit. If you push it, he'll have grounds for a restraining order, and that would be bad. He's so upset he told me he's going to sell his half of the business, if I don't buy it he'll go to someone else." "We can't afford that, Cindy. Not now. We've just gotten to the edge of being really successful. He's the idea man, the brains behind the business. I just sell whatever he comes up with. It would ruin us, Cindy. Think about the kids." I heard more mumbling, then silence. He called. "They've left. You can come out of the office now." "I don't think so. As long as I'm in here I'm in an asshole free zone. Go back to work, try to figure out what you're going to do. And ask Aida to come in, please." He was starting to beg again when I hung up. ... "It been an interesting few days. Care to hear about it?" she said, as she sat. Curiosity got the better of me,
The punch scared me. Mom was right, I did need to see someone.Kathy Grimes was one of the best in her field, according to what information I could gather. It was two weeks before she could see me.My age, roughly. Pretty, ultimately professional, with a warm manner and disarming style. Judging by the pictures on the wall, she was happily married with two preteen children."Nice looking kids," I said, looking at the pictures. She smiled."Thanks. Do you have any?""No," I sighed, "don't think it'll ever happen for me.""Oh, in this business, I've learned to never say never. You're fairly young, there's plenty of time. Sit. Chair of table?"Her office looked like a living room. In one corner was a table, plain wood, like you'd see in millions of kitchens in the country. The seats all had cushions for comfort."Table.""Good choice," she smiled, "I find it's more relaxing in the long run."She put a pitcher of water
I let them sweat before I gave them my proposal. "I'll forgo legal recourse for certain considerations. First, my wife is never to know of this meeting. Second, reprimand her, demote her, do whatever you want except fire her. I need her to have a job during the divorce. Do what you want with the asshole, but in my opinion, this doesn't seem like the first time to me. What if it had been a major donor or the wife or daughter of one? In my opinion, he's a disaster waiting to happen. There again, an opinion, do what you want. Agreed? Good. Of course, we can't write this up, but I've taped this conversation. Here." I pulled out the recorder and gave them the tape. I neglected to mention the other recorder still going. "Now, if I make trouble for you, you can play the tape. And one more thing. You have a volunteer, Cindy Waller. She helped my wife conduct her affair and covered for her. It might be good if she wasn't associated with you any longer." They looked like bobble heads, shaki
Five days later I was in my Class A uniform and escorted into an office in the Pentagon.The General was there, along with a major from the Adjutant General Corps and a corporal holding a camera.The General said, "Let's get it on, Major."The Major said, "Attention to Orders:" They gave me a medal for the ding, and another with a "V" for valor for helping Waters and the overall mission.I thought it was over, and relaxed. The general smiled and said, "Not yet."The major repeated, "Attention to Orders:" I received an early promotion to Captain and the general put on the two silver stripes—railroad tracks—when we were done.After the pictures were taken, the General dismissed the Major and said, "Follow me, Captain, Corporal."We went down a corridor and came to another door. I opened it and saw Elke in a simple yellow dress with Sophie in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers. Next to Elke was First Sergeant Franklin
We landed ten minutes later. The First Sergeant was running the show—two ambulances were there to load up Waters and me. A staff car with two nurses, a driver and a guard took the children away, and two MP jeeps were there to take the duffel bag. They cut away my pants leg in the ambulance. As soon as we reached the hospital I was wheeled into an X-ray room and then the gurney was pushed into a brightly lit room and I could feel them cut away the rest of my uniform. It was no longer a spasm of pain; my leg now hurt like hell. Minutes later I looked up at doctor holding a mask over my face. As he pushed it against my mouth and nose he said, "Take a deep breath, Lieutenant. You got something in there so we're going to dig around and get it out of you." I took a breath and then everything disappeared. Chapter 5 Someone was lightly shaking my shoulder; I woke up. A voice said, "It was a ricochet. The round went in three inches; hit an artery and then some muscle tissue, but no bone.
