Crushed (56 page)

"Are the owners here?" Sophie asked as they rushed into the hotel room.

"You're talking to the owner." Robert replied with a grin. "I rented this room in case of emergencies."

"What? You had this all planned?"

Robert led her through the room and out into the hallway. They beelined towards the elevator, and Sophie mashed the button repeatedly until the doors opened.

When the elevator doors closed behind them, Robert turned towards her with a satisfied smirk.

"While you were pouting on the plane ride here, I had more than enough time to come up with a back-up plan."

"Back-up plans aren't your style." Sophie accused. "Don't you normally like to just wing-it?"

"Had I not researched the layout of the hotel, and thought ahead for a worst-case scenario, we would've probably been stuck waiting for them for find us."

"Good point. Remember to start planning more often." She smiled up at him briefly.

The moment they arrived in the hotel lobby they headed straight through the entrance. Robert paused momentarily to warn the security guard waiting by the front door that a suspicious group of men were seen in the elevators.

Before any questions could be asked, they were outside of the hotel, and free to escape.

"Well, that was fun." Robert shouted over the roar of traffic. He grabbed on to Sophie's hand and led her to the street where a cab was already waiting. "Shall we run away?" He asked, opening the door for her to step inside.

"That was insane." She whispered, hoping the cab driver didn't notice her both terrified and relieved expression.

"That's our life." Robert joked from behind her. He glanced at the driver and smiled politely. "Just start driving, I'll tell you where we're headed in a minute."

"Where are we headed?" Sophie asked, her adrenaline beginning to subside. They'd been chased out of their hotel, and now officially had no where to go. The hotel was supposed to be their safe spot to hide, but even it wasn't enough.

"I need you to call Diana. Have her tell you where your parents grew up. I'll find a car to get us there." He flipped open his phone and began to dial.

"Where my parents grew up?"

Robert nodded as he pressed the phone to his ears. "Hiding is not an option anymore. We're going to tackle the problem at the source. Immediately."

His voice went from serious to polite as he began speaking with someone on the other line.

Sophie glanced out the window, taking a deep breath. Her adrenaline had gotten her this far, but now it was being washed away by her former exhaustion. Her body was screaming for rest, though it would still be a while yet before she could sleep.

The sun had already risen in the sky, and it was approaching noon. Outside the world was alive and bustling, while Sophie felt like all she wanted was peace and quiet.

She turned away from the scene around her and began dialing Diana's number.

The chaos had already resumed.

*  *  *

The small town that Sophie's parents had grown up in was located eight hours south of the city. For the duration of the ride they'd passed by waves and waves of countryside, which while peaceful, had no effect on Sophie.

She'd alternated driving with Robert so that could both get a chance to sleep, but neither had closed their eyes since the moment they'd left the hotel.

There was too much on their minds to allow sleep to overcome them. They were both scared for an outcome that was becoming realer by the minute.

Robert had gambled everything on the assumption that the paintings were hidden back in the town Susanne and Gerard grew up in. His assumption was based on nothing more than gut instinct, and a self-proclaimed knowledge of how people worked. He thought that the paintings would be hidden somewhere the two of them had felt safe.

Diana had harshly opposed his plan and his logic. The town had been searched multiple times on Max's orders, and nothing had ever been found. It'd been the first location Slavsky had started his search for them, and had already been decided to be empty. Even Sophie knew it was too obvious a location for the paintings to be hidden. Nothing was ever that easy.

Despite calling him insane, Diana had given them the address for the orphanage they'd grown up in. She'd informed them that Gerard had lived there his entire life, having been abandoned as a baby. Susanne had been taken from her abusive parents when she was four and been put in the home after a series of foster families didn't work out. The orphanage was the only home Sophie's parents had ever had in this town.

"It's very simple." Sophie commented when they pulled into the orphanage parking lot. She'd been examining the town closely ever since they'd arrived. She was trying to look for anything that would help them find the paintings, even though she knew how useless that was.

No matter how much she wanted to believe in Robert, she couldn't follow his belief that the paintings were here. When her parents were murdered, they'd been found on the other side of the country. No piece of evidence had linked them back here.

What she was looking for now was hope. Just the smallest inkling that the paintings still existed. If they never found them they would have no leverage against Cleo and Max. They wouldn't be able to take them down, or even barter for their freedom. In that scenario there was no best case or worst case, it was simply the end of everything.

"Looks like every other small town I've seen." Robert replied as he cut off the car.

"Are we wasting our time here?" Sophie placed her hand over his. "I know you're going off of instinct, but this isn't the time. We have to think of a legitimate plan, not one that's created out of fear." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the cell phone he'd given her. "Diana sent us a layout of the town. We know where every building is, and what's inside of it. The whole area is mapped out, including the blueprint for this place." She motioned to the orphanage in front of them. "What can we possibly find here?"

