The Virgin Vagabond

Chapter 13

Just like the evening before, Cornelia spent the night in the living room, in front of the fireplace. To her, it didn’t matter if it was a warm summer night outside, she enjoyed the warmth of the fire anyway. Just like some people enjoyed a hot sauna, even in the summer. Slowly, she put her fingers to her mouth, like she was about to take smoke, only there were no cigarette between her fingers. She quietly cursed.

”Conrad!” she called out.

It didn’t take more than two seconds for him to appear.

”Yes, m’am?”

”Where are my cigarettes?”

”I threw them all out.”

”What? Why?”

”Because you asked me to, yesterday. You decided to stop smoking and I offered to help.”

Cornelia narrowed her eyes and looked at him. 

”Go get me new ones! This is hardly the right time to stop smoking!”

”If you wish” answered Conrad and disappeared as quickly as he showed up a couple of minutes earlier. Cornelia sighed and turned her gaze back to the fire. She couldn’t help wondering where in the world Luke and Kesia were right now. Of course she could easily find out. She had checked in on them a couple of days earlier, with the app Conrad had set up for her. They were in Edinburgh then but had most likely moved on by now. They hadn’t called her since Salinas but that might as well be a good sign. There was no reason to think the rest of the game would be anything else than a walk in the park. She had really done everything in her power to make it easy for them. Of course there wasn’t a lot she could do, not without raising suspicion. She suddenly felt worried and started biting her fingernails. Where were Conrad with the cigarettes?

She woke suddenly to the sound of her phone ringing. Confused, she looked around. Did she doze off? Where was Conrad? What time was it? 

”Hello?” she answered, eyes still half closed.

”Is this Cornelia?” said a male voice in the other end.

Cornelia was suddenly wide awake. She knew who this was, even though she had never talked to him before, she knew that voice anywhere. Why was he calling her?

”Yes, this is she. And who am I talking to?”

”This is Sir David” he answered. ”Head of the…”

”I know who you are” Cornelia interrupted. ”What do you want with me?”

”If you know who I am, I think you also know what I want” sir David answered. 

Cornelia was quiet for a while, thinking about the best way to play this.

”How is the game going?” She asked to change the subject slightly.

”It’s going very well for you” he answered. ”Your Luke and Kesia are quite clever”.

Cornelia smiled a little bit. Yes, they were clever. More so than most people. 

”Well, I know the game require some wit” she said. 

”Tell me what they know” sir David suddenly demanded, the tone in his voice sharpening.

”They don’t know anything” she answered, rolling her eyes. ”I’ve taken every precaution. There is no way they will find out. How could they?”

”You know it can happen, it has happened before.”

”Well, don’t worry, ok? I have them under control.”

”Do you really? When did you last talk to them?”

Cornelia thought about for a few seconds. She couldn’t lie, they would just check her phone records. But the records didn’t show texts. 

”Well, they move around in different time zones a lot so we mainly communicate by texting. I received the last text yesterday.”

That was a lie. 

”What did it say?”

”That they were heading to their next destination after passing the halfway point.”

”Did you know they are in the lead?”

”No, but it doesn’t surprise me. As you said yourself, they are quite clever.”

”Yes, yes” admitted sit David. ”Are you missing someone?” he asked.

”What do you mean?”

”Your boy Conrad.”

Cornelia felt how her entire insides pulled together in a feeling of discomfort. She got up from her chair and went straight to Conrads room. It was empty. She called out for him. No answer. After a deep breath she pulled herself together and laughed a little.

”Are you saying you have taken Conrad hostage?”

”We might have.”

”Ok, then I guess he is sedated because when he wakes up, there will be hell to pay. You’ll be very sorry you chose this stupid move.”

Sir David laughed in the other end.

”Oh, Cornelia, you know what you have to do” and then he hung up.