Waters immediately posted an outside guard and sent the other sergeant to watch the kids. When it was time to leave we would wake them and give them candy that was treated with a drug that would keep them drowsy and quiet. He turned to me, "Do your thing, Lieutenant." I walked into the communications room and found both safes open. I opened a duffel bag that I had brought and dumped the contents of both safes into it. There would be plenty of time to see what we got later. I searched the rest of the room and found nothing else. Next was the Commander's office. It had a desk with a phone, a bed, filing cabinet, and a bookcase—it was exactly as Elke had described it. I searched the filing cabinet first. It was unlocked, which made me suspicious. There were some folders in it that I put in the duffel bag, but I didn't believe any sensitive information would be left in an unlocked filing cabinet. I searched the bookcase next, but other than some pornographic picture books there was
"Well, Lieutenant?" I really had no choice. The operation was for Elke, and Elke was my responsibility. "Yes, Sir, I volunteer." The Colonel nodded as if this was expected and said, "You're relieved from all duties. I'll speak with Captain Myer. Go with the First Sergeant, and he'll explain how it's going to happen." We drove to a building some distance from the office. Something had bothered me ever since Elke came back from Choiden. "Top, they never were going after Sophie, were they?" "Lieutenant, you and I don't know the answer to that question. War and spying is nasty business, and sometimes bad things happen. No good can come to you and Elke if you let that question fester in you. "You should focus on the mission. "Right now you're going to meet the team. You're going to face a great deal of hostility from these men. They train as a team and you're breaking up the team. They know you didn't make the decision, but you're an officer. Their attitude against you doesn't make
The next morning Elke was released from the hospital. However, before she physically left the building she sat down with the First Sergeant, an intelligence officer from the 2nd Armored Division's S2 office and a sketch artist. I was politely, but firmly, told that they would be more productive if I weren't with Elke when they talked. It was obvious to me that they were trying to identify the other four women whom the Russians had either coerced or talked into spying in our regional sector. When the meeting was over Top walked over to me and said, "She's trying, Lieutenant. It's just going to take time to learn everything that she knows. "When does she go back to work? "Monday," I replied. "Why do you ask?" "Lieutenant, that's how she passes any information to the Russians—a customer comes in and buys something and the exchange is made then. I'll talk to the Colonel and make sure we have something for Elke to give them." The following Monday Elke passed on the news that in four
"She won't be really conscious for quite a while—probably until tomorrow morning. "Lieutenant, this appears to be a suicide attempt. At a minimum we have to notify the German authorities, and I would guess she'll need some psychological counseling. I'll take care..." "Major," I interrupted, "there are some things that you aren't aware of, and before you do anything I suggest you talk to Colonel Weldon or First Sergeant Franklin." He looked at me in surprise. "Isn't Colonel Weldon the Commander of the intelligence battalion?" "Sir, please talk to the Colonel or First Sergeant. "Can I see Elke now?" He considered my request and then said, "Follow me." We walked down the hall until we reached a door. He opened it and said, "Just look." Elke looked terrible. Fluids were going into her through an intravenous line, her hair was wet and plastered against her face, and an oxygen mask was over her nose and mouth. "Major, she looks awful." "Lieutenant, we saved her life; she looks wor
An hour later we came close to shore and she put on her blouse. She put her bra into the lunch bag. It was another night of slow, loving sex. When we were done I said, "I love you." She didn't answer; she was asleep. Our last day at the resort we hiked the hills again and then tried to swim in the lake. The water was ice cold and it was impossible to stay in it for more than thirty seconds. We gave up and dressed and walked to the small town two miles away and shopped for trinkets. In the early evening we were still in the town and decided to eat at a small restaurant off the main street. The fish just caught from our lake tasted great and the sweet German wine complemented the meal. Our table had a single candle burning and the light reflected off Elke's face and chest. She seemed happy. We walked back to our cabin and took our shower together to get the day's dirt off. We opened a bottle of wine and sat on the porch watching the last light of day disappear into the water. I pu
"Dave, what are you..." and she gasped as I sucked her tender, little point of pleasure. Quickly her groans became louder and she started to spasm violently as my tongue brought her to climax. She cuddled next me later and said, "No one has ever done that to me before." "Did you enjoy it?" "But should we be doing it, Dave?" "Answer me, Elke. Did you enjoy it?" "Yes, you drove me crazy with pleasure—I lost control of my body." "Then we should be doing it. Anything that I can do to give you pleasure, we should be doing." With a breakthrough in her sexual shyness, I thought it was a wonderful weekend for both of us. I wanted to sleep with her Sunday night too, but she sent me back to my base housing. Early the following day I joined Top for our ritual cup of coffee. He was always first in the office and I, being an early riser, was always the second one in. Top said, "Captain Myer tried to reach you Saturday night to see if you were free for a meeting Sunday morning. I called y
I looked forward to the weekends. I would come to her apartment early and she prepared breakfast for us. Then we would start out on our weekend plan. Sometimes it would be a day at the park where Elke and I would spread a blanket and enjoy the lunch that she had prepared. Other weekends we would take a commuter train to nearby cities and explore them. One Saturday in the late afternoon Elke took me to a beer garden on the other side of the city. The music was happy and lively, and the teenage kids danced and raced through the tables as they played their games. After a few beers Elke giggled, "Dave, you must dance to the happy music." "But Elke, I'm not a good dancer and I've never seen this type of dance before." She reached out her hand, "I will show you." The band was on break so I took the opportunity to buy another pitcher of beer for Elke and me. Just as I arrived at our table I heard a familiar voice say, "Good evening, Lieutenant." I turned and answered, "Good evening to