Part 34
They drive back toward Geneva, but soon realize they need to stop and eat somewhere. The roadside taverna is enough out in open terrain to feel secure and Andrea pulls into the parking lot. Miranda has begun to loathe carrying around her briefcase as it isn't as handy as her messenger bag but brings it with her as there is no way she is going to leave her ledger in the car.
Choosing sandwiches to save time, they opt for a booth in the far corner. Miranda makes sure she could see everyone coming and going, and she can tell Andrea is just as wary.
"Camille is a fantastic young woman," Miranda says after eating in silence for a few moments. "Strong and observant. I wonder how much she truly knows."
"Did you get the impression she was holding something back?" Andrea pulls a thick slice of cheese from her sandwich and puts it aside before taking a bite.
"I could be wrong, but what I did get was how incredibly close she was to Iris. It was as if she was the dream-stepmother, a fulfillment of a little girl's desire for a mother. I doubt Iris broke any of the Amaranthine laws, by telling her the truth, but the girl's not stupid. She can have sensed there was something, well, if not off, then different, at least."
Andrea stops eating, her eyes darkening. "Do you think the stalkers will go after Mikael or Camille?"
Miranda thinks about it but then shakes her head. "What would they gain by that? The damage is done, whether it was a homicide or not. Iris is gone, if that was their goal. Still, I'm glad I urged them to be careful still."
"Is that their goal for you? Death?" Andrea clenches her hand around her utensils, still wrapped in a napkin and Miranda doesn't think she realizes it.
"Depends on who they are. The spookier the theory, the more dire the consequences, maybe." Finishing her sub-par sandwich, having settled for fixing the hunger rather than having a culinary experience, Miranda pulls out her burner phone to check the time. "I think we have to go back to the US. There should still be flights available if we're lucky. Here in Europe, we only have Iris, who's dead, and Rosalee, who's in hiding. If we go back home, we can try and go through records and find out how the rest of the more recent deaths happened. Before Iris, there were two more who passed in modern times, and by that, I mean, after WWI."
"You don't think we can find more useful information if we remain here, or go back to London, or even Paris?" Andrea is clearly not hungry anymore as she pushes the plate away, leaving a third of her sandwich.
"I can't be sure, but logically, it seems safer as well." Safer for Andrea, which mattered more than anything else.
"All right. Back to Geneva then. Will you get us tickets while we drive?"
"I wish I could wait until the last moment, in case they have a way of tracking bookings, but that will mean being vulnerable while waiting around at an airport." Miranda takes her briefcase and tucks her phone into her pocket.
When they reach the car, they both study the parking lot, but it's impossible to judge which one of several dark BMWs could be the one they saw in Montreux. Entering the car, Andrea pulls out before either of them is fully strapped in.
Back on the road, Miranda shifts in the seat, sitting half-turned toward Andrea. This way, she can keep an eye on who's behind them. She sees no BMW, but after a short while, she frowns as another type of car, a silver metallic Mercedes, keeps a consistent distance two cars behind them.
"Change lanes and overtake a few cars." Miranda doesn't take her eyes off the Mercedes.
Andrea complies and weaves in and out between a few cars and speeds up. Miranda sends a quick glance at the speedometer, hoping Andrea's not pushing it too far and thus attracting unwanted attention by traffic cops.
"I'm ten kilometers above the limit. I'll slow down once I've passed this truck." Andrea is calm and focused and now Miranda sees the Mercedes mirror their maneuver.
"That them?" Andrea asks after glancing in the outer rearview mirror. "Silver car. Mercedes?"
"Perhaps. It's either that or they like your driving style and want to mimic it."
"What's our plan?"
"If we take the highway all the way into Geneva and to the airport, we tip our hand. If we exit at the nearest ramp, if it's them, they'll follow and we might be able to lose them. Unless they're more of them and they have more units waiting to spot us along the highway, once we get back on again."
"Can you find an alternative route to the airport? Or are they just as likely to have posted some lookout there, to potentially spot us? Fuck. We don't know if this is a two-man job or if they utilize an entire army."
Miranda smiles wryly. "Probably not an army, but perhaps more than we realize."
"We have an hour or so before we reach Geneva. Perhaps less." Andrea overtakes another tractor-trailer truck. So does the Mercedes and several other cars, but as some of the other cars overtake Andrea when she is back in the right lane, the Mercedes moves in behind them, again, two cars back.
Miranda pulls up the map function of her phone, rather than messing with the in-car GPS. "There's a dense residential area coming up in a few miles. From what I see, it's quite the labyrinth. If we're going to be able to shake them, that's it. Once we feel we've lost them, we can double back and go around the lake on the other side." She is annoyed at herself for not thinking of this option before. It is unimaginative to use the same route back and this makes her and Andrea sitting ducks for those out to try and catch them. "It's not this exit, but the next one."
"Should I speed up and get to it quicker?" Andre glances over at Miranda. She's gripping the wheel harder than normal but sounds calm.
"No. Keep the same pace, and if it's safe, turn onto the ramp at the very last second. If they're lulled into thinking we don't know they're there, they might just be too slow to react and that will buy us time."
"All right. Be prepared, then."
They kept going down the highway at the allowed speed, Miranda peering around the corner of her neck rest to keep an eye on the Mercedes.
"Coming up now. And there's one car in the exit file, but they're pretty far back. Here we go!" Andrea turns the wheel when they are already a bit too far gone, hitting the white paint describing a striped triangle on the asphalt. The wheels clatter loudly against the uneven surface.
Miranda is prepared, but still find herself tossed toward Andrea. Not wanting to push at Andrea's arm and knock her off balance, she turns and clings to the driver's chair's neck rest with both hands, pushing herself away from it.
"They there? Did we lose them?" Andrea gasps as she struggles to curb a skid. Behind them, several drivers honk, understandably upset at their dangerous driving.
"Wait. I can't see." Miranda straightens and turns to look. Behind them is a large SUV with a couple in the front seat that is gesturing wildly at them in an unmistakable, universal way of saying 'are you people insane'. The SUV obscures the ramp behind it and Miranda turns to try and look past the big vehicle in the right outer rearview mirror. "I can't see them, but the way the ramp curves, I can't be sure. Can you see anything in your mirror?"
"No. From my perspective, it's us and the upset people behind us."
Miranda began to slowly relax and righted herself in her seat. "Take a right at the top of the ramp. No matter what, that's the direction we need to go in, back north, for now."
After another hundred yards, they reach an intersection and as Andrea speeds up after turning right, a silver-tinted shadow passes them on screaming wheels and cuts them off. Not having a chance to stop in time, Andrea drives right into the Mercedes passenger door.
xxxxx
Continued in part 35