“Good.”
Three hours. What the hell was I going to do with myself for three whole hours? I was hungry but as soon as I took a bite of the scrambled egg I’d made, I lost my appetite. I just wanted to get the meeting over with.
But who was I kidding? The operation would take months–I knew that. The DEA would take their time collecting the information from me and putting it all together. I prayed that it would at least be done before my son was due. Having to give birth without me there to hold her hand wasn’t fair to Angel. And missing my first child’s birth wasn’t fair to me.
I scraped the uneaten egg into the trash and rinsed the plate. I’d go nuts if I hung around the house like a spare part, so I got in my car and headed for the beach. Hopefully, the motion of the waves crashing on the white sand would calm my nerves.
It was a beautiful morning. The sun was out, and a blanket of thin mist hung over the water. I watched a pod of dolphins as they played lazily in the waves. I came to LA because of its beauty. But lately, I hadn’t enjoyed any of its rare beauty. I may as well have lived in a box in the north pole for all the benefit I was getting–or more to the point I wasn't getting.
Out of the blue, I suddenly thought of my father. He worked himself into an early grave and for what? He never did anything fun with his family. Never took his wife on a romantic holiday or spent time away from home with his kids. Was I heading for the same fate? Would my son grow up to be a man who hardly knew his father?
I realized, sitting there in the carpark, looking out at the ocean, that I was at a crossroads. I couldn’t go back to the way things were, and what I did in the immediate future would determine the kind of life I would have with my family.
I envied Inessa. She was living the kind of life I couldn’t. Someone had to protect her way of life. My thoughts went around and around but ultimately, they landed back at the same place. It was down to me to fix it. I couldn’t depend on anyone but myself. It was a sobering thought.
* * *
The pin location Stevens sent me took me to a little coffee shop downtown. I sat down at one of the tables and waited for the waitress to bring me a menu. But, instead of a menu, she dropped a note on my desk.
Go to the men’s bathroom.
What was this? A spy movie? Would a trapdoor open while I stood at the urinal? Ridiculous. I got up and headed for the head. What the hell?
There was no one in the bathroom when I got there. I was startled when a door opened unexpectedly.
“Sorry about the cloak and dagger,” Stevens said when he saw me. “Follow me.”
The door led to a passage that led to a large office.
“Is Dr. Evil going to make an appearance?” I snorted.
“I’m glad to see you’ve maintained a sense of humor,” Stevens laughed.
He led me to a desk and offered me coffee. I declined politely.
“Okay, Max. This is what we need from you.”
He handed me a list of questions and gave me a pen.
“I need you to write down the details of your Russian contacts. Please, I need you to write down everything you know, no matter how insignificant you may deem it to be.”
“Then what?”
“Then, we’ll talk.”
I took the page and looked over the questions. It all seemed pretty basic, so I answered as many as I could. Afterward, I wrote down the names of everyone who was involved in the organization. If Grigoriy saw what I was doing, he’d kill me slowly–painfully.
When I was done, I placed the paper on the desk and put the pen down, hard. Stevens was watching me. I wondered what was going through his mind. What did he think of me? Not that I gave a crap, but I was curious.
“Is that everything?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get involved in all this, Max?”
“Accident of birth.”
“How so?”