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The man stared at them thoughtfully. This wasn’t making sense to him, and Allegra understood that immediately. It was weird; them turning up like this, her dressed in a skirt, on a snowmobile.
She offered the man a smile. “I’m afraid the airlines lost our luggage and I had rented one of those Airbnb places but with the storm, well there was no heat among other issues. It was just awful really. Anyway, to make matters worse, our rental car broke down but the place had this snowmobile”—she gestured to the overturned machine—“so we took that but got turned around. It’s really been the weekend from hell and we just want to go home. Can you help us?”
The man stared at them but eventually smiled slightly. “Yes. Follow me. I take you to town.”
“That would be wonderful,” she said and made her smile even bigger. The man turned and started toward the cabin. “What do we do about the gun?” she asked in a low voice.
“We leave it there along with the backpack.” Xavier kept her hand in his as they trudged through the snow. Who would have thought the small act of him holding her hand would make her feel so safe? It gave her hope that this would all work out.
Twenty minutes later they were standing in front of the man’s SUV. “My name is Gunther,” he said, offering his hand. Allegra thought he must be near seventy. His warm brown eyes made him seem younger but the gray hair and wrinkles along with a certain stiffness in his gait made her quite sure he was older than he appeared.
“Xavier. And this is Allegra,” he said, pointing to her.
“I will go get the keys.” He nodded toward his cabin and then went up the steps and disappeared inside.
Allegra stood there watching the house. “Do you think he is going to call someone?”
“Possibly,” Xavier said in a hushed voice.
“Wouldn’t that be a good thing? I mean if he calls the cops, we could get some help.”
“Maybe. It would also call attention to us and right now I think it’s better if we fly under the radar. The less attention we attract, the less likely the hit squad will find us.” Xavier winced as he rolled his shoulder. “I need to make some calls to get us some real help. Since I doubt Gunther wants us in his house, we’ll have to find a place in town.”
She bit her lip. She was supposed to meet with Damon today. It didn’t look like that was going to happen. At least not at this point. “I would like to make some calls too.” Her mother. Did someone call from the company and tell them she’d been in an airplane crash? Her mother would be out of her mind with worry.She glanced at the windows. “He’s taking a long time.”
Xavier grunted, “Yeah and I don’t like it.”
Just then the door opened, and Gunther came out. He came toward them and held up the key. He hit a button on the fob and the SUV chirped. Allegra headed for the back passenger door. Getting into the vehicle suddenly seemed scary.
“It’s okay,” Xavier muttered as if he could read her mind.
She nodded once and climbed inside. It wasn’t okay but they didn’t have a choice and that rankled. She was used to being in charge, to making decisions and to leading the way. For the last twenty-four hours, she'd been taking a backseat, which was smart since Xavier knew what he was doing, even during sex, but the subordinate role was starting to chafe. This needed to be over. She needed to feel strong and in control again. The stress was starting to eat at her in ways she'd never imagined.
A few minutes later as they headed down the mountain, the heat kicked on in the SUV and Allegra could’ve cried. Warmth. Real warmth for the first time in what seemed like forever. She held her hands over the vents and barely resisted the urge to pull her feet out of her boots and stick them on the vent as well.
Gunther rolled the vehicle to a stop outside what looked like a sporting goods store. “You can buy clothing in here.” Gunther pointed to the shop. “There is no car rental or bus or train here, but I have a friend who rents out his car to skiers sometimes. I will ask him if it is available. You can drive it into Bern and get a rental there.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Allegra said as she undid her seat belt.
Gunther glanced at her. “You go shop. I will be back.”
They had been dismissed in no uncertain terms. Allegra slid out of the car biting back a curse as her feet hit the ground. Even in the short ride to town, her body had started to seize up. She went up the stairs and into the store with Xavier on her heels. Gunther watched them go and then waved when she opened the door. She waved back but a shiver ran up her spine. Did he believe them? Was he going somewhere to turn them in? Did he know the gunmen?
“Just breathe,” Xavier murmured in her ear. “Everything is fine. He’s right. We need some clothes, especially you.”
“Shit. I don’t have any money. It was all in my purse which was in my bag with my laptop.” She ground her teeth. Her phone was gone too so she couldn't even use that and she hadn't brought her Apple watch on the trip. That would teach her to be more circumspect about what she packed and how she packed it. Fat lot of good any of that did her now.
"I have money," Xavier said. "And yes you can pay me back."
At least he understood that about her. Her need to take care of herself was paramount.
She took a deep breath and glanced around the store. It wasn’t large but it had big plate glass windows out front. Inside the floor was carpeted with an industrial green carpet that had seen better days. Round racks, loaded with all manner of clothing, were scattered haphazardly around the shop. The lack of organization hit her like fingernails on a chalkboard. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the layout. A middle-aged woman stood behind a cash register on the left of the store. She nodded to them and called out a greeting in German. They nodded back.
Allegra headed to a nearby rack and began rifling through the clothing, soon realizing it was menswear. She went to the next rack and had more luck. Women’s clothing. Sweaters. She pulled out two; one in a deep green and the other in black.
Then she went on to the bottoms rack. She looked through the jeans but decided on leggings instead. She picked up two pairs. They were insulated and soft on the inside. She was tired of being cold. Gathering her finds, she headed into one of the changing rooms. The sweaters fit and she decided to wear the green one. Then she pulled on the leggings. They were soft against her skin. It was bliss having new warm clothes.
She pulled the USB drive out of her skirt pocket and put it in the side pocket of the leggings. Folding up her old clothes, she came out of the dressing room and moved to stand beside Xavier. He was looking out the window.
