Chapter 28: Firouze

Lt. Col. (ret.) Henry Ruiz-Costa sat on his terrace and admired the view. The view consisted of five blond females and a black-haired one who were playing a noisy round of Monopoly. Henry had begged out claiming the need to compose a letter to his solicitor. Some of the real estate the Ruiz-Costas had owned before WWII had come up on the market. Josie had suggested buying it to consolidate their property. Yet, instead of typing words into the laptop he idly watched the women in his life.

Seven months along in their pregnancies, Josie and Ellen looked even more beautiful to him than before. He was a truly blessed man he conceded, blessed with a wonderful wife. A wife who was able to extend her caring to their best friend Ellen. Ellen, who had blossomed into a beautiful mature woman and whose calm strength would surprise everybody who had known the wretched, guilt-ridden creature of a few years backs.

He was also blessed with three daughters. He still viewed Patricia and Megan as his first daughters; their closeness had only intensified after he adopted them. He remembered with silly pride how they had countersigned the adoption papers with their new names, Patricia and Megan Ruiz-Costa.

Then there was this amazing young girl of his own blood. He had watched Tamara over the months as she slowly gained self-confidence through the acceptance from the people around them. She was a fixture these days at High Matcham where Rose Carter had all but made her a member of the family. Henry was certain that Tammy and Tony Carter had not yet graduated beyond kisses, but he did not doubt that more might come soon. He just hoped that they could find their place in life with less pain and suffering than he and Ellen.

The distant sound of the door bell did not really make him curious. He knew that Milena dealt efficiently with most issues involving the household and he assumed that this would be some delivery. He was mildly surprised therefore when Milena appeared on the terrace.

"Comrade Colonel, there is another Comrade Colonel wishing to see you," she mocked him with a throaty Czech accent.

"And does he have a name to him?" Henry asked warily.

"Yes, Comrade Colonel. Colonel Burns," Milena grinned easily, not noticing the almost imperceptible flinch in her employer's face.

Josie noticed.

"You know him?" she asked from the garden table.

"Yes, from Iraq. My room mate. Probably found some stuff of mine and wants to return it. I never had a chance to clear my quarters when I left that hospitable country."

Now it was Josie's time to flinch, remembering that terrible day when she had feared for Henry's life.

"Should I come with you?" she asked. "You know, greet my husband's brother in arms?"

"Why not? Burns is okay."

"Does he have a first name too?" Josie asked, pushing herself up from the chair by using both armrests.

"Yes," Henry laughed. "Evelyn Burns."

Josie stared at him. "You shared your quarters with a woman?"

"Wait until you meet her," Henry grinned and offered Josie his arm which she scorned.

In spite of her advanced pregnancy, Josie managed to walk briskly with her heels clattering angrily on the wooden floor and Henry had to rush after her. Then she stood in the doorway of the reception room blushing in a deep pink. As soon as he caught up with her, she elbowed him.

"I'll get you for this!" she hissed.

"You need to be more assertive around women, Harry!" Burns chuckled. "They just keep pushing you around."

"Hullo," Henry grinned, suppressing the pain in his ribs. "Josie, darling, this is Colonel Evelyn Burns. Evelyn, this is my wife Josie. She's a bit rustic in her behaviour. They are like that in the Old Colonies where I picked her up."

This time he was able to deflect Josie's elbow.

"Enchanted, Madam," Burns smiled and Josie had no choice but smile back.

"My pleasure, Colonel!"

"So that's how you live," Burns grinned, looking around appreciatively. "Not bad at all."

"Well, yes, it is comfortable," Henry admitted. "So what brings you out here?"

"Well, I chanced to be in the neighbourhood..."

"Give me a break!" Henry interrupted. "People like you never do anything by chance."

Burns answered with an acknowledging grin.

"Well, I just had this burning desire to see my bunk mate and swap some war stories."

Henry rolled his eyes.

"Can you cut the crap and get to the point? And before you even start asking, the answer is no."

Burns looked hurt. "So you won't even hear me out?"

"That's not what I said. I said I won't do whatever you want me to do."

"Well, it can't hurt to try," Burns sighed. "Madam, at the risk of appearing rude, what I have to tell your husband involves some of his prior work and it's classified. Would you give us a few moments of privacy, please?"

Josie considered that for almost a minute. Henry could feel that her protective instincts were roused. She clearly saw Burns as dangerous to Henry. She had a good antenna. He gave her an assuring look and she nodded reluctantly.

