by Elle, Leen
What she was looking for now was hope. Just the smallest inkling that the paintings still existed. If they never found them they would have no leverage against Cleo and Max. They wouldn't be able to take them down, or even barter for their freedom. In that scenario there was no best case or worst case, it was simply the end of everything.
"Looks like every other small town I've seen." Robert replied as he cut off the car.
"Are we wasting our time here?" Sophie placed her hand over his. "I know you're going off of instinct, but this isn't the time. We have to think of a legitimate plan, not one that's created out of fear." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the cell phone he'd given her. "Diana sent us a layout of the town. We know where every building is, and what's inside of it. The whole area is mapped out, including the blueprint for this place." She motioned to the orphanage in front of them. "What can we possibly find here?"
"Anything." He answered, not looking her in the eye. "Right now we have nothing. Wandering around should give us some glimpse into who they were."
"We know who they were." Her voice rose in frustration. "Diana told us everything she knew."
"Well, we're not looking for what she knew." He turned and his expression silenced her. "When your parents left, no one knew what they were thinking. They abandoned the elaborate plan they'd spent years creating, and even Diana couldn't explain that. Gerard and Susanne had something else in their heads back then, and maybe we'll figure that out here."
Instead of waiting for a reply, he stepped out of the car and headed for the entrance ahead. Sophie reluctantly followed after him, forcing her frustration away. She couldn't allow them to get into a fight now, when so much was riding on their success.
"Wait outside." He requested, glancing back at her once before entering the orphanage.
She sighed, crossing her arms and biting back her temper. This was his way of letting her know he was angry.
Instead of going against his request, she took the time to calm herself down. She examined the dimly lit town around her. It was eerily quiet outside, with only a few cars passing by every now and again.
The town was similar to where she'd grown up with her grandparents. Everything was close together, which made it easy to walk to wherever you needed to go. A school was located a few blocks from the orphanage, and was surrounded with small shops that sold anything from clothes, to groceries. It was a peaceful place, the kind she'd loved as a child and spent her teenage years begging to escape from.
She shivered when a breeze brushed by her arms, closing her eyes for a moment. She was so beyond exhausted at this point, it wasn't worth complaining about.
Robert opened the door behind her, and she glanced at him in surprise. He'd been inside for only five minutes, which wasn't nearly enough time for him to figure out everything he wanted.
"They won't let us inside." He explained, heading down the sidewalk without waiting for her reply. She followed after him, having to half-jog to keep up with his frustrated pace. "Tours are only given on specific days of the week, during working hours."
"Well, it's not like we would've found anything anyway." She muttered.
Robert turned around towards her, his eyes wide with anger. "I'm doing everything I can right now, and your complaints aren't helping."
Sophie had already let go of her frustration at him. She could see he was scared from his expression.
She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, hugging him close. "I know." She whispered. "We're both running headfirst into this wall, and there's nothing we can do about it."
Robert closed his eyes, letting his tensed body relax. "Sophie, plan or no plan, I'm starting to think we're going to lose." He took a deep breath. "We can gather up everyone who wants to fight against Cleo and Max, we can listen to every story Diana has about your parents, or we can search this whole country for those paintings, but I think it's all going to be useless."
"We can't stop trying." Sophie leaned back, looking him directly in the eyes. "If we give up, they'll find us. Max will either kill us for his house, or Cleo will get rid of us out of fear. If we go to the police we'd have to admit our crimes to have them arrested. I'd get a short sentence, but what about you and Luke? Diana's empire would crumble with the charges they have against her. Even if Cleo somehow understood that we weren't behind Max's house fire, we'd be locked into working for her until we die."
"I realize all of that, which is why I'm struggling to find something to believe in. We're running out of options, Sophie." His voice was strained. "This is one of the few times in my life where I feel like I'm in control of what happens in my future, but I'm slipping. I'm working as hard as I can to keep everyone I love safe, but it's not good enough. Last time, I didn't have a choice in loosing my daughter. Now, even with the choice, I can't do anything."
"We are doing something." Sophie wrapped her hand around his. "It'll work out."
"You can't possibly think I'll believe that."
"No, but it was worth a shot." She laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "Just let me comfort you for once."
Robert closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine."
Sophie grinned, leading him down the sidewalk, keeping her pace slow. "We might as well explore while we're here. Fresh air and a long walk is just what we need to get back on track."
"Is that so?" Robert raised his eyebrow questioningly. "I could think of a few other activities that would clear our heads." His voice rose suggestively.
