June 1st, 2014 -  Lago Maggiore, Italy.

The express train wound its way northward as the Lombardy countryside gave way to the Italian Alps. Beyond the window, the sun was sparkling off the surface of Lake Maggiore as they raced along, barely forty feet above the water. Despite the fact that they were running for their very lives, Sabine did have to admit that it was a spectacular view.

Much to her gratitude, little Amélie had been glued to the window for most of the journey so far. The child’s curiosity had made Sabine surprisingly happy. Each delighted comment and every excited question felt as though she, too, was experiencing the joy of travel for the very first time. It certainly made her feel much closer to the girl.

For as short as their time together had been, Sabine knew that she cared a great deal for the child. She was, however, woefully underprepared for the role of parenthood that now fell squarely upon her shoulders. If Béatrice had been her own offspring, perhaps she would have had time to grow into the role, to learn how to be a parent of any kind. As it was, they were both learning this together. She just had to hope she wasn’t making a total ass of it.

The truth was that being a parent had never really been on the cards for Sabine. Growing up, Ryan had been told so many times that one day he would have his own family, that he would find a girl, settle down, and have some kids. In reality, the idea had never gained any real substance. After Operation Orsino, the entire thought of sex, children, or relationships had left her mind entirely. She had no desire to get that close to anyone ever again. Somehow, she had become comfortable with the idea of being alone.

Sabine gazed out of the window as they swept away from the lake and started to roll through the outskirts of a town nestled in the valley beyond. Their future together was going to be rocky, but she would take Francesca’s advice and not plan too far ahead. For now, it was her and Amélie. What that would look like in a month, six months, or a year, she had no idea at all. The girl needed love and care, and she needed to make sure they were both safe. That much, she could manage.

“How old is she?”

Sabine looked around and found an older lady sitting across the aisle looking at her. “Pardon?”

“Your daughter,” the lady prompted with a smile. “She is so beautiful, how old is she?”

“Uh, four,” Sabine offered, uncertain why the woman was engaging her in conversation at random.

“I have a granddaughter her age,” the lady offered. “I am Anna. I am traveling home, yourself?”

“Oh, we’re on holiday; just traveling a little,” Sabine admitted.

The lady nodded in understanding, “You two are alone?”

Even Sabine was aware enough to understand the polite question in the woman’s tone; she was asking where Amélie’s father was. It was a sloppy mistake in preparation, but Sabine had to admit that she had entirely failed to consider a father in her cover. After all, a father implied birth, pregnancy, and conception, all things that crossed a mental bridge that Sabine was ill-prepared for.

“I uh, he’s not in the picture,” Sabine blushed.

Anna smiled sympathetically, “I understand, dear. Men can be pigs, can they not? At least you have your little darling. The two of you are traveling to Zürich?”

“Yes, for a few days, then north to Germany. Eventually, we have to head home.”

“French, yes?”

“Oui,” Sabine smiled.

“Ah, I am Swiss, Zürich is home for me,” Anna admitted. “My grandchildren live with my daughter in Milan.”

“Quite the trip.”

“It is not so bad with the train, I do like the view.”

Sabine smiled politely and allowed Anna to talk on for a few moments as she described her grandchildren and her journey to visit them. She seemed like a pleasant enough woman, and she was more than happy to listen to her talk. As she did, however, she recognised the need to flesh out her legend for future encounters.

Sabine had not been prepared for how much people seemed to be willing to speak to those they saw as fellow parents, especially mothers. Something about her apparently encouraged others to talk to her, whether she wanted them to or not. Talking involved questions, and so far, she had few answers.

Who was Sabine Garnier? Where had they come from, and what was their story? The identities given to her by Francesca had little depth, but it would not stop her from establishing something boring and appropriate. Perhaps a dead husband? An awkward admission like that would shut down questions more than quickly enough; death had a way of doing that. Admittedly, the idea of a husband of any kind made Sabine feel more than uncomfortable enough. That people assumed it so easily gave her unusual feelings that she was struggling to process.

