The polite young man explained how much the ticket would cost, which didn’t matter much to her. Money wasn’t a problem. Over the course of her short career, Allyson had amassed a fortune. While she wasn’t as wealthy as a man like Frank Shaw — his wealth was measured in the billions — she’d collected enough income to make sure she would never have to work the sidewalks as a pickpocket ever again. Her plan was to spend the rest of her days on a beach somewhere, sipping margaritas and fending off younger men.
She’d confessed her plans to Frank at one point during a discussion they were having over tea.
“Don’t you think that would get boring? For someone like you, Allyson, I imagine you’d miss the thrill.”
She blew off his comment. The thrill was certainly addictive. But her body ached from the beating, the traveling, and the sleeping in a car the night before. Ugh, I need a shower.
The ticket guy handed her one pass for the train and returned her credit card. It was one of many she owned with a fake name attached. Some she’d acquired on her own; others were provided to her by Frank. She used those sparingly. The less attached she was to anyone, the better. The ticket agent smiled and thanked her. She did the same and hurried away toward the escalators.
Once Allyson stepped onto the moving stairs, she instantly felt insecure. Like a rabbit being watched by a hawk high above, she knew she was exposed and relying solely on a pitiful disguise and the hopes her enemy believed she was still somewhere in Berlin. The elderly couple she’d seen earlier were three steps ahead of her, and a gaggle of business travelers huddled on the steps just beneath. She took one cautious step down to blend in more with the herd, though in her outfit, she stuck out like a snake at an alligator party. The people behind her frowned, uncertain of why she’d stepped backward. They probably also noticed she hadn’t had a shower in a few days. Once on the train, she would have a little time to remedy that, if not properly then at least minimally.
The escalator finally arrived at the top after seeming as if it never would. Allyson scurried around the old couple and curved around to the right where one of the trains was waiting. She double-checked the digital sign overhead and saw it was the one heading to Zurich. It was scheduled to leave in seven minutes. Another worry was that since Adriana and her companions were already aboard, they could very easily see her pass by. To alleviate this problem, Allyson veered right toward one of the other trains, separated by forty feet of platform, some benches, and a few kiosks with directions for travelers. She walked along, staring up at the windows of the diversionary train to keep her head turned away from the one headed to Zurich. With only a few minutes to spare, she didn’t have much time to get to the end. Figuring the others would have taken a seat on one of the first few cars, Allyson wanted to put as much space between her and them as possible. The other advantage of boarding the last car was that, even if they had gone that far down, she would be able to approach from the rear and, most likely, not be seen.
She reached the end of the line of cars and drifted aimlessly back to the left like a lost tourist. Her eyes scanned the windows on the near side to make sure her marks didn’t have a seat in clear sight. As far as she could tell, they were nowhere to be seen, which meant either she’d missed them or they were on the other side. Allyson was sloppy with some things, but observation wasn’t one of them. She could find a crooked blade of grass on a green at Augusta National.
At the steps, a young man in a uniform inspected her ticket and smiled at her, welcoming her aboard.
“You just made it,” he said in German.
She thanked him in English, to which his smile faded briefly but remained somewhat intact.
Allyson ascended the short set of stairs quickly, happy to get out of the open and into a more confined and concealed space. She turned the corner to the train’s entrance and surveyed the interior within two seconds. There was no sign of the targets. That was a good thing. Although the fact that she hadn’t seen them in the windows and couldn’t see them right now tossed a sickening thought into her mind. What if they aren’t on this train? It was entirely possible that Adriana and her associates paid the guy at the ticket counter to tell her they were going to Zurich when really they were going to Prague. Or what if they’d said Zurich knowing she would suspect the opposite to be true? Her head raced with paranoia. The first answer is usually the right one; she reminded herself of the lesson she’d learned as a schoolgirl. Two seats were open near the back, and she quietly eased into one next to the window.
A German woman’s voice came over the PA system, announcing that the train would be departing in one minute. She then made the same statement in English. Literally, waited until the last minute, Allyson thought, breathing a sigh of relief. She pushed away all thoughts of being on the wrong train and closed her eyes. This is the right train.
The conductor stepped aboard and hovered over her, his eyes checking the rows ahead.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she interrupted his counting, “how long is this trip?”
He appeared only a little irritated and answered, “Three hours and forty minutes.”
“Thank you.”
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The seat was far more comfortable than the rental car she’d spent the night in. It could be dangerous to take a nap with her enemies so close by, but they had no reason to come aboard this car. They were somewhere ahead of her and would likely stay there. Still, she forced thoughts of sleep out of her mind as the train’s engine engaged and the heavy cars lurched slowly forward.
15
“I still don’t understand why we didn’t just fly,” Adriana said. “It would have saved time.”
The three companions grabbed their small collection of belongings and prepared to exit the train along with all the other travelers.
“You didn’t appreciate the views on the ride in?” Hummels smiled as he made the snarky comment.
Indeed, riding the train through Europe provided incredible scenery, and it really was an efficient way to travel. She was splitting hairs, but in the race to save her father, every minute counted.
“Besides,” Hummels continued, “by the time we arranged for a charter, which would have been the most likely scenario, we would have waited another hour anyway. Add that to the flight time, and you basically would have arrived right about now.”
His second point was true. In fact, getting on the train may have actually been the faster way to go. She decided to drop the discussion and get back to business. “I assume you know exactly how to get to this bank?”
Hummels beamed with pride. “Of course, I do. And so will our driver. So do not dismay. We will be there within the hour.”
The three left the train and walked through the impressive Zurich train station. The rafters and ceiling stretched high above the thousands of square feet below. Throngs of people from all walks of life filled some of the vast area, but there remained large sections that appeared deserted.
Originally built in 1847, Zurich’s Hauptbahnhof had been replaced with a newer version in 1871. It went through a renovation in 1990, but much of the original architecture and design from the second version remained. It was an incredible structure and remained one of the busiest, most efficient rail hubs in the world, pushing out an astounding 2,900 train departures per day.
Adriana took in the full majesty of the train station and the incredible way it operated. “You have to admit, aside from making great time pieces, the Swiss really know how to do trains like no one else.”