The Virgin Vagabond

Chapter 16

As they walked down the street towards the adress they had found in the envelope Kesia was still thinking of telling Luke about her activities with John the other night. She felt like she should really tell him. Then again, why should she? How was it any of Lukes business? He had made it his business for sure, but she had never asked him to. He had just assumed that her virginity was his to take. Well, screw him! 

”This is it” said Luke all of a sudden and stopped. ”This is where we leave the footprint and get all the travel information.” 

He rang the doorbell. Within a few seconds a woman answered the door. She was tall and had a very serious look on her face. 

”Password?” 

”Diamonds?” said Kesia, realizing that she sounded insecure and her fears were probably shining through her entire being right now. It was too late to remedy that since the tall woman’s eyes looked at her, assessing her, from head to toe. Kesia started sweating.

”Quite right” the tall woman said and disappeared for two seconds. ”Do you have something for me?” she asked when she reappeared in the doorway.

Luke handed over the footprint. In return, he got an envelope with the travel information.

”The commission also wanted me to give you this” the tall woman added and held out another envelope. It was black, with a symbol on it. Kesia thought it seemed a little overly dramatic but it also gave her a sense of respect and a fair amount of intimidation which she supposed was the whole point. She took the envelope from the tall woman’s hand with a very shy smile. 

”Thank you” she said quietly. 

The tall woman’s mouth twitched a little but not like it would if she was smiling but rather in a way that confirmed that they were done here. She looked at both of them and closed the door. Kesia realized that she had forgotten to breathe properly and immediately took a deep breath. Luke looked at her with a wrinkle between his eyes.

”How worried should we be about that?” he asked and pointed to the black envelope.

Kesia looked at the envelope.

”Should we just throw it away and pretend we never got it?”

”Like that’s a real option… No, let’s open it back at the hotel.”

So many thoughts took place in Kesias head on the way back to the hotel. Was it a threatening letter informing them that the commission knew that they knew? What would they do to them if they exposed their whole operation? Would they kill them? Or maybe their families? Kesia didn’t even want to know. Luke, on the other hand, seemed to be of another mindset. He seemed really eager to find out what was in the envelope. His face reminded Kesia of a child on Christmas Day, right before he opened his gifts. She rolled her eyes on him as they walked in to the hotel and towards the elevators. 

”What do you think is in it?” he asked her, eyes blazing with excitement.  

”I’m not sure I want to know” she answered. 

”How can you not want to know? This is so exciting! It could be anything!”

”Exactly! How does that not intimidate you?”

”Oh, come on! If they were going to harm us in any way they would have done it already. Besides, why do we even do what we do if we don’t want some excitement in our lives? Get on the excitement-train with me here, Kesia!”

Before she had a chance to respond the elevator arrived at their floor and they stepped out of it and went into their room. 

”You might be a bit more used to this kind of excitement than I am, Luke, let’s not forget how very different our backgrounds are. Also, your closest people in life are all ex-mafia people who knows all about this world and all my closest people are completely unaware and innocent.”

”What are you saying?”

”I’m just saying that I have a lot to lose, that’s all.”

”My god woman, what do you suspect is in this envelope? Threats to kill our families?”

”Is that really so far-fetched though?”

Luke smiled reassuringly and took Kesias hand. 

”I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Let’s find out what we’re dealing with, okay?”

They sat down on the couch and Luke tore the envelope open. Inside were a black card with a picture of a joker on one side, just like from a deck of cards. 

”I’m getting real Gotham City Joker-vibes” said Kesia.

”I was just thinking the same thing” said Luke and turned the card over.

It read ”Mid-game surprise! As you are now in the lead and have reached the mid-point of the game we have a surprise for you. When you travel to the next destination you will do so in a private plane and without transfers. You will also be assigned a personal handler who will always be close by to assist you. As you check into your next hotel there will be a gift waiting for you that will be of great use to you during the second half of the game. Good luck!”

”This doesn’t feel like good news” said Kesia and looked at Luke.

”No, it’s definitely very bad news. Now they will know our every move…”

”What are we going to do?”

”Well, first of all we need to inform Cornelia about this new ’twist’. She might know what to do next. I’ll call her while you check out our travel information.”

Luke got up from the couch and went into the other room to make the call. Kesia picked up the envelope that held all the information they needed to reach the next destination. It was surprisingly light. Inside were just a paper with a phone number on it. Kesia felt puzzled and picked up her phone to call the number. 

”This is Fabian, how can I help you?”

”Eh, hi Fabian, I’m Kesia…”

”Oh, hello miss, I’m your new assistant. At what time tomorrow would you like to travel?”

”Oh, ok. Eh, can I get back to you in a bit?”

”Sure, I’ll expect your call.”

Kesia hung up. She realized that it would be very hard for them to do anything without the commission knowing exactly what they were up to from now on. Was this normal procedure?

”She said she would see what she can do” said Luke as he came out from the bedroom. 

”What exactly does she think she can do?”

”I don’t know but I know from experience that you should never underestimate Cornelia or her resources.”

He came over and sat down next to Kesia.

”With everything happening lately we haven’t had much time focusing on each other” he said and took her hand. ”Like, how do you feel about all this?”

”I mean, it’s really weird and it’s not like anything I have ever lived through before but I really like the thrill of it, you know? It feels like I’m growing as a person and as a human for each day that passes. To live like this is very challenging, every day, and I have to be at the top of my game all the time. I know we had a few days off just recently but the past 24 hours has just been so intense.”

