Underwater

Part 22

Takumi bangs his head on seat in front of him as he sits up. “What?” he hisses, looking around as though he expects to see an assassin in the next row. “What are you talking about, Thessa? Why would your parents be looking for me?”

“Not you, you. Your people.” I’m still lost in thought, my eyes unfocused. “I think that’s why they left Greece. I mean, I think they were probably also trying to get away from the men in black. If they weren’t being chased, they never would have given up looking for Lusi. They never would have left me alone in Pavlo, especially knowing what they probably did about the political  stuff, and Sasha. So I think they were running. But why not run somewhere in Europe? It would be a lot easier.”

Lusi’s nodding. “Yeah, going to the States is risky if you’re being chased. Because you have to take a boat, and if the person who’s chasing you figures it out and gets on the boat with you, you’re screwed. It’s much better to take trains, buses, taxis… or just go on foot. Our parents are smart,” she says, her eyes flashing. “They definitely would have found a way to disappear somewhere in Europe if that’s all they were trying to do.”

“Or they could have traveled overland through eastern Europe to Russia,” I say, tapping my fingers on my knee. “If they felt they had to get farther away.”

“That is true,” Takumi says. “But it begs the question: if they were trying to get to Yonaguni, why not go that way? Wouldn’t it have been faster and easier for them to get to Japan by going in that direction?”

“That’s a good question,” I say, crossing my legs underneath me. “But I think I know the answer.”

Takumi and Lusi stare at me, and I throw my hands up in the air. “Come on, people! Think.”

Lusi gets it first. “If someone is chasing you, then you don’t just want to get away from them. You also don’t want them to know where you’re going.”

I smile. “Exactly. They didn’t take the direct route to Yonaguni for the same reason we aren’t. They didn’t want anyone to know that’s where they were going.”

“It’s a good theory,” Takumi admits, “but it’s just a theory.”

“Well, we have an unfortunate dearth of facts right now,” I sigh, taking another sip of water. “So I think a good theory is the best we can hope for.”

Lusi looks excited all of a sudden. “You’re a genius, Thessa!” she squeals.

“What?” Takumi and I say at the same time.

“If that’s really where Mom and Dad were going,” she says, “then we aren’t just going to see Takumi’s uncle. We’re also going after them at the same time.”

I nod, getting excited now, too. “Of course! We’re all looking for the same person. So we might be able to find them while we’re there.”

“Are you sure that you want to find them?” Takumi’s frown is a bucket of cold water on the hope that was bubbling up inside us.