Change of Plans
Ella waited to hear what Gus’s plan might be. She had a feeling he had something up his sleeve, which shouldn’t have been a surprise considering how useful he’d been already.
“Why not Domazlice?” he asked with a shrug. “I have a friend from my childhood who lives there who might be able to help us. It’s a much less likely place for them to be looking than a bigger city like Budapest.”
“But won’t it be harder to blend in, too?” Rome asked, his tone not conveying he was opposed to the idea, just that he was thinking aloud.
“The beautiful thing is that my friend is a master of disguise,” Gus said. “He used to be an undercover investigator for Interpol, but he is retired now.”
Ella’s forehead crinkled. “How old is your friend?”
“He’s much older than us,” Gus said. “He used to be my neighbor when I was a schoolboy, and I would go over every day and let him rearrange my face.”
Rome laughed at his misuse of the phrase, but Gus didn’t even blink. “I guess you’re certain we can trust him if you’re suggesting we go there?”
“Oh, yes. We can trust him. He’s quite trustworthy. He lives out in the country because he hates almost everyone, though. We will have to find an untraceable way to get there.”
“Do they have rideshare there?” Mary asked. “I don’t even know what country that is.”
“It’s the Czech Republic,” Ella told her, not blaming her for having never heard of the town. “They might, but it will be difficult to get a vehicle large enough for us and all of our luggage.”
“Could you call him? Could he pick us up?” Rome asked.
Gus shrugged and got out his phone. “He doesn’t have a phone, but he does have email. It is possible he will check it before we get there, though not likely.”
“Be cryptic,” Mary reminded him.
Gus looked at her for a second and then smiled. “Do you think I do not know this, Mary?”
“Sorry. I’m just paranoid after those guys were so close to nabbing us. They were right here. I thought they were going to grab Rome for sure.” Mary was visibly shaking.
“I know,” Gus said, resting his hand on her leg. “It will be all right, Mary.”
Ella thought it was really sweet the way he was comforting her. She looked at Rome and smiled, but he didn’t seem to notice what was going on between the other two.
Gus typed in a quick email and then put his phone in his pocket. “Now, we shall wait and see.”
“We’ll need to figure out a route to get to Domazlice,” Rome said, clearly thinking aloud. He pulled out his phone and began looking through train schedules. Ella preferred to look out the window and leave that to him. He was better with that sort of thing, anyway. She could manage France, but that was about it.
The countryside out the window was beautiful. It would be nice to stay there in her homeland, her mother’s homeland, anyway, and hide in the beautiful rolling hills. But they wouldn’t be safe there. She longed to call her aunts and let them know she was alive, but she couldn’t do that until they were safely out of the area.
She missed Tim. Now that she had a few moments to relax and not worry about being apprehended, she thought about her cousin. She missed his laugh, the way he was always so excited to see her. Thinking of how scared he must’ve been, struggling to swim in the ocean and knowing he was going under, almost brought tears to her eyes, but she had to be strong.
Why he ever brought that gun on the boat, she couldn’t understand. He had become so paranoid all of a sudden, just in the last few days of his life. It had been her father who’d brought that upon him, making Tim so afraid that he’d come after Ella, that he’d need to protect her, that he’d gotten that stupid gun.
If she had told Tim the truth about Rome, he probably wouldn’t have been happy about it, but he might’ve learned to accept it. He might at least still be alive.
Or, in the back of her mind, she wondered if maybe he would’ve shot Rome instead of Mark….
“All right, I’ve got it figured out.” Rome seemed satisfied with his plan and put his phone away. Ella reached over and took his hand, glad he was there with her. Even if they were in an awful predicament, one she would never wish anyone would have to be on, she was glad she was with him.
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