Looking For A Legend (Book 1)

Looking For A Legend Chapter 51 - Elijah

            So far, Eli was enjoying his work as consultant for both the CIA and the Spetsgruppa Drakon Pushki.  Each organization paid him well, and separately.  His hours were steady.  Every work day started ten in the morning, broke at one for an hour lunch, and then resumed working until five in the evening.  His work was consistent.  If the group wasn’t tearing apart some former office or residence of Mikhail Sima’s they were systematically digging through his journals and research.

They had developed an assembly line-like process for evaluating Mischa’s papers.  Gregori and Vikenti would translate the books and reports into English.  Eli would review the translations, making note of anything strange, or seemed like it might be connected to his disappearance.  Those notes would go to Viktoriya, where she would read what Eli had passed along, and try to piece the information into what they already had, trying to make a bigger picture.

Murroh didn’t help much.  Unless he was guiding them to a new location, he actually didn’t help at all.  He spent most of his time back at his own hotel – he stayed in a different location from the Russian, with his wife, or out with Valentina.  Eli didn’t seem to mind though.  Valentina was happy to have her father around, and honestly, Murroh wasn’t more of a hindrance when he was around.

The Russians were all very nice to Eli.  Gregori and Vikenti’s English skills weren’t great, but they were always polite.  They would have to use Viktoriya as a translator, but the fact that they didn’t ignore him because he was mute made Eli feel valued.  The conversations weren’t only limited to work.  Gregori liked to talk to Eli about soccer and beer, and Vikenti liked Eli’s suits.

Eli often ate lunch with Viktoriya during their hour out of the office.  She was as strict about getting work done, as she was with putting the work aside.  During their meals, they often talked about learning to sign, learning Russian, or music.  Sometimes he would insist on only communicating with her if she signed to him, but still carried on conversations.  There were other times when Viktoriya would only speak in Russian to Eli, albeit in very simple sentences.  She was throwing Eli into a crash course, he was doing the same to her, and both were doing better than they would be with books alone.

Eli never worked on the weekend.  Viktoriya gave everyone Saturday and Sunday off to worship as they wanted, even though she did not attend any form of service herself.  Eli sometimes wondered what Viktoriya did during her free time.  Judging by her appearance, he assumed she worked out in her hotel’s gym, or maybe practiced her sign language.  Eli hoped she had another hobby to keep her busy.  She seemed too nice to be sitting, bored and alone in her hotel room.

Eli arrived home Friday evening with his mail tucked under his arm and his umbrella hanging over his wrist.  It had been raining that morning, but the sun had prevailed by lunch time.  Eli wasn’t sure what to attribute it to, but even he noticed the modern update to his wardrobe.  This time he wore a slim cut navy button-down shirt with a slightly darker navy tie.  His dark grey slacks were tailored to his build, and held up with a black belt.  Just as he dropped his umbrella in the stand, Ceres and Dinah were running to him, barking happily.  With two quick snaps, both dogs were quieted and seated, though they were still fidgeting.

“Don’t let your little girls play you, Eli.  My dad and I had them out an hour ago.” Valentina called from the kitchen.

“Is he still here?” Eli asked, looking around the apartment with his hounds at his heels.

“No, he left.   He was taking Ekaterina out to dinner tonight.  I guess every night is out to dinner when you don’t live here, but they were going someplace nice.” Valentina explained.  She slid to his side and planted a kiss on his cheek. “How was work?”

“Good.  We translated three books so far.” Eli returned the kiss, and then threw the mail down on the table.  He never told her any details about his work.  Eli had signed documents, holding his tongue regarding such matters. “How was your day?”

“Nice.  I went shopping for my fall wardrobe.  I took the dogs to the groomer.  Got my nails done…” Valentina scrunched her nose as she thought. “And then my dad came over and we talked for a while.”

“Was it something important, or just family togetherness?” Eli watched her go through the mail.  There was another letter from Utkin, but Eli just ignored it.  Instead, he took a seat on the couch, letting Ceres rest her head on his knee and Dinah lick his hand.

“We were talking about his work mostly.  What he could tell me.  The Russians keep a lot from him.  I’m sure there’s more to that story than what he tells me, but it’s none of my business. We talked about New York City, and London, and some other things.  Nothing you need to worry about.” Valentina told him as she returned to the kitchen.

“Are you already cooking?  I thought we could go to the pub tonight.” Eli looked over his shoulder at her.

“I have a meeting tomorrow morning, at eight.  I probably shouldn’t.  I was thinking about a small meal and then maybe a movie here at home.  We could have a nice night in.” She suggested.

Eli’s eyebrows rose over the frames of his glasses, but he didn’t say anything.  He calmed the dogs, giving the sisters attention until they were satisfied.  Dinah and Ceres shared a large dog bed by a heat vent.  He’d given each of them their own at first, but they preferred to sleep curled up on one another.  In a way, Eli was reminded of himself and Levi.  They could have their own lives, but they just felt happier when their sibling was close.  Watching his dogs took his mind off of Valentina’s behavior.  Something wasn’t right, but he wasn’t sure. 

With the recent changes in his life and his schedule, Eli and Valentina saw less of each other during the day.  Most of their time together was in the evenings at on the weekends.    They had dinner together every evening, Eli and Valentina went out to see movies and concerts, or go to a bar, and they spent most nights together, in the more meaningful sense.  Valentina said she was fine with the arrangement, but up until just a week ago, she was still asking him about meeting with Utkin.

Valentina slipped in beside him on the couch, breaking him from his thoughts. “We’ll go to the pub tomorrow night.  I’ll call Levi and Lin and invite them too.”

“Maybe we should invite Viktoriya, Gregori and Vikenti too.” Eli offered, taking her hand.

“Oh.” The smile faltered on Valentina’s face.  “Yes, we could do that.  If you think they’d accept our invitation.  Captain Sima doesn’t seem to like me, Eli.”

“No, she likes you Valentina.  You are her cousin!  It’s just difficult because of work.  I’m sure if it was just a social call, you two would be friends.”  Eli reassured her.

Valentina stood up, wandering away from the couch again. She didn’t say anything at first, and Eli couldn’t tell if she was mad or if he had offended her with the suggestion.  He turned to watch her, but it seemed that Valentina was just making dinner. 

Something felt wrong.  The rain had passed, but Eli couldn’t help but feel like a storm was building.