Relationships had never been high on Ryan’s list of priorities. During high school, he had had few friends and even less interest in dating. A quiet kid was nothing unusual. A small part of him had expected that to change when he got to college, but the death of his parents had turned him inward once more. After Operation Orsino, any pretense of a future including romance had been thrown by the wayside.

Sabine considered Francesca’s words for a moment. Her mentor had told her that allowing herself to heal would change her for the better and open up her future. To Francesca, that future was female, despite Sabine’s protestations. Would that female version of herself be able to find love? Would she even want to? Sabine shook her head; she was beginning to go insane. Even she was beginning to see versions of the future where she was still stuck like this.

Glancing over at Amélie, she smiled. Any time she was able to spend with that darling girl would be worth it. She was not sure that she loved the child, but she was positive that she cared for her very deeply. Their intense adventure had cemented their bond in unexpected ways.

The train slowed as it swept into their first stop in Switzerland, the Southern town of Bellinzona. At first glance, it looked little different to the sunwashed Lombardy landscape, but it was possible to see the Swiss influences starting to show themselves in the architecture of the ancient fortress town.

The train rolled to a stop in the station, and the doors hissed open, permitting passengers to alight, and new travelers boarded for the onward journey north into Switzerland. The town also marked the train’s final stop before it began its transit of the mighty Gotthard rail tunnel that bored deep below the Alpine massif to the north.

“Are we getting off too?” Amélie asked as passengers filed past their table.

Sabine shook her head, “No, petit lapin, we still have a long way to go before Zürich. We have to go through a really big tunnel first.”

“What’s a tunnel?”

Sabine frowned and considered the question. “Well, a tunnel is a big hole dug in the earth; roads and railways go through them to take people from one point to another when there’s something in the way.”

Amélie made a contemplative face and nodded. “Like a bridge?”

“Yeah, like a bridge, but underground.” Sabine grinned.

“What if you have a bridge in a tunnel, is it going over or under?”

Sabine paused, a frown etched into her features, “You know, I don’t actually know… if I ever find an engineer, I’ll ask, ok?”

“Ok,” Amélie nodded, seemingly satisfied by the response. Sabine smiled to herself; the world truly was a simpler place to children.

Once all passengers were aboard, the doors hissed closed, and the train began its smooth, quiet acceleration out of the station. Europe had one thing going for it, Sabine mused. Compared to the trains here, Amtrak back in the States was like riding in a covered wagon by comparison.

As they left town, their speed picked up as they swept onward along the valley floor. Settling in, Sabine started flicking through a paperback novel she had bought in the station back in Milan. It was a generic romance novel; not something that she would typically read, but it was something that fitted her cover identity. 

The book had been something she picked up as a prop, a fitting token to carry around in hand to play the role, but she had gotten curious and started reading the novel. While the plot was somewhat predictable, Sabine had to admit that she was beginning to find herself identifying far more with the protagonist, an exhausted single mother working two jobs. Somehow, that seemed to fit with her current predicament far more than she would have preferred.

Reading had always been something that Sabine enjoyed. Even as a child, she had loved to read a new book and vanish on an adventure. She had lost that for a while after Orsino, but with time, she had managed to find her way back into the world of fiction. Like so many things, it had offered her an escape from reality. Books allowed her to let go, to experience the lives of others and feel what they felt for a brief time.

Would she have chosen this particular novel in normal circumstances? Perhaps not. Once upon a time, she had done her best to stick to manly topics like war, adventure, and science fiction. It was something that had seemed right at the time, something that had felt like Ryan’s interests. As complicated as this enterprise was, perhaps her sojourn into the life of Sabine Garnier might permit her to broaden her literary horizons. It might not land on romance, but she was pretty sure she didn’t actually care for war memoirs.

Sabine had barely finished the first chapter when she felt the pressing urge to answer a call of nature. Closing her book, she glanced up the aisle. It would probably be prudent to visit the restroom before they hit the tunnel itself. Picking up her bag, she turned towards Amélie, who was focusing intently on her coloring book.

“Come, Amélie, let's go to the toilet, huh?”

“Aww, I was colouring,” Amélie pouted, looking up at her with a pair of huge innocent eyes. “I want to colour, I don’t want to go toilet yet.”

