Mothers Daze – Part 2

“So does this make any sense to you?” Carmine clutched at the armrest as Stanley whipped around another corner. He watched the scenery fly by and wondered if his will was up to date.

“Possibly.” Lenny’s father brought his car to a screeching halt in front of Barb Feeney’s house. “Show me.”

Carmine got out of the car, offered up a quick prayer for making it this far, and directed Stanley to the skid marks in the street. “There. You can still see the,” he gulped, “blood stains.”

Stan nodded curtly, all business. He crouched down and examined the tire tracks. “They were going fast. Probably accelerating right up until they hit him.” He shook his head. “Bastards! What good do they think this will do?”

“You don’t think this was an accident, do you?” Carmine eyed him suspiciously.

Stan straightened and faced him. “I don’t. I came here for a couple of reasons, Carmine. To visit my boy and his family, yes, but also to tell him something. About his mother.”

“His mother?” Carmine blinked. “Len’s mother’s been gone for decades.”

“Yes, and she still is. Only now, I’m a lot closer to figuring out why.”

“Oh-kay. But how does that have anything to do with a couple of morons running down Lenny?”

Stan sighed. “They must think he knows something. After so long…I suppose they followed me here, figured out where he lived, and followed him.” He punched his left hand with his right fist. “Damn! I should have been more careful!”

Carmine shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’m still not getting this.”

“Years ago, Len’s mother left our family. At first I thought like everyone else that she had some sort of breakdown and just ran off. I searched for a while; hoped she’d get better and come back…but nothing. I loved that woman, Carmine, and when you love someone like that, you don’t give up. Not after a couple decades, not ever.”

He nodded. “This I can understand.”

“I told you before, my first choice was to go into the FBI or CIA. The reason was, I figured I’d have access to the kind of information that would make it possible to track Celia – my wife – down. As you know, the IRS is as close as I got, but trust me, we’ve got access to plenty of records too.” He frowned. “In spite of all that, and my contacts in the other agencies, I got nowhere. It was then I realized that something else had to be going on. People don’t just disappear.”

“Not usually.” Carmine nodded slowly. “Not without help.”

“Righto!” Stan smiled grimly. “I kept my personal investigation on the back burner for years; not giving it up entirely but putting other cases first, like I had to. After I busted your dad and Helmut, though, I was pretty free to focus on finding Celia, my last, open case. I put every scrap of information together, questioned every contact, dug up every grave so to speak….”

“And?”

“I didn’t find her, exactly. But I found out what happened to her. She’s been in the Federal Witness Protection Program for years. When she got on that bus that morning, she never got off it. It was all a set up.”

“Wow.” Carmine digested this. “But why? What did she do or see?”

“I can’t really go into that. Unfortunately, as I’ve gotten closer, I’ve stirred up the old hornet’s nest. I picked up a tail once or twice back in Milwaukee, and found a bug in my phone. That’s when I decided to stop snooping and just come out here, tell Lenny what little I did know.” His shoulders slumped. “I wanted the boy to at least know that his mamma left us for a reason, not because she wanted to.”

“Except those hornets of yours followed. You think they took Lenny?”

Stan nodded, his eyes flashing with anger. “I don’t know why, but yeah, I think they did. Which means I’ve got to find him, before they try to pump him for information and find out he doesn’t have any. People like that, the kind you have to go into deep protection to avoid, don’t like it when they don’t get the answers they want!”

Carmine shivered despite the heat. “Len’s in serious shit, isn’t he?” Stan didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. “Okay, where do we start?”

“We? I didn’t say anything about….”

“I’m partly responsible for Len being out and vulnerable, Stan. I swore to Laverne that I’d bring her husband back and that’s what I’m going to do. With your help, I hope.”

Stan studied his face for a moment, and nodded. “All right. But this could get pretty dangerous and you got a wife and child of your own to consider.”

Carmine glanced back at Barb’s house and sighed. “That’s why I’ve got to talk to Shirley first. You finish up gathering your clues and I’ll be back.” Reluctantly, he crossed the street and went up to the house.

