Remi looked around at the myriad shops and restaurants. Rossi and his guard could have disappeared into any one of them.
“The Metro,” Sam said.
“They don’t seem like the public transportation type.”
“But they don’t seem like the tourist type, either.”
He had a point.
They took the stairs down, bought two tickets, then looked at the two tunnels leading to the different platforms and the various trains on each.
Sam eyed the choices on the sign, checking the listing of transfers. “This way,” he said, leading Remi to the left.
“I hope you picked right, Fargo,” Remi said, as she and Sam took the escalator down into the depths of the Paris Metro.
“Have I ever guessed wrong?”
“There was that time in—”
Sam suddenly pulled her to the side, as they stepped off the escalator. “They’re about fifteen feet ahead of us.”
She saw Rossi and his guard turn left into an archway that led to the train station’s platform. Sam took her hand, guiding her past a first and second archway, taking the third that the men just took. They stopped short of the platform when a loudspeaker announced the Metro’s arrival. As the two men stepped on
board, Sam and Remi crossed the platform and entered the last car.
Remi found an empty seat. “How’d you figure this out? The Metro—”
“Is the fastest way to the train station from Rossi’s office. Send Oren by car while he takes the train. That gives him at least an hour-and-a-half head start. The time he would need to search the car before Oren got there.”
“Color me impressed, Fargo.”
When they reached Gare du Nord, Sam and Remi followed as the pair weaved their way through the crowd, not to the ticket booths but toward the Calais platform, which meant they bought their tickets online.
Sam gave her his wallet. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”
Although she picked the shortest queue for tickets, it moved slowly. By the time she reached the front, the train to Calais was set to leave in less than five minutes. The woman in front of her was at the window, busy asking questions about what to do with her luggage once she was on the train.
Remi watched the clock ticking. Worried, she leaned forward and said, “About how much longer will you be? I’m about to miss my train.”
The woman looked back at her, an annoyed expression on her face. “If you don’t mind, it’s my turn.”
“I apologize,” Remi said, clasping her hands together. “I just found out my father’s been taken to the hospital. He might not make it.”
The woman appeared unmoved.
“And his dog is locked in the house with no one to take care of him.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” The woman moved aside, allowing Remi to pass.
At the window, Remi laid out the exact amount in cash, bought the tickets, then hurried toward the platform, the woman yelling after her, “I hope your dog is okay!”
The platform was nearly empty when she arrived, everyone having already boarded. Sam was nowhere in sight. A soft beep indicated the doors were about to close. After one last look around, she stepped aboard the train just as the doors slid shut. Sam walked toward her from the next car as she worked her way past the passengers stacking their luggage on the racks.
“Wasn’t sure you were going to make it,” Sam said.
“Not sure I was, either.” She and Sam found their seats in the very last second-class car. Remi used Sam’s phone to text Oliver and Chad to let them know where they were headed and that they’d be in touch if they found the Ghost. When she called to check in with Selma, it immediately went to voice mail. Remi left a message.
Selma called back about a minute later. “Sorry, Mrs. Fargo, I was using the phone for a hot spot to get on the internet. We still don’t have everything up and running yet, but we should have a working bank account in the next day or so.”