Simone’s jaw dropped. “How did you find out?”
“I saw it on the phone’s call history.” I reached for her hand. “Don’t worry, I get it. You were freaked out after the half-eared guy grabbed you, but you promised me that you wouldn’t say anything. If the Hastati find out we’ve told someone, they might take it out on my dad.”
“Cassie, I’d never do anything that would hurt you or your dad.” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. “You have to believe me.”
And since she was my best friend, I did.
During the next hour we discovered that the place where my dad was being kept was about thirty minutes outside of Rome and that it was more of a convalescent clinic where long-term patients were treated. We couldn’t find many pictures or descriptions of the layout of the building, only the same standard picture from the front. But even from that shot, you could tell the building was somewhat remote, with nothing around it. There were also no trains or buses that went there, either, which meant we had to get a car.
The three of us were sitting around a small kitchen table trying to figure out our next move.
“What if we ask Gisak?” Asher suggested. “My friend from the curio shop. He’d probably close the shop for the day and do it if I gave him two hundred euros.”
“Great friend.” Simone rolled her eyes. “You have to pay him for a favor.”
“Better than hiring a driver who turns out to be a killer,” Asher retorted. “I think it’s our best bet.”
“Fine.” I took a sip of some orange juice. “But do you think he’ll do it with no questions asked?”
“Yeah.” Asher smiled. “We have an understanding. I’ve done him some questionable favors in the past in exchange for him letting me sneak in and out of the monastery. I don’t think he’ll want to know what we are doing.”
“Questionable?” Simone raised an eyebrow. I had to admit, I was intrigued, too.
“Let’s just say he doesn’t always get everything in his shop in the most legit way.” Seeing our expressions, he immediately backtracked. “No, no, I don’t steal stuff or anything. He’s just had me follow some unsavory people. Report back to him before he deals with them.”
“Oh.” There was a lot about Asher that I didn’t know.
“The only catch is that he probably won’t get there until closer to nine. We’ll have to wait.”
“Then let’s go wait for him there … in case we get lucky and he shows up early,” I said.
“Lucky,” Simone scoffed. “Because we’ve been so-o-o lucky this far. This is getting ridiculous.”
“Hey, we found the spear and Cassie’s dad; that’s pretty good,” Asher said a little defensively.
“Uh-huh, but your uncle also died,” she answered flatly.
“Simone!” I couldn’t believe she’d said that. Asher had lost his only family and had accepted being bound to me, for life, as if it were no big deal. How could she be so mean?
“Sorry,” she said. “But I don’t think either one of you is looking at the reality of what’s happening. Things are messed up and they aren’t getting much better.”
This was not the Simone I was used to seeing. It was like something had changed inside her.
“Things will get better.” Asher glanced over at me. “I believe in Cassie.”
“Well isn’t that special,” Simone said in a sarcastic tone. “I do, too, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” She shook her head and sighed. “Never mind.” She pushed her chair away and headed out of the kitchen.
“She doesn’t understand,” I said. “Once we get to my dad, she’ll be fine. She’s just worried.”
“Honestly, I don’t care.”
By nine o’clock we had crawled back through the tunnel and were sitting on small, three-legged leather stools in the back room of the curio shop waiting for Gisak. The smell of incense permeated every corner of the shop, and it felt like we were all meditating as we sat in silence. Finally, the bells hanging by the front door tinkled as Gisak entered the store.
Asher jumped up. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
True to what Asher expected, Gisak agreed to take us to the clinic. He put a CLOSED sign on the door and went to get his car without even taking a second look at us.
As we waited outside for Gisak to bring the car, I glanced around the street. It was still relatively early, and not many people were out and about. I took a deep breath, inhaling the cool morning air before wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans.
I hadn’t told Asher everything about my vision. I’d left out the part about the shooting, the people in the hazmat suits, and the dead bodies in the street. If that was part of the future, I might have to use the spear one more time to change it. Except this time, I’d have to learn how to navigate inside the Realm and make sure Asher was able to pull me out. I stole a look at Asher’s profile. We’d make a good team. We had to; there was no other choice.
A beat-up blue car that looked like it should be headed to a junkyard and not a highway pulled up. Gisak leaned across a seat that was covered in duct tape and unlocked the door.
“Sorry, door doesn’t open from the outside,” he said as we all got in.
I glanced at the car’s clock. It was 9:44. In a little over two hours I’d be with my dad at the clinic.
“So what’s the plan?” Simone asked from the backseat. “Should we call and find out what room he’s in? I can disguise my voice.”
That caught Gisak’s attention, and I saw him do a quick check on us in the rearview mirror.
“No, don’t do that.” Asher shook his head. “We don’t want to tip them off.”
He had a good point. We couldn’t let them know we were coming. “We’ll just have to search for him when we get there.”
“Him who?” Gisak asked, then waved his hands in the air. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Realizing that everything we said was being shared with Gisak, we all shut up.
