“Where did the name Joe O’Reilly come from?”
“Another good Irish name. Just one of my many aliases.”
“What about those clowns who dangled you off the roof in Chicago? Won’t they recognize you?”
Joe grimaced. “Malloy tracked them down before he was called off the case. Learned they were later found floating in Lake Michigan.”
“But they didn’t fail with you. They persuaded you not to cooperate with Dad.”
“Actually, Kane never knew that. All he knew was that I might have not been with your folks when they died. I disappeared. I guess those two thugs must have disappointed Kane. Or maybe he learned I had a change of heart. Again, how did he know?” His uncle just shrugged.
“Where are we going tomorrow?”
Joe glanced at Alena before answering. “Let’s just finish our meal. We can talk later-after I finish washing the dishes.”
Travis and Jessie, seated across the table, looked at each other and smiled. Travis responded. “Jessie already volunteered since she loves the domestic thing.”
She dug an elbow into Travis’s ribs. “Don’t believe him, Joe. This clown knows I don’t cook or clean another man’s kitchen. He knew that from the first day I showed up here.”
Gerrit watched the two smiling at each other and felt an emptiness inside as he thought of his last night with Marilynn. Flashes of her emerging from the kitchen upon his return from Vienna, wearing an apron, a smudge of red sauce on her upper lip. Everything he and Marilynn had together had been a lie. She was a plant to keep an eye on him. To spy on his movements. To recruit him. The betrayal dug deeper into his chest. The way Travis and Jessie looked at each other, the love they seemed to share, only made his own life seem shallower.
He thought of what others shared. Love. Marriage. Family. Things he had always put off for another day. First, his academic pursuits took every bit of his attention. And then his military service never allowed him to even think of settling down with someone who wanted to build a life with him. His time with Marilynn had been more of a relationship of convenience-for both of them. Not once did they speak of a long-term relationship. Always living in the here and now. And now-with what Joe told him-he understood more clearly. It has been a relationship built on a lie.
He felt emptiness closing in. When his parents died, it was like that door of normalcy closed forever. He had one mission in life. Find his parents’ killer. And now…maybe…he knew who that killer might be-Richard Kane. At least he knew who probably ordered the hit. Maybe bringing Kane down would give him a chance to enjoy a normal life some day.
That thought drew his attention to Alena seated next to him. She was watching Jessie and Travis joking together. He thought he saw a look of wistfulness in her eyes. What was her story? She was very attractive. A woman like that must have a man waiting for her to return.
Then he thought about their first encounter in San Francisco. She admitted to watching him for several years. That didn’t sound like a normal life. A normal woman didn’t don a wet suit, sneak into a houseboat at night, and force him to leave moments before the place blows up, leaving a dead man inside. That’s far from normal.
Maybe he and Alena shared the same difficulties-unable to live like the rest of mankind. Might that draw them together? Then Marilynn’s face flashed through his mind. Get a hold of yourself, Gerrit. One woman-a traitor-lay dead. And now he was thinking about another woman, this Mission Impossible gal who seems to have no history.
This concussion might have jarred his brains loose. Better focus on your own problems, pal. His track record with women seemed bound for failure. Better focus on staying alive.
Like his uncle, he might be running and hiding for the rest of his life. Kane was just the tip of the iceberg. Other people-wielding even more power-must lurk out there in the grayness of politics, government, and business. Powerful individuals who determined he was a liability. For the moment, Kane and the others thought he’d been eliminated. How long would that last?
Joe rose from the table and began gathering dishes. “Why don’t you folks relax and I’ll have these done in a jiffy.” As he gathered the last dish and entered the cabin, Jessie leaned over the table and took Alena’s hand. “It was so nice getting to know you this afternoon. I’m sorry you have to leave so soon. We women need to stick together in this group.”
Travis laughed. “Hell-raisers more like it.” He winked at Gerrit. “We have something in common, my man.”
Gerrit leaned back. “What’s that?”
“Women and water.” Travis grinned. “The first time I met Jessie, she tried to drown me.”
Jessie slapped Travis on the shoulder. “You drowned yourself, honey. I stood by to make sure you didn’t kill yourself.”
Travis continued. “I hired her as a river guide to get me through the white water upriver from here. Instead, she watched as I almost killed myself in one of those rapids. And when I bounced back from death’s doorstep, she was laughing her head off.”
Jessie gave him a hug. “You survived, so I did my job.”
Travis shook his head. “Back to my point-women and water. So Alena drags you outside moments before your place is bombed to smithereens.”
Gerrit gave a quick look at Alena. She lowered her eyes, blushing.
Travis continued, unrelenting. “You know what they say about the debt you owe someone who saves your life, buddy. You’re tied to them forever. So, I guess it is foreordained that you two-”
“Stop it, Travis.” Jessie gave a threatening look. “You’re embarrassing them. I think it’s sweet that Alena risked her life to save Gerrit. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Suddenly, Gerrit felt uncomfortable. “You know, I’ve been cooped up in bed and need to stretch my legs. I think I’ll take Bones and Sam and head down to the river, if you guys don’t mind.”
Travis smiled. “It would do Sam good to run some of this dinner off. Go for it.”
Relieved, Gerrit patted his leg, looking at the dogs. “Come on, guys. I snagged a couple pieces of Travis’s steak with your names on it.” He held them up for the dogs to see as he made his way to the stairs. They came bounding after him, tails wagging, eyeing the meat with hungry eagerness.
He climbed down the steps and walked a few yards down the gravel pathway when he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw Alena following.
“Mind if I tag along? Needed to get away from Travis.”
Gerrit nodded. “I know what you mean.”
“He is a great guy. Helped us in the past when we needed assistance. But sometimes, he gets on my nerves.”
Gerrit bent down and let each dog have one of the chunks of meat. “Welcome the company. By the way, do you know where we’re going tomorrow?”
“Where we first met-San Francisco.”
“Why there?” He wiped his hands off and began walking down the path.
“That is where I live when I am not running around chasing you.” She smiled for a moment. “Seriously, we thought it best to relocate you there until things cool down. I am all set up and can provide a good cover for you while we start to fill in your backside.”
“Backside?”
“You know, the story about your fake past.”
“Oh. You mean backstory?”
“Whatever you Americans call it. Anyway, Joe and Willy-you haven’t met him yet-will recreate your past with a new name, ID, the whole thing. Make you a new person.”
“What name should I use?”
Alena stopped for moment, looking into his eyes. “I like the name David. David from the Bible.”
“Why him?”
She came alongside as they neared the river. “He was a warrior, a leader of men. And he was very brave-like you, Gerrit.”
“I’m not a brave man, Alena.”
She took his arm for moment. “You forget. I have been watching you for more than seven years. I know just about everything there is to know about you. I say you are a David.”