Part 7 by Robin
Lee Stetson sat alone in
the interrogation room. The room was small and sparse, with only
two chairs and a metal table. There was no video camera that he could
observe, and no mirror window. He sat down in one of the rickety
plastic chairs and waited impatiently.
Given the size of the custom’s
building, he assumed Amanda wasn’t far away, but he was worried about her
regardless. Were they questioning her? Had their cover been
blown? Were they looking specifically for Amanda King or were they
just holding them because they could?
The minutes ticked by, turning
into a half hour. Frustrated and anxious, Lee stood up and paced the small
room for a while. Eventually, he noticed that an hour had passed
since he’d been separated from his wife. Sitting back down on the chair,
Lee was beginning to really worry. Finally, the customs officer opened
the door, came inside, and sat down.
“What seems to be the problem,
officer?” Lee asked politely in fluent Russian.
“Your paperwork is incomplete,”
he snapped harshly. “You cannot cross the border.”
“I’m sure it’s just
a mix up. We can work things out. My wife and I are on our
honeymoon.”
“Why would you, an American,
want to come to Romania for your honeymoon?” the guard asked Lee, obviously
not believing him.
“You know, I asked my wife
the same thing. I wanted to go to Hawaii - skimpy bikinis, tropical
drinks, and beautiful sunsets. But no, she wants to travel abroad,
see the Romanian Athenaeum and The Village Museum,” Lee shook his head
and explained confidently and calmly. “Keep the wife happy and everyone
is happy, if you know what I mean!”
The officer laughed and nodded,
then replied in English, “Women!”
“You’re married,” Lee asked
him.
“Yes, although I know my
wife would prefer a Hawaiian holiday,” the officer answered. Then
staring over at Lee, he asked, “What’s your wife’s maiden name?”
“West, Amanda West… why?”
Lee answered without missing a beat, but he already knew why he was asking.
“No reason,” the custom officer
answered with a bored shrug.
“So what exactly is the problem?”
Lee questioned innocently, hoping for a quick resolution to escape the
Soviet Union and across the border to Romania.
“You don’t have the proper
paperwork to leave the Soviet Union. You also don’t have transit
insurance for your vehicle.”
“Oh, so how do we go about
resolving the problem?” Lee asked, having expected to have some kind of
issue at the border.
“The rental car company should
have given you additional paperwork. You will also need to purchase
transit insurance,” the guard answered.
“You know, when we picked
up the car, I know we bought insurance. Would you permit me to go
back to our car and check?” Lee suggested, waiting for a response from
the officer.
“I doubt you have the proper
documentation, but you can look if you want,” the officer nodded for Lee
to get up and they exited the small room.
While they were walking out
of the edifice, Lee glanced around the building, noticing a few other doors
in the short hallway. He assumed that in one of the other rooms
was Amanda. As they walked back to the car, he wondered if she was
still being questioned or was she sitting alone, worrying and waiting?
The officer observed patiently
while Lee rummaged through the glove box and the console. Finding some
paperwork from the rental car company he handed it to the officer.
“Is this what you need?”
he asked.
“This is your rental agreement,”
the man explained as he thumbed through the paperwork, “but I don’t see
any transit insurance.”
Lee gritted his teeth in
frustration, but then suggested, “Would you mind if we checked the trunk?
Maybe my wife stuffed it into her suitcase? You know how women pack?”
The officer chuckled, but
nodded his consent.
Lee opened the trunk where
the suitcases with the vodka and cigarettes were inside. Unzipping
the bag, Lee pulled out a couple of cartons of cigarettes. Casually looking
over his shoulder, he observed the officer and noticed the smile growing
across it.
“Do you smoke?” Lee questioned
coolly.
The customs officer nodded.
“Would a couple of cartons
of these help with our issue?”
“What’s in the other bag?”
the customs agent asked curiously.
Lee didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Vodka.”
The officer glanced around
to see if anyone was looking before he nodded. “I’m sure we could work
something out,” he answered. “After all, we wouldn’t want to ruin
your honeymoon.”
Lee grinned with relief.
