Switzerland was not quite what I was expecting.

I'd never been to the country and my knowledge on it was surprisingly limited. I was imagining frosty white mountains and stores heaping with chocolate and cheese. Those were the misconceptions I'd been raised to believe. Even though I'd learned about the Swiss in my studies at Oaks, my education had mainly pertained to their government and army structures.

Upon arriving in Zermatt, I realized that what I'd been led to believe was entirely wrong. It was the beginning of summer and most of the mountains surrounding the town were covered in green shrubbery, though some of the larger peaks were, in fact, featuring snow. The town itself bore no snow, the walkways clear and easy to navigate. And, while we did pass a store that featured a display of chocolate and another with cheese wheels in its window case, were not being overwhelmed by the sheer number of food stores available in the town.

It had taken Daniel and I the entire morning and half of the afternoon to get from Menton, France to Zermatt. We'd been forced to camp out the night before, seeking refuge in the train station where we slept on hard plastic chairs and ate sandwiches that fell from a vending machine. We'd gotten on a train early in the morning but the 3 layovers we'd had to endure meant that we hadn't gotten to Switzerland until the afternoon. We'd used the time on the train for sleep and eating and trying to figure out just where in Zermatt we could find the Vögelchen hotel.

Those three tasks kept me occupied, but none of them could make me forget that my week had turned into six days and that the time Scorpion had allotted me to get to my brother was declining rapidly. Given that deadline, it was difficult not to feel the pressure and pray that Zermatt panned out with a good lead as to where Jack and Elizabeth Briar may have hidden the research that Scorpion was so desperate to find.

While travelling, we'd made another necessary call to Daniel's parents. As he assured them that, 'yes, he was fine', and 'no, he wasn't going to come home', he managed to tell them just where they could find their traitorous colleagues. They assured the two of us that they would send agents to come pick up Bates and McHale and then take them for questioning. Hopefully, they would be able to garner some much needed information on who 'Izzy' was and why I was so important to them since it seemed that Tasha had been unsuccessful thus far. She was still searching, she'd assured me in the quick conversation we'd had between Daniel's parents lecturing him, but it might take a while for her to find anything concrete. Right now, though, 'Izzy' was the last thing on my mind. I would deal with that later when Wes' life wasn't hanging in the balance.

During that same phone call to the Ortiz's, I'd been passed along to Max who provided me, in a voice no louder than a whisper, with all of the dates that my biological parents had stayed at the Vögelchen. The list, I had to admit, was quite extensive. They'd travelled to the hotel several times a year, their visits often spanning several days. I wasn't quite sure what their stays had entailed but the more I learned, the more I wanted to know.

Then, when Max had nothing more to tell me, I'd been passed on again, this time to Lia who sounded more tired than I'd ever heard her. My name had only been a sigh on her lips. "Melanie."

I'd closed my eyes and leaned back against the seat on the train. Daniel was doing his best to give me my privacy and stared intently out the window. "Hey. How are you holding up? How's," I swallowed thickly and had to start over. "How's your dad?"

"He made it out of surgery. They said the next forty-eight hours are critical so I guess we'll see if he pulls through." Her voice shook only slightly.

I was sure that she was trying to be brave, for her mother's sake, but it couldn't have been easy. Of everyone I knew, Lia had the best relationship with her parents. The three of them were very close and I was positive that the prospect of losing her father was a very taxing experience.

"He'll be fine," I'd said to her then. "I know it."

Lia had exhaled and then cleared her throat. "Tash said that you were having her and Max look into some stuff. What can I do to help?"

"Just take care of your dad. He needs you right now."

"Mel. Please. I—I need to do something. I can't just sit around and do nothing. My dad would want me to help you in any way that I can. What do you need me to do?"

I'd hesitated, unsure. Then, "Why don't you help Max with the research on Jack and Elizabeth Briar? The more knowledge we have on them, the better. Especially since I'm currently headed to a hotel that they spent considerable time and from which I appear to have had a childhood nickname derive from."

"What?"

"Vögelchen."