Cornelia threw the phone across the room and called out in frustration. Why did she even put up with this crap? The commission had been ordering her around for so many years now, she was so sick of it. And now she was all alone. That was of course their plan all along. To isolate her. Her phone had died from the throw so she quickly went into her bedroom to get one of the burner phones that she kept for moments like these. She called Lukes number but his phone was off. So was Kesias. They were probably in the air. Cornelia cursed a few times and then sat down on the bed. Back in the day, she had been calling all the shots when she was the head of the commission. She withdrew from the position because she wanted a quiet and uncomplicated life, free from crime and adventure. Of course such a thing came with strings attached. The commission was like the mafia, they didn’t just let you go, so she had signed a deal saying that she would continue to contribute and help their business around the world. It had been her idea, this hide and seek game they used to cover up the smuggling. And it had always worked like a charm. Sir David had just been a little boy when the first game took place. His father was Cornelias right hand back then and she left the steering wheel to him when she stepped down. He had died a few years back and to sir David Cornelia was now just a loose end that needed to be tied up. Any excuse to throw her to the wolves was welcome to him. But he had crossed a line just now, taking Conrad hostage. He didn’t know who he was dealing with. Luckily, Cornelia knew exactly how to deal with people like him.

*

The flight was quick, or at least Kesia thought so. She fell asleep pretty quickly and woke as the plane started to prepare for landing. They touched down in Amsterdam before moving on to Berlin and had just enough time there to do some shopping and have dinner. Kesia got to choose a restaurant for once and she chose something very familiar. She was so tired of all the strange food they had had the last few weeks and she was really just longing for something mundane. So, they had burgers at a fast food restaurant. Luke watched Kesia as she stuffed her face with fries. He laughed a little.

”So, hungry are you? Missing the indian cuisine?”

Kesia ignored him. She knew he was just being sarcastic anyway. She chewed her food and swallowed. After having a few big sips of the soft drink, she wiped her mouth and looked at him. 

”Did you ever consider that it might be legal?”

”What do you mean?”

”I mean, this whole thing with the… stones. Maybe it’s legitimate?”

Luke thought about it a few seconds, while chewing on a few fries himself. 

”But why then would they not tell us? Why the secrecy?”

I don’t know. It just sort of hit me now. We were so quick to jump to the conclusion that this whole thing were definitely illegal smuggling but it might not be.”

Luke shrugged.

”Either way, it’s safer to find out before we reveal the fact that we know now. I have a friend in Siena who might be able to help us investigate a little. He’s good with computers, he could probably find out whether or not Cornelia knows and then we would know if it’s safe for us to ask her for help.”

”Ok, perfect! Contact him then” said Kesia who were quite ready to be onboard with just about any plan Luke threw at her. 

”I think I will” said Luke and wiped his mouth and hands. ”Are you done? We should get to the gate.” He took out his wallet and prepared to pay. 

”Yeah, sure, let’s go” said Kesia and put a few more fries in her mouth. 

She walked to the exit and waited for Luke there while he paid. When he joined her again he had gotten the e-mail with the scores in it. 

”Wanna look at it together?”

”Of course! Open it!”

He downloaded the PDF and zoomed in on the list. They were definitely at the top of it with a total of 23 points. The next team had 18 points.

”How did we get 23 points? Isn’t each destination a total of four points?”

”Sure, but if you win a round you get one point for that. We have won three out of five rounds so that’s three more points for us.”

”And our seekers have won two rounds?”

”Yes, but they get four points per round they win, so they would have a total of eight points. It seems as if they have been using their points to trade information though cause they are not at eight points.”

”And our only threat is the Marcus and Jemima team from Germany?”

”Yes but we need to screw up pretty badly to loose to them. I think we’re good for now.”

”Let’s not celebrate yet though, we have only just passed the halfway point.”

”We can still celebrate the fact that we are in the lead right now” said Luke and smiled. ”I’m gonna get us a bottle of champagne.”

He looked around and disappeared into a taxfree store close by.

As they touched down in Berlin and got out of the airport and into a cab Kesia felt relieved. They had passed the halfway point and were closer to home. She could feel it when she breathed in the German air that it agreed with her lungs better than the indian air she had been breathing less than 24 hours ago. A smile found her lips and she looked at Luke.

”I feel lighter” she said, ”like my body know we’re closer to home.”

”Yes, I know what you mean. The downside of that is that it will feel harder to move on when we’re going to the next destination.”

He took out his phone and turned it on. 

”Oh, I have like ten missed calls from Cornelia” he said and looked at Kesia. She turned on her phone too and discovered that it was the same for her. As she looked at the phone it started ringing again. It was Cornelia. She quickly gave the phone to Luke.

”I wouldn’t know what to say, she will know immediately only from the sound of my voice.”

”You’re probably right” Luke said and took the phone. He answered it.

”What, you answer each others phones now?” said Cornelia when she heard Lukes voice.

”Hello to you too, Cornelia. How are you?”