“I could keep an eye on her?” Anna offered, hearing the child’s protest.

“No, I should…” Sabine frowned, caught between her desire to keep the child close by and her knowledge that dragging a four-year-old through a busy train mid-tantrum might draw some unwanted attention to them. Finally, she acquiesced to practicality and nodded, “Ok, fine, thank you, I won’t be long.”

Anna smiled,  “It is not a problem, we will be right here.”

Sabine ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately, “Be good for Mama, ok, Amélie?”

The little girl smiled happily and returned her attention to the coloring book she was currently reinterpreting with great vigor. Sabine looked over at the older woman and nodded her thanks before setting off down the carriage.

The idea of leaving Amélie alone, even for even a moment, felt strangely wrong to Sabine. She knew that the girl was going to be safe; she was with someone reasonably responsible, and they were trapped inside a sealed metal tube traveling at over a hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. Where exactly could they go? Somehow, that knowledge did not manage to ease the worry that she felt creeping into her heart.

Sabine managed to find a free bathroom two carriages down past the closed restaurant car and shut the door behind herself. Sitting, she took care of her business and pulled up her shorts before washing her hands at the sink. As she dried her hands, she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

The woman looking back at her seemed different under the harsh light of the swaying train bathroom. She seemed smaller, more fearful, and softer. This was getting too easy, too comfortable, and she was starting to worry. Would she be able to return when it was time?

She searched for any sign of Ryan Knight, any hint that he was still in there somewhere. A part of her needed to see him, to be reassured that he was still there under the surface. That even after all of this, she might find him again when she needed reminding that it was all just an act.  With every passing moment, every interaction or experience, she felt him slipping further and further away despite her efforts.

She had avoided Allesandra because she knew just what pain she still felt. She knew the deluge of unresolved pain, fury, and hatred that seethed just beneath the surface. The emotions were difficult for her to wrap her head around, even now. All she knew was that avoiding it somehow felt easier when she was Ryan. Now? The firewall was down, and it was all right there waiting for her in the dark.
The worrying part was that she was starting to realize that her pain had been only a part of why she had run so very far from Alessandra. Ryan had been the bulwark, the breakwater that had held back far more troubling thoughts. Without Ryan, there was nothing to stop her from liking this. There was no masculine pride to shy away from the femininity that lurked just out of sight. Finger-combing her hair back into place, she unlatched the door and slid it open.

Before she was able to exit the bathroom, Sabine was slammed backward into the rear wall by a massive bulk that drove the breath from her lungs. The force moved with such violence and size that she barely had a chance to recognize that a person and barged into the bathroom with her, a person who was clamping a large hand over her mouth.

Recovering her wits, Sabine lashed out with a kick to the man’s instep that was largely ineffective thanks to her position. Her spacing was limited, and she was woefully outmatched by the large man who was pinning her against the wall. Even still, she made enough room to lash out with a few quick punches that made the man step back slightly.

Before she was able to capitalize on the space, the man rammed a fist into her gut and drove the air from her lungs for a second time. Sabine doubled over, gasping for air as the man stepped back fully, giving her room for the first time since the fight had begun. Before she could regain her composure, she was dragged upright by her throat and held against the wall. “This is the one, yes?”

“Yeah, that’s her. That bitch boarded with the child,” Another voice from the corridor replied. “Make her tell you where the man is or where they are meeting him.”

Sabine was just alert enough to recognize the men’s Lebanese-accented Arabic. In this world, that could only mean that they were probably connected to Abbas Ahmad’s terrorist organisation, Nar Alhuriyaat, in some way or other. Why they were here and looking for her or Béatrice, however, wasn’t immediately clear.

“Where is Ryan Knight?” The man barked in thickly accented English. “Where you meet him?”

“Fuck you,” Sabine growled, wriggling for purchase enough to free a limb.

“You tell me where we find him, or we kill kid, then I fuck you raw. Maybe if you are lucky, I will grant you death when I am done, fucking whore,” the man leered, licking her cheek.

