Chapter 14: Chapter 14

There was a rhyme and reason to Rome’s plan when he chose his flight. He didn’t pick the most obvious of no-go flights, the one where he thought his father, if he had an idea of where he was, would suspect they might be headed. He didn’t choose any of the smaller towns one could fly to out of Domazlice. Instead, he picked a medium-sized city, one he doubted his father would pay too much attention to.

It was a city in Russia, Orenburg, one Rome wasn’t familiar with, but he saw that it was easy to reach destinations outside of Russia from that airport. The size was also appealing. It wasn’t so big they would have trouble navigating, but it was big enough for them to get lost if they needed to.

Rome emailed all of the others their boarding passes from an anonymous email account so they couldn’t be traced back to him. They would have two hours to get to the airport and get through security. That shouldn’t be a problem, as long as they didn’t meet any opposition.

As he settled into a seat on the bus, it was difficult to fight the urge to look around him. He felt as if he should be watching to see if they were being followed again, but then, why would the person he was pretending to be have to worry about something like that? Acting paranoid was the best way to draw attention to himself, and he didn’t need any of that.

They seemed to be safe on the bus. There was no sign of anyone following them or anyone on the bus who looked as if they might be of a questionable nature. The other passengers looked like regular people either headed to the airport or just making their way from point A to point B.

When they reached the stop near the airport, Rome grabbed his bag and stood, waiting for a few other people to exit ahead of him. One of those people was Ella. “After you, miss,” he whispered, catching her eyes. She smiled but didn’t say anything. Speaking English was probably not in their best interest, so he didn’t blame her for not responding to him.

The airport wasn’t busy at all. Rome took his time stepping over to get his boarding pass from one of the machines. Ella had gone to the desk to get hers, and Gus was across the room, on the phone. He’d lost track of Mary momentarily but then glimpsed her coming out of a restroom. Eventually, he saw all three of them head through the screening process. It was only when all of the others were free and clear that he went through, having told them all ahead of time he’d be last.

He wasn’t surprised to see the others hadn’t gone far, though. Once he was through the screening, he didn’t stop or signal to them at all. Instead, he headed toward his gate as if he didn’t know a single other person in the airport.

It all seemed too easy--almost. About two hours after Rome had left King’s compound, the four of them were scattered throughout the coach class seats of an airplane, bound for Russia. No one on the plane seemed to recognize him. No one seemed to be looking for him. He wanted to let down his guard and go to sleep, but his mind wouldn’t let him.

Just because he couldn’t see them, that didn’t mean the bad guys weren’t still out there, hunting him like he was an animal. No, he knew his father wouldn’t give up. Just because the trail went cold, that didn’t mean that he’d stop looking. He knew Monty Verona well enough to understand he wouldn’t stop hunting until he found his prey.

The plane landed in Orenburg early in the morning. Rome had arranged for each of them to get to a hotel far away from the airport by different means. He didn’t like the idea of having his eyes off of Ella for even a few minutes, but it seemed like the safest thing to do. He’d arranged for her to take the bus, so she would at least be in public. Likewise, Mary would take a hotel shuttle. Both Rome and Gus would take cabs, but not together. In fact, he waited until he was sure Gus had already gotten into a cab before he even got in line. Once again, he was thankful Bart had managed to get all of his money into an account that would be untraceable to his father so he had plenty of money to make it happen.

They all had separate rooms at the hotel, too, on different floors. That wouldn't stop him from sharing a room with his wife, but he didn’t need to alert anyone who was looking for four people, or even more than one person, traveling together.

Rome got into the cab and told the driver the name of the hotel. He nodded and pulled away from the curb. Rome sent Ella a text. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m on the bus. Everything seems fine.”

“Good. Just be careful. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Of course, he got to the hotel before she did. Gus had already sent him a text that he was checked into his room before Rome approached the check-in desk. He got his room key and headed to the elevator, but he waited to go up until he saw Ella walk in the front door.

He almost didn’t recognize her at first, she looked so odd. He’d forgotten that he should be looking for a middle aged woman with a large mole. He smiled to himself. She didn’t even notice him. Deciding she was safe now, he headed upstairs. Mary sent a text that she was in her room. He hadn’t noticed her at all. Had she been in the lobby at the same time he was?

Rome got to his room and carefully removed his costume. He had watched with interest when King had applied it, and he had the tools to put it back on so he could look like his passport again the next day when they flew out of Russia.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, his phone in his hand. He was waiting for Ella to text him. Instead, he heard a knock on his door. He went over and checked the peephole. It was her. “Well, hello stranger….”

She still had her disguise on. She came in, laughing, and he quickly shut the door. “I’d kiss you, but I’d feel like I was cheating on you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“You’d better kiss me,” she said, making a face at him that made her look even more odd.

He couldn’t help but chuckle, but when he closed his eyes and found her lips, it was almost the same as usual--except for the gap between her teeth.

Ella pulled back and they stared at each other. “Okay… you gotta take that off. I just can’t.”

She giggled at him. “Are you sure you can put it back on me tomorrow?”

“I'm not sure I want to, but yeah, I think so. I’ve had my makeup and enough prosthetics put on me over the years, I’m pretty sure I can.”

“Okay,” she said, going into the bathroom to take her fake face off.

Rome went back to the bed and called Bart, not even sure what time it was there. He answered. “Hey. You okay?” Bart asked.

“Yeah.” Rome didn’t tell him where he was. Bart didn’t want to know. “You?”

“So far. Some guy came over to talk to my dad yesterday. He was from your father’s staff. He wanted to know if I’d been out of the country recently. My dad told him no, I’d been there, but he didn’t see why that was anyone’s business. Dad seemed to think he’d bought it.”

“Shit,” Rome muttered. “I’m glad your dad was willing to lie.”

“Dad doesn’t know about Ella, but he knows I went to help you get out.”

“Be careful, Bart. The last thing we need is for something to happen to you.”

“I’ll be okay. Have you called Donnie yet?”

Donnie was the lawyer. “Not yet. I was waiting until it seemed safe to do so.”

“All right. I’ve heard some rumors that the police are wondering where you are. They haven’t come to talk to me, though.”

“Great.” That wasn’t good news at all. He hoped that wasn’t because they wanted to question him about Tim’s death. “Okay. I’ll give him a call.” He let out a loud sigh. “Thanks, man.”

“Yeah. Just… be cautious, all right?”

“I will. Thanks.”

Rome hung up just as Ella came out of the bathroom. She was herself again. And all she was wearing was a T-shirt and a pair of panties. Rome forgot all about the phone call he needed to make.

Ella came to him on the bed and straddled him. He pulled her close, and she leaned down and found his lips. Losing himself in her kisses, Rome let everything else go and concentrated on this woman he loved. At the moment, nothing else mattered.