Last Violent Call (Secret Shanghai, #3.5)(70)

“Attention, attention!” a station officer was shouting as Benedikt and Marshall tried to push farther along the platform. “The train to Harbin has been moved up an hour! I repeat, the train to Harbin has been moved up an hour.”

Benedikt froze midstep. “That’s us.”

Marshall halted too. “That’s… bad, right?”

“Depends.” Benedikt glanced at his watch. He looked into the distance, at the railway station with its quaint eggshell walls, felt the blow of the nearby ocean salt furling into the city. “We would be getting to Zhouzhuang sooner than expected. But only if we can find Lourens first and make the earlier train.”

“Then let’s move.” Marshall surged forward. “I will find a map. We need to locate a main road.”

“You go into the station for bearings; I will find a car,” Benedikt decided. “Meet at the front entrance.”

“Excellent.” Before Marshall could fully sprint off, he spun so he was walking backward, facing Benedikt as he spoke. “We are so good at this. I think we should start a detective agency.”

“Absolutely not.”

“A missing persons agency, perhaps. I am not picky.”

“Mars! Focus!”

With a howl that resembled a battle cry, Marshall ran for the station, a bundle of delight wrapped in a coat. “We would be unstoppable!”

Benedikt huffed a laugh under his breath, pushing toward the roadside. The winter sun peeked out behind a thick cloud, shining bright on the snow. These next few hours would be sheer chaos, but while he charged forward with a goal in mind and Marshall dove along just as quickly, he didn’t have any doubt that they could get it done. So long as he had Marshall by his side, the two of them could face whatever was thrown their way.

Together, they were already unstoppable.