The Private Serials Box Set(108)
After they’d ditched their personal items into the water, they sat on the bench, Derrek’s arms wrapped tightly around Jessica. I aimed our boat back toward Athens.
Chapter Ten
I pulled the boat up to a marina that was much less popular, hoping there would be fewer people around to see us arrive. This marina was mainly used by fishermen, so when we docked, we got hardly any looks from the men cleaning their boats. Perfect. We walked down the wooden-planked walkway and I spotted the black SUV I’d hired.
“This is as far as we go,” I said to Derrek. I handed him the manila envelope that contained the items Parker had managed to get for me. “In that envelope you’ll find passports, IDs, and all the paperwork you’ll need to leave the country under new identities. For all four of you. There is also paperwork that will lead you to a bank account I’ve set up in your new name that has the two million dollars we promised you, plus another fifty thousand to get you started.”
Derrek took the envelope from me, looked inside, and then sighed. “You had this all figured out, didn’t you?”
“Indeed,” I replied. “Now listen, this is important. You are all dead. You cannot, under any circumstances, contact anyone from your previous life. You cannot come back to Portland, cannot even come back to Oregon. I’d say stay out of the US for a while, even. Am I making this clear? If you come back, you’re dead. And so are we,” I say, motioning to Lena and myself. Jessica looked more upset about this prospect than Derrek, and I guessed she might have been closer to her family than he was. For just one moment I wondered if she was regretting getting involved with him to begin with. She hadn’t signed up for all of this. But then I looked at Lena, who was wearing a look of true compassion. She actually felt bad for them. Her open and enormous heart wiped away any concern I had for Jessica; she’d gotten herself into this mess and I’d done everything I could to ensure the man she loved lived. I couldn’t feel guilty about it. Refused to feel guilty. “In that SUV there you’ll find luggage with a few changes of clothes for each of you. The car will take you to the airport and I suggest you leave immediately.”
Derrek reached out and I took his hand and shook it firmly. He nodded toward me, and it sort of looked like he wanted to thank me, but the words never left his mouth. Lena knelt and waved to the kids.
“Bye, girls. Be good for Mommy and Daddy, all right?” The two little girls nodded and smiled at her as she stood.
We stayed in place and watched as the four of them climbed into the car and drove away. When it was out of sight I heard Lena let out a giant, relieved sigh. I turned to her and saw the same relief written across her face.
“That was pretty intense,” she said softly as she turned to me. “I’m glad everything went as planned. There were a million things that could have gone wrong.”
I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, smiling when her cheek came into contact with my chest.
“It was the only way I could think of to end this, once and for all.”
“I get it. I just hope it worked.”
“If they head straight to the airport, which is where I hired their car to take them, they should be on a plane before anyone really notices they’re gone.”
She exhaled loudly again and I buried my nose in her hair. “You’re safe and that’s all that matters.” Her arms squeezed me a little tighter and her face pressed against my chest a little harder.
“Can we go back to the hotel now? I just want to lie in bed and try to forget this ever happened.”
“Of course,” I responded.
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the hotel room, showering and lounging on the bed, holding each other, trying to wrap our minds around what had happened just hours before. It wasn’t until that evening when we turned on the television that we realized we just might have pulled it off. The reporter spoke in Greek, but there were captions in English running along the bottom of the screen.
The coastguard has confirmed a tourist boat that was rented by an American family has been found crashed just miles off the shore of Athens. The boat careened into a rocky beach, exploding on impact, and all four of the people on board, two adults and two children, are presumed dead. The coastguard is searching the nearby waters, hoping to find survivors, but based on the wreckage, I’m being told the chance of survival is slim.
Lena looked over to me. “It worked,” she said, sounding astonished. “It actually worked.” Her finger came up to pull at her bottom lip as she watched the television in fascination.
I stepped out onto our terrace and called Parker, knowing a text wouldn’t give him any satisfaction. He answered sounding worried, his greeting rushed.
“Preston? Is everything all right?”
“Hey, everything is fine. It all went according to plan.”
“I don’t want to know any details. I’m just glad you’re all right. And Lena?”
“She’s fine too.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and I knew he was slumping, all the anxiety leaving his body.
“Listen, I don’t know where we’re headed, or what we’re up to next….” My words trailed off because I didn’t know how to tell my brother I didn’t know when I’d see him again.
“I understand, Preston. I get it. Like I said, I’m just glad you’re both safe.”