50: Unexpected Meetings

Alex got in his car and headed for the college, wondering where Farrell was at the moment and when he might strike. As he pulled out of the parking lot he checked the rearview mirror to see if he had a tail. He still hadn’t spotted anyone who might be on watch, which, he reflected, just showed how good Elves were at hiding in plain sight and half-wished he had that ability. Shrugging the thought away, he turned on the car radio to a local station as he settled in for the short commute to the college.

“…. Farrell is considered armed and dangerous. Residents are advised to keep on the lookout and not to answer the door to anyone unless you know the person.”

“Yeah, sure, like Farrell’s going to walk up to some random house and knock on the door asking for a place to shelter from the police,” Alex muttered to himself, switching off the radio.

He got to his office at about the same time as Felicity, who was returning from her eight o’clock class. “Morning,” he said with a smile, letting her enter first.

“Morning,” she returned. “You all set for your classes today?”

“Yeah, I’m cool. Now that I’ve survived the first day, I think I can manage things okay.”

She chuckled as she settled into her chair. Today, she was wearing a knee-length skirt of worsted wool, dyed blue, with a gray cashmere pullover sweater, the collars of a white blouse showing. Her feet were encased in calf-high leather boots.

“You’ll do fine,” she assured him. “Did you hear the news? That guy escaped from prison, the one who was trying to kill one of the Elves?”

“Yes, I heard on the way into work,” Alex said. “Hope the police catch him soon.”

“You don’t look particularly upset by the news,” Felicity said, giving him a shrewd look.

Alex shrugged, evincing nonchalance. “What do you expect me to do, Felicity? Hide behind my desk? He would be foolish to return here, anyway.”

“Don’t the two of you have a history, though?” she insisted. “I mean, I remember the trial or enquiry or whatever they were calling it. Seems to me, the guy wanted you dead as well.”

“Perhaps,” Alex allowed, giving her a smile that he didn’t feel, “but he would still be an idiot to return here to hunt me down or the Elves.” He glanced at the time. “Well, I’d better get to my class. See you later?”

“Sure, I’ll be here.”

Alex nodded and went down the hall to his class. He was surprised to find it nearly full even though there was still a good five minutes before the bell.

“Bonjour, mes amis,” he said, going to his desk.

“Bonjour, M. Grant,” the class answered in unison.

Unlike the previous class, there were no interruptions and he got through the lesson with little trouble. As the period ended and the students were making ready to leave he reminded them that they were scheduled for the language lab on Friday.

“And don’t think you can skip it,” he said. “You will have to log in with your student I.D. and I will check to see that everyone attends. Those who skip the lab will suffer for it, I assure you. By rights you should be taking this class every day, but that’s not how it works, so the lab is vitally important. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you next Tuesday. Au revoir.”

“Au voir,” the class said as they began filing out. Alex waited until they were all gone before leaving himself, spending the time erasing the whiteboard and gathering up his notes. Then he went back to his office where Felicity was speaking to a young woman, the two of them looking at a textbook. They both looked up as he came inside. Felicity smiled at him but continued speaking to the student.

“The accusative is formed by….”

Alex tuned her out as she continued to explain how the accusative was formed in German, while he turned on the computer sitting on his desk and spent a few minutes making some notes about the class and planning the next lesson. About fifteen minutes went by before the tutoring session ended and the student left. Felicity stood and stretched.

“Let’s get some lunch,” she said.

“Right behind you,” Alex replied, shutting down his computer and then they were on their way out, crossing the distance to Hayes Hall where they joined the line for lunch.

“What are you doing this weekend?” Felicity asked as they settled at a table and began eating.

“As far as I know, working on a couple of essays for my linguistics classes,” Alex answered. “Why? Do you have something more interesting to do?” He gave her a grin and she chuckled.

“Actually, yes. There’s a concert Saturday night I was planning to attend. I’ve got two tickets. Friend of mine gave them to me when she realized she would be out of town this weekend for a bar mitzvah.”

“What sort of concert?” Alex asked.

“Hmm…. the Wiseman youth orchestra. It’s composed of kids from twelve up. They do classical stuff mostly.”

“Interesting. I didn’t realize there was such a thing.”