"Little bird," Lia had said immediately.

"My parents used to call me that," I'd told her. "I thought it was just a nickname. Now, I'm wondering if it's something more. Like a signal or a clue or something. I don't know."

"I'll help Max," she'd promised. "Stay safe."

"You too. And when your dad wakes up—"

"I'll call you. First thing."

"Okay."

I'd disconnected the call there and opened my eyes. Daniel had been staring at me, confusion etched in the arch of a single dark brow.

"You think 'little bird' means something?"

I'd shrugged and asked, "How could it not? It just seems like too big of a coincidence, don't you think? My parents calling me little bird and now this hotel just happens to be named the same? It's just a little fishy to me."

Daniel had nodded. "I think you're right. I just wonder what we're going to find in Switzerland."

"Me too."

"You think it'll be good?"

This I hadn't had an answer for and so I'd but my lip. Daniel had seemed to sense my uncertainty for he relaxed back in his seat. He'd stared at me for a long moment before asking, "How's Lia's dad doing?"

"Out of surgery. Next forty-eight hours are critical. They're still not sure about anything."

"I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope so."

"You're very close with them, aren't you?"

I'd nodded. "Yes. They're family. Lia and her parents practically took me in after I went to Oaks. I've spent every holiday and break with them. She's like my sister. Tasha, too. I don't know where I would be without them."

A small flash of hurt had worked its way across Daniel's face. It had been easy to tell what I'd said that had upset him. My talk of holidays and family—time I should have spent with him and my parents and Wes. Time that had probably brought them pain and sadness instead of joy.

"What about Max? Where does he fit into all of this? The two of you seem awfully...close." Daniel had pursed his lips and stared at me.

"Max is my brother," I'd told him honestly. "The two of us are very close. We're both cut from the same cloth, you know? His mom is a doctor and his dad's an account and he has a younger sister who is in Year 12, which is a junior in American terms. He left them behind when he came to Oaks, same way that I left all of you. In the early days it was nice to have someone to talk to who understood what leaving your entire life behind meant. Max always has my back. Always."

Daniel had listened with rapt attention, eyes focused.

"He and Lia are a good match," I'd continued. "They've been infatuated with each other for years but only really started dating at the start of our last year. They're a match made in heaven, those two. There's no one else in the world who are a better pair than they are. They just, I don't know, compliment each other."

He'd nodded, accepting that.

"I'm glad you had them. Glad you had someone looking out for you." Then, he'd smiled that crooked smile I remembered from being a kid but it hadn't quite reached his eyes.

Now, as we walked down an old street in the heart of Zermatt, a place I learned was mostly reminiscent of a ski resort and happened to be nestled between several large mountainous peaks, Daniel had that same crooked smile on his face. Before, it had been as if he'd had something on his mind, something he hadn't quite wanted to share, but now it was as if he were attempting to be upbeat and optimistic. For my sake, I gathered.

"Where is this place?" he asked.

People were walking on either side of us. The town wasn't busy, I expected it was due to the fact that, as it was summer, it also happened to be the off-season in terms of the hitting the slopes.

"The outskirts of town. It's at the base of one of the mountains."

"Should be pretty empty this time of year. It doesn't seem like they get a lot of tourists in the summer."

I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"What do you think we're gonna find?" Daniel asked.

I shrugged, the nervousness gnawing at me. "Maybe nothing. Or maybe we'll find something that will help us get to Wes. I don't know but I know that it's worth a shot."

His voice dropped an octave, low so that only I could hear. "Do you think they're hurting him?"

My eyes snapped to his face. There was something in his tone, some dark pain, and I realized it was the same emotion that was in my voice whenever I spoke of Wes. It was also at that moment that I realized something else; I wasn't the only one who had taken on new family after I'd gone away to Oaks. Daniel had adopted my brother in a way. The way he spoke of him, the pain in his voice at my brother's kidnapping, was in the way that only a brother could.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Maybe. In any event, they won't kill him. They can't. Not unless they want to lose their leverage."