"Anything." He answered, not looking her in the eye. "Right now we have nothing. Wandering around should give us some glimpse into who they were."

"We know who they were." Her voice rose in frustration. "Diana told us everything she knew."

"Well, we're not looking for what she knew." He turned and his expression silenced her. "When your parents left, no one knew what they were thinking. They abandoned the elaborate plan they'd spent years creating, and even Diana couldn't explain that. Gerard and Susanne had something else in their heads back then, and maybe we'll figure that out here."

Instead of waiting for a reply, he stepped out of the car and headed for the entrance ahead. Sophie reluctantly followed after him, forcing her frustration away. She couldn't allow them to get into a fight now, when so much was riding on their success.

"Wait outside." He requested, glancing back at her once before entering the orphanage.

She sighed, crossing her arms and biting back her temper. This was his way of letting her know he was angry.

Instead of going against his request, she took the time to calm herself down. She examined the dimly lit town around her. It was eerily quiet outside, with only a few cars passing by every now and again.

The town was similar to where she'd grown up with her grandparents. Everything was close together, which made it easy to walk to wherever you needed to go. A school was located a few blocks from the orphanage, and was surrounded with small shops that sold anything from clothes, to groceries. It was a peaceful place, the kind she'd loved as a child and spent her teenage years begging to escape from.

She shivered when a breeze brushed by her arms, closing her eyes for a moment. She was so beyond exhausted at this point, it wasn't worth complaining about.

Robert opened the door behind her, and she glanced at him in surprise. He'd been inside for only five minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time for him to figure out everything he wanted.

"They won't let us inside." He explained, heading down the sidewalk without waiting for her reply. She followed after him, having to half-jog to keep up with his frustrated pace. "Tours are only given on specific days of the week, during working hours."

"Well, it's not like we would've found anything anyway." She muttered.

Robert turned around towards her, his eyes wide with anger. "I'm doing everything I can right now, and your complaints aren't helping."

Sophie had already let go of her frustration at him. She could see he was scared from his expression.

She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, hugging him close. "I know." She whispered. "We're both running headfirst into this wall, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Robert closed his eyes, letting his tensed body relax. "Sophie, plan or no plan, I'm starting to think we're going to lose." He took a deep breath. "We can gather up everyone who wants to fight against Cleo and Max, we can listen to every story Diana has about your parents, or we can search this whole country for those paintings, but I think it's all going to be useless."

"We can't stop trying." Sophie leaned back, looking him directly in the eyes. "If we give up, they'll find us. Max will either kill us for his house, or Cleo will get rid of us out of fear. If we go to the police we'd have to admit our crimes to have them arrested. I'd get a short sentence, but what about you and Luke? Diana's empire would crumble with the charges they have against her. Even if Cleo somehow understood that we weren't behind Max's house fire, we'd be locked into working for her until we die."

"I realize all of that, which is why I'm struggling to find something to believe in. We're running out of options, Sophie." His voice was strained. "This is one of the few times in my life where I feel like I'm in control of what happens in my future, but I'm slipping. I'm working as hard as I can to keep everyone I love safe, but it's not good enough. Last time, I didn't have a choice in loosing my daughter. Now, even with the choice, I can't do anything."

"We are doing something." Sophie wrapped her hand around his. "It'll work out."

"You can't possibly think I'll believe that."

"No, but it was worth a shot." She laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "Just let me comfort you for once."

Robert closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine."

Sophie grinned, leading him down the sidewalk, keeping her pace slow. "We might as well explore while we're here. Fresh air and a long walk is just what we need to get back on track."

"Is that so?" Robert raised his eyebrow questioningly. "I could think of a few other activities that would clear our heads." His voice rose suggestively.

Sophie scowled, elbowing him in the ribs.

"What?" He asked, laughing as he moved away from her. "I meant sleeping." He winked down at her playfully. "What did you have in mind?"

"Let's walk in silence." She suggested, hiding a small grin.

He laughed again, and squeezed her hand tightly. She could tell he was already beginning to return to his normal self. His fear was subsiding for the moment. It was still there, deep in his heart, but for now he would be okay.

Sophie began to appreciate the peacefulness of the town as the strolled along the sidewalk. It calmed her heart to feel safe in a place like this. Max's people would surely be after them, but for a while longer this place would be their haven.

"Will you play along with me for a little bit?" Robert asked suddenly, causing Sophie to glance up at him.

"Umm...sure." She answered, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Assuming everything goes according to plan, what would you like to do?"

His question surprised her. She didn't have a concrete answer ready for him. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly.

"Say we find the paintings, hand them over to the police, and miraculously get away without any repercussions. Without Cleo and Max to worry about, what would you want to do? What's the plan after that?"

Sophie hadn't thought about what would happen after they escaped. The future he spoke of was so improbable that she'd never considered it coming true. She took a moment to think about why he'd asked, and the realization made her heart sink.