Chapter 189

We take a bus to the airport, disembarking not at the departures terminal but instead at the cargo terminal. I hoist the backpack higher on my shoulder and glance up at Frankie as the bus drives away without us.

“So, I take it we’re not flying first class?”

He smirks at me, slipping his arm around my shoulders. “You know I was never a first-class kind of guy, Bambs.”

I laugh a little, though it’s half nerves. He smirks and tugs me forward with him.

Then, I really watch Frankie shine.

I don’t say anything, not at all, as Frankie charms and bribes his way through the systems of security that would usually keep a guy like him out. It’s clear that this was the work he was doing all day, since half of the people don’t look surprised to see him there. Instead, they just take wad after wad of folded bills that he hands over to person after person and carefully nod him through, directing him where to go next.

No one looks at me – not much, at least. I get the impression that they know they’re better off if they don’t have any information about who is traveling today – that their plan, instead, is to simply pretend this never happened.

“Is this…does this happen often?” I ask Frankie quietly as we’re gestured forward onto the tarmac itself, kind of awed at the speed at which this happened.

“What, people getting through security different ways at an airport?” he asks, his eyebrows raised.

I nod, guessing that’s the best way to describe it.

“Bambs,” he says, laughing a little as we walk quietly through the darkness between planes. “This happens…every day. Everyone has a price and those who don’t…are working in higher security places than this.”

“Oh,” I say quietly, kind of shocked because…I mean, this looked relatively easy. I mean, I know that Frankie knows the right people to call and how to navigate this world but…

Damn. The criminal element goes much deeper in society than I thought it would. I never considered that you could get out of the United States without showing a passport – that all you needed was a couple thousand bucks.

“Stay sharp now,” Frankie murmurs to me, giving my shoulders a squeeze and bringing my attention back to him. I do as I’m told, even though I’m aware that there’s not much required of me right now except staying quiet. I’ve been briefed, after all. Together, we quietly walk up to a huge man standing outside a gigantic cargo plane that’s been fully stocked with goods.

Frankie clears his throat, and the man turns around, looking us up and down.

“You Craig?” the man asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Yup,” Frankie says, his voice bland.

“And who’s your friend?” the man asks, turning his eyes on me, likewise taking a good look.

“I don’t have a friend,” Frankie replies, his voice harder now.

The man looks back at Frank perfectly still for a moment and then nods once. “That will cost you triple.”

“Fine,” Frank snaps, sounding impatient.

“Fine,” the man agrees, nodding and stepping close to Frankie’s side, probably to make the passing of money less obvious to any prying eyes. Frankie hands over a few more stacks of bills with quick efficiency – so fast that if I wasn’t looking I’d have missed it.

The man steps away again, gesturing subtly towards a ladder that goes up to a door. “You realize what this is, right? I’m just…leaving a door open longer than I should have. What happens once you’re in the plane is your problem. What happens when you land is again, your problem. You never met me. You don’t know I exist.”

“It’s not a problem,” Frankie says back, his voice still even and serious. “Thank you, though. We’re grateful.”

“Yeah, well, you’re just lucky I owed Betty a favor and needed the cash. You have five minutes before I close the door.”

Frankie nods, reaching out and taking my hand even as he continues to look up into the man’s face.

The man starts to move away and then looks between us again as he sighs, looking down at my feet. “Look…it’s cold in there, all right? Stay hidden, and keep to the front of the cargo area where the temperature-sensitive goods are kept. It will be warmer there. There are some…heat blankets in the first aid kits – no one will notice if a few go missing.”

A little smile graces my lips as I realize that this man is being kind for my sake.

He sighs again, glaring down at my feet and then up at Frankie, his face stern. “And get your girl some damn sneakers, all right? There’s a…shipment of Nikes in the back. You’ll find something her size. Honestly, her damn feet are going to freeze off.”

A little smile breaks onto Frankie’s face as he looks up into the man’s face as he squeezes my shoulders. “Thanks. We’ll do that.”

“Good,” the man sighs. And then he shakes his head, walking away from us and – I’m sure – wiping us from his memory as if we don’t exist.

“All right, Bambina,” Frankie says after a moment, dropping his arm from my shoulders and grabbing my hand, giving it a tug towards the cargo plane. “Ready to go try on some shoes?”

I laugh a little, following as Frankie tugs me forward, a little bewildered that it was…this easy. I mean, I know he worked all day to make this happen and spent all our money and probably did everything he could to cover our trail while he did it but…

It’s all coming together, isn’t it? Just…a few more steps, and I’m on a plane, and then…Europe.

Tomorrow morning, we wake up in Europe.

Frankie gestures me towards the steep metal staircase – almost a ladder – as we approach the plane so that I can climb in first. I flash him a grin, putting my hands onto the railing, taking the first step up.

But suddenly…something flashes in the corner of my eye and I turn towards it – a bright flash off light.

And just by chance I see another plane – a small, white, private plane.

And another woman climbing up the steps onto it, ushering two small children in front of her, a little baby gathered up in her arms.

And my mouth falls open because…

No.

It can’t be.

It can’t be…coincidence. It…it can only be fate.

Because as I stare at her, my mouth open –

As a long string of curses flow from Frankie’s mouth, and he reaches out an arm and wraps it protectively around my waist – ready to haul me away – ready to hide me in the shadows –

Giana turns to us, peering into the night.

And then her mouth, like mine, falls open as our eyes lock on each other and we simultaneously realize who is standing before us.

“Shit,” Frankie whispers, freezing like I am in the same moment that Giana’s mouth shapes the same word.

Slowly, determined, I lower my foot to the ground as Giana finishes ushering the kids into the plane and calls a word after them before handing the baby off to the flight attendant and starting back down her stairs.

“Iris, we have to run,” Frankie whispers to me, his voice desperate.

“No, Frank,” I say to him, quiet and determined, turning to look up into his eyes. “I…I have to do this.”