”I hear you” said Luke. ”What do you say we go out tonight and have a nice dinner, some drinks and just relax?”

”I would like that. But first, we have to call Fabian back.”

”Fabian?”

”Yes, he is our new full-time assistant and he is very eager to know exactly when we want to travel to Perth tomorrow.”

Luke sighed as Kesia gave him the piece of paper with the phone number on it. 

”I f*****g hate Fabian” he mumbled as he put the phone to his ear. 

Kesia wanted to ask how he knew him but Fabian had already picked up and Luke put on a fake smile as he talked about when they would travel the next day. From what Kesia heard their flight would take off at 3pm and they needed to be at the airport just 30 minutes prior to that. 

”So, you have dealt with Fabian before?” Kesia asked as Luke hung up. 

”Unfortunately, yes” answered Luke. 

”Is he so bad?”

”No, that’s the problem. He is so eager to please everyone around him. It makes him completely insufferable” said Luke and rolled his eyes. 

”I’m sure he’s fine!”

”Oh, you’ll see! After a few days of having to endure him, you are going to share my opinion, I promise you! You’ll hate him just as much as I do.”

After a long telephone conversation with her parents, Kesia changed into appropriate evening wear and followed Luke as they left the hotel to go to a restaurant recommended to them by the hotel manager. Kesia thought a lot about her parents as they walked along the boulevard. Back in Stockholm, everyone had started working or studying again after the summer vacation. Their normal lives continued even if she wasn’t there to witness it. 

”A penny for your thoughts” said Luke suddenly and Kesia was pulled back to her own reality - that was in many ways so surreal right now.

”Eh, nothing really, I just realized that life at home goes on as usual. Meanwhile, we’re here, being chased by a mafia-like organisation and flown across the whole world with a bunch of diamonds in our bag. It’s weird. How do I ever tell my friends about this? They’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

”I think, certain parts of this, you should never tell your friends, or anyone really. We can always talk to each other if we need to talk to someone. Or Cornelia. She can also be trusted.”

”As far as we know…”

Luke stopped and looked into Kesias eyes with a serious look in his eyes.

”Hey! Don’t get paranoid, ok? That’s what they want. They want to put pressure on us, isolate us, make us afraid of everything. Don’t let them! You know what’s true and you know who to trust. Hold on to that.”

Kesia was a little startled by Lukes sudden seriousness. 

”Ok, ok. Sorry.”

”Besides” Luke continued and changed to a softer tone, ”I can think of a few ways to take your mind off everything.”

His lips were suddenly on hers and for a second Kesia felt guilt and nausea bubbling up inside of her. She broke the kiss off after just a few seconds. 

”I hope it starts with a meal cause I’m starving!” she said with an awkward laugh. 

Luke looked a little puzzled but grabbed her hand and kept walking. 

At the restaurant, they were placed by a table in the far back. It was a booth with a couch where they could sit next to each other. Luke moved in really close as soon as they had placed their order. 

”You smell really nice” he said as he put his arm around her and smelled her neck. His lips slightly grazed her skin and she could feel how her heart rate increased. John flashed before her eyes for a second. They had been together just 24 hours earlier, doing things she was dying to tell Matilda about. When would she be able to talk to her? 

”You seem distracted” said Luke who noticed that Kesia wasn’t really into it. 

”Yes, I was just thinking about Matilda. Would it be okay if I stepped outside to give her a call?”

”Sure. Be quick though, we don’t want you to be seen.”

Kesia got up from the table and headed for the door. Suddenly she felt really dizzy, she even had to grab the counter to keep from falling. In a second, Luke was by her side. 

”Are you ok?”

”Yeah, yeah, I just need a minute” said Kesia as she struggled to regain balance. 

But instead of regaining balance, she tumbled to the floor. Luke reacted quickly and caught her head before it hit the ground. 

When Kesia woke up she felt nauseous. It took her several minutes to even determine where she was. As far as she could see, she was alone in an empty room. Her hand were tied behind her back and she was sitting in the most uncomfortable chair. There was one lamp in the room, leaving it barely lit. It was a pretty small room and the walls had the same color as the floor, gray. There was a door in front of her, closed of course. 

”Hello?” she yelled.

The door opened and a man came in. He was wearing a skiing mask and just stood there, silently. 

”Where am I? Why have you done this? Where’s Luke?”

The man still didn’t say anything. He looked at her for a few seconds, then at his watch and then he left the room and closed the door behind him. 

”Hey!” yelled Kesia, trying to get his attention but he still left and the door remained closed behind him. Kesia realized that she had no idea what time it was. When she collapsed at the restaurant, it was probably about 8pm. After that she had no appreciation för what time it was. The room she was in had no windows som there was no way for her to tell if it was day or night. Had hours gone by? Minutes? Not days, surely? After a while the man came back.

”Hey, what is all this?” she asked.

Still, he said nothing. Instead, he put a bag over her head and then untied the rope that held her to the chair. He lifted her to a standing position and pushed her forward. Kesia walked, still a bit dizzy, in the direction she was being pushed. She understood now that there was no point in trying to ask questions or to get him talking. Suddenly, she heard a car door being opened and she was forced inside the car. Someone fastened her seatbelt and as they leaned over her she could smell the scent of his cologne. Suddenly she realized who her captor was.