Sophie scowled, elbowing him in the ribs.
"What?" He asked, laughing as he moved away from her. "I meant sleeping." He winked down at her playfully. "What did you have in mind?"
"Let's walk in silence." She suggested, hiding a small grin.
He laughed again, and squeezed her hand tightly. She could tell he was already beginning to return to his normal self. His fear was subsiding for the moment. It was still there, deep in his heart, but for now he would be okay.
Sophie began to appreciate the peacefulness of the town as the strolled along the sidewalk. It calmed her heart to feel safe in a place like this. Max's people would surely be after them, but for a while longer this place would be their haven.
"Will you play along with me for a little bit?" Robert asked suddenly, causing Sophie to glance up at him.
"Umm...sure." She answered, eyes narrowing in confusion.
"Assuming everything goes according to plan, what would you like to do?"
His question surprised her. She didn't have a concrete answer ready for him. "What do you mean?" She asked slowly.
"Say we find the paintings, hand them over to the police, and miraculously get away without any repercussions. Without Cleo and Max to worry about, what would you want to do? What's the plan after that?"
Sophie hadn't thought about what would happen after they escaped. The future he spoke of was so improbable that she'd never considered it coming true. She took a moment to think about why he'd asked, and the realization made her heart sink.
Robert didn't ask because he thought that perfect future would come true, but because he was positive it wouldn't. He wanted them to talk about it, because now might be the only time they had left to dream about the future.
Nothing they planned now would come true, which is why he'd asked her to go along with his question.
Sophie almost didn't reply. She didn't want to imagine a life she could never have. However, she knew that it would be good for her to dream of a better future, despite how improbable it was. Dreaming wasn't supposed to be realistic anyway.
"I would like to start over at college." She answered finally, her voice quiet. Robert's eyes widened in surprise. "It would be after we take care of the kids, and get them settled into new lives. I want them to have a town like this to call home. Then, when everything has gone back to normal, I want to enroll again. I want to start over doing something I love."
"What about the financial issues? Isn't that why you were studying something you h
ated?"
"I thought that since I was on my own, I had to give up what I wanted to support myself. My dream and what I had to do to survive were two different things. I don't know if being a painter is my dream anymore...I love painting but it's not everything." She lifted one hand to touch her cropped hair. "If you haven't noticed, I've changed a lot."
Robert smiled, his expression growing distant.
"What about you?" She asked after a moment had passed. "Without being a thief, what would you do?"
He remained silent for a long time. "I honestly can't tell you." He whispered, his eyes wandering down the sidewalk to the shops beside of them. "I want everyone to find their own places. The kids should go to school and start their own lives. You should do what you want, and leave this place behind you, but I have no idea what to do about myself." He took a deep breath. "Never in my life has there been so many options about what to do. Before, I was set on inheriting my parents empire, and then when I ran away I was set on remaining a thief until I died. If I had a blank slate to start over with, I don't know what I would do."
"Wouldn't you be happy with that kind of freedom?"
Robert grinned, though his eyes remained serious. "Stealing is what I'm good at. Without that, I don't who I'll become."
The mood had darkened again, and Sophie felt obligated to return it to normal. Dreaming of life after they escaped wasn't as freeing as he'd wanted it to be.
"Let's get some ice cream." She asked, motioning to a shop across the street. "I'm starving." She hadn't thought about food all day, but now that she said it, she felt her stomach growling.
Robert nodded without saying anything, and led her across the street.
Sophie waited outside while he bought their cones. She smiled at a group of children standing nearby, all taking turns riding on the statue of a cow that stood outside of the shop. The stores' name was printed in bright pink letters on the side of the cow, which was oddly familiar to her.
She blinked twice, wondering why the cow seemed so familiar. Sophie walked towards it, trying to remember if she'd ever been here before. Images of her grandparents flashed through her mind, and she had the strange feeling that she'd come here with them.
With narrowed eyes, she examined her surroundings again. The tall lampposts that lined the streets were also familiar, as were the railroad tracks that were located to her left.
She clenched her hands as memories began to come back to her. She didn't remember the name of the town, but she was almost positive she'd been here before, more than once.
Robert exited the shop, looking confused at her shocked expression. He offered out her ice cream cone, but she ignored it completely. Instead of speaking to him, she bolted off down the sidewalk.
If her memories were accurate there should be a park nearby. She continued running despite hearing Robert yelling her name. She felt like she'd just come across something very important, and she had to know if it was true.