”Never mind that! I have something important to talk to you about. Are you two alone?”

”No, we’re in a cab.”

”Ok, well, call me again when you’re alone.”

She hung up. Luke looked at Kesia. 

”God! What if she knows we know?”

”How could she? It’s impossible.”

”Unless she has us watched” said Luke.

Kesia suddenly felt very nervous. What if she did? Then, she would know. 

”There is no point in speculating. Let’s just see what she wants when we get to the hotel.”

The hotel in Berlin was much more modest than the previous ones. Kesia liked it, it was much cozier. She threw her stuff on the bed and opened the door to the balcony. Luke took out his phone and called Cornelia. Kesia came back in and they put the phone to speaker.

”Hi, Cornelia, we’re alone now, what did you want to say?”

”The whole hide and seek game is a cover for an elaborate, world wide smuggling organization that has its roots in South Africa. I’m so sorry I got you involved in this but they are breathing down my neck every year. I always have to contribute, that’s the deal.”

Luke and Kesia didn’t know what to say, they just sat on the couch, staring at each other, surprised and somehow relieved.

”We know” said Kesia.

”You do? How?”

”Well, one of the cubes broke and there were diamonds coming out of it. We some conclusions from that and they turned out to be true. You just confirmed it so… yeah.”

”Wow. I couldn’t have imagined you would find out.”

”How could you do this, Cornelia?” asked Luke, suddenly angry at the whole situation. ”You’ve turned us into criminals! And you know my history, how hard it was for me to get out of the mafia before, hell, you were the one who dragged me out!”

Cornelia was quiet on the other end. Kesia didn’t know what to say. Everyone were silent for almost a minute before Cornelia broke the silence. 

”Why didn’t you call me right away?”

”Because we didn’t know your part in all this!” Luke almost shouted now. He got up from the couch and walked angrily back and forth. Kesia could tell by the look in his eyes that his brain was desperately trying to find a solution to all this. 

”Cornelia, what is our next step?” asked Kesia.

”They have taken Conrad.”

”What?” Luke stopped and sat down again. ”Why would they do that?”

”To put pressure on me. Sir David doesn’t like me, he sees me as a liability. They suspected that you had found out somehow.”

”How could they know that?”

”I don’t know, Luke! But they think I had something to do with it!”

”Do you think they will hurt him?” asked Kesia.

Both Cornelia and Luke started laughing and Luke looked at Kesia. 

”No” he said, ”but he will most definitely hurt them as soon as he is conscious.”

”Yes, I expect him back any minute now” said Cornelia. ”The issue isn’t really Conrad but the fact that they are out to get us.”

”So, what do we do?”

”You pretend like nothing has changed and continue playing the game. I will join you as soon as possible and we will communicate by text only from now on.”

”Ok, let us know when you will arrive. We are in Berlin.”

”Oh, that’s not too far away.”

”How will you travel without them finding out?” asked Kesia who felt a little out of her depth.

”Sweetie, it’s not my first time” said Cornelia. ”I’ll see you soon!”

She hung up and Kesia looked at Luke. He sighed and put his arm around her. 

”Everything will be ok” he said. ”She will travel under an alias, usually Anna Johnson, and we will check into another hotel, although not the same as her.”

”Won’t it be suspicious if we check out from this hotel?”

”We won’t check out, we will stay checked in here under our regular names and in the other hotel, we will check in using aliases.”

Kesia raised her eyebrows.

”This isn’t your first time being in a pickle is it?”

”Oh, no. I’ve been in more pickles than I can count.”

He leaned in and kissed her gently. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She felt closer to him now for some reason. They had become partners in crime as well as partners in the game. Kesia suddenly felt nervous, so much more was at stake now. The commission knew exactly where they were and could do anything to them at any point. Lukes phone buzzed and his lips were suddenly separated from hers. 

”It’s from John, they just touched down.”

”We can meet up with them tomorrow, right? We don’t have to go out any more today?”

”No, we can stay here for now, order some roomservice and just take it easy. We won’t be receiving any clues or anything until a few days from now anyway.”

”But the commission knows exactly where we are, they can do anything to us at any time.”

”Yes, but they won’t, unless they have proof that we have cheated or done something wrong.”

”Or that we know their big secret” Kesia filled in.

”Yes, so the wisest thing for us to do is to pretend like nothing is wrong and sit tight, like we would if we knew nothing.”

And just like that, his lips were back on hers.