Twenty-five minutes later, we were pulling into a long driveway that led to what could have easily passed for an average, nondescript apartment complex. Nothing about the place looked like a medical facility, and I would’ve thought we’d made a mistake if it weren’t for the fact that above the front doors were the words Casa di Cura Oreste.
Gisak parked the car in one of the visitor spaces and turned to Asher. “I told you before that I don’t want to know what you’re doing, but I can tell you’re into something serious. You need to be careful.”
“I have it under control. You know I’m resourceful.” Asher gave him a smirk before turning to us. “We just need to make sure that they don’t notice us or question our being there.”
As he said this, a young woman exited the building and we could all see a security guard sitting behind a desk.
“That guard will definitely stop us,” Simone observed.
I took in the surroundings. There were several delivery trucks on the far side of the clinic, including one for a florist.
I glanced at Asher. With his dark hair and his perfect Italian, he could pass for a local. “Okay, I have an idea. You see that florist van?” I pointed to the white van with red roses painted on the side that was parked between two large delivery trucks. “Asher, can you grab a few bouquets so we can pretend to be delivering them to the post-op nurses?”
Gisak stroked his beard but said nothing, although he was listening intently.
“And I’m supposed to just take the flowers?” Asher asked. “You don’t think someone’s going to try to stop me?”
“That’s where Simone and I come in. We’ll distract the delivery guys and meet you in the front lobby.”
Simone was shaking her head. She didn’t like the plan. “That’s not going to work. How are we going to distract them long enough for Asher to steal the flowers?”
“It will work,” I insisted. “We just need a diversion … a good one.” I looked around, trying to come up with something. “That dumpster over
by the last truck. We can start a small fire in it and call for help. When everyone runs over, Asher grabs the flowers.”
“I think we should be the ones grabbing the flowers,” Simone argued. “No reason we should risk being labeled arsonists.”
“That’s really the least of my problems right now,” I answered. “But maybe you should stay with Gisak in the car. Honk the horn if you see something going wrong and make sure Gisak doesn’t leave us if we get caught.” I glanced at our driver and new coconspirator. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he said. “And the plan … it could work,” Gisak added, nodding his head in approval.
“Fine,” Simone relented. “So how do you plan on starting this blaze?”
“I don’t have matches or a lighter in the bag,” Asher replied before I could even ask.
Gisak held up a silver lighter. “I use this for the incense.” He pushed a button to pop open the trunk. “And there might be a flare in the car kit back there if you want more smoke than fire.”
I eyed him suspiciously. He didn’t seem to be the type of person who would volunteer to help for the sake of being nice. “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You don’t even know us … and it’s not just for a couple hundred euros.”
“Asher, he’s a good kid, and you are his friends.” He paused. “And in my business, it’s important to be able to judge the value of things. One day, I may ask for a favor in return.”
His words seemed to linger in the air. I took the lighter from his outstretched hand as a few raindrops fell on the windshield. I knew from my vision that the thunder and lightning weren’t far behind. “Okay,” I said and opened the door.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Cassie,” Simone said as I got out of the car.
I smiled and gave her a wink. “I absolutely do.”
Standing behind the dumpster, I glanced around one more time to make sure the coast was clear. Simone was waiting in Gisak’s car, and Asher was hiding behind a van, ready to steal the flowers. It all depended on me now.
I pulled out the lighter and flare that I’d tucked inside my leather jacket. The instructions on the side of the stick seemed simple enough. Take the top part off and strike the base like you would a match. If that didn’t work then I’d just use the lighter.
On the first try, a cascade of sparks came flying off like a Fourth-of-July sparkler, and the stick burned brightly. Quickly, I tossed it into the dumpster. Within a few seconds smoke started coming out. It was time. I ran behind a nearby column.
“Fuoco, fuoco!” Simone shouted, stepping out of Gisak’s car and pointing to the dumpster.
A nearby deliveryman looked over, saw the smoke, and began calling for help. Everyone in the area ran toward the dumpster.
I raced over to the front entrance, where Simone and Asher were already waiting. They each had flower baskets filled with daisies and white roses that Asher had grabbed while I caused the distraction. Simone handed me one, but her eyes kept scanning the area.
“Something wrong?” I whispered as the dark clouds began to roll in. The storm was coming … just like in my vision.
Simone shook her head. “Just making sure no one is here to kill us.”
Once we got inside, our flower delivery wasn’t questioned. We said we were delivering a set of flowers to the nurses’ stations on each floor. The guard handed us visitor passes and pointed to the elevator down the hall.
Stepping into the elevator I let out a long, shaky breath. I was jumble of excitement and nerves. My dad was here. I could feel it. We’d be leaving with him soon.
“Which floor do we start on?” Simone asked, her finger hovering over the elevator buttons.
“Let’s start at the top.” I reached over and pushed the number five.
We exited on the fifth floor and peered into every room before dropping off a bouquet of flowers with the nurses. We did the same on the fourth, and there was still no sign of my dad.
“What if he’s not awake?” Simone whispered as we dropped off the second bouquet. “If he’s still in a coma. Would you at least think of talking to my mom? I really think she can help.”