“It’s relatively a new thing. Wiseman isn’t the big city or anything, but I know the town’s tried to provide as many cultural opportunities for the kids as possible. This orchestra is just one. They hold concerts four times a year. Proceeds from the tickets go toward purchasing instruments for children who can’t afford them. They receive lessons during school and the parents pay a nominal fee, mostly to cover buying music.”

“Well, I’d love to go. What time?”

“The concert’s at seven. Would you like to meet around five-thirty for dinner?”

“Is this a date?” Alex couldn’t help asking, giving her a teasing smile. “If so, I’ll pay for dinner.”

“Why don’t we go Dutch, then it’s not technically a date.”

Alex shrugged. “Fine by me. Should I pick you up or will I meet you somewhere and where’s the concert, anyway?”

“It’s at the Grange Hall,” Felicity answered. “They used to hold the concerts at the high school, but they’ve become so popular with the residents, they’ve started to have them at the Grange Hall because it’s larger. Do you like Italian? We could meet at Rosalia’s. Have you ever eaten there?”

“That restaurant on Morningside? Yeah, Derek and I ate there once. Isn’t that the place where they don’t have a fixed menu because it literally changes from one day to the next so you never know what you might get?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Good food. We both enjoyed it. So, yeah, I can meet you there at five-thirty. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Thanks for accepting. Now, you’d better finish up or you’ll be late for your next class.”

“Yes, Mom,” Alex said and Felicity laughed. Alex decided then and there to try and get her to laugh as often as possible; he found he rather enjoyed the sound of it.

He walked into his Italian class to find it had nearly doubled in size. Now there were twenty-six students instead of the original fifteen.

“Are you sure you’re in the right class?” he asked the new students. “I haven’t received an updated class list.”

But the students assured him that they were signed up for Italian 101 and after recording their names, he quickly reviewed the previous lesson for their benefit and then moved on to the next lesson. When he returned to the office, he checked his college email account, which he had failed to do earlier, and discovered the revised class list for both his classes. Printing them out, he double-checked both lists.

“Italian appears to have become more popular since Tuesday,” he said to Felicity who was seated at her own desk, working on the computer. “I had fifteen signed up for it and today eleven more showed up.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Depends on their motives for suddenly deciding they want to learn Italian.”

“Hmmm… well, let’s see how large the class remains by the end of the drop/add period,” she said, giving him a knowing grin and he nodded.

Around four, he was ready to leave, though Felicity looked as if she was planning to stay a little while longer, tapping away on her computer. “See you tomorrow?” he asked as he pulled on his coat and wrapped a scarf around his neck.

“You don’t have a class, though,” Felicity pointed out.

“No, but I have office hours in case anyone needs help. I doubt if anyone will, not this early in the semester, but I have to be here regardless.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow,” Felicity said. “Have a good night.”

“You, too.” He left, nodding to a couple of teachers whom he knew vaguely who were in the English department as they met in the hall. Stepping outside, he paused for a moment to check the area. It was dark by now and the streetlights cast an eerie orange glow on the snow. As far as he could tell, he was alone. He shrugged further into his coat as he made his way to his right to where the faculty parking lot was located. There were still a few cars in the lot but most of the teachers had already left. He was passing the corner of the building when someone reached out in the darkness and grabbed him, smoothly putting him in a choke hold before he had time to react.

“Sloppy, Meriwether, real sloppy,” a voice said as his assailant pulled him deeper into the darkness where the streetlights could not reach. He felt himself being pulled behind some tall bushes. Then the voice spoke again. “And don’t even think about pulling the gun I know you have.” The assailant hitched up Alex’s coat and his sweater to grab the concealed weapon.

“Nice,” he said as he apparently took a quick look at the weapon before shoving it into a pocket of his own coat. “Okay, Meriwether, I’m going to release you, but if you try anything stupid, I’ll clonk you and leave you here to freeze to death. You got me?”

“Yes,” he managed to rasp out as the arm around his throat tightened slightly as if to emphasize the man’s threat. The hold loosened and Alex found himself falling to his knees trying to breathe.

“That’s it, Meriwether, deep breaths. Come on, let’s see you.” The man grabbed him under the arms and pulled him up, turning him around. There was just enough reflected light that Alex could make out features.