A knock or two later, and she was in the doorway. “You’re back.”

“Yeah. I dropped Laverne off at home and picked up Stan Kosnowski…and here I am.” He met her gaze. “Is there somewhere we can talk, alone?”

She nodded and came out of the house. She led him to the back of the ranch, through the wire gate, and into the small, fenced-in backyard. She took a seat on a wooden bench next to a tiny rose garden and waited.

He looked down at her, his mind churning as it had been for hours, searching for the right words to say. He gave up looking for the right ones and started talking instead. “Shirley, I am beyond sorry. There’s not enough sorry in the world to tell you how bad I feel for the way I’ve been behaving. I’ve given you every reason possible to end this marriage and slam the door in my face permanently, but I’m begging you not to. I love you. I know I haven’t shown you that for a long time now, but it’s the one thing that hasn’t changed, no matter how messed up I got. I love you and I want to be with you, and our daughter, if you’ll consider having me again.”

Shirley simply stared at him until he was out of breath. Smoothing her skirt down with the palms of her delicate hands, she said, “What about honesty? The love was never an issue, your inability to trust me was. Is.”

He nodded and knelt in front of her. “I know I promised before that there’d be no more secrets between us, and I know I broke that promise. I thought I was doing it for the right reasons, but it doesn’t matter. I was wrong. All I can say is, I won’t do it again. In fact, I’m going to prove it to you right now. I’m going to tell you exactly what Len was going to tell you when he came up here. It might hurt you and it might make you furious…but here it is.”

Carmine took a deep breath and launched into an explanation of what Lenny thought he’d seen. Then he told her about the night he’d spent with her best friend, a night of intimacy even though nothing overt had actually happened. He told her every detail and then waited for the other shoe to drop.

Shirley just sat there when he was done, staring deeply into his eyes. Then she cupped his face in her hands and pressed her lips against his. Carmine’s eyes widened even as his lips yielded hungrily against hers, his arms wrapping around her slender body automatically, until she was in his lap on the ground.

She pulled back and he tried to catch his breath. “Geeze,” he gasped. “So much better than the reaction I was expecting!”

Shirley smiled, caressing his cheek with her fingertip. “You didn’t have to tell me that, any of it. You could have let it go and told Laverne to keep it to herself, and I would never have known.”

“It would have kept you from feeling bad.”

“Maybe. But if I had found out on my own – and let’s face it, I probably would have eventually – I would have known I was right about you and we’d be done. You chose to trust me, no matter how I reacted. That gives me hope, Carmine, real hope. More than any declarations of love or vows to change.”

He lifted her in his arms as he stood up, cradling her close. “The drinking’s over, too. My act may take awhile to clean up, Shirl…I’ve still got a lot to work out inside me. But I’m gonna stop ducking it and start dealing, for you and for our family.”

She snuggled against his neck. “That’s good. Because our family is about to grow.”

For one, terrifying moment, he thought she was referring to her mother. Was Barb going to move in with them, make sure her son-in-law behaved personally? But then he came to a happier conclusion. Lowering Shirley to the ground, he pressed one hand against the tiny curve of her belly. She rested her hand on top of his and smiled, a single tear rolling down her cheek.

“Thank you,” Carmine whispered, his eyes wandering back up to hers. “Shirley…my Angel Face….”

“So you’re happy, right?” She giggled, wiping at her eyes. “This is good news?”

“My God, how can you even ask?” He swept her up in his arms and swung her around. “This is the best news! And don’t worry; I’m going to be a great father. From now on, I’m going to be the man you and Lucy…and our baby…deserve!”

“You already are a great father, and a wonderful man. You just lost your way for a little while, that’s all. Carmine?” She looked up at him, her smile fading. She reached for his face.

He sniffed, unable to stop the tears in his eyes from escaping and unwilling to even try. Clasping her hand against his cheek, he vowed, “I’ll prove it to you, Shirl. You’ll see. I’ll make you all proud!”

***

Lenny opened his eyes and blinked. His head felt like an overfilled balloon and everything was blurry. He tried to move his arm but it was made out of lead. “Hey,” he croaked, his own voice strange and weak in his ears. “Help…help me.”

