Looking For The Light (Book 2)

Looking For The Light Chapter 15 - Valentina

            Valentina wasn’t sure what she had expected out of a military helicopter, but she was disappointed just the same.  Cramped, uncomfortable, dark and hot, she had been offered the seat in the cockpit out of courtesy while the other two soldiers sat in the cabin.  It was loud, sitting up by the controls, and had to wear a headset to both block out the noise from the blades cutting through the air, and to talk to Kozlov. 

The older man seemed to pilot the helicopter as easily as Valentina might drive a car.  He actually spent his time singing along to whatever came on a media player, nodding his head and moving in his seat.  It was a strange mix of music, most of it she recognized from her time in England, until a few key songs brought back the memories – these were songs Eli would listen to when he was swimming.  This was his playlist, his music, maybe even his media player.

Something sparked a jealousy in Valentina, that Eli would share his music with this Russian soldier.  That Kozlov would call Eli his friend.  Was it Kozlov that sat by Eli’s side every day while he was in the coma? No, it was her and Levi.

“Don’t you think you should pay more attention to the controls?” She snipped at him.  He rolled his eyes at her.

“Don’t you think you should be nicer to the man controlling the helicopter?” He asked back.  She couldn’t believe how rude he was.  And he was Eli’s friend?

“I’m sorry,” She said, not meaning it. “There is so much to take in.  Eli’s been shot and my cousin is supposed to be protecting him?  And you are supposed to be protecting me?  Why?”

“Well, I think the first step would be to start calling Viktoriya by her name.  She is your cousin, yes.  But she’s a person.  She one of my best friends, and one of Eli’s and devaluing her as ‘your cousin’ doesn’t show much respect for her.” Vikenti turned the music down.  “You know, when you walked out on him, you forced him to make a lot of choices.  He’s not the same man you left in London.  And I don’t think you are the same either.”

“We all change.  I highly doubt you are the same person now as you were when you nineteen.” She didn’t really want to talk about Eli, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t be letting the topic go.

“No, of course not.  When I was nineteen, I was idealistic, foolish and ignorant.  I grew up in a wonderful community, and my parents taught me that that I could do anything I wanted.  And I moved to Moscow and the real world hit me hard.  I was still heartbroken then, and I acted like I was invincible to make up for it.” Vikenti explained, daring to take his eyes off the sky to look at her.

“So what do you think you are now?”  She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“More of a realist.  I’m more careful too.  I want to think I’m wiser for my experiences.  I appreciate more what my parents gave me.  I appreciate now the love I had then,” She tried to stay mad at him as he explained himself, but she found it harder to maintain an indignant attitude toward a man that was being nothing but honest with her.  Maybe he really was Eli’s friend.

“Why did he go to Paris?” She asked quietly.  She needed to repeat herself in a louder tone.

“We’d exhausted our leads in London, and Eli was depressed.  We were afraid we were losing him.  So, as a team, we decided to move on.  We needed to take Eli some place new, untainted with memories of pain or happiness.  Some place entirely new for him.  We asked him, and he chose Paris.” Vikenti shrugged.  He was waiting for another question, but she didn’t have one for him.

Any questions she had for or about Eli, she’d ask him in person when she saw him.  Until then, she just wanted to sort out her mind.  If the man she was with for the past weeks wasn’t Eli, then who was he?  He had everything to prove he was Eli.  He had a license from England, and a passport.  Valentina sighed and rested her head back against the seat and wondered how much longer the flight would take.