Cuban Sun (22 page)

She was still pondering this turn of events when the caravan arrived in Charleston city limits. She steered the car down familiar streets in the cityscape watching it slip by. She passed carriages, historic buildings, her favorite restaurants, things that once made this place feel like home, and yet she felt nothing. The city, which at one time had been exciting, a place to explore every day, now held no appeal. Although, driving along the Battery and looking out to the sea, she did feel a twitch of longing in her belly. She still yearned to be out on her kayak or standing along the balustrades with her hair whipping in the salt breeze.

Maybe she would take some time and head out to sea for a while. She may be able to borrow or rent a boat. Then a thought occurred to her. She could go with Quint! He
lived
on a boat. She indulged a brief fantasy of her and Quint hauling rigging together and making love on deck. Then reality popped the bubble. She had no idea what Quint’s plans were. Would he want to return to the Law School? Would he want to leave Charleston? Yes, he had said he loved her, but love didn’t always stretch to changing one’s life. As her black sedan pulled onto her parking pad at the apartment building, Sofia resolved not to make predictions. In hindsight, she thought that was something she obviously didn’t have a talent for. Moving up the narrow, decaying stairs with six men armed to the teeth in tactical gear was almost comical to Sofia. They reached her door and one of the men gently pushed Sofia behind him.

“We’ll go in and make sure all is clear. Then you can enter.”

Sofia stepped back out to the front. There was no way she wouldn’t enter her own home first. After what she had been through, Sofia wasn’t about to play the damsel in distress now and said so. She took care to show the determination on her face and the team lead nodded and motioned for the rest of the team to stand back.

Sofia drew the Makarov PM. Somehow she had managed to keep it with her through her ordeal over the last several days. When Gloria had returned it to her upon her departure from the hospital, Sofia found the weight reassuring. It felt like hers now, protection and strength.

Sofia opened the front door moving into the small living room. It took a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the dimness within and Sofia cursed the apartment. It had always felt like a cave. Then she caught movement from the corner of her eye and whipped the pistol around to focus on the couch. She moved forward instinctively and as her pupils dilated she saw a glint of green. She nearly dropped the pistol in surprise and rushed to cover the twelve feet across the room. Her emotion left her in a cry as she crushed the couch’s occupant in a rib cracking embrace.

“Helena! Helena!” It was all she could say, tears choked off any other words that may have followed. The tactical team came rushing in at the sound of Sofia’s cry and in moments she and Helena faced the working ends of six automatic weapons. Helena and Sofia looked at each other and laughed absurdly. The men, obviously confused lowered their weapons but didn’t leave. Sofia began to explain Helena’s identity when a rattle came from the kitchen doorway.

The team had their weapons up and triggers ready in less than a second. The wizened figure of Mr. Winston appeared through the doorway carrying a tray laid for tea. His eyes widened at the sight but then he turned a look of exasperation on them as one would do an overly rambunctious group of preschoolers.

“Come on lads. Lower those things before you hurt yourselves. I’ll get more cups.” The team leader motioned for his crew to lower their weapons and addressed Mr. Winston in slightly irritated tones.

“No thank you.” Then to his team he gave instructions to sweep the rest of the apartment, which, given its size took approximately one minute. The team withdrew to the parking lot with the rest of the security team to keep watch until Sofia was ready to leave. Mr. Winston sat the tray on the old, second hand coffee table and poured as Sofia turned back to Helena.

“How?” she said simply. “I saw the
Mariana
explode. I saw you on it.” Helena wiped the remaining teardrops from her face as she spoke.

“No, you didn’t see me. You saw Joe.”

“What!?” A voice called in surprise from the doorway. Sofia’s hand immediately went for her pistol and then relaxed and her face broke into a joyous smile. Helena stood and embraced Quint, taking care to avoid his injured arm which now rested in a sling.

“Alexander Quintis!”, she said. “You are a sight for a sad heart. Are you alright? Of course you are, look at you.” Sofia looked and she was right, he not only had recovered, but he seemed to glow.

“How could I not be? I’m playing out one of my favorite Homer scenes. The wounded hero returned from his adventures to his lovely ladies?” Sofia and Helena both chuckled appreciatively. Quint continued, slightly more seriously. “Of course none of Homer’s characters was privileged enough to have heroines to help him in battle and injury.” Helena followed Quint’s tender gaze that was eagerly returned by Sofia.