The officer nodded.
“Get in the car, I will drive it around to the back of the office and I
can approve your transit insurance from there.”
Lee gladly got into the car,
allowing the custom’s official to drive it behind the building. Quickly
and covertly Lee placed the bag containing the vodka and another bag containing
the cigarettes into the officer’s personal vehicle before they returned
inside to the customs office.
The official called out to
the other officer in Romanian. He nodded, walked down the short hallway
and opened the door across from where Lee had been waiting. “You’re free
to go.”
Moments later, Amanda Stetson
stepped into the corridor. “Thank you, so much. I knew this
was just a big misunderstanding. All I want to do is to spend the
day at The Village Museum and maybe get to see the Romanian Athenaeum,”
Amanda chatted at the other officer.
“Amanda, darling,” Lee called
out to his wife.
“Lee!” Amanda greeted him
as she rushed to his side and gave him a kiss.
“Are you all right?” Lee
called out to his wife.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine.
Is everything all right?”
“Yes, we found everything
we needed. You packed it in your suitcase,” he answered, knowing
she’d understand.
Amanda put her hand to her
face. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry I caused so much trouble.
We just got married, and we’re on our honeymoon. My husband wanted
to go to Hawaii, but I’ve always wanted to travel abroad…”
“Yes, yes,” the custom agent
nodded and rolled his eyes. “You already explained. Have a nice trip.”
Amanda reached out for Lee’s
hand, and they kissed briefly. Lee wrapped his arm around his wife’s
waist and the strolled quickly towards the exit.
Before they left the building,
they overheard the one custom’s officer remark, “I didn’t think that woman
would ever shut up. She talked incessantly!”
The other officer chuckled,
“Honeymooners!”
Once they got to the car,
Lee glanced over at his wife and winked. Then, he started the engine,
floored the gas pedal and drove across the border into Romania.
“Welcome to Romania,” Lee
said to his wife, reaching for her hand and kissing it.
“Thank you. I’m glad
to be out of the Soviet Union,” Amanda exclaimed as she pulled off the
blonde wig and let her brunette hair cascade down to her shoulders.
“For a little while, I thought we were in big trouble.”
“Yeah, when they asked me
your maiden name, I thought we were done, but the cigarettes and the vodka
clinched it,” Lee admitted with relief. “Now we need to get a hold
of Billy and update him on why we were delayed.”
“The sooner we get a flight
out of Bucharest, the better. Do you think we’ll have any problem
at the airport? You don’t think they’ll be looking for me in Romania?”
Amanda worried.
“I doubt they’ll have anyone
looking for you in Bucharest, but just to be sure, you’re going home as
Mrs. Stetson, and don’t lose the wig.”
“What do you think about
me staying Mrs. Stetson – permanently? No more, ‘Mrs. King’ and no
more lies about our marriage status…” Amanda Stetson asked with a raised
eyebrow, glancing over at her husband to observe his reaction.
Lee smiled over at his wife
with relief, having wanted to broach the subject himself. “I think
it’s a wonderful idea. When we get home we come clean to both our family
and the Agency, but as for the wig…”
“Forget that, Stetson, the
wig will be history as soon as we land in the good ole, USA, but it’s time
to be a real family. I will still worry about the safety of the boys, but
they’re older now and they need to hear the truth.” Amanda admitted softly.
“We come clean about the
Agency to the boys; we need to take precautions, set up some ground rules.
Leatherneck and I can put in a security system. You have to admit, it would
be safer for the family if we were living together,” Lee reminded his wife
as they continued to drive to Bucharest.
Amanda reached over for her
husband’s hand. “First we need to get home.”
“We will, Mrs. Stetson,”
Lee promised as they reached a small town. Lee slowed down the vehicle,
looking for a telephone. Spotting one outside a store, he pulled
the car into a parking lot. “I better check in with Billy and update
him on our progress. We’ll be on a plane back to the States before
you know it, and we can set the Stetson family future into motion!”
“There’s nothing I’d like
more, Mr. Stetson.”
End Part 7
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Stories
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