Trifecta (54 page)

I
var knew what he was doing was downright stupid and extremely
dangerous.  Afraid to even use his own car, he was sitting in a taxi outside the
back of Eve's condominium.  Part of the problem was that he was a noticeable person,
being so tall and strikingly blond.  And Eve was conspicuous, because she was so
pretty and also unusually tall for a woman, if that's what she really was.  The
two of them together caused heads to turn.

Now he was sitting here like a stupid jerk, waiting to
meet her, knowing full well he could be compromising his whole life.

He had to admit Eve had a spell on him.  He desperately
wanted to see her, but he kept reminding himself that she was dangerous and might
inclined to violence.  She had attacked a man with her teeth, so he wondered if
she had normal human restraints. 

Ivar saw a woman leave the back door of the building and
walk toward the taxi, but it wasn't Eve.  She was the right height and proportion,
tall and slim, but she was blond.  Ivar thought, in a confused way, as she came
nearer and materialized out of the darkness, that it must be Eve's cousin, Sabrina. 
This woman had Eve's face, but her coloring was so different.  He remembered the
first pictures he had taken of Sabrina.  She had been blond then.

Ivar got out of the taxi and the woman walked up to him. 
She pushed the purse hanging over her shoulder back so it was out of her way, and
then she reached up to put her arms around him.  He was astonished and did not respond,
but let her hug him.  He wondered when she would stop.

"I'm so glad to see you, Ivar."  Her voice was
muffled against his chest, but she sounded exactly like Eve. 

Ivar didn't want to be seen out in the open being hugged
by one of the women being investigated, so he opened the taxi door and she got in. 

She didn't leave him much room on the back seat.  Ivar
had to squeeze in, closing the door with difficulty.  The woman reminded him of
a very affectionate cat.  She leaned against him, snuggling her head against his
shoulder and put one hand disturbingly on his thigh.

"Ah, Sabrina...?"  Ivar said.  He pushed her
hand off of his thigh.

The woman jerked up quickly and looked so astonished that
he thought he might have made her angry.  And now he wasn't sure if it was Sabrina. 
Maybe it was Eve.  And maybe he had made her angry.  He didn't want to do that. 
He had seen her angry.  She had been quite vicious.

"I forgot about the trimmings."

Ivar looked into her face.  He was used to seeing dark
eyebrows and now they were light brown, but the light blue eyes were the same, as
were the dark lashes. 

"Sabrina doesn't even know you.  She wouldn't hug
you."

It was Eve.

"I was confused by your hair."  He wanted to
placate her in case she was upset.  "It's very nice."

He could see the cab driver watching them in the rear view
mirror, smiling in a lecherous way that was annoying.  Ivar told him the address
to his apartment.

He turned back to Eve.  "I made dinner and rented
a few videos.  Is that all right?"

"I don't care what we do."  She leaned forward
and sniffed him.  He was reminded of how a dog checks out another animal, but she
was sniffing his neck.  It was a peculiar feeling.  Then she audibly sniffed his
hair.  Her breath against his cheek was nice, but he was aware of the cab driver's
eyes on them as the vehicle started.

Eve had noticed where he was looking.  She gazed into the
mirror the driver was using to watch them.

"He should be paying attention to his driving," 
Eve commented sternly.  She leaned forward, put her hand on the back of the driver's
head, forcefully turning it so he was facing straight ahead.  Evidently she was
not gentle, as the driver grunted. 

Eve kissed Ivar and the cabdriver did not look.

When they got inside his apartment, Ivar decided to test
Eve.  He would teach her to use his sophisticated chess computer.  If she could
win a game at the most difficult level of activity, he would be convinced she was
computerized.

Eve learned the control moves quickly.  He would hear,
even from the kitchen, if she won.  A bell would ping if the player won.  There
was a droll 'Da da, Da da' sound when the player lost.

Ivar was afraid to take her outside in public now, so he
had spent a lot of time cooking some of his favorite foods.  He was just putting
the peppered vodka in small glasses on a tray with the appetizer, beluga caviar
and toast, when he heard the first ping.  Eve had won the first game in about ten
minutes! Ivar knew it was a fluke.  He had, in several hundred games with the computer,
only won a few times.  Another ping came a couple of minutes later.

