CHAPTER TWO: THE VISITOR
I sprint towards the clearing, hoping, praying that I'm not too late. I turn right, come around the corner and see Grace gripping a piece of firewood like a baseball bat. I run towards the sand towards her and shout her name. 'Gracie,' She turns around and cringes, obviously not very happy to see me. 'Grace,' I pant, not because I've been running, but because my blood is pounding with terror. 'A plane is circling. We've got to-' I'm interrupted by the look she gives me. Then she slowly turns, and I follow her gaze until I meet the eyes of Alexandra Petrovic. Great! So much for an untraceable whereabouts. 'Alexei,' She looks dangerous, and there is a slightly menacing glint in her eyes, as she glares at first me and then Grace. I don't dare look away as I firmly say, 'Gracie, come over here and get behind me. Now,' As Grace starts to move towards me, the Prime Minister of Adria practically jumps in between us and turns to face me. She starts slowly stepping in my direction while glaring at me, a look that could turn the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea to ice. She gives me a scary, small smile and stops walking. 'Don't be silly young man. I've come a long way to see Grace. Now, who is going to take me to Jamie.
My pulse is pounding, as I lead Grace and PM Petrovic down the steep ravines and through muddy trails. I keep my head down, trying to think of ways to get her out of here. But I can't, so I stay silent and focus on my hand on the small of Grace's back, stopping her from falling over.
We come around the corner of the cabin and I hear the cocking of a gun, and all I want to do is push myself in front of Grace to protect her from whoever Petrovic has stationed behind the weapon. That was until I realised with a start that it was Jamie holding the gun. He has the heavy little shotgun fixed at PM Petrovic and doesn't take his eyes off her. 'What are you doing here?' Jamie says in a low, malicious tone, his voice dripping with anger. 'Hello, James,' The Prime Minister says with a smile. She glances over at Grace. 'My, what a family resemblance,' She is so infuriating! I don't know where it comes from but I just start yelling at her. 'Stop!' I scream as I turn to her, hatred pounding through my veins. How dare she waltz on in here and try to talk to us normally. 'Stop your lying. Stop… Go away. Go back!'
'Alexei,' She starts again. But when I step behind Grace and hold her firmly by the hips, I have made it very clear to this woman that I will not stand by her. I think that the realisation is dawning on her face. So, she tries a new approach, because it is very evident to all of us that she is on a mission, and has no intention of failing it. 'Gentlemen, I need a word with Grace. Alone,' I start to protest but Jamie beats me to it. 'I don't know how you found us, but we're not-' Jamie is cut off by Grace, who had been so quiet since the PM arrived, I had half-forgotten she was even here. 'It's okay.' She says. And for some reason, I agree with her, because if this woman wanted us dead, we would 100% already be just that. So as Grace tells Jamie and I that she's fine, we let her pass and walk into the cabin with the Prime Minister on her heels. Jamie starts pacing up and down the porch and I follow. 'Would you care for some tea?' I hear Grace ask in her most diplomatic voice. I really hope she is thinking of a plan, because I sure as hell haven't got one. I briefly glimpse the Prime Minister smile warmly as she says, 'That would be lovely,' She stays silent as Grace makes her tea and slips it into her hands, and I know it's because Jamie and I are standing in front of the open door. Grace says something, but it is drowned out by my thoughts on how clever my Gracie is. 'That's my girl,' I whisper with a smile. 'What?' Jamie asks quietly, as we step out of the girl's ear and eye-shot. But I don't reply, because Grace and the "visitor" walk out the front door. I just glare at them, trying to mask how proud I am of Gracie's quick thinking.
As the two girls walk towards the trees, Jamie and I walk inside. 'What was that about?' He asks with a slightly worried, slightly bemused expression. 'Who's your girl?' He teases. So, I show him the empty bottle of drugs and he smiles. 'That's my girl,' He whispers.
As Jamie hobbles towards the water plane, I slide my right arm under his shoulders to help him get there more quickly. When we're 10 metres from the plane, Dominic sprints through the freezing, knee-deep water and hauls Jamie into the passenger seat. I run back to the rocky shore as I see the PM slump over on the grass. 'Gracie!' I yell out to her. I stand on the shore in between Grace and the tiny plane and beckon for her to come as the engine starts up. As soon as she reaches me, I hoist her up from the waist and hop into the seat beside her. As the plane climbs into the sky, Dom and Jamie start talking through the headsets over their ears. All I am aware of however, is how close I am to Grace. I can feel the heat radiating off her body. So, I put my arm around her and pull her smoothly onto my lap. As I stroke her hair out of her eyes, she nestles into me and slips her arms around my shoulders. All I want to do is hold her like this forever, but after 20 minutes, she is asleep and I finally decide to break the silence and wake her up. 'Gracie, wake up beautiful. What are we going to do?' She rubs her gorgeous brown eyes and looks up at me, half-asleep and fully stunning. 'I don't know,' and maybe that's why she looks so terrified. These past few weeks she has been the playmaker, the one with all the brilliant plans and ideas. The calm one. And the fact that she is scared adds to all of our anxiety. But we both just sit there, looking out onto the horizon, scanning for somewhere safe to land. But the scary truth is that there's probably no place safe enough.