Sabine felt a wave of revulsion flood her body as the man’s hands held her immobile against the wall. Her guard had been down here aboard the train. She had been sloppy, thinking herself safe aboard the train. It had been a fatal mistake, and she had let herself get distracted by her personal baggage. 

A cold wave of fear rushed through Sabine as she struggled for breath: If these men had followed her to the bathroom to lie in wait, then that meant that they had followed them from the train station. If they did not recognise her, then they must have recognised Béatrice, which meant that they knew exactly where she was sitting.

When these men had boarded and how they had known to look for her, she had no idea. The truth was that at the moment, that did not matter in the slightest. The man had her entirely overclassed in both size and strength. The confined space of the bathroom limited any opportunity she had to counter that advantage with speed or agility.

The smell of the man’s breath and the vicelike grip he had on her neck was too much for Sabine’s senses to take. As she struggled for her life, she felt a rush of terrible memories course through her mind. Memories that transported her back to the horror of her gilded prison all those years ago. A wave of cold horror suddenly fired adrenaline through her struggling body. 

The carriage was plunged into sudden darkness as the train flashed into the entrance of the Gotthard rail tunnel at close to one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour. Taking advantage of the sudden darkness, Sabine lashed out with her foot and landed it on the man’s instep with far more force than she had hoped for. It wasn’t a disabling strike, but it caused enough pain that the man eased his grip and stepped back slightly.

The movement was all the opening that she needed. Twisting her hips to open the space, Sabine drove her knee up and into the man's crotch. As he doubled over with a grunt of agony, she grabbed his head with both hands and slammed it into the mirror, shattering the glass and the man’s nose with a sickening crunch.

The man crumpled to the floor of the bathroom, a bloody, unconscious mess. His bulk almost pinned Sabine in place, but she was able to dodge free in time to not be stuck between him and the toilet as he fell. Outside in the corridor, something metallic glinted in the newly illuminated lights as Sabine spotted the newest threat: the man’s accomplice, brandishing a wicked-looking knife.

The second man lunged towards Sabine with his blade extended in his hand. It was an awkward and unskilled attack that forced the man to overextend beyond his crumpled colleague. As the man jabbed out, Sabine lunged forward inside the man’s guard, twisted around, her back to the man’s chest. This allowed her to grab the knife arm and wrench downward in the confined space. The man screamed as his arm snapped, the knife clattering to the floor as it fell from now useless fingers.

Taking advantage of the man’s pain, Sabine snapped out with a vicious elbow to the man’s ribs before twisting away and hitting the man with quick left-right jabs that left him stunned and staggering.

“Fuck you, fucking bitch,” The man gasped, reaching out for Sabine with clawing fingers. The man roared and came at Sabine with primal rage, his eyes bloodshot and wide as he lunged across his companion’s crumpled body.
Twisting around within the confined space, Sabine managed to dodge the man’s clumsy attack and allowed him to slam into the far wall beside his fallen comrade. Momentarily stunned, the man propped himself up against the sink for a moment, allowing Sabine to lash out with a knee to the man’s head.

Swaying, momentarily stunned, the man wobbled and tried to catch himself against the bathroom wall. Darting forward, Sabine reached up and wrapped her arm around the man’s neck and cinched him into a headlock. Kicking out the man’s knee, she pulled him back and twisted as they fell.

The pair landed heavily. For Sabine, the fall was cushioned by her proximity to the carriage wall. The man, however, landed awkwardly across his comrade’s body, the force of the fall snapping his neck with a sickening crack.

Releasing the dead man’s body, Sabine pulled herself free as she dragged much-needed oxygen into her lungs. Her body hurt, and her heart was racing as she tried to regain her composure as quickly as possible in case there were more men still coming.

Stumbling across the bodies, Sabine dragged herself into the corridor and glanced in both directions. There were no other immediate threats, but that did not mean that this was over. Whoever had come for her knew that she was on the train with Béatrice. If they were aware of that, then there could be more waiting for her elsewhere on the train.

Sabine mentally replayed what the men had said while she panted for breath, propped up against the narrow corridor.  The men had asked her where Ryan Knight was; that meant that they had not seen through her current appearance.

