Cipher (6 page)

“It’s a legitimate lab and it was part of my research… part
of my passion,” she said, stumbling for words. “I didn’t realize it was going
to fall into the wrong hands. Plus, they paid me really well for the job. I
mean, it would have taken me 20 years of work to make the same amount of money
I made in that 2-year span,” she said.

Jonathan looked at her. Something wasn’t making sense. She
wasn’t telling him everything. He felt like she was leaving something out, but
he just didn’t know exactly what it was. He was an expert at reading body
language, and he analyzed all the signals. He looked at her gestures and her
expressions, and he knew that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. He
knew that she wasn’t telling the complete truth. He took another big gulp of
his wine as he tried to digest the gravity of the situation. He looked out
towards the water to watch the beautiful colors dancing in the sky.

“That sunset… look at the colors,” he said, trying to change
the subject and not seem so combative.

“I know. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I never realized this country could be so beautiful.”

“Yes, well, it is. This is home. This is my home.” She spoke
silently as she finished off her glass of wine and looked out towards the water.
The remaining entrees arrived and the waiter topped off their wine glasses.
After they were finished eating, they walked towards her car.

“That was delicious,” he said. He stared at her pale blue
eyes. She was almost his height with her high heels on. She was only an inch or
so shorter, and he couldn’t help but take her all in. He looked at her with
this
lost longing that he hadn’t felt in a long time. He had
masked his pain and agony for years, but in that very moment, he almost felt
like he was meant to be there. It was as if he had been destined to go to that
place. At least that’s what he thought to himself in his mind.

“I know. I love it here. So, where are you staying? I can
drop you off,” she said.

“I’m staying in Besiktas. Is that how you pronounce it?”

She smiled. “No, well, not exactly. It sounds different than
it looks. It’s pronounced Beshiktash. The line under the letter ‘s’ is
pronounced with a ‘
sh
’ sound.
So Beşiktaş
is pronounced Beshiktash.”

“Oh, okay,” he said.

As they were about to hop into her two-door ten-year-old blue
BMW, a black SUV with tinted windows was coming at them head on. Jennifer’s car
was parked next to a
stone wall
that supported the
raised terrace of the restaurant that they just finished up having dinner at.
The SUV was traveling fast. They could hear the engine revving as it gunned the
throttle towards them. In a split second move, Jonathan grabbed Jennifer and
pulled her aside just in time as the SUV knocked out the side-view mirror of
the car and rammed into the driver door of the car behind them before speeding
off.

“What the hell
!?
” she yelled. They
were both breathing hard as they looked back at the SUV as it slammed on its
breaks and spun back around. This time it was coming at them even faster.

“Hurry up, give me the keys!” Jonathan yelled at her. A few
people had gathered atop the terrace and looked down at the SUV as it gunned
its engine back towards them. Jonathan was in a panic. “Shit! Come on.”

This time as the SUV approached,
It
lowered its passenger window and Jonathan could see the barrel of a silencer as
an olive-skinned man with silver aviator lenses pointed it towards them and
fired. Jonathan pulled her down behind the car just in time as the gunshots
grazed them and the slugs lodged themselves into the wall behind them.

“Shit!” Jennifer yelled. The people on the terrace above
screamed, and the SUV gunned passed them again. “Here… here are the keys!” she
yelled and threw the keys at him. He ran to the driver’s side door, breathing
heavy. He was in a panic.
What the hell
was going on?
Someone was trying to kill them. Someone was after them. They knew he was
there. They knew where she was.

He threw the car into gear and reversed hard into the car
behind them, a sound of crunching steel erupted as the two cars slammed into
one another. Then, he threw the car forward and lurched out of the very tight
parking spot against the
stone wall
as he hit the car
in front of them just to get out of the parking spot. Jonathan gunned the
engine of the compact BMW as the SUV headed straight towards them in the narrow
strip that was encased by parked cars on both sides. They were playing chicken on
that small side road, and Jonathan could hear the thumping beat of his heart in
the back of his throat. He could feel the dampness seep into his hands as he
gripped the steering wheel at 10 and 2 o’clock. He pushed the throttle down
harder and the car lurched forward towards the SUV.

As the two vehicles approached one another, the man pulled
out his gun from the driver’s side window and fired towards them. Jonathan
pushed her head down and ducked below the steering wheel as the
gun shots
rattled through the windshield. Five shots made
their way into the car as it neared them. Jonathan careened into the parked
cars on the right side of the street, against the
stone wall
,
and both cars crunched into one another as they sped by in opposite directions.