“Finlay,” he gasped, still trying to get his throat to work.

The man grinned. “So you remember me, heh?”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Alex demanded. “Last I heard you and your friends were way north in some Inuit village.”

“Yeah, about that,” Finlay said, rubbing his chin, and then, in a flash, his fist crashed into Alex’s jaw, sending him sprawling into the snow.

“What the hell?” he shouted as he felt his jaw to make sure it wasn’t broken.

“That’s for dumping me in that frozen hell for the last three months,” Finlay shouted back. Then, surprisingly, he held out his hand and after a moment’s hesitation, Alex reached up and grabbed it, allowing himself to be pulled up. “Well, now that we’ve settled that,” Finlay said in a calm voice, “let’s talk.”

“About?”

“About those ninjas who did a number on us.”

“Where are Crandall and Moore and the other two who were with you?”

“Back in DC as far as I know,” Finlay said with a shrug, obviously uncaring as to the fate of his fellow prisoners.

“So how did you escape? I was assured that you would be out of the picture until spring.”

Finlay flashed him a grin. “Well, now. That’s an interesting tale all in itself. About two weeks ago, the shaman of the village came to us and said we were free to leave and even provided us with transportation to Barrow.”

“No kidding?”

“Yup. Seems he had a dream telling him that we could leave.”

“I see.”

“I doubt it. So who were those bozos who took us out and then dumped us on hell’s front doorstep?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Alex answered.

“Try me. I pride myself for being open-minded.”

“Elves.”

“Excuse me?”

Now it was Alex’s turn to grin. “Elves.”

“They didn’t look like no fairies to me,” Finlay protested. “What’s your game?”

“I told you you wouldn’t believe me. Look, does it matter? You’re free, so what are you doing here? Why aren’t you back in DC being debriefed? How did you know I was still here and not somewhere else?”

“I didn’t, but this was the last place I saw you and I figured I would start here. Imagine my surprise when I actually spotted you entering this building. I did a little discrete checking and then I waited, knowing you would have to come this way to reach your car. So are you still undercover?”

“No. I left the Agency. I teach French and Italian here at the college now.”

“Get out!” Finlay exclaimed in disbelief. “You left? You, the great Artemus Gordon Meriwether, spy extraordinaire, left?”

Alex nodded, giving him a smirk. “I’ve even gone back to college myself to get my masters in Linguistics.”

Finlay stared at him. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

Alex thought he detected a note of admiration in the other man’s tone. “So what now?” he asked. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing, actually, except to thank you.”

“Huh?”

Finlay laughed and then gave a whistling sound. Alex started as another dark figure came through the bushes from the other side and almost went for the gun that he no longer carried, but Finlay just smiled and held out an arm for the other person and Alex saw that it was a female. In the dark with just the light reflected from the streetlights for illumination it was hard to see her features, but he gathered that she was an Inuit.

“Who?” he asked.

“This is Sakari, my wife.”

“Your what?”

“Wife,” Finlay repeated with obvious relish. “She’s the shaman’s daughter. We’ve been married since the New Year.”

“That was fast,” was all Alex could think to say as he stared at the young woman who gave him a shy smile.

“Not much else to do when the snow is up around your ears but get friendly with the natives, if you know what I mean,” Finlay responded. Then he turned to Sakari and to Alex’s surprise began speaking to her in French, though rather slowly. She responded in kind, speaking somewhat hesitantly, as if she were unsure of her words and Alex suspected she was still learning the language.

Finlay turned to Alex, now speaking English again. “Sakari doesn’t speak English. I’ve been teaching her French.”

“Why French?”

“The language of love, boy,” Finlay replied with a laugh, slapping him on the back, nearly knocking him over. “She’s still learning so speak a little slower than you normally would, like you would in your class.”

“Bonjour, madam,” Alex said, giving her a slight bow. “Je m’appelle Alex. Comment allez vous?”

“Bonjour, monsieur,” she said shyly. “Je suis bien, merci.”

“So, what say we get out of this cold and go get something to eat? Sakari’s hungry.” Finlay suggested, speaking English, giving Sakari a hug as he looked at Alex.

