"Mel!" Thomas called from the living room. "You've always wanted to go to Italy, right?"
"Yeah!" Mel hollered back from the kitchen.
"Well," Thomas continued with a sly grin on his face as he sauntered into the kitchen. "What say you and I go there next week? You have vacation days, right?"
"I do, and I could take off. But what's the occasion?"
His grin grew as Thomas rounded the kitchen island and placed his hands on his wife's waist. "There may, or may not, be a white-collar criminal hiding out at the Residenza Mariti, and I may be going there to scope his whereabouts. I'll just be watching him for an afternoon, and we can relax for the rest of the week in Rome. What do you think?"
She reached up on her tiptoes and said, "I think it sounds amazing. I'll start packing now. Wait, there won't be anything dangerous, right?"
"He's never done anything dangerous before, and besides, he's just a white-collar criminal. We're looking into him for bond forgery, so as soon as I find the bonds, you and I can chill on the government's dime." He winked. "It'll be fun."
A few days later, Mel and Thomas checked in at the Residenza Mariti. As soon as the hotel manager slid their room keys across the desk, Thomas picked up a call. "Hey, Jones. Yeah, I've just arrived. Yup, Mel's here with me, and we're about to drop our stuff in our room."
He glanced sideways at Mel who looked at him concernedly. "Mhm. Yeah. Mhm. Got it. Be there in five."
"Something the matter?" Mel asked.
"Oh, it's nothing. Jones just wants to meet with me earlier than expected. Will you be okay on your own for a few hours? I heard the spa here is amazing."
"Don't worry about me, honey. The sooner you start, the sooner you're done, right?"
"You got it." Thomas pecked Mel quickly then walked backwards to the first-floor corridors. "See you soon," he said, pointing a finger at her.
She waved. "Soon."
Climbing off the elevator with suitcases in tow, Mel briefly made eye-contact with the burly man getting on. Shrugging off the suspicious feeling, Mel walked the halls, reading the room numbers aloud. "506, 508, 510, 512. Ooh 514 left the door open. Wait..." She glanced at her room key. "514 is my room," she murmured. Maybe the cleaners forgot to close the door."
She edged the door open and cringed at the creak it made. At first glance, she didn't see anything out of place, so she entered. She set her suitcase on the luggage rack, then opened the closet to hang up her jacket. As she grabbed a hangar, she noticed a piece of paper sticking out of the safe. Keying in the password given at the front desk, she opened it to see a pair of Italian passports and a note.
The note read,
Thomas-
For you and Mel. Or should I say, for Matthew and Leanne.
- Jones
Mel reread the note three times, hoping it would shed some light on the situation. She flipped the expertly forged passports open to see her and her husband's faces. Was this not the relaxing vacation Thomas had promised? Who was Matthew? And why were their faces on these passports?
Slipping the passports into her purse, she quietly sneaked out of the room, intent on investigating. She looked around for any suspicious characters, then closed the door firmly behind her, ensuring it was locked.
She didn't really have a plan, but she figured she'd start with finding her husband and this "Jones" character, or whatever his name was. She watched the elevator number climb upward, and when it arrived on her floor, the same burly man who had gotten on earlier was in the lift. A nagging suspicion came over her as she asked, "Going down?"
Considering the elevator had just come up, she expected him to say no. Instead, however, he tugged his black cap lower on his head and nodded. Despite being slightly uncomfortable, Mel tried to act naturally and nonchalantly as she climbed on.
Hoping to get a bit of information out of this mountain of a man, she asked, "Are you here on vacation?"
The burly man's beard twitched, but he didn't respond. Mel inched toward the left corner, trying to get farther away from him. She let out a huge sigh of relief when the elevator bell rang, and the door opened at the lobby. Her relief was short-lived, however, as he followed her out.
Completely aware of her shadow, she walked down the hall she'd seen Thomas walking down earlier that afternoon. An uneasy feeling fell over her as she noticed a dubious stain on the otherwise immaculate carpeting. She followed the stain trail, that looked an awful lot like blood, to a door that read 114.
Mel straightened her back and turned around to smack right into burly beard man's chest. She felt like an ant at a picnic who could get squashed at any minute.
"Little girls shouldn't be snooping," he rumbled.
"Firstly," she retorted. "I'm not a little girl; I'm a grown woman. Secondly- "
He quickly cut her off. "Give me the passports."
Her voice quaked as said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fine. Then give me your purse."
"D- didn't your mother ever teach you that looking through a woman's purse is a violation?"
He stared then yanked the purse out of her arms then walked into room 114. Just before the door clicked shut, Mel managed to come out of her shock and stop it. She was hooked onto this mystery, not to mention really wanting her purse back. Peeking through the crack, she saw Thomas having a heated argument with another man.
"Oh, come on, Jones. That wasn't the deal. You were supposed to swing by at the end of the week so I could convince Mel that going on the lam is a good idea. It's your fault for forging the bonds in the first place, and now we're involved."
Mel pushed the door open further when she couldn't hear what Jones was saying. It made the same creak her door had made, and all eyes turned to her. The burly man made a few menacing steps toward her when Thomas put out his hand, motioning for him to stop. "Wh- what's happening?" Mel asked.
"Mel," Thomas began nervously. "I have something I need to tell you." He glanced from her to the burly man and noticed Mel's purse in his hand. Making a quick decision, Thomas took advantage of the element of surprise and snatched the purse from burly man's hands.
"Run!" he screamed. "I'll explain everything later!"
Thomas and Mel ran through the resort dodging patron after patron with Jones and burly man hot on their tails. Ducking behind a counter, Thomas asked Mel seriously, "Are you ready for this?"
"I don't think I have a choice, Clyde," Mel answered.
"Love you, Bonnie," Thomas replied. They glanced at each other, nodded, and ran out the door to start the rest of their new lives.