Daniel nodded as he absorbed this. "I just—I know we're doing what needs to be done, I just...sometimes I feel useless. And all I can think about is the fact that they have him."

Without thinking, I laid a hand on his arm. He looked down at me, really looked, as if he were staring through me but like he really saw me. "We're going to save him, Daniel. Together."

We reached the end of the street we were walking on. Behind us, shops and restaurants waited, an optimistic beacon that wasn't directed at us. Our journey lay beyond, farther into the outskirts of town where the Vögelchen was waiting for us.

I looked out at a trail that led towards one of the mountains. According to one of the locals we'd spoken to earlier, the hotel we were looking for lay just beyond the first bend in the trail.

"Ready?"

Daniel looked down at me. "I guess. You?"

"Not at all."

But I stepped forwards anyways and began walking along the trail. Daniel strayed a few steps behind me. The trail was well-kept, the grass on either side bright green with wildflowers poking through at irregular intervals. Tall trees kept watch, casting long dark shadows across the walking path.

After about two-hundred yards, the trail began to bend. It forked, one path winding up towards a mountainous hiking trail while the second turned towards a clearing. There was a large building situated in its centre. It looked like it belonged in the forest. It had a log-cabin kind-of-feel—made of dark brown-red wood with a red tiled roof. There was a worn stone path that led up to the wooden steps that had seen better days. The stones were cracked and weeds had begun to grow up between them. Up closer to the building, there was an ornate wooden sign with the word Vögelchen Hotel imprinted upon it.

Compared to the other side of the trail that was well-kept and flowery, the side leading up the hotel seemed like the nightmarish counterpart to a fairytale.

"This is it?" Daniel asked. He seemed just as unimpressed with the place as I did.

"Seems like it."

"How should we play this?"

"I guess we'll just ask for a room for the night. We can poke around and see if we find anything promising in the surrounding area. I just wish that we knew what rooms they stayed in. Maybe they hid something in one of them."

The two of us walked down the path and up towards the door. I pulled on the handle and the door opened smoothly with the jangle of a bell. We stepped into a well-lit room that seemed to serve as a front lobby. Ratty, torn couches made a seating area near one of the front windows and there was a panel of keys hanging on the wall behind an old wooden desk.

The woman manning the desk looked up as we walked in. She was probably in her mid-to-late fifties with auburn hair that was just beginning to gray. Her eyes, green, narrowed on us. The tag on the front of her shirt said that her name was Luana.

"Hallo! Kann ich Dir helfen?" she asked.

Daniel glanced down at me, clearly not understanding the question she'd posed in German. She was asking how she could help us.

"Wir hätten gerne ein Zimmer," I answered.

The woman stared for a moment and then smiled. She turned around and grabbed one of the keys off of the back wall and I took that to mean that she was going to honour my request for a room. I stepped closer to the desk, Daniel following in my wake.

I conversed with Luana for another few minutes as she set the room up and then paid her the twenty-pounds it was costing for the room. Once we'd paid and gotten the key to the room, she directed us on our way out of the lobby and towards our room. The hotel was unnaturally quiet, no sounds of other guests. If I had to guess, I would assume that were the only ones here.

We pushed open the door to reveal a room with a rug that had definitely seen better days. There was a television sitting on a stand that looked as if it'd been there for the past thirty years. The wallpaper was peeling off the walls the bed, yes that was singular, bed, not beds, looked as if it were about to collapse.

"Well," Daniel began. He was staring in at the room with the same dumbfounded expression that I was. I didn't think that either of us had ever stayed in a hotel that was this rundown. "At least we've got a roof over our head."

"Good point."

I placed my backpack down on the bed. We'd gotten it before leaving Menton and had packed all of our stuff, which consisted of some bread and peanut butter, a spare change of clothes, money, and some other small things like bandages and a few disassembled parts of the handgun. We'd taken the weapon apart, the way someone might do before cleaning it, in order to avoid suspicion. Unless someone had all the pieces or was very familiar with weaponry, it was near indistinguishable for what it was.