“How do you know that?” Alex glanced at the young woman standing serenely by Finlay, giving him an appraising look.

“Sakari’s always hungry,” Finlay replied with a short laugh, then his expression sobered and he lowered his voice. “We need to talk, Meriwether.”

“It’s Grant now, Alex Grant.”

“Whatever. Come on. You know where we can go?”

“There’s the Gold Nugget Café. You know where it is?”

“Yeah. I ate there a couple of times last time I was here.”

“Where are you parked? Do you even have a car or did you come by dog sled?”

“Very funny. Ha ha. No, I rented a jeep in Deadhorse. I’ll meet you by the entrance to the parking lot, okay?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Finlay turned to Sakari, and speaking in French, said. “You go with him, ma petite. I’ll be right behind you.”

“You trust me with your wife?” Alex asked with a teasing grin.

“No, but I trust her and she’s my security. You won’t do a bunk with her with you.”

“No. I wouldn’t.”

“Good enough.”

“Can I have my gun back?”

Finlay shook his head, giving Alex a feral grin. “I’ll keep it for now. If you behave, you’ll get it back before we part company.” With that, Finlay gave Sakari a kiss before leaving. Alex watched him walk away until he disappeared around the corner of the building. Then he glanced at Sakari, whose expression could only be called wistful.

“If you will come with me, madam,” he said to her and she nodded. Luckily, it hadn’t snowed during the day so when they reached his car he got right in and started it up, putting the heater on high. Sakari joined him, putting on the seat belt without being told. Alex pulled out of his space and made for the road just as a jeep came up to the curb next to a streetlight so Alex could see Finlay in the driver’s seat. The man waved at him and he pulled out and headed toward Aurora with the jeep trailing. He was tempted to question Sakari about Finlay as they drove but decided against it, concentrating on the road and wondering what Finlay’s game was. He pulled into the Safeway parking lot and found a space. Finlay pulled into another space two cars down.

As soon as she got out of the car, Sakari ran to Finlay who opened his arms and embraced her, speaking softly and kissing her. Alex stood by his car and watched. Finlay gave Sakari one more hug and then released her, nodding to Alex as the three stepped across the street and crossed the square to the café.

Inside, the place was crowded even though it wasn’t yet five. They stood at the entrance looking for an empty table. “I forgot it’s Thursday,” Alex told Finlay. “They have an early-bird special and a lot of seniors like to come and enjoy it.”

One of the waitresses approached them, giving them a greeting. “You’re in luck,” she said. “There’s one booth left.” She led them into the café and soon they were seated glancing at their menus with Finlay softly translating it for Sakari.

Another waitress came over and Alex forced himself not to react, recognizing ‘Esther’, who gave him a wink. “You here for the special?” she asked them with a smile. “Pot roast. Can’t be beat.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alex said handing her his menu.

In the end, they all ordered the pot roast. Finlay asked for coffee while Sakari settled for a coke with no ice and Alex decided on tea. Esther dutifully wrote it all down though Alex half suspected it was an unnecessary action on her part and then left to put in their orders.

For a long moment, the three sat in silence until Alex asked in English, “How old is she?” He nodded at Sakari who was staring about at all the bustle, obviously entranced.

Finlay grinned at him. “She’s twenty-three.”

“She looks fifteen.”

Finlay shrugged. “She’s legal, Meriwether. I made damn sure of that and when we got to Barrow, first thing I did was to have us get married all over again before a justice of the peace. That way, I can prove we’re married in case I need to get her a passport or something.”

“And will you need one?”

“Not at the moment. In fact, once our business is done here, we’re going back to the village.”

“Why?” Alex gave him a surprised look.

Finlay looked about to answer, but Esther came back with their drinks. She smiled warmly at Sakari as she handed her a glass of coke. “Holler if you need anything,” she said breezily as she headed for another table.

“So why are you going back?” Alex asked again, once they were alone.

“Sakari’s old man, the shaman? He’s no dummy. He knows there’s little future for the kids in that village. He wants me to teach them English and French so they can go out and make something of themselves. He’s hoping some of them will even return, but there’s not much to hold them there and their traditional ways of living have been eroded over the last few decades.” Finlay shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “It’s really not a bad place. Beautiful scenery. People are friendly. A guy can do a lot worse.”

