The Chemist

“My parents evidently assumed I would be very boring. I cleared that misconception up pretty quickly.”

Alex chuckled once. As was so often true lately, the laugh carried with it the barely disguised sound of panic. It was nice to talk like she imagined normal people did, to try to forget that this might be the last friendly, mundane conversation she would ever have, but she couldn’t keep her thoughts focused on pleasantries.

Val patted her head. “It’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t have to pretend to have faith in the plan. That’s only for us suckers who are putting ourselves into the line of fire.”

“It’s not a bad plan,” Val assured her. “I’m just not a risk taker. I never have been.” She shrugged. “If I were brave, I would do it.”

“It wasn’t fair for me to ask you.”

“No, it was. I do… care about Kevin. Part of me just can’t believe that what you say is happening to him is actually happening. He’s always seemed so invulnerable. That’s what pulls me to him. Like I said, I’m not brave, so I’m fascinated with people who are. The other part of me…”

Val leaned back for a moment, the little brush with lip gloss on it trembling suddenly. Her face was still perfect, but suddenly it was the doll’s face again. Exquisite, but empty.

“Val, are you okay?”

Val blinked and her face came back to life. “Yes.”

“You’ll leave here, after your part, right?”

“Absolutely. I have lots of friends who can protect me. Maybe I’ll go visit Zhang. I’m sure he’s still stuffy, but he has an amazing place in Beijing.”

“Beijing sounds lovely,” Alex half sighed. If she lived through tonight, she’d do whatever she had to in order to get her hands on a passport. She’d blow the rest of her savings – all of Kevin’s drug money. To be out of the easy reach of the American government sounded like a practical version of heaven.

“If…” Though when was probably more appropriate, Alex thought to herself. “If you don’t hear from any of us by sunrise, go see Zhang. If I can, I’ll call you from a pay phone.”

Val smiled a little. “You have my number.” Her lips pursed. “You know, there’s a guy… I might be able to get my hands on a service-dog vest.”

Alex stared at her for a moment, then felt her face start to crumple. With the new plan, the suicidal plan, there was really no way for Alex to keep Einstein safe.

“That’s a brilliant idea. That makes me feel better.” Her positive words didn’t match her expression.

Val reached out with one bare foot and stroked it along Einstein’s back. His tail thumped once against the marble floor, but without much enthusiasm.

“Okay,” Val said in a brighter voice. “You’re done. I’ll throw on my things, and we’re off.”

While Val disappeared into the closet, Alex checked out her face. Val had done another excellent job. Alex looked pretty, but not flashy. The hair was obviously hers, which was important; she would definitely be scrutinized tonight, and a wig would be the most obvious tell. She looked more or less credible for the role she’d chosen. Of course, she’d feel more comfortable with no makeup at all – in her experience, that was the way people in this specific role presented themselves, without fuss or vanity. But that was just baggage from her past.

She knelt down on the floor beside Einstein. He looked up at her with eyes that were unmistakably pleading. She stroked his muzzle, then rubbed his ears.

“I’ll do everything I can,” she promised. “I won’t come back without him. If I screw this up, Val will take care of you. It will be okay.”

Einstein’s eyes didn’t change. They accepted no excuses or consolation prizes. They just begged.

“I’ll try,” she vowed. She laid her forehead against his ear for just a moment. Then, with a sigh, she got to her feet. Einstein put his head on his paws and huffed out his own sigh.

“Val?” Alex called.

“Two seconds,” Val called back. Her voice sounded far away, like she was at the other end of a football field. This bathroom was nice – like the bathroom in a fancy hotel suite – but not insane like Val’s other place. Maybe the excess here was saved for the closet.

She heard Val shut the closet door and glanced up; she felt a brief jolt of shock at the change, then nodded.

“That looks about right,” she approved.

“Thanks,” Val replied. “Some parts of being a spy I could handle.”

The outfit Val was wearing was not inconspicuous. She had on a long flowy dress kind of thing that covered her from chin to wrist to floor, similar to a sari, but with more coverage; it had scarf-like pieces that cascaded around her, obscuring the shape of her body. It looked like something straight off an avant-garde runway, and probably was. It was memorable. But from behind, all you could see about her body was that she was tall. She wore a thick, dark wig with corkscrew curls that jutted out wildly in every direction. It, too, called attention at the same time that it obscured the shape of her head and covered parts of her face. With the wide-framed black sunglasses she held in her hand, she would be well hidden.

“Shall we?” Val asked.

Alex took a deep breath and nodded.

Alex parked Val’s tacky green Jaguar at a meter on the hill overlooking a large, dingy-gray concrete office block. Val had insisted on the green car – a gift from another admirer, naturally. It was the one, she said, that she wouldn’t miss if she had to submerge it in a lake.