Zero Day, стр. 28
“Thank God. It was a miracle they agreed.”
“Yes, thank God indeed. Even in my pit of despair, He is with me.”
Nováková glanced at her watch. “It’s more than ten minutes.”
She motioned for the guard to let Dario and Leonid back into the room while Kelvin silently prayed that the CIA and FSB would agree to their counteroffer.
It was indeed a win-win plan, but Kelvin didn’t want to think about the fact that he had more to lose overall if they decided not to go for it.
It would mean ten total years in this prison.
Ten years of solitary confinement writing letters that nobody might read.
He had served three years, but seven more years would mean he’d be forty-two years old when they let him out.
By then, his faithful cat, Mordecai, could be dead.
And Yona could have moved on. She deserved to move on.
Kelvin blinked away a tear.
Chapter 26
Yona’s initial ninety days of renting a room from Tereza turned into twelve months, and twelve months turned into three years, until that day Yona received word that Kelvin had started cooperating with the CIA and FSB in their joint operation.
Three years then turned into five, with Yona busy working for Dmitri, flying everywhere with him to various places in Europe, from Prague to Vienna to Paris and then back to Prague.
Dmitri had established more projects in Europe for the computer company he co-owned. While his business partner focused on business in North America, Dmitri chose to expand their division in Europe.
So much for Dmitri’s desire to retire.
And he wanted Yona close by. Treating her more like a daughter than an employee, Dmitri had shown her more favor than any of her previous mentors.
Yona was careful not to overstep her boundaries. She knew that Dmitri had a daughter living in the United States. Any day now, the daughter could take over his operations.
For now, Dmitri did what Dmitri wanted.
It made sense for Dmitri to be headquartered in Prague. The office building was nice, and Yona liked walking or cycling to work. She didn’t even own a car.
Sometimes Yona had to work on weekends, but not today. The morning air was cool, and she wanted to walk before the sun warmed up this Saturday in June.
She hadn’t heard from Kelvin in a few months. The agencies worked him hard. He had told her in his letters that he wanted to work hard. The more he worked, the more years they would take off his incarceration.
Yona had no idea when he would get out of jail. It had been a very long five years. He still had another three years left to go, even with all the sentence reduction.
Sometimes she wondered if she should move on. There were some cute guys at Dmitri’s office who were interested in her. She had gone out with one or two of them in the last three years, but it hadn’t worked out.
It didn’t help that all she could think of was that she’d better wait for Kelvin.
Sitting on a bench outside Tereza’s house, Yona laced up her favorite pair of hiking boots. Those soles could handle the cobblestone sidewalks better than her regular walking shoes. She preferred walking because she could slow down by the river and take in the scenery, especially at this time of the day before the tourists flooded the city.
She wished she had a walking companion. However, her work kept her too busy to make friends. When she had free time, she would take Tereza to the doctor, to run errands, shopping, and so forth.
Yona felt sorry for her because her children hadn’t come back to visit her in three years. In a way, Yona had become her surrogate daughter.
It was fine with Yona because she needed something to occupy her free time, in addition to reading books.
Being single was both easy and hard. Easy to schedule anything on a whim because she alone made all the decisions. Hard because she felt lonely sometimes.
Very lonely.
Sometimes she wished she dared to write a letter to Kelvin. Or that he would write her as frequently as he used to do in his first three years behind bars.
They had moved on with their lives, and whatever they’d almost had was in the past, except for Mordecai the cat—once a street cat, now a pampered house cat.
For the last five years, Yona had taken care of that senior cat. She took him to the veterinarian. She trimmed his nails, combed his hair, sang to him, and fed him all his favorite food.
Walking along Vltava River, under those pretty streetlights, Yona passed by people jogging in pairs. Some of them looked happy together.
Yona still didn’t speak Czech, but some of the joggers spoke English. She didn’t mean to listen in, but she wasn’t wearing her earbuds. She wanted to immerse herself in the real-life environment she was in.
People came here for vacations. And she had lived here for five years.
She checked her watch and quickened her strides. Turning onto Charles Bridge, she came to a complete stop.
There, standing in front of her, was none other than Kelvin Gallagher.
Stunned, she had no words.
Clean shaven, he was in a pair of jeans and distressed tee shirt.
Please don’t tell me you broke out of prison. “What are you doing here?”
“Meeting Dmitri.” He glanced at the tall man standing next to him. The man nodded.
Was he a guard? Yona couldn’t tell. “Dmitri? That can’t be right. He’s in Paris today.”
“For real? I received a message after they let me out that I am to meet him here at nine o’clock,” Kelvin answered. “Do you think he forgot?”
“No. That’s not possible. Unless…”
Kelvin laughed. “Unless he set us up.”
The man next to him frowned.
“Considering I walk at this time on Saturdays,” Yona said.
“Alone?”
“Alone.” Yona realized that she had become too predictable these days. She should change up her schedule so that no one could be expecting her at precisely the same location every time.
“I gather Dmitri is not coming.”
“You gather right.”
“May I