Chapter 4: Riley Wakes
After making sure Will was settled, the rest of the cluster gathered again. Silence loomed as one by one they casually looked over to the door where Riley slept.
"Do you think she will be ok with the plan?" Capheus was now asking. "About eventually moving them to another location? It seems pretty safe here already and they have been here two weeks with no signs of trouble." He paused. "This would be so much easier if we were all together. Really together."
"Which is impossible, of course, because we have lives where we're at. We all have jobs. We can't all just take off and leave and meet somewhere," Lito answered him.
"Are you sure your production team will be agreeable to take me? I am no actress and I most certainly don't want to start becoming one. Can't I do anything else other then act?"
"It isn't the usual course of action," Lito agreed, "but there is always a first time for everything, right?"
"So what's it about?" It was Nomi now who asked, turning to him.
"It's your typical action movie, sort of. el bueno, moi," he stopped for a second to point at himself and grin, "is out to catch the bad guy. The thing is, he traipes around the world to avoid being caught. And then there is another guy, helping the hero track him from one country to the next, hence the location shoots. Which is why I don't see a problem bringing you along. So long as you are not afraid of cameras." Lito's eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Kala would make a great actress," Wolfgang added.
She turned her head to where he stood like a shot and was about to say something, but having noticed a light smile form on his lips she remained silent.
"Riley has been out for a while now, hasn't she?" observed Capheus.
"She probably hadn't slept since they got here," Sun guessed. "But she more than earned it. The poor thing."
It was at this moment a turn of a door knob was heard and as all faces turned toward its direction, Riley exited the bedroom where she slept and closed the door behind her. She approached the gathering cluster, noticing all eyes were on her. She smiled at them all as she extended her arms for a stretch.
"How are you feeling, Riley?" Nomi asked her.
"Better. Thank you," she answered back, "Rested." Riley looked over to where Will lay sleeping, the familiar look of worry forming on her face. "He hasn't stirred. He has to get up so he can eat and stretch before..."
"He already did," Kala interrupted before she can complete her sentence. "He was able to eat a sandwich and drink a soda."
Riley turned her head again, with an expression of relief taking over her face.
"Thank you," she was telling all of them. As she scanned their faces she went on: "You were able to talk to him?"
"We did," Wolfgang answered her, "told him our plan. I didn't give him the pleasure to refuse."
"Refuse what?" Riley asked.
" Refuse what we planned. Because at some point the two of you have to move away from here to another location. And all of us will have to help in that. I don't see you doing that alone and pulling it off without being followed. No offense."
"I never really thought of that," Riley responded. "Honestly, I figured, since we have been here for a while, we'd be relatively safe. Thought that it was going to last until this is all over."
"That's the thing," Nomi added, "Whispers has spies everywhere. You just got lucky that you had a friend you can trust to hide you. But if she is found out, who knows what will happen to her. It's best you move to assure she is safe and out of harm's way."
"I guess that must be true," Riley said back a little sadly. It had been years since she saw Tess, and it saddened her that she had to leave her again, just as she was getting to know her for the second time. "But when? Where? How?"
"Just sit tight," Nomi said to her. "I will keep tabs from my computer and track, if it is possible, Whispers and his cronies. One of us will let you know when it is no longer safe."
"And on that note," Lito added, "it was decided you were not to be left alone. Two of us will be here at all times in shifts. I will be one of the two."
"I will be the second," Capheus said. "But I will need to tell my mother what is going on so she does not worry."
"She knows about us?" Wolfgang asked, surprised.
"I finally found the nerve to tell her. We are very close and it did not seem fair to her to keep this/us from her. I felt like I was lying to her keeping her in the dark. But she was very supportive and even scolded me, telling me to treat this as a gift from God."
Kala smiled. "And so it is," she agreed wholeheartedly. "Go then," she went on. "I will remain with Lito until you get back so we can all go off and get our plan in motion."
And with that instruction, Capheus disappeared, leaving the rest behind.
"Plan," asked Riley, her mind relieved that she will not be alone. "What plan?"
"To get Kala out of India and to Seoul," Lito explained. "I will be filming soon on location, everywhere really. I will talk my director to hire her so she can be a part of the company and be able to blend in with the crew. She will go to Seoul, through me, and meet Sun at her company."
At the thought of Kala becoming an actress Riley smiled.
"No! God No," Kala said answering her thoughts.
"What are you going to do when you get there?" Riley asked
"I have labs. Kala will duplicate the drugs you are running low on."
Riley looked over at Sun and then at Kala with wide eyes. The look on her face, she hoped, expressed what she was feeling.
"We are all in this together, you know," Kala told her, sensing her thanks.
"It's not a big deal, really," Sun was telling her. "Kala will be able to work in private. She'll get it in no time."
"How will you be able to get it to me?" Riley asked the group.
"We will have to figure that out when we get there. One thing at a time," Wolfgang told her. "But be sure, we will get it to you."
"We'll see you soon, honey," Nomi was now telling her, giving her a hug of reassurance. "Shall we?" Nomi addressed the group, and having said goodbye to each other, they disappeared, one by one, leaving only Kala and Lito.