While Jennifer was in the shower, Jonathan ordered dinner and made some phone calls. Then taking a glass of champagne, he sat by the window watching the streets of San Francisco.
"Why is it lately I always find you pensively looking out the window?" Jennifer asked as she came in the room.
"I’m not pensive this time," he said getting up and taking Jennifer in his arms. "I’m content, grateful, satisfied, you name it. You have fulfilled every dream I ever had."
"Ah, what a nice thing to say." Jennifer welcomed his lips to hers but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Dinner is served," Jonathan announced as he opened the door.
"So what have we got?" Jonathan said as they spread their dinner and papers on the floor in a picnic.
"Should we start from the beginning?"
"Okay. Rostov. Why did Rostov pick you ..."
"Jonathan!" Jennifer said insulted. "I am a good writer."
Jonathan smiled. "There is no doubt about that darling. But is that why he asked you to write the story?"
Jennifer thought a moment. "You think that may be he asked me so he could tell you about the Valentines?"
"Maybe."
"So why not just go to you? Why call me about a story?"
"I don’t know. Maybe he picked you because you could speak Russian and he thought that would make you more understanding and sympathetic?"
"Hmmm," Jennifer nodded as she took a bite of hamburger.
"The question is: what would he have told you? Was the ‘truth’ part of the deal or did that just come up because he was dying?"
"And is the truth about who killed him or what we found in the box?"
Jonathan looked up at Jennifer. "We seem to have questions for everything but not a single answer."
"Let’s go the box. What do you think Armageddon is?" Jennifer asked.
"I don’t know."
"And, were the Valentines and Rostov working together?"
"I imagine they were. The question is, who were they working for?"
"The Valentines were French and Rostov was Russian. Who is Fitzmeyer and his men? Who were they working for?" Jennifer added.
"You know the more we do this, the more confused I get."
"Me too. Did Stanley have anything to add?"
"He said there is no record of a Jonathan Charles Hart before my third birthday, except for my birth certificate which they know was created at the request of the orphanage."
"That’s interesting."
"And, there is no record of a Charles Jean Valentine after his third birthday."
"Coincidence?"
"It’s all coincidence. But is it more than that?"
"I wonder who it was you always asked for besides your mother at the orphanage? You think it could have been Rostov?"
"I couldn’t tell you."
"What about Avignon?"
"Stanley said he was still working on that."
"What about your contact in the military?"
"Well, I ended up waking Jake but he said he’d see what he could find out tomorrow and get back to us."
"Do you think we should copy this stuff since we have to give it to Hershel when we get back?"
"Yes, but we can do that tomorrow."
"So what’s the next step? Do we assume the truth is about you? Do we try to find this Fitzmeyer guy? He didn’t even know the Valentine’s had a child."
"Let’s see what Jake digs up. Maybe that will get us pointed in the right direction."
"You know Jonathan, have you ever noticed that when I speak French, you understand me even though you can’t speak it?"
Jonathan thought a moment. "No I never did."
"And yesterday, you said French lulled you. Mother’s voices lull."
"Ah yez, zee great Dr. Freud now explains my penchant for French."
"Oh stop it." Jennifer said throwing a piece of bread at him. Jonathan’s eyes lit up in mischief as he threw a piece of his bread at her. Jennifer squared off with him. The two of them poised to strike with pieces of fruit and other assorted edibles. Neither moved from their stand off. Jonathan broke from Jennifer’s gaze looking for new ammunition. He picked up his dessert of cherry pie.
"You wouldn’t!" Jennifer dared. Jonathan smiled devilishly as he moved towards her. "You aren’t going to do this." Jonathan reached up to loosen Jennifer’s robe. Dipping his finger in the cherry filling, he ran his finger from her neck down between her breasts. Jennifer giggled at the feel of the cool fruit against her but gasped as Jonathan’s warm lips quickly lapped it up.
"Now that’s dessert," Jonathan said. Jennifer scooped some pie filling with her finger but before she could do anything Jonathan took her hand and put her finger in his mouth. He suckled the fruit from her finger as he stared straight into her eyes. Jennifer smiled but didn’t want to be taken in.