“Oh my God! Shit! Are you okay? Talk to me. Are you okay?” he
asked. He was in a panic and breathing harder than ever. His knuckles had
turned white and his heart dropped into his stomach as he gripped the steering
wheel with dear life.

She was bleeding from her shoulder. He could see the blood
coming out of her, and he started cursing. “I’ve been shot,” she said. She
spoke ominously, as she looked at her shoulder to see the blood. She was in a
state of shock.

“We have to stop the bleeding he yelled.” He was trying to
pay attention to her as he navigated the car through the side road. When he
came upon the exit into the major thoroughfare that ran along the ocean, he slammed
on the breaks spun the car left, then right into the lane, barely missing
another vehicle. He could see the SUV behind them, gunning its engine. It had
to stop at the entrance to the thoroughfare because of the cars that blocked
its way. He could hear the vehicle honking
it’s
horn
in a fit of rage.

Jonathan didn’t hesitate. He didn’t want to waste any time.
He gunned the engine faster as he took his shirt and tied a tight knot around
the wound.

“We have to get you to a hospital… we have to…”

“No,” she said. “No hospitals. They will know to look there.
We can’t… we can’t go there. We have to go somewhere else. I have a friend…
He’s a doctor. He lives about an hour from here. We have to go there…”

Jonathan looked at her and he could tell she was fading
fast. The color was leaving her face, and she was turning as white as a ghost.
He looked in the rearview mirror and could the see the SUV gunning the engine
as it came around the bend in an effort to catch up with them. He swerved in
and out of the lanes, pushing past cars that honked at him violently as he raced
his way through the light congestion of the Oceanside road.

“Which way? Which way do I go? Are you still with me?”
Jonathan shook her by the leg. He tried to get her to stay with him. She
couldn’t lose consciousness. If she did, he wouldn’t know where to go. He
wouldn’t know how to get there.

Her eyes were slightly opened, but they were closing
rapidly. Each time she had an elongated blink, her eyelids would stay shut for
a
second
or two before she opened them back up again.
She looked out at the road with her eyes half opened and pointed the direction.
“It’s… it’s up that way,” she said. She pointed to an exit that headed inland
from the ocean. She pointed to the right in a general direction. “It’s in that
direction,” she said again.

Jonathan could see that she was fading fast. He had to step
on the gas. But he didn’t know where he was going. He threw the car into third
gear from fourth and redlined the engine as he gunned past another two cars,
swiping left, then right. He could see the SUV close on his tail. Just as soon
as he passed the car to the right, and as the SUV tried to follow suit,
Jonathan quickly swerved again just narrowly making the next exit. The SUV was
stuck behind a car and missed the exit. Jonathan could see him slamming on his
brakes as he took the ramp, curving up and off to the right, inland, away from
the beach and the crazed murderer.

“Which way from here? Are you still with me? God, please be
okay. Just hold on for me. Hold on until we get there,” he said. He was still in
a panic. He squeezed the shirt tighter on her in order to make sure the
bleeding was subdued. He kept one hand on her shoulder, squeezing the shirt
tight around her shoulder, and the other on the wheel. He had to switch back
and forth just to change the gears as the perspiration ran down the side of his
face.

He raced the car up a hill and screeched around another
corner as she pointed in the general direction. He couldn’t slow down. He
wouldn’t slow down. He had never been shot at before, his mind was racing at a
million-miles-a-minute, and he could still hear the thumping of his heart in
the back of his throat. He swallowed down hard as he tried to keep his nerve.
He was trying to hold back the tears as he looked at her lying there helpless.
They drove on like that for twenty more minutes before he felt like they were
in the clear. He didn’t spot the SUV again, but that didn’t mean that he
wouldn’t reappear. He knew that if someone wanted to find her bad enough, they
would, and he couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
Something inside of him just wanted to protect her. He was sent
there
to extract information from her, but all he wanted to
do was keep her safe at that moment in time.

