The Russian Spy

“Nice meeting you and Jesse too,” said Mike.

         Then we shook hands, Jesse and I looked outside at my surroundings. In front of me across from the bakery was a small market. I looked to the left, just more buildings. The village seemed built in a simi circle. I looked at Jesse and said, “Do you want to walk with me and get the layout of the town then we can come back and play ball in the park outside the village boy?”

“Woof woof,” he pawed me. That meant yes. So off we went. We walked past the shops to the hotel and approached the front desk. I showed the clerk my ID and Jesse’s too. Without a smile the lady handed us our room key. “What floor is this please?” I asked her. She showed two fingers, must mean floor two. I remembered passing some nice homes with little white picket fences around their front yards just outside the village. I was wishing we could stay there. Jesse and I walked up the stairs to the second floor. I found the room and placed the key into the lock. Walking into the room, I could tell that it wasn’t complete. Where the Internet connection should have been, it was hanging from the ceiling. I walked over to the sink and turned it on. No water came out! I picked up my bags and grabbed Jesse’s leash. Looking around I was discouraged at such a mess I was in. I walked out of the hotel and out of the village. We passed the little houses with perfect fences and yards. I picked up my phone and called Colonel Mark. I told him what a mess the hotel was and that there was no water. I wasn’t going to do this. He told me to hang on he would be right there. Jesse and I sat down on a bench and waited. About an hour later Colonel Mark showed up.

“Sorry about that Ranger. I have secured a townhouse down the street for you. You’ll still have to go into the village daily to do your job and eat there. Ok?”

“That’s fine with me, but that hotel was just not for me. I felt very uncomfortable in it.”

“I found out that when the water is turned back on that it’s not safe in the park. You’re much better here Ranger.”

That made me feel better, Jesse and I followed Colonel Mark. We came across some townhomes, they were brown with white doors and there were numbers above the doors.

“Look for number 26 Ranger.” Colonel Mark told me as I looked for our unit.

“There it is.” I pointed ahead. We walked over; I placed my bag down and put the key into the lock that Colonel Mark had given to me. I opened the door and we walked in, Jesse followed. The room was small but cozy, it was the living room, it led into a small kitchen. There was a table in the living room against the wall attached to the kitchen. We walked into the kitchen; on my left there was a portable shower. “Ok, that will do right boy?” Jesse wagged his tail. Turning around and walking back towards the door I turned right and walked into a small bedroom. There was a small bathroom to my right I peeked inside. There was a toilet and sink nothing else. Ok, this wasn’t too bad. I walked back out and thanked Colonel Mark. He told me to be careful and stay in touch, then left. I picked up my bag then tossed it into the bedroom. I walked into the kitchen to see what supplies there were. Apparently there would be maid service daily because there weren’t any cleaning supplies. There was a small container of dish soap though. I opened the cabinets; there were four plates, four glasses, and four teacups. Another cabinet had some tea bags in it and a package of crackers unopened. Must be for me. I then looked in the fridge; there were eggs, milk, cheese and bread. Closing that I looked in the bottom cabinets, there were cast iron pans of various sizes. I needed to go to the market and get some meat for Jesse to eat. I decided to do that after we walked around and played in the park down the way. “Well I’ve seen enough boy get your leash and we’ll go for a long walk.” Jesse ran to the door and brought his leash back to me. “Good boy,” I said as I snapped it on him. Then I remembered his ball. “Stay boy.” I told him to stay by the door. I grabbed his favorite red ball out of my bag and stuck in my pocket. Then I took my goodie bag with gadgets and stuck it under my mattress. I had the gun in my right pants pocket and cell phone and earpiece in my left pants pocket. I needed to remember this was a job to save my life, Jesse’s and whomever else’s life the next couple of weeks. Then Jesse and I would fly home to France, hopefully my dad would be there by then. I shook the thought out of my head. I walked back to the door and Jesse grabbed his leash handing it to me. I gave him a pat on the head, “Good boy.”

We walked outside and went to the right. We came to the end of our townhomes and had a choice to go back into the village or left into more homes or right into the town. I chose the town. The street names were long and hard to pronounce. We walked down one short street then took another right going into the town. There was a theatre, clothes stores, and nick knack shops getting ready for the tourists. In a few days this place would be crawling with people.