Chapter 12

The courtyard was artistically landscaped with pots of live flowers and small trees. The white walls intensified the sun’s natural light. The courtyard provided the warm seclusion needed for their privacy. Fay placed a chair facing the chair Katrinka sat in, allowing the other woman to elevate her broken foot.

Katrinka admired her broken foot, with toes exposed, and observed, “At least I can paint my toes. I am getting idea what it is to be princess,” she mused.

Azrael laughed. “You, Lady K, were a princess on the day of your birth. You just did not know it.”

Fay had stopped by the hotel reception to order room service to be delivered to the courtyard: coffee, tea, soft drinks, and sandwiches. She so informed those in attendance.

Katrinka adjusted the pillow placed under her broken leg and began the discussion. “Thank you, my family. I cannot make these choices without your opinions and advices.”

“All of us are here for you,” Fay assured her. “We will always be.”

Katrinka smiled. “I have question and a few concerns. One of big ones is how do I travel to Moscow? I think it possible both Interpol…come to think of it, Apple Cheeks found me while I was traveling from Cairo to Paris.”

“Apple Cheeks?” Irishka queried.

Katrinka puffed her cheeks in response to Irishka’s apparent memory loss.

This drew a chuckle from Irishka, who normally did not chuckle. “Popov,” she replied.

“Oh, yes,” Kat confirmed. “That klaun.”

“Oh,” Fay said, “that guy. Yes, I have met the chap several times.”

Katrinka continued. “And Egyptian police want me for escape from Cairo prison? And maybe someone died too.”

Azrael smiled. “Odd,” she lamented.

Sasha started, “I have been considering it…”

This did not surprise Fay in the least. Her pal Lavrov was a genius, in her opinion.

“I do not think you can travel from civilian airport or rail station without your travel being noticed.” Sasha added, “We will have Russian government plane, or train, transport Katrinka, Irishka and me from Paris to Moscow. Result is no customs necessary.”

“That is brilliant, Sasha,” Fay complimented him.

“Question two,” Katrinka asked. “When I arrive at Moscow, what next?”

Sasha had plan number two ready to share. “Until we know further, and for your protection, I have spoken to President Rudkovsky’s security chief about this. He told me you will live at Kremlin in special military housing. After your foot heals, then we make next move. In meantime, you will meet with President Rudkovsky and staff for bonding.” Sasha turned to Fay. “Faya, your thoughts?” he prompted.

Fay was beaming. She was reunited with her daughter. Everything else was a bonus as far as she was concerned. “I am good with the plan,” she responded. “I only want what is best for Katrinka.”

Azrael answered Fay with logic and reason, “Ma’am, the mother in you will always want and hope for the best for your daughter. Let her have her wings. I know, I know, it’s a saying. But you know what I mean.”

The Angel of Death looked into Fay’s eyes, expressing more compassion through her own eyes than few mortals had ever experienced. Fay felt a deep, loving warmth course through her soul.

Then Azrael asked Fay, “Did Jeanne d’Arc’s mother worry? Probably. Did Lady Di’s mother worry? Probably. And I could go on and on with thousands of years of examples of mothers caring about their daughters.” Azrael smiled. “Trust in me. Lady K has survived extraordinary odds to be here with us today. Going on, her strength to survive will continue to serve her well.”

Fay straightened her back and slapped her knees with her hands. “Okay, you had me at ‘trust.’”

Katrinka added, “You had me too. I feel so much better about this.” With a renewed look of determination on her face, she declared, “I will do it!”

A broad smile crossed the angel’s face. “Lady K…Yekaterina, I cannot wait for the world to meet you.”

Katrinka nodded her head and whispered an appreciative, “Thank you.” Now, with heartfelt concern, she asked Fay, “Faya, what about Binky?”

Fay chuckled. “I wondered when you would get around to Binky.” Fay explained to the others, “Binky is Katrinka’s cat, the one she had always wanted from childhood.” Fay directed her answer to Katrinka. “Binky is now living with JP on her farm. You knew that. I understand she is a great mouse catcher. She has a great temporary home, and my sister and her husband love her. They will send Binky to you wherever and whenever you choose.” Fay thought for a moment and then added, “Did JP text you a video?”

A fond memory brought a smile to Kat’s lips. “My phone is the crap.” Katrinka showed Fay her cheap cell phone. “I may have video?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“Here,” Fay responded as she retrieved her cell from her pocketbook, “I have a photo of Binky.”

Katrinka seemed amused as she studied the photo of her beloved cat. She then offered the phone to Azrael, Sasha, and Irishka. Geez. Okay. Time to move on.

Katrinka recapped the plan, as she understood it. “Papa and Irishka will come with me to Moscow. Faya will return to Navy and maybe ship in South China Sea.” She next looked at Azrael. “What about you, dear angel?”