“Down this road,” she said. “Turn down this road.” Barely
able to speak, she pointed to a street that ran up a steep hill to the right,
which was lined by new apartment buildings. The street was narrow, and the
cobblestones were more pronounced as they got further up the hill. They rounded
the corner at the top and sped down another two streets before coming upon the
block where her doctor friend was located. “I hope he’s home. Park there, in
that underground.” She was in excruciating pain. The bleeding had all but
stopped but Jonathan could tell that she was fiercely fighting back tears. He
could see the terror in her eyes.

“Who the hell was that?” he asked her.

“I don’t know. I have no idea. But I would be dead if it
wasn’t for you. I panicked and froze. You helped me.” She turned her head to
look at him while he was driving, and it was the first time she felt a twinge
of something for a complete stranger that had protected her. She felt like he
was her guardian angel at that moment. “You saved me,” she said. “You saved me…
I can’t begin to thank you enough.” She had tears in her eyes. Jonathan could
see that she was trying her best to keep it together.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “We need to hide
this car.”

“Here, just park in the underground here. I have the code.
Just punch in 2-3-8-5 in the keypad,” she said.

He pulled up to a keypad, punched in the keys, and it opened
up a large garage dedicated to the building. The car would be much safer
underground than it was out on the city streets. But the bullet holes in the
windshield needed to be fixed or they needed to ditch the car. He didn’t know
what he was going to do, but his first priority was to get her patched up.
Right then, that’s all he could think about. He would worry about the rest
later.

“We’ve had some complications,” said
the voice on the other end of the line. Dmitry listened carefully to the man he
entrusted to kill the doctor. It was exactly what he didn’t want to hear. It
was exactly what he didn’t want to
report back
to his
brother either.

“Complications?” asked Dmitry. He couldn’t believe that the
job hadn’t been done. He was furious. Boris looked at his brother as he spoke
on the phone, and he could see him turning red with anger. He knew his brother
all too well. He knew just how hot-tempered he was.

“Yes. The girl. She wasn’t alone. She’s with someone,” said
Viktor.

“What do you mean she’s not alone? This was a simple job. You
were supposed to take out the girl. That was all – plain and simple. What
happened?”

“Someone interrupted the plans. Someone helped her, and they
got away. They lost me in the city streets. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.
I’ll fix this,” Viktor said, barking back into the phone. His mind was spinning
and he was furious. He didn’t need the bad reputation this would give him. He
didn’t need it at all.

“What the hell do you mean, they lost you? What the hell is
that supposed to me
?!
” Dmitry was yelling into the
phone now. His face went from red to purple, and the veins in the side of his
neck and forehead were pulsating with anger.

“Brother, calm down,” said Boris. Boris placed a hand on his
shoulder to subdue his hot-tempered brother. “Relax.”

“I can’t relax brother,” he said. He yelled back into the
phone then hung up. “I’m sorry, I screwed this up,” Dmitry said as Boris
listened with mild temperament. “I take full responsibility. My
guy
messed up. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s okay. Nothing is screwed up. We’ll get the doctor,”
Boris said. He was calm, cool, and collected, exactly opposite Dmitry’s
disposition. But the two balanced each other out in that way.

“You don’t understand. She has help. She’s with someone.
Someone is helping her. This is more important now than ever. We have to get
her. We have to find her. This is a loose end we can’t afford to have,
brother.” Dmitry was sweating in the cool night. Boris could see the
perspiration on his forehead as they sat in the large living area of the
superyacht as it continued cutting through international waters.

“What do you want to do brother?” asked Boris.

“We need to find her. We need to find her now. You need to
do your magic. You need to hack into the Turkish healthcare systems and find
out where she is and if she checked into a hospital. I need all the information
that I can get on her. I want to know where she spends her time and
who
she spends it with. We’ll find her like that. We’ll
force her to surface, even if Viktor can’t. Tell me you’ll do this, brother.”

“Of course. That’s the easy part. I can get the information.
But not over the satellite linkup.
We should to get to
land. Let’s head inland and dock. We’ll change course towards Istanbul. We can
dock in port there. We’re not far from there.”

“Okay, brother. I agree. Let’s do that.”

*****

“What floor?” Jonathan supported Jennifer by her right
shoulder – the good shoulder – and helped her towards the elevator.

“Fifteen. Apartment 1531.”

They hobbled into the elevator together, and Jonathan proper
her up against the side railing, and hit the button. The elevator lurched up,
making an incessant whining noise the whole way to the top floor. “Who is this
guy, anyways? How do you know him?”