"That’s not fair," she said unconvincingly. Jonathan smiled as he slowly pulled her finger from his mouth.
"All is fair in love and war," he responded. He didn’t notice Jennifer’s other hand as she mashed it fully in the pie and then pressed it against his chest. His robe fell aside as she slid her hand down to his stomach and below.
"Hungry?" Jonathan asked.
"Ravenous," Jennifer responded as she pushed Jonathan back.
"How’d it go?" Max asked as Jonathan and Jennifer returned the next day.
"Well we have lots of questions but no answers," Jonathan replied.
"No word about your parents?"
"No and we aren’t sure they are my parents."
"Did you at least have fun?" Max asked knowing the answer already.
"That, we had lots of," Jennifer said smiling at Jonathan.
The phone interrupted their conversation.
"Hart residence." Max answered. "Who’s calling?" he asked after a moment. "Its Jake Adams."
"Great." Jonathan took the phone from Max. "Hi Jake."
"Jonathan, I’m glad I caught you."
"Did you find out anything?"
"Well, Jonathan I don’t know how you did it but, this request reaches way into the bowels of espionage."
"Really?" Jonathan’s brows rose. "What is it?"
"I can’t tell you over the phone. Can you fly out to Virginia this weekend? I have a house down in Charlottesville. We can meet and I can tell you then."
"Can’t you just tell me now?"
"No I can’t. And, I can’t meet you here in D.C. about it."
"What’s with all the cloak and dagger?"
"This is not stuff people want to let out Jonathan. And normally I wouldn’t but I figure I owe you since you saved my life..."
"Twice."
"Yes, twice. Can you meet me?"
"Yes, we’ll meet you."
"We?"
"Me and my wife," Jonathan replied.
"Perhaps you don’t want to involve her."
"She is the whole reason I am involved. Besides, I don’t go anywhere without her... if I can help it."
"Suit yourself." Jake gave Jonathan directions to his home from Dulles Airport.
"Its gorgeous here as long as you can stay in air conditioning," Jonathan said as they drove along the tree lined highway from Dulles airport to Charlottesville Virginia.
"Now you know why it was so easy to convince me to move to California," Jennifer replied. "August is the worst month here in the east. The humidity is awful."
"Ah, its good for your complexion."
"What’s wrong with my complexion?" Jennifer snapped.
Jonathan laughed. "You and your complexion are beautiful."
Jennifer eyed him suspiciously but let it go. "You know Jonathan, I’m not sure I like this whole thing. I feel like I’m in a Ludlum novel."
"Exciting isn’t it!"
"There are other authors who are exciting without being so dangerous."
"Like who. What author’s novel would you like to be in."
"How about Sidney Sheldon?"
"Isn’t there murder in some of his books?"
"Yes but there’s much more extra-curricular activities."
Jonathan looked at Jennifer and grinned. "I like the sound of that!"
It took two hours to reach Jake’s weekend home in Charlottesville. Nestled in the rolling hills outside of the city, the 1860’s home transported the couple back in time.
"Oh, it’s so lovely!" Jennifer exclaimed.
"Not much different than your house," Jonathan said.
"I know. This is what I miss about the east. The sense of history."
"Jonathan!" Jack said as he opened the door. "How the hell are you?"
"Never better," Jonathan said as they shook hands.
Jake looked over at Jennifer. "I can see why."
"Thank you." Jennifer replied.
"Jake, this is my wife Jennifer. Jennifer this is Jake Adams."
"It’s so nice to finally meet you," Jennifer said. "I have heard a lot about you."
"Really?" Jake asked. "I hope only the good stuff. Of course in the Navy in the middle of a war, there is little good stuff."
"She knows it all, Jake," Jonathan said.
"Well, I hope you don’t hold it against me. You married him so I guess you can’t have thought it was all that bad. Come on inside."
They all went through the door and headed towards the back. Off the kitchen there was a sunroom where they all congregated.