“I don’t know,” I muttered, not wanting to accept that as a possibility. “He’ll be awake, you’ll see.”
Splitting up on the third floor, we each darted toward a different room along the hospital’s wide hallway. The nurses’ station was on the far end, away from the elevator, so like the other floors, we could pop into the rooms without drawing too much attention.
The first two rooms I checked were empty, but the third had a frail old man hooked to an IV, with an oxygen tube in his nose. There was such sadness in his eyes, but it seemed to lessen when he saw the flowers in my hand.
“Scuzi, I have the wrong room,” I said, but I could tell that he didn’t understand English. He motioned for me to put the flowers on the table by his bed.
“Grazie,” he whispered, a slight smile filtering over his face.
I set down the bouquet, allowing him to think that someone had sent them for him. Could Simone be right? What if my father was like this old man? I wouldn’t be able to just unplug him. No, I thought, he’ll be fine. He has to be.
“Cassie!” Simone was calling me. “I found him.”
My heart pounded as I ran out of the old man’s room. I paused and looked up and down the hallway, unsure of where to go.
“Over here,” Simone said from the room next door.
I ran over only to be confronted by Simone standing rigidly by the window, a pained look on her face.
The rhythmic beeping of a machine filled the room.
My eyes immediately darted toward the hospital bed. My father was there, but he was unconscious and his body was hooked up to monitors.
I rushed over and picked up his hand. It felt warm, but it was limp.
No! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! I glanced up at the clock above his bed. It was 10:52, which, according to my vision, meant that my father was supposed to be talking to me in about an hour. Was I supposed to just wait here?
“Papi, wake up,” I pleaded. “You have to wake up. ¡Despiértate! We don’t have much time.”
“I’m sorry, Cassie,” Simone said, staring at her feet. “I had to do it.”
“Do it?” Asher repeated, taking a few steps into the room.
Behind him the door closed and my blood ran cold as I heard the click of a gun.
“Step away from the bed,” a deep voice instructed. “And go stand next to your friend.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell it was the half-eared man. I slowly turned to face him.
He waved the gun toward Asher. “You get over there, too.”
The sound of someone laughing outside in the hallway caught everyone’s attention, and in the split second that the half-eared man was distracted, Asher made his move—lunging at him.
The half-eared man quickly lifted up his hand and pistol-whipped Asher across the side of the jaw, knocking him out cold.
“Asher!” I crouched down next to him, trying to protect him from the assassin.
“Shh! Not another word.” The half-eared man pushed me away from Asher, his gun in my face. “Scream and I will shoot him, understand?”
I nodded.
“Good. Now move over to the window.”
I rose and took the remaining steps backward, my eyes not leaving Asher, until I bumped into the wall.
“I’m so sorry,” Simone muttered again.
“It’s not your fault.” I reached over and gripped her hand. “You had to call us. He had a gun on you.”
“Tie his wrists around the bed.” The gunman reached into his pocket and tossed a zip-tie to Simone. “I don’t want to take any more chances.”
Simone did as she was told, pulling Asher’s right arm around the bedpost and then tying his two wrists together with the plastic tie. Just as she finished, the half-eared man threw her another zip-tie.
“Good. The girl, too,” h
e ordered.
I didn’t understand why he hadn’t killed me yet … not that I was complaining, but wasn’t that the point of the Hastati hunting me down?
“Why?” Simone asked. “She isn’t—”
“Do it.” He pointed to a handrail by the window. “Tie her to that.”
I slid my hands around the metal bar and flinched as Simone pulled the zip-tie around my wrists.
“I’m so sorry, Cassie,” Simone repeated.
I nodded, but I couldn’t understand how this was happening. None of it made sense. In less than two hours my dad was supposed to wake up and miraculously be able to leave this place. But how was that possible if he was unconscious? Then again, a couple of days ago, I would have considered all of this impossible. I couldn’t give up hope.
Footsteps in the hallway pulled me away from my thoughts. Someone was coming in. We might be saved.
The half-eared man hid next to the door, his gun raised and ready.
A woman in a black dress stepped inside, and I immediately recognized the face.
It was Simone’s mother. She had called her even though I had specifically told her not to. Now we were either going to be saved or, more likely, there was about to be another hostage. A very valuable hostage.
My heart raced. I had done this to Simone, and now I’d done it to Simone’s mother. This was all my fault.
“Mom.” Simone’s voice had a heavy note of dread in it. I assumed that she was thinking the same thing I was, that her mother was now in danger, too.
Sarah Bimington took one quick look around the room and then turned to face the gunman, sensing his presence by the door.
My breath got caught in my throat. I couldn’t imagine things getting any worse.
“Put that thing away,” she ordered, and to my amazement, the half-eared man did so. “I told you to be careful with them, and now the boy is unconscious.”
I looked over at Simone for answers, but she was staring at the floor. A sick feeling started to rise up in my chest. How did Simone’s mother know the gunman? Was she Hastati?
Moving Target Page 17