“Sh, don’t be afraid. Everything is going to be all right now.” He felt a soft hand on his forehead. Straining, he managed to bring a face into focus above him. At first, he thought the woman had green, bedroom eyes and auburn hair, but as she came clearer, he realized that her eyes were blue and her hair light brown with streaks of gray. She was somewhere in her fifties he guessed, with full lips and a sharply defined nose. Her plucked eyebrows arched as she studied his face. “Are you really awake this time?”

“Who…where is…?” he managed.

“That isn’t important right now. The important thing is that you’re going to be fine.”

He struggled to clear his thoughts, but they were jumbled in his head. “What happened to me?”

“You were in an accident. You were badly hurt, but you’re getting better. Would you like a drink?”

He managed a nod. He could see the rest of the room more clearly now. It was scarcely furnished, beyond the bed he was lying in and the wooden chair in which the woman sat. On a nearby nightstand were a pitcher and a glass, which the woman used to give him some water. He tried to take it from her, but his body still wouldn’t obey. She held it to his lips and he took a few sips before sinking back against the pillow. “Thanks.”

“Do you feel up to answering a few questions,” she asked, watching him intently.

“I…sure, I guess so.”

“Good. Tell me what you know about Celia Kosnowski.”

“Who?”

She smiled, but there was irritation in her eyes. “Were you going to visit her?”

“When? Visit…I don’t know…?”

“Come on, Leonard.”

“Leonard? Who‘s Leonard?”

She hesitated. He watched as she took a small flashlight out of her pocket and peered into each of his eyes. “You don’t know who Leonard is?”

“I’m sorry, no. I don’t know any Celia…what did you say…Kozowki?” He thought for a moment, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his head or the similar discomfort in his legs and left arm. “You know what’s weird?”

“What?”

“I can’t remember much of anything.” He closed his eyes tightly and opened them again. “Am I Leonard?”

She put away the penlight, but continued to stare at him until he felt like squirming. Finally she said, “Yes, yes you are. You’re Leonard Kosnowski.”

“Oh. Okay, then. Who are you?”

She smiled and this time her eyes nearly melted into warm pools. “I’m Celia, Leonard. I’m your mother.”

***

It took two days until Stan’s contacts traced the black car to the Mexican border. It took Carmine nearly as long to convince his wife that he had to help find their missing friend, and then to convince Laverne that she shouldn’t come with him. He played the baby card with both women…first telling Shirley that as a mother-to-be she had to understand how important it was that Joey get his father back. He used it to remind Laverne that her first duty was to stay with her child, so that at least one of his parents was safe and caring for him. He managed to trump both their arguments, but not without repeated promises to call with regular updates.

Finally Carmine found himself at the Mexican border with Stan, peering into the abandoned black sedan that had been confiscated by the border patrol. He saw the dark stains on the back seat and turned away, sickened. A firm hand gripped his shoulder. “I know,” said Stan, quietly. “You sure you want to keep going on this?”

Carmine clamped his mouth shut until he was sure he could keep his lunch down, and nodded. He added, “It’s been almost a week, Stan. If these guys wanted information from Len that he didn’t have, they already know it.”

Stan’s eyes narrowed. “I realize that. But we can’t just give up. They may want Len for something more, in which case he’s probably still,” he paused to clear his throat, “okay.”

“You mean they might want to use Lenny as a hostage? To convince you to turn over what you know about his mother?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“So, where to?” Carmine nodded in the direction of the border. “You don’t exactly have any jurisdiction over there.”

“True. But I don’t think they went to Mexico.”

“Why not?”

“Because.” Stan took a deep breath and glanced around, making sure they were alone. “Celia’s here.”

“Here? Where here? In California?”

Stan shushed him, but nodded. “I’ve stepped up my snooping ever since my son’s disappearance. Called in a bunch of favors from friends, tossed around a few threats at enemies…and I found out that the government has a safety zone right here, on our side of the border.”

Carmine raised one eyebrow. “Safety zone?”