She had to be a genius.

Ivar peeked out into the living room.  He saw Eve manipulating
the computer at a speed he thought impossible for a human being.  She actually had
to wait for the machine to make moves.  Her hair fell gracefully over the left side
of her face.  He saw her shake it back impatiently when it obscured her vision of
the board.  Ivar had never seen fingers move that rapidly. 

It was so disconcerting, Ivar went back into the kitchen,
took a big swallow of the peppered vodka.  He wiped away the perspiration that had
accumulated on his forehead.  There was not a doubt in his mind now that Eve was
a computer.  It was a big leap and he almost felt faint.  He had never really believed
it, even with all the evidence that she was different.  He was repelled and fascinated. 
He also felt inclined to stay in the kitchen for another hour or so.  He made up
his mind that he had to know what was locked up in the top secret files regarding
Eve.  Tomorrow he would break into Burgess Whitcomb's office and find out for himself.

The shot of vodka had made Ivar a little more mellow and
he carried the tray into the living room.  As he did so, Eve looked up and smiled
at him.  It was such a melting smile, so beautiful, that he could almost believe
she really cared about him. 

Ivar told himself to be extremely careful.  He did not
believe human computers could have real emotions.  She did have physiological sensations,
he knew from their lovemaking and her reactions to food.  The puzzling thing was
the way she had acted with him this evening.  If he didn't know better now, he would
have believed that she liked him a lot.  It must be a ruse.  He had thought, previously,
that she knew he was following her.  She must have figured out by now that he was
working as an undercover agent for the CIA.

As he put the tray on the table he remembered hands moving
so swiftly that they couldn't be human.  Certainly, if she could think that fast
she must find him extremely boring. 

Eve stopped playing the game, as though she was more interested
in him.  She must have impeccable manners.

"This is a fun game,"  Eve said, smiling brightly. 

"Don't you want to finish?" 

"I would rather talk to you."

She was lying.

"I made you some of my favorite foods.  This is the
appetizer."

"Oh.  Caviar and vodka.  Russian specialties.  You
drink the vodka, all in one gulp, and then take a bite of caviar."

Ivar nodded and handed her the small glass and a piece
of toast with the caviar.  He was just going to warn her that it was peppered vodka,
when she surprisingly tipped the whole glass of liquid into her mouth and swallowed. 
She quickly took a bite of the toast covered with tiny black fish eggs and cream
cheese.  Ivar watched Eve's eyes grow very round.  She was swallowing spasmodically. 
Tears sprang into her eyes and started rolling down her cheeks, which had turned
very pink, as had the tip of her nose.  He thought she was trying very hard to keep
the food down.  She blinked rapidly. 

Ivar grabbed a tiny napkin from the tray and wiped the
tears he thought would never stop falling.  He patted her back and felt inadequate.

"I'm so sorry.  I should have warned you to take just
a sip.  That's peppered vodka.  A specialty..."  He jerked himself back abruptly. 
He had almost said it was a specialty of his country. 

"I'm fine, Ivar.  I read about how you are supposed
to eat the appetizer.  I don't like to make mistakes.  Maybe I could have a little
more toast to make the sting go away?"

He prepared another piece of toast for her.

"I like the way the little eggs pop in my mouth," 
Eve said after she had eaten a some more.  "And the vodka sure makes my stomach
feel warm.  It's a nice feeling.  I really do like it."

He discounted a fleeting impression that she was really
very sweet.

He took a sip of his own vodka, realizing he was making
some thoroughly stupid mistakes.  Two night ago he had taken her to see 'Russia
House' because he had wanted to see the scenery and architecture of his country. 
Now he had given her an appetizer she had immediately recognized as Russian. 

"Are you feeling better now?" 

"Oh yes.  I feel just wonderful,"  Eve said and
she smiled at Ivar. 

She was a wonderful actress.

"I want to make some toast for you."  She was
a little clumsy, dropping some of the caviar on the tray, and he thought that she
was indeed a consummate actress.  He had watched her amazing dexterity while playing
the chess game.  Now she was delicately messing up his piece of toast, as though
she did not have the amazing control he had seen before. 