“So you’re leaving the game?” Alex gave him a skeptical look.

“As did you, apparently,” Finlay shot back.

“In a way,” Alex admitted, “but things are not exactly as they seem.”

“So tell me.”

“You said we had to talk,” Alex countered.

Finlay hesitated for a moment, stealing a glance at Sakari and then said softly, “A, B, or C?”

Alex raised an eyebrow, recognizing the code. “I’m feeling adventurous tonight,” he answered somewhat laconically, taking a sip of his Earl Grey tea. “How about D?”

Finlay sat back, giving him a shrewd look, then nodded. When he spoke next it was in Russian, the soft, sibilant sounds of the language contrasting with the more clipped sounds of English being spoken around them.

“Tell me what happened and why. What was Farrell’s game in all this? It was supposed to be a simple pick up. We were supposed to be bringing an agent in from the cold.”

Alex shrugged. “That was the story Farrell told you?” he asked, also speaking Russian.

“Yes, but I’ve had three months to think about it and something doesn’t add up. I want you to tell me what was really going down.”

“It’s complicated,” Alex said, hedging slightly.

“It’s always complicated. So let me make it easy for you. Tell me or I tell Farrell where to find you.”

“Are you threatening me?” Alex demanded, though his tone was one of curiosity rather than belligerence. “Besides, Farrell knows right where I am.”

“Maybe, but you don’t know where he is, do you?”

“He’s here in Wiseman, that much I know.”

“Escaped from prison, I hear. How does that work again? What the hell did you do to him?”

“Nothing.” Alex leaned over the table, his eyes dark. “That bastard murdered two locals whose only crime was failing to snatch me and my friend. Farrell has a personal grudge against Ambrose and my ninja friends—”

“Here you go.” Esther came over with their pot roast, setting the plates before them along with some crusty bread. “Can I get you anything else? More coffee or tea?” she asked. Alex and Finlay shook their heads. “Bon appetit,” Esther said with a smile and Sakari’s expression brightened, recognizing the French. Esther moved away to the next booth down and Alex heard her say to the customers, “How’s it going with you two? Ready for some dessert?” It was only then that he suddenly realized that when she had been speaking to him and Finlay it had been in Russian instead of English. Finlay seemed to realize it as well and his eyes widened as he turned to stare at the putative waitress.

“What the—?”

Alex shook his head, picking up a fork and digging into the pot roast, deciding he really did not want to deal with whatever game the Valië was playing. Finlay turned back to him and for a moment his expression was one of confusion and even fear as he stared at Alex who shrugged, evincing nonchalance. Sakari, who had been ignoring them, suddenly spoke. “Eat, husband. This is very good.” Finlay gave her an indulgent smile and picked up his fork to take a bite.

“So you were saying?” he said, glancing at Alex.

“My friends and I put a stop to Farrell and then handed him over to the proper authorities. The Agency has pretty much disavowed him.”

“On the surface, but if they helped him to escape….”

“Maddy’s looking into it. The order came from higher up but just how high remains to be seen. The Agency is playing in murky waters and not all the players have been identified.”

“That’s par for the course, Meriwether,” Finlay said with a snort.

“Except, in this case, most in the Agency have no idea what the game is really about or who the real players are.”

“And you do?”

“To some extent.”

Finlay paused to think about Alex’s words. Sakari chose that moment to ask a question in what apparently was her native tongue. Finlay looked around and pointed, saying something in the same language. Sakari nodded her thanks and got up, apparently heading for the restrooms. Alex gave Finlay a shrewd look. “How did you communicate with the villagers if no one there speaks English or any other language but their own?”

“Oh, I’m a quick study,” Finlay said. “I managed to pick up quite a bit of the language. The others didn’t bother, but hey, I figured as long as I was stuck in that hellhole I might as well learn the lingo. Made life a little easier for me.”

“So, why are you so interested in Farrell, anyway?”

“Yes, that is the question of the hour, isn’t it?”

Alex felt a frisson of fear course through his body at the sound of the dark, melodious voice, recognizing it. He looked up to see Námo in his Nate disguise standing before them looking grim.

****

Sakari: Alaskan Inuit: ‘Sweet’.