As we walked through the town, looking for a train or bus station, my burner phone, now back in service, chimed. I pulled it free from my back pocket to see a text from an unknown number flash across the screen.

Zermatt, Switzerland. Jack and Emily Briar spent considerable time here. Even while under, they came here at least twice a year, if not more. They always stayed at the same hotel: Vögelchen. I told the Ortiz's and Lia's parents that you were headed to Portugal. Should buy you some time before they try to track you down.

"Is that German?" Daniel asked. He was reading the message over my shoulder and his eyes had narrowed in on the name of the hotel.

"Yeah," I murmured, distracted. There was a dark feeling settling in the put of my gut as I tapped away at the screen, deleting the message permanently so that it couldn't be read if we happened to lose the phone. Then, I stuffed the phone in my pocket and began walking, my eyes flicking around for any sign that indicated a bus or train station that could get us out of here as quickly as possible. "It means 'little bird.' We need to get to Zermatt now."

Something in my tone must have caught his attention for he grabbed my arm and spun me around so that I was facing him. Then, he said, "Melanie, what's going on? What am I missing?"

My eyes flicked up to meet his and I felt another heavy weight settle in the bottom of my stomach. "'Little bird', Daniel. My parents used to call me 'little bird.'"

___

Sorry for the long wait everyone. School is kicking my ass. Hopefully the wait isn't as long next time (I'm on break right now until Sunday so I'm hoping that I can get another chapter out before then but I can't make any promises at the current time so thank you for your patience).

Much love,

DB