Rules of Vengeance

Just then, from close by came the hollow ring of a glass being set on a hard surface. He felt a presence behind him. Immediately he reached for the vase. He heard a footstep and thought, This is it. They know I’ve seen Emma. They’ve come for me. But before he could raise the vase, before he could spin to see who was behind him, a firm hand cupped his mouth and drew his head forcefully back.

“Ssshhhh. I’m not here.” She spoke in the lowest of whispers.

Familiar lips lingered against his ear. The hand lessened its grip. Jonathan turned, seeing Emma standing with her fingers to her mouth. He signaled his understanding and waited, motionless, as she circled the room, waving a small rectangular instrument close to the walls, the lamps, the television, and the telephone. She found what she was looking for behind an equestrian print, and in the bathroom attached to the back of a vanity mirror. She dropped the electronic listening devices into a glass and filled the glass with water from the sink. Then she closed the bathroom door and crossed the room to him.

She was dressed in black from head to toe. Black jeans, a black T, and black flats. Her hair was gathered into a ponytail, her cheeks flushed, her face unadorned with makeup. She ran her hand across his bare chest. “I told myself I wasn’t going to do this.”

“Do what?”

She kissed him with her eyes open, then stepped back and peeled off her shirt. Never dropping her gaze, she unfastened her brassiere and let it fall to the ground, then stepped out of her jeans.

“How did you get in?” he asked.

“I have a room key.”

Somehow the notion didn’t surprise him. “And the chain?”

“That’s a parlor trick. I’ll show you someday.”

“I’ll bet,” he said. A parlor trick, just like her ability to field-strip a pistol blindfolded. “I thought we were going to see each other tomorrow.”

“Lack of discipline. No excuses, sir.” Emma lay on the bed, entangled in the sheets. “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

“What is?”

“What I have to tell you.”

Jonathan turned on his side. He looked into his wife’s eyes, cataloguing the flecks of amber in green. “Here I am,” he whispered. “Tell me.”

Emma ran a finger across his cheek. “I’m leaving.”

“You mean for another five months?”

“Longer.”

“You’re sure? How do you know?”

“Because I have to go away.”

“You already went away,” he said. “You said you were going to work things out and that we’d see each other when it was safe.”

“I hoped it might work that way.”

“How long are you talking?”

“I can’t say…”

“A year? Two?”

“Yes… I mean, I don’t know. A year, at least. Maybe longer. Maybe forever.”

Jonathan studied her features, seeking out the secret places where she hid her doubt. But he saw only steadfastness: the same resolute, stubborn woman he’d fallen in love with. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t. We both know that.”

“Stop talking as if I have a say in this. It’s your decision. It’s your damned life.” He threw back the sheets and left the bed.

“Not anymore it’s not,” said Emma. “I traded it in ten years ago.”

“For what?”

“Duty. A sense of belonging. The need to contribute. The same thing we all sign up for.”

“You did all that,” he said, turning, approaching her with a hand extended. “You did more than that. The government should be grateful.”

Emma lowered her gaze. “Division caught hell for the operation. Congress wanted to shut them down, but the president’s given them one last chance.”

“Another chance? Is he crazy?”

“I told you,” said Emma. “Division is like the Hydra. Cut off its head and ten more grow in its place. Division has its uses. The president knows better than to limit his options.”

“Have you spoken with them? With Division?”

“You’re joking.”

“I just mean-”

“What do you mean?”

“With all your contacts, I thought you might find a way to explain why you had to disobey your orders. They’d have to understand.”

“I’m rogue, Jonathan. I didn’t just disobey orders, I went completely off the reservation. I tried to take down the whole ship. That makes me the enemy.”

“But you stopped a passenger jet from being shot down.”

“But nothing. Besides, you saved the plane. The first time I show my face, I’ll get a bullet in the head. I thought I’d explained that to you. You think I’m living like a war criminal for the fun of it?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sure I don’t know half of what you’ve been through.”

“No, you don’t.” Emma drew a breath. “Look, the new man ru

“Are those his guys downstairs?”

“Probably.”

Jonathan sensed that there was more. “What happened, Em? Has he already tried? That scar on your back-what’s it really from?”

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.”

Emma stood and faced him. “Then, yes, Jonathan, he’s already tried. It’s what we do, remember? We target enemies. We find them, we follow them, and when we’re good and ready, we take them out. The only difference is that this time it’s me wearing the bull’s-eye.”

Jonathan nodded. He wanted to reach out and hold her, but he knew better. “Where were you?”

“ Rome.”

“What were you doing there?”

“Seeing old friends, Jonathan. At least, I thought they were my friends. I was wrong. Anyway, there I was in the Borghese Gardens, standing on a corner, waiting for a ride to di

“Jesus Christ, Emma.”

“Blakemore likes his knife,” she said offhandedly as she fingered the livid scar. “He forgot I knew that. I got away with twenty-seven stitches and a lacerated kidney. Guess I’m lucky.”

“But how did they find you?”

“It was you.”

“Me?”

“You called. It was in April. They had your phone in their system.”

“But that’s impossible. I bought that phone in Nairobi. No one called me except my colleagues at camp.”

“I told you. They have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“But it was just the once…”

“That’s all they needed. They got my number, my GPS coordinates. They engineered a phony meet. They used the name of an old contact. Someone they knew I would trust. As I said, I broke every rule.”

“I’m sorry.” Jonathan sat down, crestfallen.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I should never have kept the phone. The fact is that I wanted you to call. I wanted you to tell me that you had to see me. The hard part about ru

“And him?”

“Blakemore? He’s dead.” Emma said the words without emotion. It was her agent’s voice, the one she used when she talked about her work, businesslike and matter-of-fact, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary about a man putting a knife into your side and you killing him in the ensuing struggle.

Jonathan looked on as Emma rubbed a finger across the scar. He saw a faint smile trace her lips. Where the hell did that come from? he wondered. A sense of victory? Survival? Revenge?

“I can go somewhere,” he said. “I can hide. After a couple of years, they’ll give up.”

Emma shook her head but said nothing.

“There has to be a way,” he continued.

Emma walked to him, put a hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes. “Do you have any idea what it took to see you this evening? Can you even begin to imagine the risks I ran to get into this room tonight? Sure, I may know my way around a locked door, but I can’t outguess every goon in town. You know what the first thing is that they teach you? In every op, you only get one chance: your first and your last. I’ve used up my nine lives, Jonathan. I’m ru