She reached over to pop the toast into his mouth and almost
missed.  He had to move his head slightly so it wouldn't drop on the floor.  Then
he looked at her carefully and realized she had become drunk, or at least quite
tipsy, on the vodka. 

"Whoops,"  Eve said.  "Sorry."  She
started giggling. 

"Why don't you finish the caviar.  I'll get dinner
on the table."  Ivar started to get up off of the couch.

"Wait,"  Eve said.  She scooted next to him and
pulled his arm, so he sat down again.  Then she put one arm around his neck and
pulled his face close to hers.  The other hand was placed squarely on his most private
parts. 

I don't believe this is happening, Ivar thought as she
kissed him.  He tried to abstract himself from what was happening, but his bodily
response was immediate and he forgot that she was some kind of computer for a while. 

They stayed in that position until Ivar broke away, long
enough to take a deep breath.  She was clutching him around the neck so tight it
was becoming painful. 

"I better check on the roast."  In the kitchen
he massaged the back of his neck.  He put on a large mit and took the meat out of
the oven.  When he turned around to pick up a carving knife, he saw Eve swaying
in the kitchen doorway.  She was holding onto the molding.

"The body isn't behaving correctly.  I feel dizzy."

Ivar ran over to her, caught her around the shoulders and
steadied her.  He realized he had greatly underestimated the effect of the alcohol
she had consumed.

"My stomach is going to do something.  I can hear
it, and my throat is..."  Eve made a small gagging noise.

Ivar hurried her to the sink and held her head as she threw
up.  He stroked her hair and patted her back until she stopped retching.  Then he
turned on the faucet, wet a dishtowel and wiped off her mouth.

"I lost all the good food and vodka."

He looked into her large deep blue eyes.  They looked so
trusting and innocent, as though she was really apologetic. 

"Are you all right, now?"

Ivar watched her for a minute to make sure.  She was looking
down and Ivar tipped up her chin.  He was surprised to see that she was crying. 
Tears streaked her cheeks and her shoulders shook with each silent spasm.

"Hey, you don't have to feel bad.  It's my fault. 
I didn't know you never had vodka before."

"I have behaved in a socially reprehensible manner,
throwing up in front of you.  What a disgrace!"

Ivar felt amused.  The way she had pronounced that she
was a disgrace was so perfectly serious, though, that he restrained his smile. 

"You need to eat something."

She lifted her head to sniff the air.  "It smells
absolutely marvelous.  I won't throw up again?"

"I believe it will make you feel better."

Ivar almost felt like he was speaking to a child.  She
looked at him so trustingly, and he again noticed that except for her moments of
embarrassment, she still had the appealing quality of looking him unwaveringly in
the eye.

Ivar kept an arm around Eve as he walked her over to the
dining table and carefully sat her down.  He wondered how such a tiny amount of
vodka could have produced such a violent reaction.  She must have been truthful
about never having drunk any before.  Or maybe her computer had messed up her metabolism
in some way.  Maybe it had knocked out some of her memory.  Sometimes she seemed
so intelligent and even sophisticated, and at other times she reminded him of a
young child.

Ivar asked Eve how old she was.  Her answer, that she was
twenty-eight, chronologically, just confused him more because she looked so much
younger. 

"Sabrina does too,"  Eve said.

"Are you identical twins?"

"I can't tell you about me.  Or Sabrina.  I'm sorry. 
I do want to.  I promise to tell you in the future."

"Why?" 

"I love you."

Ivar was shocked by her candor and didn't know what to
say.  He watched Eve eating calmly and wondered if she was still tipsy.  How could
she possibly be in love with him? He was stupid big clumsy dolt in comparison. 

Ivar saw her eyes flash up at him and wondered if she was
angry at him for not proclaiming that he loved her.  Then she smiled and he found
to his real surprise he believed everything she said.  He made the decision to trust
her, even knowing he could be making a disastrous mistake which could back-fire
and change his life drastically.  When he remembered her biting Sergi, with his
new perspective he knew it was not a vicious act, but one of protection for Sabrina.