“He’s a friend of the family. He’s a medical doctor. We’ve
known each other since we were kids. He can help and it won’t get logged into
any hospital database.”

“Do you trust him?”

“Yes, with my life,” she said.

“Okay, okay.”

Jonathan led her towards the apartment, and they knocked on
the door with three quick thuds. A man came to the door and said something in
Turkish, and she replied. He quickly opened the door and she almost collapsed
into his arms.”

“Ne
oldu
ya
?”
he asked in Turkish. Jonathan assumed it meant what was happening or what had
happened. They started speaking in Turkish rapidly, and Jonathan was lost in
translation. He couldn’t understand what was being said and eventually stopped
trying to listen to the conversation. He led them to the bedroom where they
laid her down and pulled off her shirt.

“This is my friend Mehmet,” Jennifer said.

“Nice to meet you,” he said in English. “What happened?” he
asked.

“Thank god you speak English. We were shot at. Is she going
to be okay?” Jonathan asked.

He took off her shirt and Jonathan couldn’t help but stare.
He looked into her pale blue eyes and had it not been for all the blood, he
would have most likely been floored by the fact that he was seeing her in her
black lace bra. He was surprised that she wore such a racy bra that day.
Jonathan pulled his mind out of the gutter, but he couldn’t help his mind but
to go there.

“Don’t judge me,” she said, trying her best to crack a
smile.

“I’m not judging. I was admiring.” Jonathan tried to cast
light of the situation, but considering the circumstances, he was struggling
with what he was supposed to say at a moment like that.

“The bullet is lodged in there. I have to get it out first,”
Mehmet said. “Here, prop her head up with this. I’m going to get some fresh
towels and my medical kit.”

The doctor disappeared for a few moments and Jonathan
kneeled down beside the bed in the large room. “Thank god he was home,” he said
to her. “You’re going to be okay.”

“I know.
Thankfully
he was here.
Jonathan, I’m frightened. What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?”

“Don’t worry about that right now. Don’t focus on that at
this moment. Just focus on healing, and we’ll figure it out. I’m not going to
let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He reached
out and held her hand
and looked into her pale blue eyes. Those eyes.
He was
mesmerized by those eyes
. But, as he was lost in her eyes, Mehmet
reappeared with fresh towels, and a bowl of hot water, along with his supplies.

“Okay, this is going to hurt,” he said.

“Should I stay?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes, yes. Stay. I’m going to need your help.” The doctor
had a grave look of concern on his face as he pulled out a large needle. “This
is local anesthetic. It will numb the pain a little bit. He positioned the
needle over the vein in the crevice of her arm by her bicep, and quickly stuck
it in. Jonathan watched as the liquid drained from the needle and into her arm.
He could see a calm wash over her face.

“Okay, you have to help me hold these instruments, and give
them to me as I ask for them. He slipped on some rubber gloves and went to work
trying to dislodge the bullet from Jennifer’s shoulder. He had a very serious
look of concern during the entire procedure. Jonathan could feel the anxiety
perspiring off the doctor has he worked diligently to dislodge the bullet.
Jonathan handed him his instruments as he cut into her shoulder and pulled the
bullet out with a pair of medical pliers. Jonathan cringed at the sight and had
to look away.

“There. I got it,” the doctor said.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“Let’s hope so. She’s lost a lot of blood. I have to stich
her up. Hand me the needle from there and the suture string please. It’s a black
string in a small role.”

“Here you go,” Jonathan said.

The doctor worked to stich her up. Jennifer was nearly
passed out the entire time. She kept trying to open her eyes, and Jonathan kept
a cool rag on her forehead, telling her it was going to be okay. But, he didn’t
know if it was going to be okay. He didn’t know what to think anymore. He was
scared, and it was obvious. He tried his best to hide his fears. He tried his
best to keep his cool.

“There. That’s it. That’s the last one,” Mehmet said. “Now,
she needs to rest. Here, take these.” He placed two pills in her mouth and told
her to swallow. “It’s for the pain. She needs to rest.”

The doctor led Jonathan out of the bedroom, and they closed
the door to allow her some time to sleep it off. The medication was going to
hit hard, and combined with the pain pills, her body was most likely going to
shut down and she could sleep it off. He led Jonathan into the living area
where he got a first glimpse out onto the city.

“Wow, we’re really high up here. You can see the entire city
from this point,” Jonathan said. “I didn’t even notice it when we first came
in.”

