Spy in a Little Black Dress - By Maxine Kenneth Page 0,102

was hope for this Cuban revolutionary movement after all.

Emiliano reached out with both arms and pulled her into his warm embrace.

“I will miss you, Jacqueline Bouvier, miss you more than I can say.”

“And I you.”

Emiliano leaned down and kissed Jackie full on the lips. Jackie knew that this was the last time this would happen and the memory of this kiss would have to last for a long time. The kiss simultaneously seemed to go on forever and was over in the blink of an eye. She didn’t recall who broke it off first, but suddenly, there they were, with Emiliano holding her at arm’s length. The time had come to say good-bye.

“Mi corazón,” whispered Emiliano tenderly. Jackie felt as though her own corazón might break in two.

There was more that they wanted to say to each other, much more. But there was not enough time to say it. So perhaps it was better to say nothing at all and let the silence do all the talking. They just stood there, holding each other and looking longingly into each other’s eyes until Papa barked out, “The tide’s coming in, and I’m not getting any younger. So could we please haul anchor? Now!”

The mood broken, Jackie and Emiliano reluctantly let go of each other. Then Jackie had an idea and said, “Come with us.”

“What?” Emiliano asked.

“Come with us. To America. You too, Gabriela. Sanchez knows who you are. Your lives are in jeopardy if you remain here. So come to America, where you’ll be safe.”

Emiliano looked at Gabriela, who adamantly shook her head, and turned his attention to Jackie.

“I’m sorry, but this we cannot do,” he said. “Cuba is our home. We are committed to a cause. To leave now would be an act of cowardice on both our parts. So we must stay to make things better for our people.” Emiliano paused, his voice strained with emotion, then said, “Jacqueline, I hope you understand.”

“I do,” Jackie replied, fighting hard to keep the emotion out of her voice, knowing Emiliano would appreciate her more if she dropped the subject.

Papa gave a loud ahem. It was definitely time to go. Giving Emiliano one last look, trying to fix his handsome, noble face in her mind forever, Jackie abruptly broke off contact and followed Papa through the shallows and up onto the fishing well of Pilar. There were tears in her eyes. She wiped them away and looked back. But it was too late. Emiliano and Gabriela had melted into the shadows.

Pilar sailed through the purple Caribbean night, the moon above playing hide-and-seek through the clouds. Jackie stood beside Papa on the flying bridge of the fishing boat, watching as he adjusted the helm and throttle and navigated by the light of the compass binnacle to pilot his way around the eastern tip of the island, past Guantánamo Bay, and headed northwest into the Atlantic Ocean toward Key West, the southernmost point of the United States, where Papa also kept a home.

“It’s a good thing I was fishing in the vicinity when the call from the embassy came,” Papa explained.

Standing alongside him, Jackie’s thoughts were still with Emiliano and Gabriela. She wished them well. She knew how difficult their fight for freedom would be. Hiding in the jungle with Fidel and his men. Living off the land. Fear of betrayal at every turn. Suddenly, a memory of Jacques came unbidden to her mind, and she wondered why it was that she was always falling for men only to have them leave her for the causes that were really their true passion.

Papa’s words intruded on her reverie. “So you’re it, daughter? Their man in Havana. Or should I say woman? Who’da thunk it?”

Papa slapped the helm with one meaty hand, and Jackie smiled. Hemingway went to such lengths to sound more like a backwoods hunter than a famous literary lion, and having adopted the name “Papa,” he felt it only right to call younger women “daughter.”

“I didn’t know you worked for the CIA,” Jackie said. There was a strong breeze on the flying bridge, and she buttoned her shirt to the neck to ward off the cold.

“I let the CIA know they could always depend on me if I was in Cuba and they needed something,” Papa said. “I did the same thing for the U.S. government during the war. I volunteered to work as a U-boat spotter. Fitted out Pilar with weapons and special electronics equipment and used her to hunt U-boats trolling