We'd distributed the parts across the two of us and the bag. Daniel had kept a few parts in his jacket, parts he was now pulling free and laying down on the bed, while I'd tucked a few into my pockets and other miscellaneous places. I reached down and pulled a clip of ammo from my sock and placed it with the others.

As Daniel cleaned up in the bathroom, I reassembled the gun. The last thing I wanted to do was be caught unawares. At the very least, having the gun ready made me feel just a little bit safer.

After we'd both showered and felt a little less like fugitives on the run, we settled in with a dinner of peanut butter sandwiches and water from the tap. Daniel and I had made the unanimous decision to wait until the innkeeper, Luana, had gone to bed before starting to poke around. The last thing we wanted to do was arouse suspicion about our true intentions here. Hopefully, we could be out before she even woke in the morning and be one step closer to Wes.

Daniel rested, snoring softly, as I stood watch. I set the television to a news channel. They were replaying some of the footage from our escapade in Paris, calling it a terrorist attack. Seven innocent bystanders had been killed with another thirteen in the hospital with minor injuries. There were no reports that referenced the two men from the CIA that Daniel and I had left tied up on the boat. I assumed that the agency was working very diligently to keep that news story completely under wraps.

I poked around the room, looking to see if this was, perhaps, one of the rooms that Jack and Elizabeth Briar had stayed in. If it was, there was no evidence here of their stay.

When the sun had long since set, I left the room under the pretense of finding an ice machine. I carried the empty ice-bucket loosely in my hand and wandered towards the front of hotel. At the end of the hallway, I peeked around the corner. Luana was nowhere in sight and the lobby was dark.

Sensing that this was our time, I crept over to the desk and looked to the board of keys. There was no feasible way to carry all of the keys without making noise but it seemed that if luck was, finally, on my side for, under the counter, there was a solitary key on the end of an old-fashioned chain. The keychain hanging adjacent to the key was long and oval-shaped with a pattern of roses engraved on its gold surface. On the back of the pendant, someone had written the words 'master-key.'

I grabbed the key, tucked it into my pocket, and walked quickly back to my room. Once there, I shook Daniel awake. He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Is it time?"

I nodded and pulled the key from my pocket. "I swiped this from the lobby."

"You stole the master key to the hotel?" Daniel asked.

"Is that judgement I hear in your voice?"

He grinned and swung his legs off the bed. "Nope. It's pride. Let's go."

The two of us left our little dilapidated room. Daniel shouldered our backpack—just in case we had to make a quick getaway—and carried the key while I kept one hand firmly on the gun that was tucked into my waistband. I sincerely hoped that we wouldn't need to use the firearm, but I'd rather be ready than be sorry.

We walked towards the front of the building again, strolling through the lobby. This time, instead of a key, I was looking for an office. That, I assumed, would be the best place to start. At the very least, I hoped that the Vögelchen Hotel kept accurate customer records. Max had provided me with the dates that Jack and Elizabeth Briar had been here. All I needed now was the rooms that they stayed in.

There was a door with a sign that read Büro on it just around the corner from the lobby. 

"This is it," I murmured to Daniel. I nodded at the sign. "That means 'office.'" 

He stepped around me and inserted the key into the lock. The door swung open easily, revealing a small, dark room. He stepped inside and the moment I crossed the threshold, he shut the door behind us. I flicked the light on and looked around. There were several filing cabinets standing on either side of a simple desk. 

"What are we looking for?" Daniel asked as he walked over to the cabinet furthest from the door. 

I pulled the napkin, upon which I'd written all the dates that the Briar's had stayed at this hotel, free from my back pocket. It'd been sitting there since I'd spoken to Max on the phone. I hadn't wanted to run the risk of losing it by keeping it in the pack in case we'd had to make a quick getaway and leave the bag behind. I placed the napkin down on the table. 

"Customer records. We need to know the names and rooms of all the people who stayed here on these dates. It's possible that they used aliases so we'll need to be thorough and check every room." 

As Daniel checked the cabinet on the far side of the desk, I started with the one nearest to