"I can do that. Just remember that he's a civilian now and he's going to be a father soon. You will not talk him into anything foolhardy."

"Assuredly not, Madam," Burns answered sincerely.

"Why don't you come out to the terrace after you finish with your secret affairs?"

"All right, we'll come soon," Henry smiled and kissed her cheek.

When Josie had closed the door behind her they could hear her steps as she walked away.

"Why was she so pissed when she came in?"

"I told her that I shared my room in Basra with Evelyn Burns. She's American, so she didn't know that there are malicious parents in England who name their boys Evelyn."

"Fuck you!" Burns answered. "Listen, Harry, we need your help. It's just a small job and you won't even have to leave the country. You just have to debrief a defector, that's all."

"What's this about? I never debriefed anybody."

"The person insists on you."

Henry squinted at Burns. "Okay, spill it!"

"Look, this will come as shock for you, but maybe you'll be relieved too. Firouze Azad is alive. You shot her and wounded her badly, but the surgeons were able to patch her up."

Henry turned pale. "I saw her eyes breaking!"

"Jesus, Harry, from what I heard you were fainting yourself. She was in a bad shape to be sure, but your shots missed her heart and only nicked her lung. She took longer than you to recover, if that's a consolation."

"God, I thought I'd killed her! I felt like shit about it."

"I know. I saw your letter to the Taraqi family. They asked me to tell you that they understand and bear you no ill will. Especially since Firouze survived."

"And now you want me to interrogate her?"

"Well, yes. She insists on speaking with you before she will spill the beans on her group. We've had her in custody for two years but she never cracked. I thought I got through to her when I showed her your letter. I swear, she cried. She even gave us some bits of info about secret caches where we found weapons and explosives. But she wouldn't talk about the people behind her until two weeks ago. I received a call from the prison. She said she'd fess up, but it had to be to you. Not that I was unsympathetic to that request, mind you. I may even get to see my family for a couple of days."

Henry thought about what he had heard. The request was not unreasonable, but the situation was tricky. After all, he and Firouze had been intimate. Before their wedding, Henry had told Josie everything, but that was when they were convinced that Firouze was dead. He would not deceive Josie.

"I'd have to tell my wife, Evelyn. She knows about Firouze and me and I won't lie to her."

"No way! This is extremely sensitive."

"Way! Josie has to know I am seeing Firouze or else I won't do it. She'll sign the confidentiality documents. I assure you that she can keep a secret, even a dark one."

"She's a British citizen now, isn't she?"

"Soon, and she's a successful entrepreneur."

"I know, we checked on you two. All right, but not a word to the rest of your family!"

"That's understood. Shall I call Josie so you can tell her?"

"All right."

Henry left the reception room and went to fetch Josie. She was back at playing Monopoly, but she looked up as he stepped on the terrace.

"Darling, would you join us again? Colonel Burns asks for a favour, but I want your opinion before I think about it."

Josie just nodded and got up. This time she took Henry's arm as they returned to the reception room.

"What is it, Henry?" she asked.

"Evelyn will have to tell you. There is a big surprise in this. I want you to be completely honest with your opinion. I will not do anything if it upsets you."

"I'm a little scared right now," Josie said with a sidelong glance at him.

"Don't be, there's nothing dangerous to this."

He held the door open for her and Josie stepped in. Burns rose to his feet immediately.

"Thank you for your time, Mrs. Ruiz-Costa. I have a favour to ask, but your husband feels that you have to be involved. Could you give me your word that nothing I will tell you will be retold to anybody?"

Josie considered for a second. "Yes, I can give you my word as long as this does not involve any criminal activities."

"Good enough, Madam. I assure you that this is completely legal. The fact of the matter is that we have an Iraqi defector who is willing to divulge information on the insurgents. However, the defector will only talk to your husband and now we ask Harry to conduct the debriefing. It'll only be a couple of hours on a military base near Newbury. If he agrees to do it tomorrow morning, he will be back home in time for supper."

"And why is my approval of consequence?" Josie asked.

"It's about the identity of the defector. It's a woman and your husband knows her. She was responsible for the assault that resulted in his injury."

"But you said she was dead!" Josie exclaimed looking at Henry.

"Yes, he would," Burns answered in Henry's stead. "We thought it best to leave him in that belief. She was badly wounded. The surgeons were able to save her life and she has been a detainee ever since."

"What does she want from my husband?"

"My best guess is that she wants to apologise to him and beg forgiveness for her actions."

