Bumps in the highway woke him. He’d almost fallen asleep, the stress of the last few days piling up.
That was why he chose Hotel Luigi. They accepted cash. Sure the hotel staff took their passports and wrote information down, but that information wasn’t readily handed in to the Italian officials in a timely fashion. That meant Darwin and his wife would have a few days in Rome before they were detected.
The same for Athens. He had a nice hotel picked out that offered the same kind of anonymity.
As long as they were still alive to board the plane.
Rosina had nodded off beside him. At the front of the bus, a red digital clock told him they were fifteen minutes away.
He looked out the window as a late model Crown Vic raced by the bus on his side. A moment later, another one did. He watched as both vehicles lined up in front of the bus. Then they started to slow down, slowing the bus too.
No, no, no. They can’t do this. Not in public. Not like this.
He’d almost got his wife to safety. He’d almost done it.
Instead of feeling defeated, he had to think. What could he do? He had no weapon. He had no way to escape. Open fields were on both sides of the bus, which had slowed down to half its speed. The bus driver hit his horn and shouted something in Italian. The two Crown Victorias drove side by side, blocking all exits for the bus and the traffic piling up behind them.
The speed couldn’t be any more than twenty miles per hour now. The bus jerked with the brake pedal, turning left and right, in a futile attempt to get around the two vehicles. Passengers were getting anxious. They had planes to catch. One man stood up in the aisle and shouted in Italian.
Rosina woke and lifted her head. “What’s going on?” she asked.
It startled Darwin. He turned to her. “Looks like a couple of idiots playing a game on the highway. They’re blocking the bus, not leaving us a chance to get around them.”
Rosina leaned forward. “Assholes. That’s ridiculous. Look at them, acting like children. People have planes to catch.”
“Exactly.”
The bus came to a complete stop. The driver spoke on his phone.
Then a siren in the distance.
Awesome!
A moment later, a police cruiser raced by their window just as both Crown Victoria’s driver’s-side doors opened. Darwin stood and looked out the front window at four men as they stood on the highway beside their car, all dressed in suits, staring at the bus, two of them with their hands up to ward off the glare from the sun.
Two police officers jumped from their cars and yelled something. Horns blared behind the bus, and yet none of the four men moved. They just stood there, staring.
One of the men lifted his hand and made the symbol of a gun. He dropped his thumb and lifted his finger as if it recoiled. The man opened his mouth to make a swoosh sound.
“That’s fucking rude,” Rosina said. “They stop us and then get mad at the bus driver. Unbelievable.”
If she only knew. That parody of a gun going off wasn’t for the bus driver, it was for me.
“I know, eh…” was all Darwin could say.
The police convinced one of the men to move his vehicle. After a few minutes delay, the bus got underway again. The passengers all cheered in unison.
I can’t keep getting that lucky. I have to do something. It’s too risky traveling with Rosina. Either I tell her what’s going on, or she goes on alone.
He made his decision. He also figured out how to do it.
Ten minutes later, the bus entered the terminal and stopped alongside a row of travel and tour buses.
Darwin and his new bride got off by way of the middle door, collected their luggage, and headed into the airport.
He kept his eyes peeled for anything, but every second that passed, he felt safer and safer. No one would try anything with all the airport security. Policemen and security guards roamed the corridors of the check-in side.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rosina asked. “You look even whiter.”
“Really, I’m fine. I’m just not feeling so hot, but don’t worry about me. We’ll have a blast when we land in Athens.”
They lined up to walk through security. A smattering of people had lined up ahead of them, but the line moved well. Instantly, people converged behind them too. In a matter of minutes, a sea of people swallowed up Rosina and Darwin, all heading to different destinations, all leading different lives, not knowing that a man in line with them was one of the most wanted men in recent history.
Wanted by criminals, not by the police. How does life get so fucked up? How is it even fair that this is happening?
Darwin and his wife were about to begin their life together. What a wedding present this shit was. When Rosina found everything out, she would probably ask for a divorce. They’d only been married four days and she’d want out. He was sure of it.
As they stood in line, he thought about what his father would say when he told him about the marriage. Her parents were going to freak out. Both their parents had objected to them being together in the first place. Rosina’s parents were from the old country in Italy. Darwin’s mother had died when he was born and his father was from Athens. They had chosen Rome as the city to elope to, in honor of her parents, and Athens as the city to finish their honeymoon in as a respectful gesture to his dad.
When they were done touring, they’d go home and announce to everyone that they’d gotten engaged. Set some ridiculous date two years away and let their respective families work it all out. In the end, if the parents were to absolutely refuse to sign off on the wedding and let them be happy, Rosina and Darwin would drop the bomb that they were already married and had been for a long time.
Take that.
The line moved. People ahead removed their shoes, pulled off belts, and took laptops out of their carry-ons. It would be their turn soon.
Darwin took a final look over his shoulder and studied the faces of everyone he could see. Nonchalant, bored, tired and impatient faces looked back. No one stared in anger. No one aimed ill intent at him. At least not as far as he could see.
Bringing Rosina to the airport was the smartest thing he could’ve done. Sure, they’d know where he was. But it’d be difficult for them to find him. It’d take time. If his plan worked out, at least Rosina would be safe.
After what happened on the highway and the attempts on his life in Rome, he had to make her safety a priority, and he was going to do just that.
It was their turn now. Darwin watched as the woman ahead of him took off at least ten pieces of jewelry. Then she undid her earrings, took off her boots and started working on her pockets.
He couldn’t believe it. If you knew you were coming to the airport and you knew security would require you remove all that junk, why would you cover yourself in jewelry and fill your pockets before coming?
After a moment, she turned back and whispered an apology to Rosina. The woman didn’t look at Darwin. The scowl on his face would have unnecessarily upset her. He was tired of people at that moment. People walking all over others, doing things their way, imposing.
Those men on the highway, and the organization they belonged to, were trying to kill him. They would kill more than just him if they achieved their goal. They’d kill a lovely marriage and break the heart of a wonderful woman.
It was time to get angry. It was time to deal with the issue at hand. In fact, it was past due. He’d let things go on too long.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Rosina asked.
Darwin snapped out of his reverie. “What? Doing what?”
“This. Flying to Greece. Maybe we should just go home to Toronto.”
“What? Why?”
She took off her shoes. Then she set them on the conveyer belt. “You haven’t been yourself lately. Even now, you’re pale, and at the same time, you look angry. I just don’t know that side of you.”