"Here I made some coffee and bought some bakery stuff." Jake set the food on the coffee table and took a seat. Jonathan and Jennifer sat next to each other on the couch. "I can’t believe you’re married." Jake shook his head at the site of Jonathan married.
"Why?" Jennifer asked. She had known Jonathan had been a bachelor for a long time but didn’t think it was something he was determined to be forever.
"Well, meeting you, I can see why he is married. He always had such high standards. We used to kid him about it."
Jennifer looked at Jonathan in surprise. Warmth filled her heart that she somehow met a standard that no other women could. Jonathan raised his brows and smiled.
"And you see, Jake," Jonathan said. "I was right."
"Yes, I guess you were. But you aren’t here to reminisce. You want to know about Armageddon and all these folks," Jake said taking out his list. "You know Jonathan, I worked hard to get where I am in intelligence. If this doesn’t get me killed, it will certainly get me court marshaled."
"Why would a 30 year old spy assignment be such a big deal. Most people must be dead." Jonathan took a sip of coffee.
"Let me ask you this? How did you ever find out about it?"
"Mr. Rostov came to me wanting me to do a story," Jennifer explained.
"On Armageddon?"
"I don’t know exactly. He handed me a bunch of old clippings," Jennifer reached in her bag to pull them out. "But he was murdered just before I arrived to the interview."
"Actually he was mortally wounded," Jonathan intervened. "He said something about the ‘truth’ and directed her to a head of lettuce."
"Lettuce?"
"It was one of those fake ones you hide valuables in. I found a safe deposit key in it."
"The box is where we found that information on Armageddon and a birth certificate." Jonathan put his coffee down.
"And you think that might be you? And your parents might be the Valentines?"
"I don’t know. There are certainly some interesting coincidences between Charles Valentine and me. Perhaps you can help us."
"I am going to tell you what I found out but you must proceed with caution. And if at all possible, keep my name out of it. This case is old but the ramifications are far reaching."
"Okay," Jonathan and Jennifer agreed and leaned forward to hear the details.
"If you are up on your history, you know that during the war the Soviets were our allies. But that was only because we both were afraid that the world would be speaking German if we didn’t team up. The fact is both countries hated each other over a little difference of political philosophy."
"Anyway, that difference caused both sides to make drastic plans on how to eliminate the other... thus the cold war. During WWII war, the United States got word that the Soviets were planning an attack on the United States. The plan was that the attack would be on the West Coast, which makes since because that side of the Soviet Union is closer to us than the East Coast. Hell, they could practically walk the Bering Straight. Many top officials poo-pooed the idea. The Soviets were struggling as it was keeping the Germans out. The West Coast was littered with U.S. military. I mean, we had chains in the San Francisco bay to keep submarines out. But the success of Pearl Harbor caused other officials to want to take action. They figured it was feasible because of how close the Soviet Union was to the United States. They could take Alaska and we wouldn’t know it. The other factor was the large group of Russian immigrants living in California. Granted they had been there for 50 or so years but they lived along the north coast of California."
"They weren’t thinking of putting them in internment camps like the Japanese immigrants were they?" Jennifer asked.
"Actually the story was that they were to be deported."
Jonathan and Jennifer looked at each other. "Deported?"
Jake nodded. "Even though they were citizens. But it never happened."
"Thank goodness," Jennifer said.
"I don’t think you’ll think so when you hear what happened."
"I’m not sure I want to hear," she replied.
Jake looked to the two of them. "In the end many of them died."
"Armageddon." Jonathan said, his voice flat from shock.
"How?" Jennifer asked.
"Again the information given to the public had to do with some sort of food poisoning from the fish they ate or something."
"What does the file say?" Jonathan asked.
"The file says that U.S. sources believes a double agent, by the name of Rostov, infected them with one of the viruses the Soviets were experimenting with."
"Why would he kill his own people?"
"That doesn’t make sense to me either. He was a double agent supposedly more on our side. The report indicates that he was afraid they’d report him to the KGB so he killed them."
"I don’t know, it doesn’t sound right to me. Any chance our Government ordered the virus spread." Jonathan shifted uncomfortably at the thought his own country could do something so terrible.
