Homesick

I’m not even sure where I am at the moment. I woke up about 7:00 and we’re still on the train. I know we changed trains someplace in Switzerland in the middle of the night, so I suppose we’re in France. Angel said something about flying home from Amsterdam. Home. That’s all I care about right now. I just want to go curl up in my very own bed and sleep for about a month.

10:00 a.m.

We rolled into Paris about an hour ago and had to change trains for Amsterdam. It’s quite a layover, though, waiting for the fast train, so I went shopping in the station. Angel has been really down. I understand… well, as much as I can. She killed someone.

I can’t tell you how thankful I am.

That’s twice in two months I’ve stared down the barrel of a gun. That’s twice too often.

I didn’t have any idea what to get Angel. It’s Christmas Day, but in the train station, all the little gift shops are open and selling souvenirs from Givenchy to Valhrona. I finally settled on something simple and then grabbed some food. I’ll go meet Angel and catch the Eurostar to Amsterdam in a few minutes.

4:00 p.m.

I’ve got a decent connection here at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. I sent a text message to Silas on the train that was short and sweet.

“Silas. I’m coming home. Ray Hawkins lost at sea. Angel with me. Simon presumed safe. WTF’s with Geoff Gilliam?”

I haven’t heard back from him. Not that I expect much.

Man! The fast train is fast, but it’s not all that comfortable. The motion affected me worse than the boat across the Adriatic. But I managed to hold my bread and cheese down while I gave Angel her Christmas present. She was pleasantly surprised when I gave her the little package. It’s a black silk scarf with a scarlet pattern of interlinked hands around the border. It is clear that the hands are all women’s hands.

“This is lovely, Deb,” she said. “I love it.”

“We blondes gotta stick together,” I said. She looked at me a little strangely, then surprised me by handing me a package as well. Apparently she had been shopping in Paris while we were laid over as well. I unwrapped the present and almost cried. It was a turban wrap that we saw many women wearing in Europe. It’s a beautiful dark blue with silver piping. Technically, if I wanted to, I could probably wear it out without wearing a wig. We haven’t talked about it much, but Angel figured out that when I dressed as a bald man, I was really bald.

“I don’t know about you,” she said, “but a lot of times I’ve discovered that I really don’t want to bother getting my hair all done up before I go out someplace. These things are really great because they are so stylish and no one can tell if you’ve washed your hair and spent an hour blow drying it, or if you just shaved it all off.”

“Thank you, Angel,” I said.

“Hey,” she answered, “we blondes gotta stick together.”

I’m making one more stop in the Amsterdam airport before we head for the plane. If I don’t bring a gift home for Cinnamon, I’ll regret it. I just need to get her something that is nice and conservative and won’t give her any ideas.

Oops! Just got a text message from Silas: “Good work. I’ll meet you at the airport.”

Hmmm. I didn’t tell him what flight I’m on. Maybe I should get a little gift for him as well.

5:00 p.m.

I called Cinnamon just before flight time to tell her I’m on my way home. It was only 7:30 in the morning, but she sounded pretty pleased to hear from me.

“Merry Christmas!” I said when she answered.

“Not unless you are coming home,” she said. “I don’t have anyone to celebrate with.”

“Well, Angel and I are both on our way. Can you stand having us all back together?”

“Maybe I can get Teri to come over, too,” Cinnamon answered. It will be like we started this month.”

“Right. You can all pay me the bets you owe me.”

“We’ll have a late dinner at your place,” she said. “I’ll take care of everything. Do you want me to meet you at the airport? I’ve got this classy Mustang all ready to roll.”

“I’ve got a ride,” I said. “In fact, maybe you should plan on a couple more for dinner. Is anything open today where you can get food? We could just order pizza.”

“Leave it to me, Sugar,” she said. “I think your dog is going to be there, too. She hasn’t left me alone for the past four days.”

“I didn’t know you had Maizie!” I exclaimed. “How’s my baby doing?”

“Oh, we’re getting along just fine. She’s staked out her own space in the office and I went down to Ikea and bought her a new bed. She loves it. Mrs. Prior came to the office on Friday and dropped her off because she was going to a sister’s house for the weekend and as she said, ‘Maizie was too concerned about Riley to go away. She wants to be here when Riley gets home.’ Mrs. Prior is a hoot!”

“Well, if Maizie starts talking to you, too, I want to know about it,” I laughed. “God I’m looking forward to being home. I think this case is wrapped up.”

“Ummm. Don’t count on that, Sugar,” Cinnamon answered. “I can’t tell what it is that’s happening, but something is up. Listen, this was in Saturday’s paper. ‘Belize authorities have detained an American citizen on drug charges after a raid on Ambergris Caye last night. Reportedly from the Seattle area, federal agents have indicated that they have no records matching that identity and have dispatched an agent to meet with officials in Belize City where the unidentified woman is being held.” That’s all. It’s one of those short article things on the second page of the international section. It just stuck out when I read it because you were just there. I thought it might have something to do with the whole thing.”

“You are going to make a detective yet,” I said. “That’s just the kind of article that should make you curious. I’m betting that it was meant for a very few important people to see. I’ve got to board my plane now, so I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“See you soon, Sugar. Be safe.”

You know what? I’m going to like having Cinnamon around.