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“That’s too bad,” she replied. “I was hoping to enjoy the city with you.”
We made small talk and I found out how much she wanted more in her life.
“You’ll be fine with me,” was all I could tell her. She giggled at that, then gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. It was soft like her, and smelled of flowers.
We arrived to the cafe, and I showed her what German breakfasts were like. We had rolls with butter, some sliced meat, and a cheese I couldn’t name. She ate it all up, then gave me a questioning look. “So, what are we going to do next?”
“Find you a safe place to stay,” I said. “There’s a hostel nearby. It won’t be luxurious, but you’ll get your own room.”
She looked hurt when I told her. All I had my mind on was my mission to get the weapons smuggled overseas. It didn’t cross my mind that she wanted to sleep with me. I wanted her too, but I wasn’t going to get sleep tonight taking care of this job. We needed the money, badly.
When we finally finished breakfast, she gave me the cold shoulder. I told her I would be gone for the night, but didn’t explain why. The less she knew, the better. I found her a good place to stay with comfortable accommodations and spent most of the money we had to keep her there for the week.
“Emma,” I said, once I got her settled in. “If I don’t come back in a few days…” I paused. I didn’t want to think about it, but there was a possibility I could get arrested or killed on my mission.
“It’s because you don’t want me,” she said, matter-of-factly.
This threw me off-guard. “What? No,” I said. “There’s just a chance that something could happen, so here.” I handed her what little I had left. “Take it, and if I don’t come back, don’tlookback. Call your father if you have to.”
“Really?” She wrinkled her nose. “After the way he treated me at the hands of the Kings?”
I bit my lip, but I didn’t know what to say. There was only one thing that mattered. I took her hand and kissed it. “I’ll be back. I promise you.”
9
EMMA
“Ipromise you,” he’d said as he left me completely alone in that strange room in a strange city. I wanted to believe him, but experience had taught me that men rarely made good on their promises. It was an empty feeling, being discarded, but I had to hold out hope that he would be back.
No sooner had he left the room than I decided waiting wasn’t for me. My entire life, I’d been held and waited on like I was just some useless baby. He had handed me the rest of what he had, which amounted to one cab ride. I knew he was just trying to make sure we had money, but…
I still didn’t want to wait on him, so I left the hostel. It was quite beautiful, with its diverse architecture of rounded lines, angled nooks, large empty spaces and sightseeing balconies. But it wasn’t for me. I wantedadventure.
Jack had left me, and I wasn’t going to sit around wasting time. If we needed money, this was my opportunity to shine.
As I walked through the city, I looked for anything to inspire me on making money. I saw a trio of street musicians and thought I might take a crack at singing. One was playing an accordion, another a small set of drums, and the third held a sliding brass instrument. I greeted them, but ignored me and went right into song. It was loud, and it was good.
I was dancing when I heard a gruff voice. “Emma, what are you doing?”
I turned around, saw Jack, and shrugged.
“You’re supposedto be laying low,” he said. “Not…”
I put my hand out. He was cute when he was mad, and I was glad to see him. He took my hand, and we started dancing. He pulled me in close.
“I don’t want to scare you,” he said. “But if the wrong people see us together, we could be in some serious trouble.”
“And I don’t want to scareyou,” I said, in the same serious tone. “But I don’t care.”
We danced for the remainder of the song, and when it was over he simply said, “Go back to the hostel. It’s safe there.”
“It’s safehere,” I protested, but he refused to answer and led me back to my room. This had me in a rage.
“I don’t understand why you can’t just take me with you,” I said. “And why won’t you tell me what you’re planning on doing? Do you think I can’t handle it?”
He turned red, clearly unsure of what to say. He left without a word.
I almost started to cry, but then I looked out my window. He was headed in the same direction as when he had found me. I waited until he was out of sight before I headed back out.