If that was the case, then they had to believe that she was a friend or ally that Ryan had tasked with taking care of Béatrice. After all, leaving the child was what a smart field operative would do. They would find somewhere safe to stash her or leave her with a trusted confidant; it was safer, and it would mean that they were free to work the problem without the impediment of a small child underfoot.

Sabine wasn’t sure if it was a genius move or dangerous sentimentality that had prevented her from doing that very thing. She could have very easily left Béatrice with Francesca while she led her pursuers away from them both. There would have been nothing to link the two together, and they would likely have forgotten the girl entirely. As smart as it was, she had not once considered doing such a thing. Somehow, that had now saved their lives.

If the men had followed her here, then they had to know that she would be heading to Zürich. That meant her entire plan had to be placed on hold until she had a clearer picture of the threat ahead of them. There was no way she could compromise her onward journey and eventual plans if she had a tail. 

Wiping her lip, Sabine winced as she spotted the blood on the back of her hand. Firstly, she had to clean up her mess before anyone raised the alarm here on the train. The last thing she needed was the authorities asking questions.

Pulling herself to her feet, Sabine reached over and checked the two men’s pulses. The second man was dead, but she had expected that after feeling his neck snap. The first man, his face a bloody mess from the broken mirror, was still breathing, and that presented a problem.

Sabine hated the idea of killing a defenseless man, but she understood the gravity of her situation. If the man was able to report back to his bosses, she could be in serious trouble.  She certainly could not afford for them to connect Sabine Garnier with Ryan Knight. An image of little Béatrice flashed into her mind, and she knew there was no choice at all.

After a moment’s hesitation, she picked up the man’s head and snapped his neck in one smooth motion. Dropping the body to the floor, Sabine cursed herself and this entire terrible situation. She hated what these people were forcing her to do, but she was never going to allow them to hurt Béatrice.

Catching her reflection in a patch of unbroken mirror, Sabine spat and cursed. She was bleeding from her lip, and her T-shirt was streaked with blood.  Wiping her chin as best she could, she straightened her clothes and hair as best she could. She frowned. There was no way she could manage to go unnoticed after what had occurred. She had to change that as quickly as possible if they were going to buy enough time to get off the train.

Finding her handbag where it had been knocked to the floor, Sabine found her pistol safe and secure within. It had been useless during her deadly struggle, but she was glad to have it now that she knew that a threat was present. Even drawing a firearm in such a close-quarters fight could have gotten her killed, even if it hadn’t alerted others onboard to their struggle.

Gathering up the attacker’s knife, she stashed it away beside her pistol and slipped the bag over her shoulder before exiting the toilet. Closing the door behind herself, Sabine flipped the mechanism to the locked position and set off back along the corridor. It would not prevent the discovery of the bodies for long, but it should buy her enough time to leave the train before they were discovered by a cleaning crew at their final destination. By the time that happened, she was expecting to be long gone.

Who the men were was a mystery, but it was clear that they were connected to her current plight. They were Arabs, and they were Lebanese, based on her brief assessment. That immediately drew her mind to their target in Nice, Abbas Ahmad. If the men were connected to Nar Alhuriyaat, his Freedom’s Fire group, that meant that there was a significantly bigger connection between Edwards and Ahmad than she had initially believed. If Ahmad was dead, then who was pulling the strings now, and why were they looking for her?

Edwards needed her dead; she had seen too much, and she knew that he was dirty. If Ahmad’s men were here too, then their goals were aligned, and that was a major problem. The revelation brought the events of Nice into question and made her question exactly what had happened.

Sabine’s disheveled appearance drew a number of surprised looks from passengers as she passed by them, but she was laser-focused on her current objectives: to find Amélie and make sure there were no more threats aboard the train. If people noticed a little blood, it wasn’t her primary concern at the moment. On the end wall of one of the carriages, she spotted a route map. After exiting the tunnel, the train would make two stops before arriving at its final destination in Zürich, Flüelen, and further north in Arth Goldau. It wasn’t Zürich, but she clearly had to take precautions now that their route was potentially compromised.

