“I told them I wasn’t part of any agency, but they were all interested in me. He was very curious about the CIA.
“What did you tell them?”
“I told them the truth.”
“How did he react to that?”
“He found it hard to believe, but I think I might have worn him down.”
“What do you mean?”
“He threw up his hands and told me, it was against his best nature, but that he was going to give me a chance. He also warned me that I would be sent back to the states if I got into any trouble or did something that displeased them. I think it helped that I was just a teenager and he realized that I was simply curious.”
“Then, what happened?”
“He came to see me and told me he was sending me to Minsk and he hoped that I could keep my nose clean.”
“Did he ever hurt you?”
“No, that wasn’t his job. He was there to find out what made me tick, because he told me he had a degree in psychology so I just put two and two together. In the end, I think he thought I was a little bit out of my mind, and he was right. I was on the brink of being insane. I mean, I never would have gone there if I had been totally sane. Of course, it took me a long time to realize that.”
“So, how was it in Minsk?”
“It was great, and I had a ball. I made friends. I slept with a lot of women and they all thought I was cool. It was the first time in my life when people my own age thought that way about me.”
“Why is that, do you think?”
“I don’t know, maybe it was because I was so relaxed and happy for the first time in my life. I mean, a part of me didn’t have a care in the world. I had a job that I liked, an apartment that most people would die for and I was getting laid just about every night of the week. What more could a guy ask for? I had so much built up testosterone I could almost taste it in my mouth. Horny doesn’t cut it. I was beyond horny. A day didn’t go by when I wasn’t trying to talk a Russian lady into my bed.”
“How much success did you have in that capacity, Lee?”
“In a way, it was easy because I was so different. The women were curious and they wanted to get to know me. They wanted to know what it was like in America. They wanted to go there and see for themselves. I took advantage of their curiosity and gave them all I could while they were with me.”
“In bed?”
“Yes, of course. It was the least I could do for them,
Timothy,” the old man said, with a huge grin on his face.
“What else happened when you were in Russia, Lee?”
“You wouldn’t believe it even I told you.”
“Try me.”
“Maybe some other time.”
4
“After I got shot and nearly died, I had a kind of awakening of sorts.”
“What are you saying, Lee?”
“I started praying, going to church and believing in God. That was a first for me.”
“You were a changed person.”
“I was, and that’s when I first saw her, in church, with her two little children. Two weeks alone, with no man by her side. I asked someone I knew about her and he told me that she was a widow, a wealthy widow, in fact. When I found out her last name, I looked her family up in the local library. they weren’t just wealthy, they were rich and had been for five hundred years.
Old European money that had been collecting interest longer than the United States existed. But, it wasn’t the money that made me curious about her, it was her beauty. I was still a young man and I was lonely. It turned out that she was lonely too.
“What happened to her husband?”
“He was a professional pilot for a major airlines. On a flight over a mountain range, his plane was hit by lightning. Everyone on the plane was killed instantly. She was left with two little ones to raise on her own. I was introduced to her one day coming out of church. I walked her home that day and we started dating soon after. One thing led to another and a year later we decided to get married.”
“But, you were already married, Lee, were you not.”
“Technically, yes, but under a different name.”
“Did she know about your former life?”
“Not at first, no, I did not think it was necessary to tell her.”
“Does she know now?”
“She does, because I told her last year, right before she died.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Lee.”
“I told her everything and I thought she was going to be upset but the only thing she made me promise was that I come back to the states and try to clear my name. That’s what got me thinking about calling you, Timothy.”
“I’m glad you did, Lee.”
“So am I.”
“What about the children?”
“They’re all grown up, in their forties. They both have with children of their own. I’m a grandfather four times over now, not
counting Marina and the girls here in America.”
“Wouldn’t you like to see them before you die?”
“If that were possible without upsetting their lives, of course, I would, but I’m not sure that is going to happen. I would rather they know that their father was not that bad a
fellow, after all, in spite of all the disinformation.”
“Speaking of that, Lee, who were you actually working for on the day of the assassination?” He looked up from the sketch he was working on and gave me a look that seemed to imply that he wasn’t sure I was going to believe what he was about to tell me.
He took off his glasses and put his marker down.
“That’s just it. This is where it gets confusing.”
“What do you mean, exactly?” He took a deep breath and momentarily closed his eyes.
“I was working for both sides.”
“Both sides?”
“That’s right.”
