to be back, and Tallie was planning to pick up Tori so they could go shopping. Tori was in the shower, getting ready, so it was as good a time as any to call my agent, Greg. He was a lawyer, so I thought he would be a good place to start with getting Tori a green card now that she was my wife.
“I’m not an immigration lawyer,” was his initial, grumbling response.
“No, but you work with teams to handle immigration issues all the time for your clients,” I reminded him.
He represented Swedes, Finns, a German, more Canadians and Americans than I could count, and at least a few Russians, and we all had to be cleared for working in the US and Canada. Any time there was a trade or some guy signed with a new team, the visas and whatnot had to be pushed through ASAP. He took part in all of that, as well as arranging for whatever documentation a guy’s wife and children might need in order to be with him. There was no reason he couldn’t help me out with Tori’s situation. At least not the way I saw it.
“Your situation is different,” he said. “She was in the US on a student visa. She’s lost that, so legally, she has to return to her home count—”
“She’s not going back to Russia,” I cut in. No chance in hell was I letting that happen.
“It’s not me who’s going to make her go back. I’m just trying to tell—”
“I know perfectly well what you’re trying to tell me. I’m telling you that it’s not going to happen. Period.”
He let out a beleaguered sigh. “Razor, I’m trying to help you out here, but with the little I know about immigration law, it doesn’t look good.”
“But she married me. I’m a dual-citizen. That should be all it takes to get a green card.”
“But it looks like she married you just to get a green card. This happened too fast.”
It looked that way because that was the truth. “And that’s a problem?” I asked warily.
“It’s a big problem.”
“How big?”
“I need to talk to some people to find out for sure. But it’s big. Really big. That’s one of the few requirements I actually know off the top of my head.”
“Shit.”
“Shit doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
I drummed my fingers on my knee. Every cell in my body was bursting to punch something, but that wouldn’t help a fucking thing. I couldn’t just sit still, though. Before I went crazy, I got up and paced to the kitchen. “So now what? What do I do?”
“For the time being, sit tight. Be sure she doesn’t run. Let me see what I can sort out.”
“You’ve got to fix this, Greg.” I didn’t even attempt to hide the hint of panic in my voice. “You’ve got to find a way to make this work out. Because she’s not going back to Russia. Not now. Not ever.”
“Got it. I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s not fucking good enough—seeing what you can do.”
“It’s going to have to be enough for now. I’m not a damn magician. I can’t change the law. All I can do is advise you on it.”
“I know.” I dragged a hand down my face. I did know. But now everything I had promised Tori about her future was in question, and I was feeling like a complete and total failure, all because I’d been impetuous. Not anything new for me. I had always tended to act before I thought, but this was different. This was bigger and a thousand times more important. I didn’t care what I had to do to keep my promises to her, but I would keep them. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting this all on you,” I finally said. “I just need for this to all work out. Whatever we have to do, we can’t let them send her back to Russia.”
“I know you’re sorry. Let me go see what I can find out. I’ll call you back by the end of the week with an update. In the meantime, you two need to be sure you’re acting like a happily married couple in every way possible. Everyone you know has to believe you’re in love with each other. In other cases like this…”
“What?” I demanded.
“I’m not an immigration lawyer,” was his initial, grumbling response.
“No, but you work with teams to handle immigration issues all the time for your clients,” I reminded him.
He represented Swedes, Finns, a German, more Canadians and Americans than I could count, and at least a few Russians, and we all had to be cleared for working in the US and Canada. Any time there was a trade or some guy signed with a new team, the visas and whatnot had to be pushed through ASAP. He took part in all of that, as well as arranging for whatever documentation a guy’s wife and children might need in order to be with him. There was no reason he couldn’t help me out with Tori’s situation. At least not the way I saw it.
“Your situation is different,” he said. “She was in the US on a student visa. She’s lost that, so legally, she has to return to her home count—”
“She’s not going back to Russia,” I cut in. No chance in hell was I letting that happen.
“It’s not me who’s going to make her go back. I’m just trying to tell—”
“I know perfectly well what you’re trying to tell me. I’m telling you that it’s not going to happen. Period.”
He let out a beleaguered sigh. “Razor, I’m trying to help you out here, but with the little I know about immigration law, it doesn’t look good.”
“But she married me. I’m a dual-citizen. That should be all it takes to get a green card.”
“But it looks like she married you just to get a green card. This happened too fast.”
It looked that way because that was the truth. “And that’s a problem?” I asked warily.
“It’s a big problem.”
“How big?”
“I need to talk to some people to find out for sure. But it’s big. Really big. That’s one of the few requirements I actually know off the top of my head.”
“Shit.”
“Shit doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
I drummed my fingers on my knee. Every cell in my body was bursting to punch something, but that wouldn’t help a fucking thing. I couldn’t just sit still, though. Before I went crazy, I got up and paced to the kitchen. “So now what? What do I do?”
“For the time being, sit tight. Be sure she doesn’t run. Let me see what I can sort out.”
“You’ve got to fix this, Greg.” I didn’t even attempt to hide the hint of panic in my voice. “You’ve got to find a way to make this work out. Because she’s not going back to Russia. Not now. Not ever.”
“Got it. I’ll see what I can do.”
“That’s not fucking good enough—seeing what you can do.”
“It’s going to have to be enough for now. I’m not a damn magician. I can’t change the law. All I can do is advise you on it.”
“I know.” I dragged a hand down my face. I did know. But now everything I had promised Tori about her future was in question, and I was feeling like a complete and total failure, all because I’d been impetuous. Not anything new for me. I had always tended to act before I thought, but this was different. This was bigger and a thousand times more important. I didn’t care what I had to do to keep my promises to her, but I would keep them. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be putting this all on you,” I finally said. “I just need for this to all work out. Whatever we have to do, we can’t let them send her back to Russia.”
“I know you’re sorry. Let me go see what I can find out. I’ll call you back by the end of the week with an update. In the meantime, you two need to be sure you’re acting like a happily married couple in every way possible. Everyone you know has to believe you’re in love with each other. In other cases like this…”
“What?” I demanded.
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