“Nice, quiet neighborhood where people can move in and start new lives. Folks all keep to themselves, very isolated, and frequently see individuals move in and out without raising their eyebrows. Government tends to relocate their most sensitive witnesses to communities just like this, far as possible from their old homes.”

“But are you sure? I mean, they must have a bunch of these safety zones around the country.”

“Fewer than you’d think. Remember, there isn’t that many people in Witness Protection, and even fewer are federally protected. Besides, I already rooted through the other five, over the years.” Stan nodded toward the east. Carmine followed his gaze and saw nothing but arid land, a dusty highway, and some stray cacti. “She’s got to be in Zion.”

“Are you saying that these bozos who took Lenny figured this out, too?” Carmine’s eyes widened. “Then they don’t need Len anymore, do they?”

Stan looked him straight in the eye. “We don’t know that for sure. They might just be on the right track, but not there yet.”

“But if….”

“I don’t know!” shouted Stan, spinning around and kicking the door of the black sedan. “Dammit, I have no idea what they’re doing to my boy, any more than you do! If they still need him he’s in trouble and if they don’t, he’s already dead! Is that what you want to hear?”

Carmine lowered his head and looked away. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I’m just worried about Len, that’s all.”

Stan dropped his arms back to his sides and slumped against the side of the car. “I’m sorry, too. It’s just hard, you know, keeping this all professional when people I love are involved.” He shot Carmine a look of pure desperation. “What am I supposed to do if they make me choose? How can I give up Celia to save our son, when she’s given up everything to keep him and all of us safe for so long? But he’s my boy….”

Carmine went to Stan’s side and put an arm around the slouched figure. “We’ve just gotta figure out a way to save Lenny without involving his mother.”

“Yeah, it’s that easy, right?” Stan looked at him with a small smile. “I’m afraid there’s no way around involving Celia. My understanding is the government hasn’t swept in and moved her yet, because it would attract unwanted attention. That means we’ve got to reach her first.”

“And then what?” Carmine bit his tongue, wishing he hadn’t asked the question.

Stan simply sighed. “And then, we wing it.”

***

Lenny took a cautious step, then another, until he made his way clear across the room. He could almost ignore the pain radiating through his back and down his legs now. Reaching up, he scratched at the bandage wrapped around his head, wincing at the sharp protest from his recently dislocated left shoulder.

“Don’t push too hard, Leonard.” The woman he now knew as his mother appeared in the doorway. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she cut a striking figure in a simple, long black dress. Her blue eyes twinkled in the light of the single lamp in his room.

“I’m not. Mother.” The word still didn’t come naturally to him, any more than his own name did. Everything still seemed strange, dreamlike, as though he were disconnected from the world around him. At least he was recovering physically, which had become his sole focus since he awakened. His and his mother’s.

“You are a stubborn boy, like your father.” Her voice had a vague accent that he couldn’t place. Something from one of the Soviet countries, he guessed.

“Where is he?”

His mother glanced away. “I don’t know. It has been years since I saw him…since I saw any of you.” She turned back to him and smiled. “You have grown into quite a handsome young man.”

“Thanks, I guess.” He was only now getting used to the face he saw in the mirror in the tiny bathroom next to his sparsely furnished room. “We don’t look much alike, you and me.”

She shrugged. “You always did take after your father, on the outside at least.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “But inside, you are all mine.”

Lenny nodded and made his way slowly over to a small, wooden chair. He sat with a grunt. “Would you like some more medicine now?” asked his mother, picking a small vial off the nightstand and approaching him. “It will take the edge off the pain.”

He felt a strange foreboding at the sight of the small bottle, but his brain wouldn’t explain why. “Uh, that’s okay. I’m not hurting much right now.”

She ignored him, handing him the bottle and going back to pour him a glass of water from the pitcher beside his bed. Returning, she extended the glass. “Be a good boy. I know what’s best for you.”

Lenny took the water reluctantly and swallowed the pill. His mother beamed at him. “That’s right. Now, if you’re feeling up to it, we should talk.”

“Okay. About what?”

She studied his face, seating herself on the edge of his bed. “You truly don’t remember anything, do you? About your family…about me?”

