“Markov indicated Evgeni was spotted last Thursday by the river canal” Leon said cooly, flipping through anonymous notes with letters cut out from magazines. There was a bridge, famously known as the Hohenzollern Bridge, where Evgeni was spotted. I was busy on my computer, using our already depreciated technology, to determine a more precise location and search limited and distorted security footage . We had been working together for the last few months so that I would be protected in case our location and operation was discovered.

“Why don’t you scope it out today? The only video footage I’ve seen of him is thirty seconds of a bypass and a moment in a coffee shop” I suggest to him, turning around in my chair.

He sighed, his large, broad shoulders slouching as he did so. The sloping “v” in his shirt sculpted his upper body perfectly. How good he looked was damn near all I could think of, not the Russian spy threatening the national defense and security of America.

“I will. We can go now and be back by twenty-one hundred hours?” he asked. I was caught off guard as this sort of outing was dangerous and I had little firearm experience, although I was excellent with a slide-action rifle.

“Ready to go?” he asked, his warm hand gently placed on my left shoulder. I nodded, zipping up my parka, right to the top to avoid a wind burn. “Lass uns gehen” he said quietly as he opened the door for me. I swiftly walked through the door and we left together down a narrow flight of steel stairs that led outside to the path across the bridge and to downtown Cologne.

The wind was bitter and frigid, burning my face despite my efforts to control it. I should have worn a scarf. I glanced at Leon every chance I could get without him noticing, as I was falling behind trying to keep up with him. For every step he took, I took two more. He was so incredibly focused and observant of everything around him but me. I took the occasional glance out of the corner of my eye to see if we had been followed.

Mein Herz rast

As we approached the coffee shop and the townsfolk spread into the streets, Leon took my hand in his, a perfect match, my hand fitting into his much larger one.

“We won’t look so suspicious like this” he added.

“Of course” I agreed as we neared the coffee shop, secretly counting my lucky stars he’d do this more often.

The coffee shop was supposedly unpopular although I never understood why, given that it matched the famed gothic architecture of Cologne. The walls were a dark green, almost black from a quick glance and there were only three large lights that flickered, providing just enough light to read from the paper and see the person across from you. I could see why this would be an effective daytime hideout for Evgeni, but he missed the hidden security cameras at the far left corner of the shop that had given away his location.

“Können wir zwei Latten haben?” Leon asked politely to the barista at the counter. She nodded and began our order, two regular lattes. I took a seat on the large, black leather armchair across from Leon and pulled out my laptop. We discussed what we thought of the footage and spent hours zooming in and out to find something more of value. That’s when I spotted it! Nearly falling out of his back pocket ten seconds into the footage, was a slip of paper. I zoomed in and discovered a receipt for a hotel. He was staying in a hotel, here in Cologne.

“I know the Novum. It is one of the oldest hotels in Old Cologne,” Leon started, showing me its location on the map. “I find it hard to believe he would choose it as a hideout”.

“Maybe it’s a decoy, but either way we should check,” I said, closing my computer. He put his map down abruptly.

“No,” he said sternly. “I will check, you will return home. It could be a decoy as you say” he finished. I shrugged, agreeing with his concern for my safety.

Leon was kind enough to walk me all the way home, though he didn’t hold my hand the entirety of the journey back. I sensed that he wanted to because he kept playing with his now empty hand as we walked along. We arrived at my apartment building shortly after eight that evening, much earlier than we had initially expected. Leon’s calming disposition altered the minute he took his first step into my apartment. He stopped dead in his tracks suddenly. His eyes were intense now, more intense than they had ever been before. I could feel him stiffening up as he began to rummage through my apartment. “Someone was here” he said abruptly. My heart stopped. It began to beat faster and faster as the seconds dragged on.

“What do you mean? How? How could they have…” I gulped. He began by showing me my photographs I had brought along with me to Germany; photographs of myself riding my father’s prize winning Thoroughbreds and some from medical school.

“What? How does that prove he was here?” I asked him.

“They have been moved,” Leon stated. “This one here, it has moved two inches from where it was when you and I left. And this one, the one of you with your horse, it was approximately two inches from the corner of the shelf, now it is four inches away” he finished, rearranging the photos as he spoke. He began to walk around the apartment, searching for more alterations.

“And here,” he began, calling me to my bedroom. “Your duvet is always tightly tucked in with no creases. There is now a crease where a hand was placed” he said, demonstrating what happened.

I thought he was insane, overreacting even. But I realized that he had been trained to find hidden messages and secrets. He had been trained to be observant and have an impeccable memory. Leon was right; someone had been here. When he opened my nightstand to find it empty, I believed him.

“My gun!” I exclaimed. “It’s gone. That was my back up and now it’s gone!”. Leon searched the rest of the apartment trying to locate it and any other missing items. My gun was missing as well as my second computer with all my backup files on Evgeni’s case.

“Wir müssen jetzt gehen!” Leon stammered. I barely had a moment to process before he began packing a bag of my belongings and personal hygiene products. I had enough clothes packed to last over two weeks and he managed to pack it so tightly and organized that it all fit in my medium-sized duffel bag. “Is there anything else you want me to bring? We need to leave now and I do not know how long we will be away,” he asked me. I shook my head, unable to find the words to respond, my body and mind in deep shock.

We left the apartment within the hour and quickly made a stop at Leon’s apartment to get a few of his belongings. I was surprised to see him pack so little, given he had packed the majority of my things. He scurried around his apartment, looking for extra things to bring, or things that had been taken. Luckily, none of his weapons were missing, and so he brought them all; four pistols, one shotgun, and two rifles. The casings for each used up much of the room in his small, black BMW. We covered them with our duffel bags and extra coats and blankets.

Next Chapter: Chapter Three