Page 67 of In A Faraway Land

Back-Up Numbers

Dieter Schwarz

This needed to be said.

The next day, they had to go to work.

They hashed it out in the morning, determining that it was unlikely that Pierre’s Secret Service guys knew where Flicka worked. They would have marched right into the Silver Horseshoe Casino to take her.

Dieter and Flicka had walked for almost a mile down the Strip to theBellagio. Dieter had checked for surveillance at the half-mile mark and found none. Pierre’s guys couldn’t surveil their way out of a paper bag, so Dieter was confident that they had just gotten lucky and spotted Flicka in the crowd.

“But we could move to Reno,” he stated reasonably. “We would be safer if we changed towns.”

“We only have two more weeks, and then we can file,” she argued. “Theresidency period would start all over again in a new county. I don’t want to start over. I want to do this. I want to get it over with.”

Because Dieter was weak where she was concerned and because he wanted her to be legally free, he acquiesced, but staying made him nervous.

The time came to leave for work, just before noon.

Dieter left Flicka in their townhouse for the few minutes he wouldbe gone and walked next door with Alina to hand her over to Tinashe and his illegal daycare operation.

“Hey, Raphael,” Tinashe said, for he was not one for nicknames. “How’re you doing?”

Dieter sat on the overstuffed couch, covered with a tomato, paisley print. “I need to tell you something.”

Tinashe turned from where he was searing some chicken breasts for the kids’ lunch. “Oh, yeah?”

“Thoseemergency numbers that I provided you, I need to know that you still have them.”

“Absolutely,” Tinashe said. “I have the paper copy in a binder, and I typed them into my phone just in case.”

Dieter handed him some paperwork. “If Gretchen and I don’t come home someday, this is my will. Call the number for Wulfram and Reagan von Hannover. Please keep Alina until they get here. I know he’ll arrivehere within hours. The will specifies that Wulf and Rae are to be Alina’s legal guardians, not anyone else, and certainly not anyone else presenting herself to be Gretchen Mirabaud.”

Tinashe examined the documents. “You think something might happen to you and Gretchen?”

Dieter sighed. “We had a close call last night.”

Tinashe’s voice dropped. “You guys involved in something I should know about?”

“Gretchen has a homicidal, very wealthy ex-husband. Soon-to-be ex-husband. We’re working on that part. He tried to kidnap her last night.”

“But he wouldn’t show up here,” Tinashe said.

“I don’t think he knows where we live. We’ve been careful. He doesn’t know Alina exists, so she’s safe with you. But if we don’t come home, don’t waste time. Call Wulfram. He can protect her.” Even though Wulfmight have a traitor in his security detail, surely Pierre wouldn’t care about Alina.

“Yeah, no problem, man.” Tinashe turned back to the stove to tend to the food. “You take care of yourself, though. That baby will do better with a father.”