He shook his head, frowning. “It’s frustrating, you know? I can remember other stuff, like how to tie my shoes and what country this is and that American Bandstand is on Saturday night, but when it comes to stuff about me? There’s nothing there. It’s like…I can’t explain it…but like when you blank on someone’s name that you used to go to school with?” She nodded. “Well, it’s kinda like that, on the tip of my tongue, except it’s not just one name, it’s my whole identity! I just can’t seem to pull it in!” He drove his fists into the tops of his thighs.

“There, there, dear. Don’t push yourself. It will come. In the meantime, allow me to fill in some of the blanks.” She glanced up at the ceiling as if the words were written there, before beginning. “Leonard, you have not seen me for many years. I left you and your father and sister when you were just a schoolboy.”

“You did? Why?”

She smiled sadly. “Not because I wanted to, believe me. I loved you all so much. But my past life…I was not raised in this country. I was born and raised in Polska – Poland. Before I met your father and he brought me to this country, I was simply the daughter of a well-connected father. As such, I was privy to certain, confidential discussions, especially right before the Germans occupied our country.

“My father, like many others, suspected that it was only a matter of time before Hitler moved against us. So he worked with others to try and convince the Stalinists to step in and protect us before that could happen. Deals were made, information exchanged, all in the ultimately vain hope that Mother Russia would sweep in and defend us.” She spat on the floor.

“They didn’t though. Russia stayed out of it until Germany started sniffing around their back door, right?” Lenny sighed. “This, I remember.”

His mother nodded. “They only wanted the secrets which my father and his network could provide. As soon as he realized this, he cut off all contact.” She clenched her jaw and Lenny saw tears form in her eyes. “The Stalinists, they didn’t take kindly to this. Before the Germans even set foot on Poland’s doorstep, assassins were sent to convince my father and the others to turn over whatever remaining information they possessed. His friends…their families were killed, one by one, until they either gave over the information or were executed themselves.”

“That’s just awful!” exclaimed Lenny. He stood up gingerly and went over to the bed, sinking down next to his mother. He wrapped his arms around her slender frame and held her.

She buried her face against his shoulder for a moment, before continuing. “My father had enough warning and bribe money to send me, my mother and baby brother to Switzerland. I refused to leave his side, you see, but my father forced me. He stored all the remaining, vital documents and microfiche in a pack and sent it with us out of the country, making my mother and me swear to keep it out of Russian hands. I…I never saw him again after that.” A tear ran down her cheek.

“What happened after that?”

She cleared her throat. “Germany occupied Poland and began sweeping across Europe and the Balkans, distracting the Russians. After a few years, I met your father, a scion of Polish royalty who had also been sent to Switzerland for his safety. We came to America together and were married soon after that.”

“Wow. That’s a heck of a story.” Lenny digested it. “Whatever happened to all that stuff the Russian’s wanted?”

She frowned. “I took it with me. America…at the time, it was not too open to receiving more refugees from German occupation. I used my father’s data to buy your father and me passage into the country. The government here was quite grateful.” A strange look crossed her face, but she shook it off before Lenny could define it. “At first, we lived a normal life, and all of the intrigue faded into the past. But then the Soviet Union flourished and their spies crept in, filled with old grudges and a powerful drive to retrieve what they still considered sensitive information.”

“And they found you? Here in the big old U S of A?” Lenny felt his blood pressure rise. “They threatened you, didn’t they?”

She shook her head, smiling bitterly. “Not me. Some old ways of doing business remained popular. They threatened you, your sister, your father – all which was precious to me in the world. So I went to the government men and I begged for help. This lonely exile was the best they could offer me, promising that without me around to intimidate, you all would be safe. After all, those chasing me are practical monsters. There was no point killing you if in the end they still had nyet to show for their efforts.” She caressed his cheek, staring deeply into his eyes. “Please, Leonard, do not hate me for abandoning you. It was the only way I knew to keep you all from harm.”

He felt tears stinging his eyes. Even though he couldn’t remember this woman, her story affected him, touching something deep inside that felt empty and alone. “I don’t hate you, Mother. I’m just sorry we lost all this time.”