Azrael wondered aloud, “I do not know about me. I enjoy being human. It has been a good holiday for me. Yet, I have more to do before I leave.” She looked at Fay with hope in her eyes.

Fay understood her silent question. “Sweetheart, if I am on my way to the South China Sea, I will need my staff. Petty Officer Winslow is a single man. He will be given a choice, of course, but my intuition tells me he will be thrilled to serve on a United States aircraft carrier,” Fay informed Azrael. “As for my sister, JP, I would not ask her. She would naturally honor my request. Yet, if she did, then she may be committing to being a long time away from her husband and, because he is a Navy sea captain, he is already away from home as it is. As a result, I have an opening.”

Azrael, with a look of hope on her face, asked, “Can I apply for the open spot, ma’am?”

Fay laughed. “I thought you would never ask!” Fay rose from her chair, took a few short steps toward Azrael, and hugged her. “We will request a transfer from the Embassy Security detail to JAG Corp. You just say the word and I will make it happen.”

Azrael continued to embrace Fay. The angel was crying.

Fay observed, “Do I see angel tears?”

Azrael nodded and sniffed. “Yes, ma’am.”

Irishka snatched a tissue from a nearby table and handed it to Azrael.

Azrael said, “In all of my years, I have not experienced an aircraft carrier.” She was serious when she next asked Fay an odd question, “Do you think someone would let me fly in a fighter jet?”

Fay replied to her mystifying question, “You have wings? Why?”

“It is a part of my human experience, ma’am.” Azrael laughed as she rose from her chair. There was a whoosh sound as her magnificent silver-gray angel wings appeared on her shoulders, creating enough turbulence in their unfolding that several of the drink cups spilled. All were awed to witness a sight few humans had ever experienced.

****

One week later, JAG HQ, Bremerton, Washington

Fay, Petty Officer Winslow, Petty Officer Fletcher, and Corporal Lopez met in Fay’s office to discuss their game plan for the next two weeks.

Fay directed the conversation. “Azrael, we discussed you are going home to LA to see your family. You have ten days leave, then you will be back here for our departure planning. In the meantime, Don, JP, and I are going to provide legal support for the JAG.” Fay instructed Don Winslow, “Don, we are assigned to the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. Do you know where she is now?”

Don used his tablet to locate the Reagan’s current whereabouts. “Near north of Manila, ma’am.”

“Okay,” Fay said. “We have had good luck with Delta Air Lines in the past. Don, see if the Navy will book three one-way.” Fay added an additional request, “Ask the Navy logistics officer if we can fly business class. I will pay the up-charge.”

He began typing on his tablet. “The date of travel, ma’am?” Winslow asked.

“Not knowing how we are going to travel from Manila to the Reagan, why not give us an extra day in Seoul and I can contact Colonel Jangho Kim. Maybe for dinner?” Fay appeared somewhat dejected when she said, “I want to minimize our travel from land to the Reagan by chopper to the fewest possible hours.”

Azrael wrinkled her brow. “Don’t like choppers, ma’am?” she asked.

“You got it, sister,” Fay informed her. “Noisy, cold, uncomfortable, no real place to…Well, you get my point.”

“You know,” Azrael observed, “that’s what I told Leonardo.”

“DiCaprio?” Winslow asked, not aware he was in the presence of one of God’s big dogs, a ten-gazillion-year-old archangel who had most likely consulted or advised Da Vinci on a number of occasions, including his design of the “airscrew.” Winslow looked it up once informed they were referring to the other Leonardo. Yet, he still unsure of the meaning of Azrael’s comment.

Fay could only laugh and shake her head. She had a mission for JP as well. “Sis, I know you must be disappointed, and if you want, I can still wiggle you a spot on this carrier assignment. But do you want to be at sea for six months and spend that much time away from your new hubby?” Fay asked.

There was enough collective doubt evident in JP’s expression for Fay to add, “Let me know soon what you want, and I will make it happen.” Fay gave her sister a reassuring smile. “In the meantime, will you call or text Katrinka and let her know how her Binky is? She did not get the video you sent her. And although I did share another text with her, she has been worried about her kitty. So maybe an update?”

JP said, “You got it, ma’am.” She added, “Binky is great at catching mice. She will spend the entire day in the barn. Why, I think the barn is now mouse-free.” JP sighed. “Problem is, she brings them to the house!”

Everyone had a good laugh at that one.

Fay said to Azrael, “Are you ready to get yourself off to LA?”

“This evening, I think,” Azrael replied.

JP and Winslow seemed somewhat lost during the conversation between Fay and Azrael, but they both wished her a pleasant journey.

****

That evening at Fay’s home, Bremerton, Washington

Fay and Azrael were talking in Fay’s kitchen while Fay prepared spaghetti for the two women.

Azrael tapped on the small aquarium on Fay’s kitchen counter. “What are your fishes’ names?”

“Joey and Garfield,” Fay replied. “The guppy is Joey. I named him after my friend Chicago mob boss Joey ‘The Guppy’ Stumpanato.”