“Ah, I see. Well, good for you two.” Helena’s comment jolted Sofia back into awareness.

“What?”

Helena looked askance. “Please, don’t think me a fool. I know love when I see it. I’ve had it myself…once.”

Mr. Winston came to Helena’s side and guided her by the elbow to the couch. She didn’t weep but Sofia knew she had. She looked like one who would cry if she could but had no tears left, as if they had been tapped out. The look of misery lasted only a moment before it was replaced with resignation. Mr. Winston addressed Quint and Sofia.

“Helena blew up the boat.” Both Quint and Sofia let loose a flood of questions but Mr. Winston gave them a level, blue look that dammed the tide immediately. He was kind and sweet but not one to be trifled with.

“She will tell you if you’ll just hush and listen.”

“Sorry. Yes, of course. Helena, whenever you’re ready.” Sofia said.

“Quint, you said you thought something wasn’t right about the whole situation. So, the last day we were in the residence, I angled away into some of the more restricted areas and planted more cameras. That night I saw Joe in those areas. Places, he ought not to have been. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice since so many things about this type of operation change moment to moment. In fact, I felt...proud.” She said the last word as though it were poisonous. Mr. Winston put his hand over hears and both Quint and Sofia nodded in acknowledgement. Helena bent her head and continued. “But, then I saw that his tracking device was back in the conference room. It wasn’t on him. I hadn’t had the chance to tell him about the additional cameras since we hadn’t seen each other all day. And that’s when I knew. He left the tracker on purpose. He didn’t want me to know where he was.” Quint couldn’t hold in the burning question.

“But it’s a long way from deception to...to what he did.” Quint avoided the term “murder” out of delicacy, but he could see it affected Helena all the same. She raised her head, and sipped tea before responding.

“True, but I don’t think it was such a leap by that time. Joe has always loved money and power. That was growing lately, but I think I chose to ignore it. And of course, he has never, ever left a tracker before. He’s always been scrupulous about letting me know he’s ok. And…there were other, little things.”

Quint agreed. “I think that’s what bothered me. The little things. When I was training, he never treated me the way he did Sofia, preventing me from trying out my skill and putting me in the spotlight. I thought it was because she was a woman, but plainly it was another motive.” Sofia took up the thread as her suspicions were now confirmed.

“Do you think he was threatened by me?” she asked the room at large. “I always felt like he thought that I was intentionally trying to usurp his place. I wasn’t but, I seemed to always make him mad. Especially when I outed him on activities that he hadn’t told you all about. The engine room and surveillance.”

“I think so my dear. Those are things I should have picked up on, but his behavior had been changing so gradually, I don’t think I noticed, or didn’t want to.”

“It’s not your fault my love.” Mr. Winston grasped her hand more tightly. “You gave everything to that man.” His voice was emphatic but not harsh. Helena laughed and addressed Sofia and Quint.

“Mr. Winston has been very kind to me. He’s even avoided telling me ‘I told you so’.” Mr. Winston made a gesture of denial.

“I’ll admit I never liked the boy and never trusted him, but I never thought he would do anything like this. He betrayed you and his country.” Sofia thought he narrowly held back from finishing with “may his soul rot.” Helena continued.

“It’s all down to Mr. Winston that I’m alive.” His eyes twinkled but his response was humble.

“No my dear, I just left you a little surprise, your brains kept you alive.”

“Your hair pin?” Sofia ventured remembering the unexpected gift of the communications device.

Helena’s eyes widened. “Yes, how did you-?”, and then a wry smile crept over her mouth. She turned to Mr. Winston. “You sweet, sweet man. Her too?” Mr. Winston nodded.

“Of course. I left her a surprise too, of a different kind.” Sofia briefly related the series of events leading up to the discovery of the communications device. Helena blanched visibly.

“Dear Lord in Heaven. I knew some of what happened, but it’s a miracle that you’re here. You two are quite extraordinary.” Helena seemed lost in thought for a moment and then came back to herself at Sofia’s question about the hair pin.