Spotting an unattended sweatshirt on a seat, Sabine quietly grabbed it as she passed. She hated stealing, but she needed to hide her bloody shirt. Reaching the far end of the carriage, she slipped it over her head and pulled her hair free of the neck opening. It was large, far too large for her body, but it covered her bloody shirt and the wicked bruises that were beginning to form on her arms.  Reaching down to mid thigh, it looked a little silly on her, but it was more than enough until she could manage to change her clothes properly.

Pausing in the end compartment of their carriage, Sabine glanced at her reflection in the dark glass and grimaced. She was far from perfect, but she looked far less like she had just killed two men in a bathroom stall. At the moment, that was the best she could manage. Wiping under her eyes to remove some traces of mascara that had run, Sabine finger-combed her hair and sighed. When had she ever been this vain?

Convinced she looked as normal as she could manage, Sabine hit the door button and entered the carriage. As she walked, she scanned the other passengers as she passed. They ranged from young to old, and from business travelers to tourists. To her relief, none matched the men who had attacked her. That did not mean that they might not be located elsewhere in the train.

When she finally made it back to their table, she was relieved to find that Amélie was still coloring away, blissfully unaware of what she had just gone through a handful of carriages further up the train. Slipping back in beside her, the girl glanced over and smiled, “Look what I did!” showing her the rather interpretive image of a house.

“That’s great, Chérie,” Sabine smiled quickly. “Are you ok?”

“Yes,” Amélie replied, her grin slipping to a frown as she took in Sabine’s appearance. “Does your lip hurt? Did you have an accident?”

“It’s fine,” Sabine said, squeezing the girl’s knee. “Just an ouchy. “You go back to your drawing, I want to see it when it’s done, ok?”

The girl nodded uncertainly but seemed to accept Sabine’s answer as she returned her attention to the paper.

Turning to the older woman across the aisle, Sabine dispensed with pleasantries.

“Did anyone follow me when I left the carriage?”

“No, what do you…” The older woman began, “ Mein Gott, what happened to you, dear?”

“I slipped in the bathroom,” Sabine lied quickly, waving her hand dismissively. “The train his a bump and I went over hard, I got soaked and hit my lip; big mess. One of the conductors lent me a shirt.”

“Oh my dear, that is just awful,” the woman exclaimed. “Does it hurt?”

“A little,” Sabine lied, “It was my fault, it was just an accident.”

“As long as you are sure,” Anna frowned uncertainly. “That does look rather painful.”

“Looks worse than it is,” Sabine shrugged. “Did anyone leave after I did?”

“Maybe?” Anna furrowed her brow. “Two men left after you and the conductor came past. Why?”

“Oh, I just wanted to speak to them about the water in the bathroom,” Sabine lied. “Nobody else?”

“No, I don’t think so,” the woman admitted.

Sabine nodded, “Good, maybe I’ll catch him when he comes back past. It’s no real rush.”

The men had been seated in this carriage, that much was clear. They had waited for her to leave, and they had followed her as their primary and seemingly only target. They had unrestricted access to Amélie, but as far as she could tell, they had left her alone. It was lucky, but it reminded Sabine that allowing Amélie to be out of her sight was a foolish mistake, and one she would not repeat again.

From what the men had said and how they had acted, it was beginning to seem as though they had spotted her at random and were chasing down a lead. There was a good chance that they had not been certain and were trying to confirm their suspicions. That meant that there was a really good chance that they had yet to report in to their superiors. It was possible that they had placed men at different transit hubs, waiting for her to make a move. Whether that news was good was yet to be determined, but she had managed to buy herself some valuable time. 

Would they find out that she was heading for Zürich? It was a certainty, given enough time. They would never hear back from their men, and they would back trace her movements from there. It did however, buy her time in the meantime. If she could get into the city and leave before they started looking for her, then she could change direction and break the trail.

Sabine smiled to herself as she remembered her old mentor’s advice: A trail was easiest to avoid when you knew that it was there. Once you did, it became a game of cat and mouse. Once the mouse was aware, they could change the rules and set a trap for the cat.

But who was the cat really?

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