My Father's House

Chapter 7

I managed to sleep a little in between the train stops. When I couldn't sleep, I kept my eyes closed so that Garrett wouldn't pummel me with questions and ideas. I promised myself I would listen to his ideas later.

After about an hour, Garrett woke me up to accompany him to the bar car, his excited body language hinted at a secret he was dying to share. I didn't have to wait long to hear it.

He started before the ice water had been poured, laying out the elaborate scheme he had constructed, "So my thought is, we have to blindside these people. We provide an alternate identity. You see? You and I are a couple, recently married on our honeymoon. Mr. and Mrs. Steinman. We are interested in the house as we are both history professors transferring from Berkeley..."

"What does this have to do with me finding my parents? I think you are missing the point of the whole expedition."

He winked one of his dark blue eyes as the waiter came up to take our orders. The decision was always a long one for Garrett. We spent the next fifteen minutes after she left discussing the oddities of English food. We were entirely, yet happily, distracted from the cover story until the food arrived.

I eyed my main course suspiciously. Knowing it was inevitable, I revisited our earlier conversation. "Anyway, I don't see why we need to have a lavish fake identity.

As the waitress walked away he leaned across the table. "We can't just waltz in there," he adopted a mocking tone, "Hello! I'm the old Harper's daughter, care to share cause of death? Will and testament?"

Garrett could be so funny when he wanted to. I laughed and almost choked trying to swallow an over cooked potato. "Fine. We can be any crazy characters you think up. But only until we figure this out and, if it gets out of hand, give it up to the FBI."

"Interpol, actually."

"Whatever. Seriously though..." I leaned forward and adopted a serious tone. "That Kael guy can be pretty convincing. About that attacker wanting us dead...do you think this is really that dangerous?"

"Do you want it to be?" He winked again, and I hated him for it. I was quite serious.

"No of course not! You know me. I just want to clean this up and go home. Nobody gets hurt." He just shook his head and moved back to his potatoes. I knew he was thinking that I was a rookie at all of this, but it wasn't him that had had a near brush with death.

We ate the remainder of the meal in comfortable silence. I finished my meal and pushed the plate away, "I'm going to head back to my seat now. Let me know how fantastic desert is. I can only imagine after these thrice baked potatoes."

He chuckled, but recovered quickly as I stood up. "Hey, I don't know if that's such a good idea. Don't think you should be out of my sight, remember?"

"Don't worry. I know cheesecake's your favorite. I think I can survive the trip to my seat. Thank you though." I pulled my denim jacket around my shoulders as I moved to exit the dining car. You would think I was the queen of England, and he was my personal bodyguard. A few moments of sweet peace to myself without Gar next to me muttering his plans to himself sounded amazing. "I promise to scream loudly if anyone approaches me."

He hesitated but knew me too well to argue. "Right. Ok then. I'll just be a minute."

"Take your time."

The cars swayed a little as I exited the dining car and moved toward our seats. The passenger cars' lights had been dimmed to allow for sleeping. Most people were resting or preoccupied with their magazines. Some faces were illuminated by the glow of electronic devices. As I walked through the shadowy passages between cars, a cold chill spread up my spine. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss Garrett's concerns.