"So he will be alone with her?"

"Well, relatively speaking, yes. Of course, the debriefing will be done in an interrogation room that is wired for audio and video. She will also be restrained."

Josie looked at him.

"Henry,..." she began.

"Josie, there was nothing between Firouze and me that came even close to what we have. I told you about her. I respected her and I regretted killing her, but she is no competitor for my affection. It's only you whom I wanted and want."

Josie thought for a moment.

"I'll agree to it if you allow me to accompany Henry. I want to see her, I mean through the one way mirror. I don't want to hear anything, but I want to watch them while they are together."

She looked at Henry for support.

"You heard her, Evelyn. If these are her conditions, this is what you'll have to do."

Burns sighed. "You'd have to sign a confidentiality clause and you would be subject to the Official Secrets Act."

Josie nodded. "Of course. Mind you, I don't want to hear her testimony. I just want to see her and watch her."

"They'll roast me for this," Burns sighed. "But okay. This is the address. Ask for me at the gate. Can you be there at ten?"

Henry looked at Josie and she nodded.

"All right, we'll be there. Would you care to have lunch with us now? I think Milena has set the table and you could meet the rest of us."

Burns looked at Henry who gave him an encouraging nod.

"With pleasure, Madam," he said nicely.

Of course, there was an inevitable delay as Milena discovered some minor shortcomings she had to fix, but Henry used the time to introduce Burns to the family. The look on his visitor's face upon seeing the pregnant Ellen was priceless. The look on Burn's face when he saw Patricia and Megan did not quite find Henry's approval, but he had to concede that only gay men would not look at them with lust in their eyes.

The breaded pork schnitzel Milena had prepared were just right and the fresh potatoes and carrots complemented them for a typical continental dish.

"Ah, pork!" Burns enthused. "My first pork in more than two years. And those potatoes are this year's harvest, aren't they?"

Milena nodded. "Yes, we get these from a local farmer."

"Where do you live, Colonel?" Ellen asked.

"I'm from Manchester. I plan to go there after I finished my business. I hope things will work out that way. I haven't seen my wife in four months."

"Can't she come down from Manchester to see you?" Josie asked.

"She could. But we don't have any relatives to look after the children and the base is off limits for kids."

"Henry, why don't you offer them our guest house? That way the Colonel could have his family here and be close to that base," Josie suggested.

"That's a wonderful idea. By all means, yes. What do you say, Evelyn?"

"That's a generous offer, but I shouldn't intrude on you."

"You're not intruding at all. It's the old gatekeeper's lodge. We had it furnished for guests and it's empty. Call your wife and tell her to pack a suitcase and to come down. How many kids do you have?"

"Two boys, thirteen and ten."

"They could come over the weekend. It's really no problem for us."

"Well, I don't know what to say..."

"Say yes," Henry laughed. "Or better yet, call your wife and ask her before you say yes."

Burns nodded and excused himself pulling a cell phone from his pocket. He was back five minutes later.

"Are you sure that it's no problem?"

"Hell, no!" Henry assured him.

"Then thanks. This will give me some time with the boys and with Lara."

"Of course you're invited for dinner on Saturday with your family," Josie added, obviously trying hard to make up for her uncompromising position earlier.

"You're very kind, Mrs. Ruiz-Costa."

"And I'll be kinder yet if you call me Josie," she smiled.

Henry watched the interplay and it gave him yet another insight as to how Josie had managed to succeed in the cutthroat consumer electronics business. As soon as she had won on the big issue, she went out of her way to make the other side feel good again. Burns had to cave in on the issues related to tomorrow's interrogation, but now he could look forward to a weekend with his family. She was really good at this.

When Burns left an hour later Henry hugged Josie from behind.

"How did I ever get such a smart woman for a wife?"

"By making her feel loved," she answered truthfully. The she turned in his arms. "How do you feel about meeting this woman again?"

Henry contemplated. "My first feeling was relief. I mean, having killed a woman had been quite a load on my mind. Next came panic. She's bound to bring complications to our life, whilst I just want to live in peace and raise our children."

"Look, Henry, this is not jealousy, but I need to know. How do you feel about her now that she's alive? I mean on one hand she tried to kill you, but on the other hand she was your lover."

"I don't know, Josie. It's true. We had an affair, but it was calculation on her part. I guess that hurt my ego. I'll have a hard time believing anything she might say."

"Is she beautiful?" Josie asked with a touch of insecurity in her voice.