Passport - Part Six by Virginia Hainsworth

Viktor’s driving was erratic, to say the least, and he refused to answer any of Jack’s questions. He just said that he was just being paid to take her somewhere, to her mother.  She kept repeating the word over and over in her mind. Her mother.

   After about fifteen minutes, Viktor pulled up outside an apartment block in the suburbs of Budapest.

   “Number 471, second floor, apartment 5b,” he said brusquely. He drove off quickly as soon as Jack stepped out onto the pavement.

   She attempted to hide her nerves by knocking firmly on the door of apartment 5b.

   The door was answered by an attractive, elegantly dressed woman of about 60. The woman stared briefly and then said, in an Eastern European accent, “Jacqueline? Thank you for coming all this way. Please come in.”

   “Everyone calls me Jack. And you are?”

   “Martuska. It is good to meet you. I am sorry for the mystery surrounding all of this, but I will explain.”

   Martuska led Jack into a sparsely furnished sitting room and offered her some refreshments, which she declined.

   “I don’t want to appear rude, Martuska but you will forgive my impatience. Can you tell me why a man known only to me as Stanley invited me to come all the way to Budapest to see a total stranger called KT, who is now ‘no longer available’, and a woman who is supposed to be my mother. Your explanation had better be a good one. I am not into detective stories.”

    Martuska’s sad smile softened Jack’s stony expression a little.

   “Jack, I understand that you are confused. And perhaps a little annoyed, so I will be brief.  I hope you will bear with me by listening to what I have to say and then you may ask me as many questions as you would like. I appreciate that some of what I am about to say may come as a shock to you.”

   “I’m all ears.” Jack immediately regretted the sarcasm in her voice.

   “During 1987, I had a relationship with a man I knew as Henry Leadbetter. I knew that was not his real name, but we were colleagues in Budapest, working for, shall we say, a clandestine government organisation.”

   Jack couldn’t help interrupting. “Henry Leadbetter. The name on my father’s hidden passport.”

   “Ah. You found a passport. That was careless of him. Henry returned to England in 1987 and I never saw or heard from him after that. That was the nature of the business we were in. I suspected he had a wife and baby back home. Shortly after he left, I discovered that I was pregnant with his child.”

   Jack felt her jaw dropping slightly. Everything she thought she knew about her father was fading into the background as she stared at this woman and suddenly saw her own features looking back at her. She vowed not to interrupt Martuska again but her thoughts and emotions were racing, colliding with each other.

   Martuska continued. “Even if I could have contacted Henry, I wouldn’t have. Our relationship always took second place to our work. We both knew that. Your father was a professional of the highest order.  My, well I suppose you could say ‘boss’ at the time was Konstantin Torok – KT as he has always been known. He helped me during that difficult time and I made him swear that if he ever came across Henry again, he would not let him know.”

   Martuska paused and took a deep breath in. Despite her shock at the revelations, Jack felt for her and could see how difficult this must have been. And must still be.

   “You were born the following year. I made the decision to have you adopted. A decision I have regretted ever since. By this time, KT and I were married. He wanted me to keep you and pass you off as his child but I could not do that. I will explain why, later. Anyway, KT made arrangements for your adoption and we agreed that I would never know any details. And I didn’t. Until recently. KT kept his word and didn’t let Henry know of your existence. However, he did manage to make sure that Henry - James Fincham, your father- was the one who adopted you. Because of the nature of our work, KT must have used his contacts to fix it. Please don’t think ill of your father. He never knew that you were his real daughter.”

   Jack had listened long enough without interjection. “I knew that I was adopted but I always thought of my father and and my,” she paused, “mother as my real parents and so it seemed like a betrayal of their love to try to trace my birth parents. So dad was my real father after all. Only he never knew. And, he was a….”

   “An MI6 agent, yes. And I was one of his contacts in Budapest.”
   “I need time to try to absorb all of this. But, tell me, why now? How did you come to know who I was?” Jack felt her own voice quivering but resolved not to slow the conversation down.

   “For some reason that he wouldn’t say, KT decided recently to tell me what he knew.  Something must have prompted this. He got to know that your father had passed, maybe that was it. He thought that now would be a good time to make contact.”

   “So where is KT now?”

   “He should have been here but he took a phone call this morning and left the apartment in a hurry without explaining. He hasn’t returned. Or called. That is most unlike him. Something is wrong. He really wanted to be here. I am very worried. But I didn’t want to make you wait.”

   Jack suddenly felt exhausted. This was all too much to take in. She didn’t know how to respond.

   “There is one more thing.” Martuska spoke more slowly this time.

   “Surely not.” Jack whispered.

   “Yes. One of the reasons I didn’t keep you and decided to have you adopted was that…….well, there wasn’t just you. Jack, you have a twin brother.”