Sophie ran across the railroad tracks and down another block of shops. At the stoplight she took a sharp left across the road, coming to an abrupt stop when she could see the fence before her.
Her mouth dropped open as recognition swept over her. The large trees and cobbled sidewalks had not just been in her imagination. Here they were, just like they'd been years ago when she visited her with her grandparents.
Sophie swore under her breath, a smile breaking out on her face.
A panting Robert rushed to her side, holding what remained of their ice cream cones. "What the hell are you doing?" He shouted, dropping the half-melted ice cream on the ground.
Sophie began laughing, without knowing exactly why. "Rob, I've been here before."
"What?" He asked in annoyance, wiping off his ice cream covered hands.
"I've been to this place before. My grandparents used to take me to that ice cream shop, and then we'd walk through this park."
Robert froze, his eyes widening in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. We have a picture of us standing just in front of that gate when I was around eight or nine years old." Sophie's hands began to shake in excitement.
Robert glanced at the fence, his lips settling in a firm line. "What does this mean..."
"I have no idea, but it's something!" Sophie's voice grew louder with her determination. "This place is nowhere near where I grew up."
"So?" Robert asked, pushing her to explain.
"So, my grandparents had to be telling me something. They wouldn't bring me here for no reason, which means..."
"Your parents." Robert whispered.
They both stared at each other, and slowly began to smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
For the longest time we'd been racing towards an ending to our story. Only, the ending we expected was nowhere close to reality.
"We should rest." Robert offered, grabbing onto Sophie's hand when she turned back to face the shadowed park. "I can't let you run off with this little evidence."
The revelation that she'd been here before was all the evidence Sophie needed to know this town had to be an important piece in her parents' mystery. Her first instinct was to dive straight into a search for the kind of clues she imagined might've been left behind.
"Since when did lack of evidence ever stop you? There was nothing supporting your decision to search this town, and we ended up finding something anyway!" She couldn't help but pull away from him. Her heart was racing and she didn't want to waste time standing still.
"I understand I'm being hypocritical right now, but we really do need to take a break. I pushed you to come all this way, knowing we've both been working without sleep for over twenty-four hours." His voice was strained. "A break couldn't be a bad thing, right?"
"Yes, it could." Sophie backed away, shaking her head. "Look, Cleo and Max's men are already chasing us. We don't have time to pause, and you know that!"
"If we keep running around like this, we may get hurt." Robert warned. "We're both sleep-deprived, and not on the top of our game."
"Either you're with me, or you're not." Sophie placed her hands on her hips. "I appreciate your concern, but I have to do this. I followed your gut feeling before, and now it's your turn."
"I'm always with you, darling." Robert sighed, taking a step forward to clasp her face in his hands. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the forehead. The gesture helped to calm her racing heart.
"Then why are you being so difficult?"
"I'm worried that we're rushing into this too quickly. I don't want to get our hopes up only to be disappointed again." He sounded sincere, and Sophie reluctantly accepted his logic.
"What if this is it though?" Sophie's voice rose with anticipation. "If the paintings really were hidden here..."
"If that's the case, we'll figure out our next move once we see them." Robert stared off into the park. "I just don't see how Slavsky could've missed finding anything."
"You don't think they're here?" Sophie crossed her arms. "I thought that's why we came all this way?"
"I trust your instincts and mine." He answered. "It would make sense for your parent's to hide them where they grew up. It just doesn't seem likely that Slavsky would search this place and come up with nothing."
"Diana said my parents lived here for the better part of their lives. It's not impossible that they would know somewhere to hide the paintings that Slavsky wouldn't be able to find them."
Robert's eyes narrowed and he pulled out his cell phone. He turned away from Sophie as he dialed a number into the keypad.
"Hello?" He asked into the phone a few moments later. "It's me."
Sophie raised her eyebrow questioningly, but he shook his head once, silencing her.
"Diana, I need you to send me a detailed map of this town we're in." Robert sounded like had just figured out something important.
"She already sent us a layout." Sophie whispered, wondering what he was getting at. She pulled out her cell phone where she'd downloaded the fi
le of the map, and flashed it before his eyes.
He winked down at her, and she was momentarily distracted by the smile on his lips. She began to think she'd been imagining his serious frown from before.
"Yes, I've seen the one you sent us. According to your information it was updated last year, meaning some of the older, abandoned buildings wouldn't have been put on the map. Outdated buildings that haven't been used in years could've been forgotten." He paused, listening to Diana speak on the other end. "No, I'm not insane. It's entirely plausible, and I've got reason to believe this map isn't giving us the full picture."