“We can make up for it now, now that the fates have delivered you back to me. It is a miracle that my guardians found you after that terrible accident, and brought you here.”

Again, he struggled to remember what had happened, but could only call up confusing images of bright light and asphalt. “Yeah, if they hadn’t found me after that hit-and-run, who knows what would have happened? But, why did they bring me here, instead of to a hospital, Mother?”

She took his hand and patted it. “I told you, my dear, because the accident was no accident. Those awful men who ran you down, they knew you were my son. They were sending me a message, that they are close.”

He shivered despite the warmth in the air. “So if your guards had taken me to the hospital…”

“…you would have become an easy target to find and finish off. This way, you are as protected as I.”

He nodded. It sort of made sense. He looked at the woman next to him and felt a surge of rage. “Those bastards! They oughta have to pay for what they did to us! Wrecking our family, tryin’ to kill me…something’s gotta be done!”

His mother’s eyes glittered and she nodded vigorously. “Indeed. And it shall be, my son. As soon as you are fully recovered, we will make them all pay!”

Lenny grinned and nodded with her. He could hardly wait.

***

Carmine stared at the ceiling in the dark, watching the ceiling fan wobble as it slowly spun around. He wondered absently if it was going to come down and slice his head off in his sleep.

Not that he was sleeping, or planning to the entire night. The memory of the look on Lenny’s face the last time he’d seen his friend was enough to keep him awake. Combined with the haunting fear of what might have happened to Lenny since then had Carmine’s stomach tied in knots.

He heard a creak. Looking over at the other bed in the cheap motel room just outside Zion, he watched as Stan stood up and started to tug on his clothes. Carmine saw him strap on a holster and tuck a pretty impressive gun into it before shrugging on a jacket. Where’s he sneaking off to in the middle of the night?

Stan turned around and Carmine lay perfectly still, closing his eyes until he heard the door to their room open and shut. Then he climbed out of bed and rummaged around for his clothes. Whatever Stan was up to, he was going to be a part of it, whether the G-man liked it or not.

Slipping out the door, he followed Stan at a comfortable distance. The older man was heading for a nearby bar, on foot fortunately. Carmine waited a couple of minutes after Stan walked inside, then ducked in after him. He spotted Stan at the bar and quickly dove into a booth a short distance away, holding up a large menu in front of himself for camouflage. Stan seemed to be striking up a conversation with some guy on the barstool next to him. Carmine strained to listen.

“Beer?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin, but it was only a bored-looking waitress, tapping on her order pad. “You want a beer, fella?”

“Yeah. Um, wait. No.” The thought of a cool, soothing beer was way too attractive. He didn’t trust himself to just keep it in front of him as a prop, nor to drink only one if he got started. “Make it a Coke.”

“Just Coke?” she all but sneered.

“Yeah. Just. Coke,” Carmine glared up at her.

“Fine.” She stalked off as though he’d turned her down for sex.

Nice, friendly place, he thought. Getting back to the business at hand, Carmine switched to the other side of the booth and struggled to concentrate on Stan’s conversation. All he could pick up were bits and pieces.

“…dark blonde hair, gray eyes,” Stan was saying. “Name…probably Jane or Sue or something common.”

“Where’s my money?” demanded the guy next to him. Carmine risked a glance at the pair. The man Stan was talking to was big, with thick corded arms showcased by his cutoff t-shirt sleeves. He was cue ball bald except for a handlebar mustache sprouting out of his leathery face. His bass voice cut right through the din of the crowd, so his side of the conversation was easier to follow than Stan’s.

“…get your money!” Stan continued. “As soon as…she is!”

“No cash, no info. Quit wasting my time, old man!” Carmine peered around the edge of his booth and saw the big guy get off his bar stool. But before he could walk away, Stan leapt to his feet and grabbed him by one tree-trunk thick arm, twisted it up behind his back, and drove the bruiser to his knees.

“Ow! Hey, get off!” the large man moaned, but Stan just twisted his arm harder and higher up his back.

