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I might be ready for answers
Surprisingly, the reply comes within seconds.
Unknown
When can you meet?
I shiver, frowning at the screen.
Me
When can YOU meet?
Unknown
Tonight. Now.
My eyes widen. What?
Me
I’m not in Moscow
Unknown
I’m aware of where you are. If you’re able to sneak out, meet me at the rowboat moored off the northern edge of the island in two hours. I’ll wait ten minutes. After that, this number will disappear
Something finger-walks up my back. I was looking for answers. I’m not so sure about a cloak-and-dagger James Bond night out.
Answers. He has answers.
I chew on my lip as I nervously open and close the little phone. Finally, I flip it back open.
Me
See you there
Sneaking out of the house isn’t hard. I mean nothing is locked, and at this point, I have total free rein. What’s harder is avoiding Drazen’s men that patrol the immediate vicinity of the house itself.
I end up having to duck behind a tree once, and then crouching in some scratchy bushes for a full ten minutes when two of his men stop to smoke cigarettes and chat in what I assume is Serbian five feet from my hiding spot.
After that, though, I’m out into the darkness of the lightly wooded island and running toward the northern side.
At the water’s edge, I stop to quickly change into a bathing suit I’ve brought. The idea of swimming through a completely dark, black ocean to a boat I can’t even really see right now since the moon is so dim sounds completely fucking terrifying.
So does trying to sneak back to my room in dripping wet clothes.
So with a final breath and a pep talk to my own frayed nerves, I leave my clothes and the towel I brought on the rocky beach and step into the quiet surf.
The water is relatively warm. But I made the mistake of googling “sharks Elba” a few weeks ago just for kicks.
Spoiler: they live in this very ocean. Blue sharks mostly, but the occasional white, mako, and hammerhead has been spotted around these waters as well.
So that’s got me half-petrified as I slip into the water, set my eyes on the dark rowboat moored offshore, and start swimming.
I swear to God, every stroke has me wondering when something is going to surge out of the darkness and bite me. But sooner than I would have expected, the boat itself looms out of the dim moonlight.
I gasp, choking on a mouthful of seawater as a face suddenly appears above me, dark eyes piercing into mine.