“Through the video I saw him give the order to one of the infantrymen.” Nobody needed to ask what “the order” meant. “I had already realized he meant to ally himself with Castro and had been using our operation to get close and prove his worth. Disgusting mercenary!”

Sofia quirked a brow and asked, “Aren’t the three of us mercenaries?”

“No, we’re different. We care about the consequences. We care about who gets hurt, who lives and dies.” Blood had flushed Helena’s fair face and she took a few moments to recover her temper before finishing her account. “I had taken my hair down and was fiddling with the lilies, trying to think quick about what to do. Then, I accidentally dropped the pin and the face of the lilies came off exposing what was inside. It was an explosive and detonator. I hadn’t told Joe about the hair pin knowing he would be upset.” Sofia recalled the situation.

“Yes, you asked me not to say anything to him. That must be why they didn’t think to search me for my pin. I didn’t tell Joe about my pin either.” Mr. Winston beamed, pleased and squeezed Helena’s hand.

“Yes, precisely. So, I set my own explosion. I knew he was on his way back; I saw him leaving and head in this direction. I also knew he would delay my demise until he had gotten what he came for.” She rooted in a large Chanel tote and brought up the order records showing them to Quint and Sofia. As their eyes ran down the page in growing horror, Helena continued. “I set the explosive and left on the other zodiac.” Her eyes began to swim again and both Sofia and Quint moved to sit nearer their friend. Quint held the order records. “These can be delivered to Interpol easily. That should take down the other leaders in the ring.”

“I’ve already taken care of that. That rabble will be at the bottom of the sea by the end of the month.” Mr. Winston assured them. They all looked at him. Interpol didn’t send people to the bottom of the sea, usually. He looked sheepish and addressed Helena. “I, uh, I didn’t give it to Interpol until yesterday. My first delivery was to Mr. Aldama in Coral Gables.” He saw Helena’s look of disbelief and rushed to explain. “My dear, he’s technically your client and has the right to know what the outcome has been. You were distraught, I didn’t want to ask.” Then turning to Quint and Sofia he said, “Helena’s been staying with me since it happened, poor lamb.” He looked at Helena with such open love and earnestness that Sofia had to look away as though she were witnessing a private conversation. Helena’s look softened.

“I know, it’s alright. You’re always trying to protect me. Sometimes more than I deserve.” Then Helena moved topic and directed her comments to Quint and Sofia.

“What will you do next?” They were both quiet for a moment, trying to wait it out and get the other to answer first. Quint succumbed to the pressured silence.

“I was thinking,” he began slowly. “I was thinking that maybe I would take some time and sail up the intracoastal, or maybe lease a boat in the Mediterranean for a while.” Then he turned to Sofia keeping his eyes lowered. “I hoped you would come with me.” Sofia was so relieved to hear him say it. But, now that the prospect was in front of her, she wasn’t so sure. Quint looked at her directly now, sensing her hesitation. She put a hand on his knee in reassurance.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, I do. And to be on the water again would be like going home. It’s just that, I don’t know that I have a home right now. Or rather, I don’t know which home to choose.” She made a sound of impatience. Here she was, the man she loved just offered her what she had fantasized about all the way to Charleston and now she was gibbering. She took a deep breath. “What I mean is that I don’t think I can turn away from this type of work. It’s part of me now, like you are. I can’t just give it up when I’ve searched for years to find where I belong, what I’m good at. Do you see?” Quint nodded but didn’t speak. Suddenly, Helena spoke, voice more firm than it had been since she started her account.

“I’d like you two to work for me. Or rather, with me. I’d like us three to be partners.”

Quint and Sofia were both stunned. Mr. Winston broke in with a good humored rebuke. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it’s rude to sit with your mouths gaping open? You’ll catch flies.” He exchanged an amused glance with Helena and then addressed Sofia and Quint again. “Did you not hear what this fine woman is offering?” Sofia regained her voice.

“Yes, but, are you sure? I’ve only been on one mission and only just managed to get it right and it was at least in part by accident.” Helena grew serious.

“Look Sofia, you,” and she darted a flashing look to Quint, “and you, are the most talented people I’ve worked with in many years, maybe ever.” Mr. Winston made a mock offended harrumph.