“Yes, we’re at the top of a very steep hill at the highest
elevation in the city. You can see the Bosporus from here. You see the Bosporus
Bridge over there?” Mehmet pointed to the beautiful bridge that was cast over the
Bosporus Strait. It looked majestic from there. Everything looked majestic.
Mosques dotted the horizon. They were everywhere.

“Wow, this is beautiful,”
Jonathan
said.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Have you lived here long?”

“Three years now.”

“How do you and Jennifer know each other?”

“We went to secondary school together here in Istanbul.
We’ve known each other for about 20 years now.” They walked over and sat in two
armchairs in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. “Would you like some
kave
?”

“I’m sorry?
Kave
?”

“Yes, that’s Turkish for coffee,”
Memhet
said.

“Sure, I would love some.”

“It’s strong coffee, however. It’s similar to say a double
espresso in the states.”

“Sure, yes. I love espresso. I haven’t had a chance to try
the coffee here yet.”

“I’m sure you’ll like it,” Mehmet said.

Mehmet disappeared for a few minutes while Jonathan sat
there taking in the stunning landscape. He hadn’t seen the city from that point
of view and it was picturesque from up there. He couldn’t remember another city
as beautiful as that. The twinkling lights of the Bosporus Bridge were
reflected in the water as the sun disappeared in the sky. The Bosporus Bridge
changed colors every few moments from red, to orange, to blue. Mehmet
reappeared with the coffee and served it in two small glasses that looked like miniature
mugs.

“You know that in Turkish tradition, women will usually tell
your horoscope with the grains of the coffee. When you’re finished, you would
flip it over and wait a few moments. As the coffee-sludge runs down the sides
of the cup, it leaves pictures there that are then interpreted. These women use
those pictures to tell a person’s future or horoscope using the coffee cup.”

“That’s interesting,” Jonathan said.

“Yes, and some women are very good at it.” The doctor smiled
as they sipped their coffee. “Do you like it? I know it’s late for coffee, but
in Turkey, we drink coffee at all hours.”

“Yes, I like it. But, as you said it’s very strong.”

“Yes, one or two of these and you’ll be bouncing off the
walls.” They both laughed. “So, tell me again, what’s going on here? I’m very
worried for my friend. You know, this is very serious. You can imagine my shock
to see her show up here unannounced with a bullet lodged in her shoulder and
blood everywhere.”

“I know. I know,” Jonathan said. He looked at the ground as
they spoke. He was almost embarrassed. He felt like it was
all
his
fault. He didn’t know what to say.

“Well, thankfully you were there to bring her here. I will
forever be in your debt. If you weren’t there, I don’t know what would have
happened. I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if you
weren’t there.”

“I wish I could have done something… something more to
protect her. I feel so terrible. I have this empty feeling in my stomach.”

“What’s really going on? Why are people after her? Is it
because of you? Are they after you? Did you do something wrong?”

“It’s not me that they’re after… at least that’s not what I
think. I think they’re after her. I think that they’re after her for her
research work.”

“Her research work?”

“Yes,” said Jonathan. “You know, her work in the states on
advanced algorithms? The work on ciphers?”

“I guess I don’t know as much about her life as I should. I
haven’t had much time to spend with her lately. I’ve been so busy with work
myself.”

“Oh… I’m sorry… I thought…”

“That’s okay. I guess it probably looked like I would have
known a lot more than I do,” the doctor said. He re-crossed his legs, shifting
from one side of the armchair to the other. Jonathan looked back out the window
and seemingly got lost in another thought.

The evening’s events were racing through his mind. For the
first time in a long time, he actually feared for his life, and he actually
cared enough to protect the life of someone he barely even knew. For two years
he had
beat
himself up over the death of his wife. For
two long years he had suffered at the behest of his own personal demons.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to confuse things. I guess I’m
just a little bit worried. I have a lot on my mind right now,” Jonathan said.
He sipped his coffee and looked at Mehmet.

“What are you going to do? What’s your plan?” asked Mehmet. “These
people that are after her… how are you going to help stop them?” It was clear
that he was concerned as he eyed Jonathan with a twinge of suspicion. The
doctor crossed his legs then re-crossed them
over and over
.
It almost seemed like it was a nervous habit.

“I don’t know right now. I really don’t know what we’re
going to do. I think I have to make a phone call. Can you excuse me for a
minute?”