“Not ‘til you give me what I came for!” the G-man hissed.

What is he, nuts? Carmine was fascinated in spite of himself, as the older, slighter man retained the upper hand. I guess even IRS guys gotta know how to protect themselves. Audits must get ugly sometimes.

“Okay, okay!” the big guy cried. “Let me up, and I’ll take you to her!” Stan let him get back to his feet, but retained a firm grip on his arm. “Her place is about ten minutes from here.”

“Let’s go.”

Stan marched the big man out of the bar and Carmine ducked back behind his menu until they were gone. He stood up to follow and nearly collided with his returning waitress. “Hey, got your Coke here,” she said sullenly.

“Never mind.” He dug into his pocket and tossed down a couple of dollars. “Keep the change.”

She snorted and he hurried past her, through the saloon’s double doors and into the night. He made it about three paces before someone’s arm wrapped around his neck from behind. He felt something hard jabbing him in the spine and realized with sickening certainty that it was the barrel of a gun. “Don’t move,” said a surprisingly female voice.

“Not moving,” he affirmed. “Not at all.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m nobody. I’m just a guy out for a drink….” He broke off as the arm around his neck tightened. He heard the hammer of the gun click back and beads of ice sprouted on his forehead.

“Tell me the truth, or I’ll shoot you where you stand!” she warned.

Trying not to let his voice shake, Carmine said, “I’m looking for someone. A friend. I don’t want any trouble.”

“Too bad.” The arm around his neck disappeared, but he felt the gun jab him in the back again, hard. “Move! And keep your hands up where I can see them!”

He obediently walked in the direction she prodded, mind racing as he sought an opportunity to escape. Whoever it was with the gun herded him out of the tiny parking lot and out further into the empty scrub brush, until she ordered him to stop. “Lady, listen to me….” he began.

“Shut up! All I want to hear from you is who you are working for and what they want from me. Make your answers count, or they’ll be your last words!”

He took a ragged breath and said, “I’m not working for anyone, except my buddy Lenny’s wife. She’s worried that he’s in trouble….”

“Lenny?” The woman’s voice took on a note of hesitation. “Lenny who?”

“Kosnowski,” he replied, figuring it was best to stick to the truth. He looked at the ground and saw the tip of the woman’s black shoe out of the corner of his eye.

“Then that was Stanley…my God.” He felt the gun poke him in the spine again. “Why were you sneaking after Stanley if you’re a friend of Lenny’s, hm?”

Carmine shifted his weight subtly. “I’m here with Stanley.”

“Liar! You wouldn’t be…!”

Before she could finish, Carmine raised his foot and slammed it down on her instep with his full weight. She cried out and he felt the gun slide away from his back as he spun around and grabbed her right arm. He wrenched it back and shook it until she dropped the gun, then grasped her other arm and forced her to her knees. Glaring down at her, he yelled, “All right, now it’s my turn to ask the questions, lady! How do you know Lenny and Stanley? Do you have Lenny? Because if you do, you’d better tell me where he is right now, or woman or not, I’ll snap you in two!”

She looked up at him with panic-stricken gray eyes. “Pl…please!” she whispered. “Don’t hurt them! I’ll tell you whatever you want, just please leave them alone!”

Carmine hesitated. “Hurt them? Who?”

“Lenny and Stanley. They don’t know anything, I swear, I never told them a thing! Just take me and leave them be!”

He saw the gun on the ground. Keeping one hand firmly wrapped around the woman’s wrist, he reached over and snatched it up. She let out a frightened mew and shrank back, until he shoved the gun into his jacket pocket. “I’m not going to hurt you if I don’t have to,” he said, tugging her to her feet. She was a little taller than he was, a couple of decades older, but very well preserved. She could easily be misconstrued as plump unless one looked closely at the muscles in her exposed arms. This was a lady who stayed in shape. “Now tell me who you are!”

She blinked at him. “You…you don’t know?”

“That’s why I’m asking, lady.”

She studied his face for a moment. “I…go by Sarah. Sarah Jones. Please, just tell me what you want and we can work this out.”

