excerpt
When the two arrived at the airport in the taxi, later than expected and breathless, Hank rushed up to Jennifer with the words that made her blood freeze.
“Jen, Chopyk knows and he’s furious.” Hank noted the look of horror and the way Volodya grabbed her hand.
“How did he find out?” She didn’t have to ask again; she could see the answer in Hank’s eyes.
“What was I supposed to do? He cornered me. He thought I’d done something to Paul.”
“But I told him that Paul was going with me to Tula.” Her exasperation was turning into a bubble of fear that she could physically feel in her gut.
“Well, geez, you could have told me that…I didn’t know what to answer so I told him the truth—that Paul was staying in the Soviet Union.” He backed away from Jennifer’s anger. “He was going to find out today anyway. How were you going to hide his disappearance on the plane?”
“The same way we did before! It worked—remember, you idiot?” Her voice rose above a shout but then she realized they were still standing in the airport doorway, and she forced herself to stop.
But Hank continued, talking over her. “Listen, I think you should talk to him right now, get on the offensive because I didn’t tell him everything and I can’t figure out how much he knows.”
This rapid fire exchange in English left Volodya behind, but he was picking it up quickly.
“Let’s go meet your Professor Chopyk,” he said to Jennifer. “We tell him everything and get his blessing.”
Manolis Aligizakis 