Jake looked to Jonathan and then Jennifer. "Its possible. Not likely though. The United States may have wanted to eliminate large a amount of people but for some reason its conscious prevailed unlike in Germany and Soviet Union."
"So how do the Valentine’s fit in?" Jennifer asked.
"They were part of the team working on the project. Charles Valentine was French by birth but a naturalized American. He grew up with nothing but traveled a lot during the first war. He met many influential people and learned to speak several languages. He lived in California but returned to France at the request of the United States when Hitler started taking over the world. He met a woman there who was working as a war correspondent. The story is that the U.S. let them work together once they were married. They returned to the United States before the war was over. It was his request to be reassigned and they gave him Armageddon."
"Unusual isn’t to get reassigned just because you want to?"
"I guess. Like I said, he traveled in top circles in Europe. Plus he spoke Russian. Perhaps they thought he could be better used there."
Jennifer furrowed her brow. "I don’t get it. If Rostov killed all his own people, why did the Valentines entrust their son to him?"
"There is no indication of a child." Jake reported.
Jonathan looked at Jake, "We know there was a son. Here is his birth certificate. But, what was going on that no one knew about the boy except Rostov?"
"This just doesn’t get any clearer does it darling?" Jennifer lamented.
"No it doesn’t. Jake, who headed the operation?"
"It was a George Fitzmeyer."
Jonathan and Jennifer looked at each other. "Fitzmeyer?"
"You know him then. He’s a zillion years old and the only one left of the group. His son is David Fitzmeyer."
"Senator Fitzmeyer of California?" Jonathan asked.
"One and the same."
"Jonathan, do you really think our country could do something so terrible as to exterminate a group of people?" Jennifer said in the car on the way to their hotel. Jake had offered to let them stay but both knew that if anyone cared about Armageddon and knew they were together, he would likely come after them.
"I don’t know darling. I don’t like to think so. On the other hand we did put the Japanese in concentration camps."
Jennifer fell silent grieving for all the suffering in the world in the name of freedom but actually for power.
Once in the hotel, Jennifer went to take a hot bath while Jonathan sifted yet again through the information. If Rostov killed his own people, then why didn’t his own country punish him when he returned? If he didn’t kill his own people, then who did? And how did Rostov get in the United States again. Even today, in 1977, tensions remain high between the two countries. Jonathan ran his fingers through his hair and then took a drink of his scotch. Fitzmeyer probably knew the truth....the truth! Was that what Rostov was after? To have his named cleared? It was common knowledge though that George Fitzmeyer was suffering from dementia. His son David used that fact to win the campaign by promising better care for the elderly. If Fitmyer and Rostov were the only two left, and Fitzmeyer was suffering from old age, then who killed Rostov? And who ransacked the house while he and Jennifer were on the boat?
"Are you okay darling?" Jennifer asked as she came into the room.
"I’m just trying to figure this thing out." Jonathan went over with her what he’d been thinking.
"I can see your point. Do you think we are on the wrong trail?"
"Well, we came here looking for my parents and we have found a huge government cover-up."
"I guess we are a little off." Jennifer began to massage Jonathan’s shoulders.
"Did Rostov tell you how he got into the country?" Jonathan asked.
"No. But I am sure as an old spy he has his ways. Why?"
"What if his government helped him back in to expose the injustice done to the Russian immigrants?"
"Why now?"
"Because the Soviet Union now is strong. They know we’re nervous about them."
Jennifer nodded. "That would be the truth then."
"Yes."
"So why wasn’t any of this in the lettuce... the safe deposit box?" Jennifer sat down next to Jonathan at the table. "The box had more personal than professional effects."
"I don’t know. Maybe he heard you dabbled in crime solving," Jonathan said.
Jennifer laughed. "Nick Charles I’m not." They sat for a moment in silence. "So what should we do next?"
"How would you like to visit Senator Fitzmeyer?" Jonathan asked.
"Do I have to dress up?"
"Not tonight you don’t," Jonathan said as he pulled Jennifer into his lap.
