Falling Walls (III)

Chapter 14

Not even two hours later, Tom and I were sitting alone in a rental car which had appeared out of nowhere. He had indeed managed to convince the kids to stay with my parents. I was certain he'd used a good amount of bribery. Tom was driving; two black cars close on our heels. I'd promised my parents to come back before the weekend, so we could have a few more days together. My biggest regret though was that I didn't get to see my brother who was due to visit that evening. At least he'd get to spend time with the twins.

The drive to Hamburg would take at least three hours. The first thirty minutes or so I switched between watching the landscape pass by and watching my sexy fiancé drive and talk on the speaker system. Once we reached the Autobahn though, I took out the book I commenced reading the day before.

Opening it to chapter 2, Eva described how she met her husband Johan in High School. She had had a crush on him from the first time she laid eyes on him and at the tender age of fourteen they shared their first kiss. Wow, and they became husband and wife. That must have been true love. I looked at Tom, wondering what would have happened if we'd met earlier in life.

"What is it, darling?" He took my left hand.

I suddenly felt a hint of shyness. "Oh, the lady in this book just talks about how she met her husband at age fourteen. Do you think we would have clicked had we met earlier?"

Tom looked at me intensely, long enough for me to get worried about his concentration on the road. But he turned his eyes back to the front just before I would have told him to. "I don't know if I would have been able to do the whole relationship thing. But I know for sure that you would have been my fantasy and you would have haunted me until I tracked you down, ready for the rest of my life with you." The honesty of his answer took me off guard. "What do you think?"

"Um - I would have been madly in love with you. But since I never had the confidence, I guess I would have waited for you to finally track me down."

"So we would have worked out, no matter what!" Tom squeezed my hand and I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek before putting my nose back into the book.

At the age of fifteen, Johan was selected to join the rowing squad of the State Secretariat for Physical Culture. The blood froze in my veins. I stared at the page in front of me, the words turning blurry, then invisible. What are the chances? Before I could continue reading, I grabbed the water bottle from its holder with shaking hands and took some long sips.

"Are you alright," Tom asked concerned.

"I'm fine," I coughed. "Just something stuck in my throat." While Tom patted my back, his phone rang again.

"You're on speakerphone, make it quick," Tom ordered.

"We have positive identification. All assumptions have been confirmed," the male voice informed Tom through the speaker system.

"Thanks, Marko. I'll be there in a few hours. Continue as planned." Then Tom hung up. I waited for him to explain, but Tom just stared ahead on the road.

"Are you going to tell me what all that was about?" I finally asked, more annoyed than I'd intended.

"That means we're a step closer to solving the issue we're having. Hopefully it won't be one anymore by the time we arrive."

"And what is that issue."

"Engel, I don't have the full details. That's why we're going to Hamburg." Of course I was aware he knew more than he'd tell me, but I dropped it, again. He'll have his reasons, I convinced myself, again.

My attention was back on the book. I felt calmer, certain it was pure coincidence. Instead of continuing to read though, I flicked through the book. The two middle pages contained a selection of photos of lost baby and toddler Max, his parents and siblings. When my eyes caught a photo of Eva and Johan together with toddler Max on a beach, my heart seemed to stop beating once again. There was a resemblance between Johan in the picture and Tom in older photos I had seen on the internet. Well, they were both rowing athletes; there must be some resemblance there. Body shape: Definitely. Nose and cheek features: Pure coincidence. Eyes: Different, ha. Also, Tom lived as a baby in an orphanage already, he grew up in West Germany and he is Tom. My Tom.