Carmine sighed. “I told you, I’m just trying to find my friend, Lenny. I came out here with his father to track him down. There was a misunderstanding, you see, and then he…he disappeared and we tracked him here, to Zion.” He hoped he wasn’t revealing too much to this mysterious woman. “He’s a tall guy, sort of sandy hair, blue eyes, wears a jacket that says Lone Wolf on the back.”

She pressed her lips together. Finally, she said, “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen your friend.”

“But you know who he is.”

“I didn’t say….”

“The name Lenny meant something to you, lady, don’t tell me that it didn’t!” Carmine stuck his hand in his pocket, fingering her gun.

She followed the motion and swallowed visibly. “There are lots of Lennys in the world, Mister…?”

“Ragusa, Carmine Ragusa. And that might have worked except you knew Stan. That’s just a little too much coincidence for me to buy.”

She smiled at him all of a sudden. The expression struck him as oddly familiar. “You’re not a spy, are you? Not an agent of any sort.”

“I told you, I’m just a guy looking for his friend. Now either you help me or…!”

“Or what, Mr. Ragusa?” She cocked her head to one side. “Are you going to beat me to death, or just shoot me?” He flinched and she nodded. “Just as I thought.”

“Okay, fine.” He took his hand out of his pocket and released her wrist with the other. “Look, my buddy might be in real trouble out here. Not to mention his father just headed off with some big bruiser into god-knows-what kind of situation, all alone. You’re not just hanging out at bars waiting to hold guys up in the parking lot, lady, so I’ve got to assume you’re involved.”

“True enough.” She rubbed her wrist, staring at the ground as if deciding something. She looked straight into his eyes and said, “You’re wrong, I wasn’t following you, I was following your companion.”

“Stan.”

“Yes, Stanley.” Her eyes softened when she said his name. “When I saw you tailing him, I assumed you were the enemy.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a little over the top – ‘the enemy?’”

She shrugged. “My mistake. I wish you luck in finding your friend. Only, when you do, do both him and his father a favor. Get them out of Zion just as quickly as possible. Whatever other difficulties Lenny is facing, things will only get worse if he’s found here.” She turned and started to walk away.

“He’s already in trouble here!” Carmine blurted out. She stopped, her back still toward him. “Look, okay, I’m just an ordinary guy. I’m no good at this cloak-and-dagger bullshit, and I don’t have time to play games. So here’s the facts – my friend Lenny was kidnapped several days ago. Stan and I tracked the kidnappers to the Mexican border. We think that they may have brought him to Zion, or at least somewhere nearby. If we don’t find Lenny soon, we’re afraid…”

“…they’ll kill him,” she whispered, turning to face him with wide, gray eyes. “My God, why now? After all these years, why would they strike now?”

Carmine nodded slowly, his suspicions confirmed. “Because they’re closing in on you, Celia.”

She bit her lip and lowered her head. “Please…don’t call me that. I haven’t been Celia for years now.”

“But you are her, aren’t you? You’re Lenny’s mother.” Carmine took a step toward her and she backed away. He halted, hands held palm up. “Please, don’t be afraid. I am Lenny’s friend and I did come here with his father…your husband. All we wanted to do was find you and…well, we were kind of going to go from there.”

She shook her head, but chuckled. “That was Stanley’s brilliant plan, to wing it with an amateur? I would have hoped his years of government training would have left him better prepared.”

“Well, he’s the IRS, not the CIA,” said Carmine defensively. “Besides, we got this far, didn’t we? The rank amateur is standing right in front of a secured government witness. What does that tell you?”

Her smile faded. “That I am not nearly as secure as I thought I was.”

“True enough.” He dropped his hands to his sides. “Look, Celia….”

“Sarah.”

“Fine, whatever, Sarah. I’ve got to catch up to Stan and make sure he’s safe. Are you coming with me, or would you prefer I leave you here alone and ‘unsecure?’”

She thought for only a moment. “All right, Mr. Ragusa.”

“Carmine’s fine. Better, even.”

She strode to his side. “Lead the way, Carmine.”

To Part One

To Part Three