It’s the middle of the night. Zak and Gilly are in the wine country of France, driving on the freeway North of Lyon, on their way back to Paris. Rolling hills, dark shapes at night, fly by in the car’s windows. Scattered lights of farm houses form pinpoints here and there. A slivered moon rides in and out banks of clouds high above.
Zak and Gilly left the Acropolis just in time. As the two of them crossed the street to the Tete au Carre sculpture, the Nice police arrived in force to cordon off the conference center. Zak immediately called the girls in Paris, an image of their tiny hotel room in the Latin Quarter suddenly appearing behind Rashida’s face.
“Yeah, I know,” Rashida said, “We never go to sleep around here.”
Rashida picked up the laptop and rolled it’s viewfinder around the room. There are a couple of unmoving figures on the bed and Megan sitting in a chair nearby watching TV.
“Sa’d’s been assassinated,” Zak said. He puts the phone on speaker so Gilly, who is leaning in, can hear.
“We know. Megan is watching the reports right now.”
Zak shook his head.
“Can’t believe it,” he said.
“Nobody can!” Rashida replied.
“My God I thought we were close to putting an end to this!” Zak said in despair.
“I thought we were close to getting Kim back,” added Gilly.
“Well, it can’t be helped now. We’re keeping track of Kim, but honestly I don’t know what’s going on.”
“What do you mean,” asked Zak quizzically.
The girls texted him about her being near the airport.
“We’ve figured out that she’s in a warehouse near a group of charter companies. They have a parking lot for business jets.”
“They’re using a private jet?”
“Whoever it is. Yeah, we think so.”
That gave Gilly an idea.
“Say,” Gilly said, “why don’t you see what you can find on flight plans for charters,”
Rashida bit her lip.
“Great. We’re on it. You guys need to get back here. Now that we have a read on Kim I’m rounding up the posse and we’re going to take down that place to find her.”
“You’re nuts,” responded Zak.
“I don’t think so!”
Gilly bumped Zak’s arm and Zak looked at him.
“Yeah they are,” Gilly whispered back.
Zak smiled.
“Look, you’re doing great just where you are. Concentrate on getting the charter information.”
Gilly pulled up the LGV schedule.
“You head to the airport,” Gilly said, “and you’re going to get yourselves into a lot of trouble that you are in no way prepared to deal with. Focus on finding out where they’re going. That’s the best use of your time.”
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” said Zak.
Gilly shook his head as he showed Zak the train schedule.
“It’s not good.”
Zak could see that there was nothing scheduled until early the next morning.
“Shoot,” he said to Rashida, “I think we’re going to get a car.”
“What?” she asked in dismay.
“There’s not another train tonight.”
“You’re killing me,” she complained.
“I know, but we don’t have a choice,” Zak replied.
“I’m kicking both your butts when I see you!”
“Okay, okay.”
“Get going! Wax your boards or whatever else you have to do! But light a fire under it!”
The screen with Rashida’s image had gone abruptly blank.
For Zak, driving the car, the night becomes long, stretched to an eternity. The traffic thinned longed ago until they were alone on the highway. He looks over at Gilly, who has sacked out, his head lolling against the window and the corner of his seat. How does anyone sleep that way, he wonders?
The highway hits a sweeping curve, where Zak can see grape vines outlined along the crests of hills. It’s been hours when his ringtone reverberates throughout the car. Gilly stirs. Zak activates the phone.
“How you guys doin?” Rashida asks in a cheerily upbeat voice.
“Great Rash! We’re on the A7 North of Lyon,” Zak replies, trying to match her mood, glad to hear any voice other than the one in his head, which keeps suggesting that he should not have left Paris.
Gilly’s eyes squint just barely open as Zak clicks the phone for speaker.
“You guys are going to be so proud of us! But all credit goes to Kina. We found the flight records for charters at the airport online. God bless Kina. She has the heart of a hacker, or we would never have got into them,” says Rashida, her face all smiles, hardly expected from someone at 3 am.
Kina’s face crowds into view.
“It was nothing really. Just something Bog taught me.”
“She’s just being modest,” says Rashida, giving Kina a bump.
“When you’re done congratulating yourselves maybe you could tell us. Where in damnation are they going?” Gilly utters from beneath his half closed lids.
“Someone mixed their red ones with their blue ones this morning! Or did you forget to take them altogether?” responds Rashida.
“Please, Rash. Just tell us,” says Zak.
“They’re flying to Gdansk,” Kina jumps in.
Rashida gives Kina a look.
“Yeah, Gdansk,” Rashida adds, quite unnecessarily.
“Seriously?” asks Zak.
“That’s what their flight plan says, and it’s got Kim’s passport information,” Kina replies.
“And it looks legit,” adds Rashida.
Zak watches Gilly sit up and begin working his tablet.
“Gilly is already plotting a course,” he tells the girls.
“Dude,” Gilly tells Zak, wide eyed, “It’s far!”
“Just tell me the next turn off. Crossing through that many countries, we’ll have to stay with the car,” Zak observes.
“No high speed trains?” asks Rashida.
“It doesn’t look like it. Say, we need to take the A36,” replies Gilly.
“Fine. How’s Kim doing?” Zak asks the girls, “Is she still moving around the warehouse?”
“No, she seems to have holed up in a corner of the building and I’ll bet she’s being chased, though I do think she got away from them,” Rashida says, pushing hair out of her face.
“Maybe,” says Gilly.
Zak has yet to come to that conclusion. But it would make sense. If they have her, why wouldn’t they just get on the plane and be gone?
Sophie, dressed in her pajamas, now pushes Kina out of the way.
“Hi babe,” Gilly greets her.
“Gil, you get back here as soon as you can!” she scolds.
“Don’t worry,” he replies.
“Now how am I supposed to do that?” she asks.
Chapter 71