house. That would only be right. After all, he was the reason she was there. She owed him that much. That is, assuming he cared. She thought about it again. Of course he cared.
Lunch had sounded like a good idea, so she went to the refrigerator and peeked inside. Time to make a shopping list. She took out a few eggs, some milk, cheddar cheese, bacon, and butter. There was a package of crescent dinner rolls in the refrigerator door. She checked the expiration date. There were still a few days left.
Sunday brunch sounded like a good idea. She looked for a split of champagne in the wine refrigerator and some pear nectar. Perfect. She’d make herself a Bellini.
That was something she missed—Sunday brunch with Kara. They would go to a restaurant, have a leisurely brunch, then go to an art exhibit. In the summer months, they would go to the park and listen to live music, usually a jazz combo or an ethnic band from the Caribbean. Once, there was an accordion player with a real monkey. The accordion player wasn’t all that great, but the monkey provided plenty of entertainment. He was a feisty little thing, trying to look up the ladies’ dresses. They wondered who the bigger pervert was, the player or the monkey. Someone must have taught that monkey his tricks. One of his favorites was picking a man’s wallet out of his pocket. But the player would never let the monkey keep the wallet, although once it was returned to its rightful owner, most owners felt compelled to give the monkey a reward. Seemed odd and contradictory, getting a reward for returning something that you had stolen. But it was all in good fun. Those were happier days, for sure. Maybe one day she would have happy days again. Baby steps.
She took her Bellini and one of the burner phones into her walk-in closet and made her weekly calls to her mother and Kara. Mom was first.
“Hey, Mom! How are you?” Ellie was feeling pretty chipper.
“Hey, sweetie. I’m doing fine. How’s my super-spy daughter doing?”
“Mom, I’m not a spy.” Ellie laughed.
“Well, with all the secrecy, you’d think you were working for the CIA.”
Ellie was quiet for a moment.
“Honey?”
“Yes, Mom, you’d think that, wouldn’t you?” It occurred to her that a CIA gig wouldn’t be such a bad cover. She’d use that if things ever got out of hand.
“So, when is this secret mission of yours going to be over? We miss you.”
“I miss you, too. I wish I had enough information to give you, but I honestly don’t know. Once I’m finished here, they’re going to send me somewhere else.” She was running out of countries in her head.
“Well, I hope they’re not sending you to some ungodly places with terrorists and all.”
“Now, Mom, we discussed this before. I am not in any physical danger,” she lied.
“I should hope not. But I’ve heard some of these government contract jobs are in remote areas of the world. In uncivilized areas.”
Ellie moved a few pair of shoes to get more comfortable. This was going to be a long make-Mom-feel-OK conversation.
“I can assure you I am not in an uncivilized area.” She picked up one of her sneakers, gave it a disgusted look, and tossed it aside. “It is remote, but not in a bad way.”
“Can you explain further, or would that be a breach of your contract?” her mother prodded.
“I’m not in Antarctica. That much I can tell you.” At least that much was true.
“That’s reassuring.” Her mother laughed quietly. “Do you have any idea how much longer this is going to be?” Ellie’s mother asked the same question week after week, hoping Ellie’s answer would change.
“Maybe a couple more months,” Ellie lied. She had no idea how long it would be, but that was better than telling her mother it was yet to be determined. It would also make her mother relax if she thought it would be over soon.
“So what else is happening?” Ellie took a sip of her brunch beverage. “Any local gossip?” She wondered if her mother knew that Rick had been in touch with Christian.
“The library is putting the summer reading programs together. They want to have more than one a week, but I told them it’s not worth the effort. Kids want to play outside, go swimming, camp, and all that.”
“You’re probably right, Mom.”
“And Kara agrees with me. She got into it the other day with Mrs. Wilson.”
“Uptight Willie?” Ellie remembered