Azrael laughed. “Cute!” she affectionally replied. She added, “After dinner, I will lay on the sofa to watch TV. I am going to fall asleep. Later, Corporal Lopez will wake back up. You are going to have to be ready to help her. This is hard for humans. She will be very disoriented and frightened.”

Fay wrinkled her brow, concerned. “How can I help her?”

“She will recognize you. So, that will help her,” Azrael assured Fay.

“What next?”

“Have a shot of whiskey ready.”

“Whiskey?” Fay was confused.

“Trust me,” Azrael assured Fay. “The whiskey will help calm her.”

“Geez!” Fay exclaimed. “This is a big deal!”

“Yeah,” Azrael said, “it is huge.” She then smiled. “No, I’m just kidding with you. Not to worry, you will figure it out.”

“Thanks, I think?” Fay added, “Is this the last we will see of you?”

“Yes,” Azrael said. She thought for a moment. “I may come back. But I will first warn you.” Azrael informed her. “Deal?”

“I will hold you to it,” Fay insisted. She then held the Angel of Death tight. “Thank you for all you have done. And thank you for my life.” Fay reconsidered. Using her fingers, she counted, “The Arizona desert, the warehouse in Seattle, the ship in Korea… and? Oh, and the alligator, and the shark, and the cancer.”

“Yeah, you gave me the slip every time. But I will get you yet, girlfriend,” Azrael teased. Azrael then responded by giving Fay a kiss on her cheek. “The pleasure has been all mine.” Lady Death then whispered, “Tell you what. When your time comes, I promise it will be I who accompanies you to the afterlife. It is the least I can do. Besides, for the longest time I have been looking for a good helper. Good help is hard to find these days.”

Fay must have had a look of doubt on her face.

“Okay,” Azrael reassured Fay, “how about an administrative assistant?”

“Better!” Fay said cheerfully. “I’m in! And you promise me I get first shot at the job?”

Azrael nodded her head, yes. She then glanced at the stove. “Better tend to the spaghetti before it boils over.” She then glanced at the aquarium again. “This Guppy fellow. Is he someone I should know?”

Fay emitted a short laugh. “Ah, leave him alone. He’s a nice guy. Just misguided. You know, when I was in the hospital for weeks and weeks, that guy and his mob lawyer sent me a flower arrangement every day! Imagine that!”

“Sweet,” Azrael replied. “I suppose he will find his way to me soon enough.”

Following dinner, Azrael asked Fay one more time if she was ready to get Marine Corporal Azrael Lopez rebooted. She did offer, “If you don’t want to go through this, we can get Lopez to the hospital. When she opens her eyes, you can tell her she got knocked on the head in Cairo and she had amnesia. That’s the normal way we do it.”

Fay did not hesitate. “No. I want to be honest with her,” she insisted.

Azrael said, “That is what I like about you, Faydra. You’re a pure-heart.” She hugged Fay again. “Ready to go?”

Fay nodded. Fay and Azrael proceeded to the living room sofa. Azrael reclined, resting with her head on a pillow.

Fay asked, “Before you go, do you mind if I ask you something?”

“Was it your time when we were on the Tower?” Azrael guessed.

Fay nodded.

“You knew it was your time. You remember I asked you if you were ready to go to the next level?”

Fay again nodded, yes.

“When I met you sunning beside the pool in Cairo, I had told you I had been shopping, but I had really just come from meeting with Lady K,” Azrael disclosed. “We had reached an agreement where, in exchange for your soul, she would accept the headship of the Romanov family.”

Fay bit her lower lip. Tears welled in her eyes, but she remained silent.

Azrael continued speaking. “You know Lady K agreed and I still think it is best for all. Anyway, while I rubbed the lotion on your back, I was surprised to learn your sickness was much more advanced than I had realized. Your time had come. But Sasha came and asked us to join him for a tour of the Tower. You wanted to decline. You were very sick and wanted to go to your room, where you would have died that night in your sleep,” Azrael revealed. “Because you are who you are, you did not want to disappoint your friend, so you fought through it. Your determination and devotion to your friends touched me deeply. So, by the time we got to the Tower, you were done. I asked if you were ready to go to the next level. Most would have said yes. But you fought me, as you had many times before. You knew in your heart what I meant because you then knew who I really was. Your commitment to continue the fight, even though you knew it was a losing battle, was the confirmation I needed from you to take the sickness, rather than you.”

“Thank you, “Fay said. “I very much look forward to our next meeting.”

Before she closed her eyes, the Angel of Death smiled, winked, and said, “See ya around, kiddo.” She closed her eyes.

It seemed to Fay as if a very dear friend had died. She rose from the sofa, walked across the room, retrieved the remote, and clicked on the TV. She returned to the sofa, covered her friend with a soft blanket, then sat to await Azrael’s reawakening.