Richard Montanari - The Devil_s Garden

“Four years old,” the woman said. “My, my.” She smiled, leaned back, looked at Aleks. “My sister has twins. They’re grown now, of course.”

A man standing behind Aleks – the next person in line – cleared his throat, perhaps indicating that Aleks’s small talk was wasting his time. Aleks turned and stared at the man until he looked away. Aleks turned back. The woman behind the counter smiled, rolled her eyes.

“I’ll need to get the applications,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

The woman disappeared into the back room for a few moments. She returned with a pair of forms. “Do you have photographs of the girls?”

Aleks held up the manila envelope. “I have them right here.”

The woman opened the envelope, took out the photographs. “They’re so adorable.”

“Thank you,” Aleks said.

“They look just like you.”

“And now you flatter me.”

The woman laughed. “Okay. First off I’ll need to see some identification.”

Aleks reached for his wallet. He handed the woman his newly minted driver’s license. It had Aleks’s photograph, and Michael Roman’s name.

This was the first test. Aleks watched the woman’s eyes as she scanned the license. She handed it back. Hurdle cleared.

“Next you’ll need to fill these out, and I need you to both sign at the bottom of each form.” She handed Aleks a pair of application forms for the issuance of a passport to a minor under the age of sixteen.

“Both?” Aleks asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. She glanced around the crowded room. “Isn’t the girls’ mother here?”

“No,” Aleks said. “She had to work today.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the woman replied. “You seemed so organized, I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“Your wife needs to be present.”

“We both need to be here at the same time?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. Either that, or she needs to fill out form DS-3053.”

“What is that?”

“That is a statement of consent form. It needs to be filled out, signed, and notarized. Would you like to take one with you?”

“Yes,” Aleks said. “That would be most helpful.”

The American bureaucracy, Aleks thought. It was at least as wearying as the Soviet edition. He now knew that everything had changed. He would not be able to get the girls out of the country legally. He also knew that the girls would not need a passport to get over the border into Canada, only the equivalent of their birth certificates, which he already had. The Canadian border was not that far away.

The woman returned in a moment with the form, handed it to Aleks.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” he said.

“That will be fine.” The woman stole another glance at the girls, smiled at them. “Where are you headed?”

Aleks tensed at the question. “I’m sorry?”

“On your trip. Where are you headed?”

“We are going to Norway,” Aleks said. “We have family there.”

“How nice.”

“Have you ever been to Norway?”

The woman looked up. “Gosh, no,” she said. “I’ve only been out of the country once, and that was on my honeymoon. We went to Puerto Rico. But that was a few years ago.” She winked at him. “I was a bit younger then.”

“Weren’t we all?” The woman smiled. Aleks looked at her nametag. Bettina.

He extended his hand. “You’ve been most kind and helpful, Bettina.”

“My pleasure, Mr Roman.”

Aleks took the girls by the hands and, noticing the security camera over the door, lowered his head. Once out in the parking lot, Aleks put the girls in the back seat, fastened their safety belts. He got back into the car.

“Ready?”

The girls nodded.

Aleks turned the key, started the car. And it came to him.

He would take Abby with them. As long as he had her husband, and she could see that the girls were safe, she would go along. It would make crossing the border that much easier.

Canada, he thought. Once they were safely over the border, he would cut the woman’s throat, bury her, and he and the girls would disappear for as long as it took. He would be one step closer to his destiny.

They would leave tonight.

Abby stood at the foot of the bed. The dress was laid out in front of her, along with a pair of black stiletto heels. Kolya sat on a chair at the other side of the room, next to the windows that looked onto the street. Every so often he would part the curtains.

Abby turned to face Kolya, held the black dress in front of her. Vera Wang. She’d only worn it once.

“Oh, yeah. That’s the one,” Kolya said. “Put it on.”

When she had taken the shoebox from the shelf she had slipped the . 25 inside. The box now sat on the bed.

Abby turned away from Kolya, slipped out of her sweats and fleece top. She was grateful she was wearing a bra.

“Don’t get all shy on me now,” Kolya said.

Abby stole a glance at Kolya in the dresser mirror. He parted the curtains for what seemed like the tenth time, glancing down at the driveway. He was worried about Aleks returning.

“I’ll do anything I have to do for my daughters, you know,” Abby said.

“Yeah?” Kolya asked. “Anything?”

She slipped the dress over her head, moved the shoebox closer to the edge of the bed. “Anything.”

“I’ve got a few ideas.”

Abby backed up a few inches, pulled her hair out of the way. “I need you to zip me up.”

Kolya laughed. “Why? You’re just going to take it off in a minute.”

Abby shifted the top of the shoe box, but didn’t open it fully. “Please,” she said. “This is how it has to be.”

She sensed him getting up behind her. He ran his hands along her hips. The revulsion she felt was complete.

“Goddamn you are one fine looking woman,” he said. “This is even better than the nurse uniform.” He reached over, zipped up the back of her dress. She slipped on her high heels.

When Abby turned around to face him, she picked up a small atomizer of perfume, spritzed twice. She put the atomizer down, slipped her arms around his neck. “I don’t like it rough, okay?”

“You can have it any way you want it.”

Abby glanced down at Kolya’s waist, back up. “I don’t think I can relax if you have that gun on you. Guns scare me.”

“Forget it.”

Abby ran a hand through his hair. “Look. Kolya. What am I going to do? Aleks has my girls. You have me. I’m not going to do anything stupid.” Abby ran a finger over his lips. “If I’m nice to you, maybe you’ll be nice to me. Maybe we can work something out.” She moved even closer. She could see Kolya’s nostrils widen slightly, taking in her perfume. “You said yourself that you just met Aleks. Maybe you don’t have any loyalty to him. Maybe you could be loyal to me.”

Kolya studied her for a few moments. He wasn’t buying all of this, but other engines within him had been engaged. He peeked out the window one more time, turned back to Abby. “You try something, I’m gonna get really fuckin’ mad.”

“I know,” Abby said. “I won’t.”

Kolya, took the pistol from his waistband, ejected the magazine. He flipped on the safety, racked the slide, checked the chamber. Seeing it empty, he put the magazine in his jeans pocket, the pistol on top of the dresser. He turned back to Abby, sliding his hands around her hips. He squeezed her hard, pulled her into him. Abby could feel his thickening erection. “That’s not a full clip in my pocket, lady. I’m just happy to see you.” He laughed at his own joke.

Abby leaned in, kissed him gently on the lips. When she pulled back, Kolya’s eyes glazed for a moment, and Abby Roman knew she had him. She shifted her weight onto her left foot, centered herself, and brought her right knee up as hard as she could, slamming it into Kolya’s groin.